1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910789277403321

Titolo

The great Maya droughts in cultural context : case studies in resilience and vulnerability / / edited by Gyles Iannone

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Boulder, Colorado : , : University Press of Colorado, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

1-4920-1325-0

1-60732-280-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (489 p.)

Classificazione

SOC003000

Disciplina

972.8/01

Soggetti

Mayas - History

Mayas - Social conditions

Mayas - Antiquities

Droughts - Central America - History

Indigenous peoples - Ecology - Central America

Human beings - Effect of climate on - Central America

Crops - Effect of drougt on - Central America

Environmental archaeology - Central America

Social archaeology - Central America

Central America Antiquities

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

""Contents""; ""Figures""; ""Tables""; ""Contributors""; ""1: Introduction""; ""2: The Dynamics of Ancient Maya Developmental History""; ""3: Assessing the Great Maya Droughts""; ""4: Agricultural Landscapes, Deforestation, and Drought Severity""; ""5: Climate Change in the Ancient Maya Forest""; ""6: The End of the Beginning""; ""7: A Tale of Three Cities""; ""8: Collapse without Drought""; ""9: The Classic Maya Collapse, Water, and Economic Change in Mesoamerica""; ""10: Water in the West""; ""11: Oxygen Isotopes from Maya Archaeological Deer Remains""

""12: The Prehistoric Maya of Northern Belize""""13: An Archaeological Consideration of Long-Term Socioecological Dynamics on the Vaca



Plateau, Belize""; ""14: Tracking Climate Change in the Ancient Maya World through Zooarchaeological Habitat Analyses""; ""15: Maya Drought and Niche Inheritance""; ""References""; ""Index""

Sommario/riassunto

"In The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context, contributors reject the popularized link between societal collapse and drought in Maya civilization, arguing that a series of periodic "collapses," including the infamous Terminal Classic collapse (AD 750), were caused not solely by climate change-related droughts but by a combination of other social, political, and environmental factors. New and senior scholars of archaeology and environmental science explore the timing and intensity of droughts and provide a nuanced understanding of socio-ecological dynamics, with specific reference to what makes communities resilient or vulnerable when faced with environmental change. Contributors recognize the existence of four droughts that correlate with periods of demographic and political decline and identify a variety of concurrent political and social issues. They argue that these primary underlying factors were exacerbated by drought conditions and ultimately led to societal transitions that were by no means uniform across various sites and subregions. They also deconstruct the concept of "collapse" itself--although the line of Maya kings ended with the Terminal Classic collapse, the Maya people and their civilization survived"--

"In The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context, contributors reject the popularized link between societal collapse and drought in Maya civilization, arguing that a series of periodic "collapses," including the infamous Terminal Classic collapse (AD 750-1050), were not caused solely by climate change-related droughts but by a combination of other social, political, and environmental factors. New and senior scholars of archaeology and environmental science explore the timing and intensity of droughts and provide a nuanced understanding of socio-ecological dynamics, with specific reference to what makes communities resilient or vulnerable when faced with environmental change.Contributors recognize the existence of four droughts that correlate with periods of demographic and political decline and identify a variety of concurrent political and social issues. They argue that these primary underlying factors were exacerbated by drought conditions and ultimately led to societal transitions that were by no means uniform across various sites and subregions. They also deconstruct the concept of "collapse" itself--although the line of Maya kings ended with the Terminal Classic collapse, the Maya people and their civilization survived.The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context offers new insights into the complicated series of events that impacted the decline of Maya civilization. This significant contribution to our increasingly comprehensive understanding of ancient Maya culture will be of interest to students and scholars of archaeology, anthropology, geography, and environmental studies"--