Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century: A Review

Review Article

Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the21st Century: A ReviewNicholas P. Dunning,1,* Carmen McCane,1 Tyler Swinney,2 Matthew Purtill,3 Jani Sparks,4 Ashley Mann,1

Jon-Paul McCool,1 and Chantal Ivenso1

1Department of Geography, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio2Department of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio3Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia4Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

Correspondence*Corresponding author; E-mail:

[email protected]

Received13 November 2013

Revised7 January 2015

Accepted8 January 2015

Scientific editing by Gary Huckleberry

Published online in Wiley Online Library

(wileyonlinelibrary.com).

doi 10.1002/gea.21507

Over the past thirty years, geoarchaeology has moved from the fringe to main-stream status within Mesoamerican archaeological investigations. This reviewfocuses on works published since the year 2000. Five themes are identifiedas central to recent studies: (1) the correlation of environmental change andcultural history; (2) anthropogenic environmental impacts; (3) ancient landcover, land use, and diet; (4) archaeological prospection; and (5) provenancestudies. These themes are often interwoven in the application of complex sys-tems approaches that allow scientists to more accurately model the intricaciesof ancient human–environment interactions. C© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

INTRODUCTION

Geoarchaeology has rapidly emerged as a critical com-ponent in the investigation of the ancient cultures ofMesoamerica. Although environmentally centered stud-ies in Mesoamerican civilization can be found as early asone hundred years ago (e.g., Bennett, 1926; Cook, 1931;Huntington, 1917; Sapper, 1896), more concerted effortstruly began in the 1970s and the pace, depth, and sophis-tication of such investigations has increased substantiallyin the 21st century. Given the quantity and breadth ofgeoarchaeological approaches that have emerged in thepast two decades, our review cannot pretend to be com-prehensive. Rather, we focus chiefly on work publishedsince 2000. Five principal themes that have received spe-cial attention in these investigations are: (1) the corre-lation of environmental change and cultural history; (2)anthropogenic environmental impacts; (3) ancient landcover, land use, and diet; (4) archaeological prospec-tion; and (5) provenance studies. Although these themeswill be treated separately below, it is critical to remem-ber that the first three in particular are, in fact, strongly

interrelated and to some degree inseparable. In recogni-tion of this interconnectedness, scientists are increasinglyadopting complex systems perspectives to model the dy-namic interaction of natural and cultural processes thathave played out in Mesoamerica (e.g., Dunning & Beach,2004; Turner & Sabloff, 2012).

The boundaries of Mesoamerica have not been defini-tively delimited, nor is there universal agreement aboutthe northern and southern extremes of this cultural re-gion. More liberal boundaries extend to the vicinity ofLake Nicaragua in the south and the Yaqui River inSonora, Mexico in the northwest. We follow a more con-servative placement of the boundaries around the Gulfof Fonseca in El Salvador in the south and the SinaloaRiver Valley in Mexico in the north.1 Even this moreconstricted region is remarkably environmentally diverse(Figure 1). In the north past plate divergence producedhorst and graben terrain and many interior basins that

1For a summary of recent geoarchaeological work in other partsof upper Central America see Sheets 2009. For work on thenorthern fringes of Mesoamerica see Metcalfe 2006.

Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 30 (2015) 167–199 Copyright C© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 167

GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA DUNNING ET AL.

Figure 1 Map of Mesoamerica showing general physiography and some of the places highlighted in the text.

have been the foci of much human settlement for mil-lennia. Across much of Mesoamerica the complex con-vergence of the Caribbean, Cocos, North American, andPacific plates has created a mosaic of physiographic zonesthat include merging volcanic arcs, orographic uplift,and subsidence. Adjacent lowlands and basins are therepositories of tens of millions of years of sediment andaccretion. Major physiographic regions include the Mex-ican Plateau and associated ridges and basins, the abut-ting uplifted masses of the Sierra Madres Oriental andOccidental, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Arc, the CentralAmerican Volcanic Arc and associated folded and faultedhighlands, and the huge, partially emerged carbonateYucatan Platform.

