The Classic Maya civilization, which thrived between 200-950 CE in eastern Mesoamerica, faced many environmental challenges, including those wrought by climate change. The ability of Maya communities to adapt their resource conservation practices played a crucial role in allowing them to survive for as long as they did. Researchers today understand that the breakdown of Classic Maya society was the result of many long-term processes. Yet the story that continues to grip the public imagination is that the Maya civilization mysteriously "collapsed". The Maya and Climate Change draws on archaeological, environmental, and historical datasets to provide a comprehensive, yet accessible, overview of Classic Maya human-environment relationships, including how communities addressed the challenges of climatic and demographic changes. It works to shift the focus from the Classic Maya "collapse" to the multiple examples of adaptive flexibility that allowed Pre-Colonial Maya communities to
thrive in a challenging natural environment for over seven centuries.
Although the Classic Maya civilization did not leave behind much in the way of secret environmental knowledge for us to rediscover, one of the critical lessons that can be learned from studying the Classic Maya is the importance of socio-ecological adaptability--the ability and willingness to change cultural practices to address long-term challenges.
Author(s): Kenneth E. Seligson
Series: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Premodern Societies and Environments
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 304
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Series
The Maya and Climate Change
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
1. Shifting the Focus
A Long-Standing Fascination with Collapse
A Brief Introduction to Maya History and Culture
Shifting the Focus
The Maya Environmental Mosaic
Book Overview
2. From Camera Lucida to Lidar: A Brief History of Maya Archaeology
The Maya Enigma
Thinking About Maya Human-Environment Relationships
The Early Explorers
Early Frameworks for the Decline of Classic Maya Civilization
Settlement Patterns and Human-Environment Relationships
The Managed Mosaic
Resilience Theory
Recent Developments in Technology and Methodology
Reconstructing the Precipitation Record
Lake Cores
Speleothems
Reconstructing Forest Management and Agricultural Practices
Microbotanical Analyses
Macrobotanical Analyses
Landscape Analyses
Isotopic Analyses
Ethnohistoric and Ethnographic Evidence
Reconstructing Ancient Stone-Processing Techniques
The Lidar Revolution
3. Forests
Introduction
Maya Conceptions of “Forest”
Maya Forests
The Bounty of the Forest
Archaic and Preclassic Period Agroforestry
Classic Maya Forest Management
Ethnographic Insights
Tending the Forests
Land Ownership
Agroforestry at Tikal
Apiculture
Summary
4. Fields
Introduction
Crops
The Three Sisters
Tree Crops
Additional Crops
The Earliest Maya Farmers
Classic Period Agriculture
Social Organization
A Mosaic of Agricultural Practices
Homegardens, Infields, and Orchards
Milpa Fields
Polyculture and Multi-Cropping
Agricultural Terracing
Wetland Agriculture
Rejolladas
Bajo Margins
Additional Intensification Practices
Ceren
Summary
5. Water
Introduction
The Natural Hydrologic Setting
The Importance of Water
Physical Water Necessities
Ideological Significance
The Preclassic to Early Classic Period Transition
Classic Period Reservoirs
Tikal’s Centralized Water System
Caracol: Reservoirs and Terraces Everywhere
Copan: Neighborhood Reservoirs
The Canals of Edzna
Smaller Scale Water-Management Features
Palenque: “Big Water”
The North
High and Dry in the Hill Country
Summary
6. Stone
Introduction
Limestone and Lime
Upon a Limestone Foundation
Lime in Classic Maya Culture
Architectural Lime
Dietary and Other Uses of Lime
Pre-Colonial Lime Production
The Earliest Lime
The “Traditional” Method
Preclassic Deforestation
Classic Period Lime Production
Environmental Knowledge and Sustainability
The Importance of Salt
Salt Production and Environmental Issues
The Belizean Coast
Salinas de los Nueve Cerros
Summary
7. Collapse and Resilience
Introduction
Issues with Collapse
Chronology
Geography
Scale
Causality
Climatic Instability: Water Issues
Socio-Politics and Warfare
Environmental Issues
Resilience Amidst Collapse
8. Looking Forward
Introduction
Classic Maya Human-Environment Relationships
Forest Exploitation
Agricultural Production
Water Management
The Classic to Postclassic Transition
Continued Adaptation
Final Thoughts
Notes
References
Index