Mesoamerica straddles the Tropic of Cancer, a latitu-dinal position that typically experiences an annual shiftfrom wet to dry seasons as the Intertropical Conver-gence Zone (ITCZ) shifts northward and southward andmutes temperature extremes. The distribution of rain-fall is also affected by steep elevation gradients createdby the region’s mountain systems generating significant

rain shadows in many interior and western coastal ar-eas where Easterly Waves cannot bring wet season rains.On the other hand, windward slopes and eastern coastlowlands experience many months of copious rainfall.Thus, Holocene vegetation zones range from tropical rainforests to true desert. When people first entered theregion in the Pleistocene, conditions across most low-land areas are believed to have been typically cooler anddrier than the present whereas many interior basins werecooler, but wetter. It was within this shifting mosaic ofenvironments that the cultures of ancient Mesoamericadeveloped.

Pre-Hispanic human occupation of Mesoamerica is of-ten divided into the chronological periods as indicated inTable I. Some scholars prefer different terminology forsome time periods, most notably “Formative” in placeof “Preclassic.” Population growth (and decline) and cul-tural developments were not uniform across the entireregion. In each period, some sites and regions experi-enced greater growth or more complete abandonmentthan their neighbors while others experienced much less

168 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 30 (2015) 167–199 Copyright C© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA

Table I Mesoamerican pre-Hispanic chronological periods.

Major Period Sub-period Ages

Paleoindian Pre-7000 B.C.

Archaic 7000 – 2200 B.C.

Preclassic

Early Preclassic 2200 – 1000 B.C.

Middle Preclassic 1000 – 400 B.C.

Late Preclassic 400 B.C. – 100 A.D.

Terminal Preclassic 100 – 250 A.D.

Classic

Early Classic 250 – 600 A.D.

Late Classic 600 – 770 A.D.

Terminal Classic 770 – 900 A.D.

Postclassic

Early Postclassic 900 – 1250 A.D.

Late Postclassic 1250 – 1500 A.D.

fluctuation. Some regions or parts of regions were aban-doned for hundreds of years at a time, while others werenever abandoned.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND CULTUREHISTORY

Over the past decade plus, the procurement of deep sedi-ment cores from several Mesoamerica lakes has given sci-entists the ability to reach back into the last portions ofthe Pleistocene and, thus, contextualize Holocene envi-ronmental change in a new light. These older sedimentsand their embedded proxy data also help to distinguishnatural from anthropogenic change in some areas. An 85ka sediment record from Lake Peten Itza in Guatemalaincludes distinct dry climate episodes (marked by gyp-sum precipitation) during stadials and wetter conditionsduring inter-stadials (Hodell et al., 2008). Extreme arid-ity is clearly associated with Heinrich Events and cold seasurface temperatures in the North Atlantic, reduced cir-culation, and the southward displacement of the ITCZ.Oscillations between wetter and drier conditions are alsoevident in the last 10 ky of the Pleistocene before fi-nally giving way to more persistently warmer, moisterconditions in the Holocene. Nevertheless, drier pulsesare evident within the Holocene and the data fromthe Pleistocene raises the question that some of the in-creased sedimentation resulting from accelerated soil ero-sion following Maya occupation may have been triggeredby episodes of aridity and canopy opening as well asby anthropogenic deforestation (Hillesheim et al., 2005;Mueller et al., 2009).

A 52,000 year sediment record in the Zacapu Basinin Michoacan, Mexico shows moist conditions from52 ka until a drying trend initiates around 35 ka

(Ortega et al., 2002). An undefined event occurs at 25ka which the authors suggest as a depositional hiatusdue to tectonic modification of the basin. Further dry-ing continues throughout the Pleistocene–Holocene tran-sition from 14 to 4.8 ka. After 4.8 ka the authors wereunable to separate climatic and anthropogenic environ-mental changes. A 48,000 year sediment record fromnearby Lake Patzcuaro in the volcanic highlands of Mi-choacan in western Mexico exhibits comparatively littlefluctuation in atmospheric moisture. In a 17,000 yearrecord from Lake Zirahuen, Lozano-Garcia et al. (2013)found evidence for cooler and drier conditions in thePleistocene with a transition to moister conditions be-ginning around 13.5 ka. Particularly warm periods werenoted for 9.5–9.0 ka, a notable cold snap around 8.2 ka,and an especially moist period from 7.5–7.1 ka matchingrecords from elsewhere in Mesoamerica and the NorthAtlantic. In contrast to other paleoenvironmental recordsfrom central Mexico, the Lake Patzcuaro study indicatesrelatively moist conditions during the Last Glacial Maxi-mum, whereas the other studies suggest generally greateraridity. After 10 ka, the lake began to experience in-creased eutrophication possibly as the result of losing itsformer connectivity with the Lerma River. Sequences ofpaleosols associated with paleolakes in the Basin of Mex-ico indicate that drying conditions in the early Holocenegave way to greater moisture in the mid-Holocene andbrief lake resurgence, before drying conditions resumedin the late Holocene (Sedov et al., 2001). The gradual re-treat of the basin paleolakes and the development of bet-ter drained soils set the stage for the regional expansionof agriculture in the late Holocene (Sedov et al., 2010).

Perhaps no issue has received more attention in Mayaarchaeology over the past two decades than the roledroughts have played in the course of Maya civilization.Proxy data were originally obtained from a pair of lakesin the northeast Yucatan Peninsula (Chichancanab andPunta Laguna) and focused on changing composition ofsediments (e.g., precipitation of gypsum) and oxygen iso-tope values in ostracods and gastropods (Curtis, Hod-dell & Brenner, 1996; Hodell, Brenner, & Curtis, 1995).These early studies and other syntheses (e.g., Gill, 2000)were greeted with considerable skepticism by many Mayaarchaeologists who viewed them as deterministic andalso questioned the chronological precision or correla-tions between apparent drought and the archaeologi-cal record (e.g., Aimers, 2007; Demarest, Rice, & Rice,2004; McAnany & Gallareta Negron, 2010). However,evidence for episodic or cyclical droughts has mountedover the past decade with additional proxies, additionalstudy sites, and enhanced chronological control. Thesedata have led to an acceptance by most Maya archae-ologists acknowledging the damaging role droughts may



have played in the course of Maya civilization, albeit howcausal that role was versus other cultural factors remainscontentious (cf. the various chapters in Iannone, 2014).

Limnological studies continue to add important data tounderstanding climate change in the Maya Lowlands. Inthe northern Maya Lowlands more detailed studies havebeen conducted at Laguna Chichancanab and LagunaPunta Laguna (Hodell, Brenner, & Curtis, 2005; Hodellet al., 2007), Lake Coba (Leyden, Brenner, & Dahlin,1998), Aguada Xcaamal (a clay-plugged cenote; Hodellet al., 2005), and Lake Tzib (Carrillo-Bastos et al., 2010).In the southern Maya Lowlands, further study of LakePeten Itza, Lake Salpeten, and Lake Quexil has not onlypushed the paleoenvironmental record back tens of thou-sands of years, but has also resulted in a more refinedchronology (Anselmetti et al., 2006; Mueller et al., 2009;Rosenmeier et al., 2002). While earlier studies of the cen-tral Peten lakes were unable to distinguish between an-thropogenic and climate change signals, newer studiesusing multiple proxies and enhanced dating have hadmore success. A brief summary of important findings fol-lows. Since the onset of the Holocene, climate conditionswere considerably variable especially with respect to ef-fective rainfall, that is, the amount of rainfall that fallsduring the typical growing season (Brenner et al., 2002;Hodell, Brenner, & Curtis, 2005). Wetter conditions inthe mid-Holocene gave way to a general, progressive dry-ing trend that began about 4000 years ago (Mueller et al.,2009). For the late Holocene, it has been proposed thatshort-term (centennial scale) fluctuations in rainfall mayhave been driven by the 208-year cycle of solar output(Hodell et al., 2001; Wahl et al., 2006). Statistical analysishas been used to question the validity of the role of solarperiodicity in Maya droughts, but does not question thefact that severe droughts have occurred (Carleton, Camp-bell, & Collard, 2014).

Mounting paleoenvironmental data indicate that pe-riods of particularly intense drought may have afflictedwide areas of the Maya Lowlands in the 4th century B.C.,and the 2nd, 9th, and 11th centuries A.D. Notably, thesewere not single “megadroughts,” but generally a tem-porally concentrated series of droughts (Brenner et al.,2003). Although most attention has been given to theTerminal Classic droughts of the 9th century A.D., ear-lier droughts are beginning to garner more attention,especially those centered on the second century A.D.(Figure 2). These droughts had a devastating effect onLate Preclassic Maya populations, including abandon-ment of many large and small centers, changes that mayhave helped set the stage for the emergence of ClassicMaya civilization (Dunning et al., 2002, 2014a; Hansenet al., 2002; Wahl, Byrne, & Anderson, 2014; Wahl et al.,2006, 2007).

Strong corollary proxy paleoclimate data have beenobtained from outside of Mesoamerica, most notablyfrom the Cariaco Basin offshore Venezuela (Haug et al.2003; Peterson & Haug 2005). Anaerobic conditions inthis deep basin have preserved biannually laminatedwet/dry season sediments that record droughts in thelower Caribbean that seem to correlate well with theMaya Lowlands record; droughts in both places are linkedto the timing and strength of seasonal shifts in the ITCZ.

Detailed records of paleoprecipitation have been ob-tained from speleothems harvested from caves in Yu-catan, Mexico, and Belize. From cave laminae insouthern Belize, Webster et al. (2007) used color, lumi-nescence, δ 13C, and δ 18O as precipitation proxies to sug-gest Preclassic climate flux from drought to pluvial, LatePreclassic (5 B.C. and A.D. 141) severe droughts, ClassicPeriod wetter conditions sandwiching a drought in theMiddle Classic (A.D. 517), and Late Classic through Post-classic (A.D. 780, 910, 1074, and 1139) severe droughts.Analysis of a speleothem from Yok Balum Cave in Belizealso show clear periodic drought in the Terminal Clas-sic, but with the most extreme peak in the period be-tween A.D. 1000 and 1020, a period not flagged by mostother Maya paleoclimate records (Kennett et al., 2012).In northern Yucatan paleoprecipitation records gatheredfrom a speleothem (dubbed “Chaak” for the Maya raingod) found in Tzab Na Cave near Tecoh indicate thatthe northern lowlands experienced a similar chronolog-ical pattern of decreased rainfall including a series ofeight multi-year droughts, 3–18 years in length, betweenA.D. 806 and 935 (Medina-Elizade et al., 2010; Medina-Elizade & Rohling, 2012). These studies show the highpotential of speleothems as paleoclimate proxies in thekarst Maya Lowlands, including the possibility of pro-viding measures of annual precipitation proxies, by farthe finest chronological resolution available. However,it needs to be borne in mind that these records can beseverely affected by localized land use changes that mayaccentuate drought signals for some periods. For exam-ple, land use change, possibly including the constructionof plastered surfaces above a cave, will undoubted effectinfiltration and percolation. Hence, speleothem records,despite their potential for fine-grained chronological res-olution, will be most meaningful when multiple recordscan be obtained for a locality and region. Other at-tempts to analyze speleothems are ongoing, but havebeen limited by dating problems associated with low Thlevels and disruptions found in individual speleothemformation processes (e.g., Dahlin, 2011; Smyth et al.,2011).

The record of recurrent aridity also includes many re-gional soils. The development of Vertisols on alluviumin the lower Usumacinta drainage has been interpreted



Figure 2 Aguada Tintal, San Bartolo, Guatemala: a) Coring aguada floor in 2005; b) sediment composition and pollen frequency of Aguada Tintal core

(adapted from Dunning et al. 2014a, Figure 4). The oxidized sediment in Zone 3 marks a Late/Terminal Preclassic drought above an earlier cultivated

landscape; dredging removed later Classic period sediment, followed by abandonment and reforestation. Pollen analysis by John G. Jones.

to indicate relative aridity during the Preclassic (Solis-Castillo et al., 2013). In northern Quintana Roo, thepunctuated development of Calcisols in depression soilsindicates fluctuating moisture levels that likely reflectclimate change, though changes in wetland hydrologyalso likely contributed to varying pedogenic processes(Wollwage et al., 2012). Cave sediments may also reflectcyclical aridity (Polk, van Beynen, & Reeder, 2007).

Although the paleoenvironmental proxy data for an-cient droughts in the Maya Lowlands is now compelling,it is also clear that the actual distribution of precipitationwas highly variable across both space and time (as it is to-day, especially during drought years). Such variability isundoubtedly part of the reason that there is an imperfectcorrelation between the drought record and Maya culturehistory, especially from the perspective of individual sitesand sub-regions. Certainly some regions and sites weremore vulnerable to drought, particularly the Elevated In-terior Region of the Yucatan Peninsula (EIR in Figure 1)where access to both surface and subterranean water wasnegligible (Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach, 2012).The complex series of historical events that played outacross the Maya Lowlands over time make it clear thatthe ability of different communities and leaders to copeand adapt to drought and other stresses indeed variedgreatly (Aimers & Hodell, 2011; Iannone, 2014; Yeager &Hodell, 2008). Nevertheless, it is also clear that droughtshave had devastating effects on the Maya Lowlands andits inhabitants for millennia (Gill et al., 2007). The Mayathemselves may well have also contributed to the inten-sification of droughts by removing regional forest coverinterfering with water capture and regeneration via tran-spiration (Cook et al., 2012; Griffin et al. 2014; Oglesbyet al., 2010; Shaw, 2003).

Pollen and sediment composition in a core taken fromLake Pompal in the Tuxla Mountains of Veracruz indicatelower water levels and forest canopy opening consistentwith a drying trend after 2600 14C yr B.P. and peakingaround 1300 14C yr B.P., though the record is complicatedby the concurrent intensification of regional agricultureduring this same period (Goman & Byrne, 1998). Farthernorth in Veracruz, Hudson and Heitmuller (2003) docu-mented the evolving system of natural river levees in thelower Panuco River Basin linking these to changing basinhydrology through the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.

A speleothem from Cueva del Diablo north of Aca-pulco in the Mexican state of Guerrero was analyzedby Bernal et al. (2011) for δ18O variation within thecarbonate, and used to infer the environmental condi-tions during the periods of speleothem formation andgrowth. Moist conditions are largely tied with the influxof glacial meltwater to the Atlantic with precipitation de-creasing from the Caribbean as a result of cooler Atlanticsea surface temperatures driving a southern migration ofthe ITCZ. Pacific climate patterns are suggested to inter-fere with Caribbean and Atlantic patterns after � 4.3 ka,specifically an overall decrease in precipitation resultingfrom increased influence of El Nino-Southern Oscillation(ENSO) and marked periods of moisture decrease dur-ing ENSO warm phases. The two largest climatic anoma-lies of the Holocene at 10.3 ka and 8.2 ka, expressedelsewhere by low lake levels at Patzcuaro (the 10.3 kaanomaly) and glacial advances on the Iztaccihuatl Vol-cano, are represented as hiatuses of speleothem growthfollowed by lower δ18O values. Association with theseknown climatic anomalies driving the hiatuses, as op-posed to other processes, is supported by uraniumratios representing increases in the lighter isotope.



Unfortunately, the speleothem record terminates at 1.24ka and could not provide paleoclimate data on Termi-nal Classic and Postclassic droughts that plagued parts ofMesoamerica.

Not unexpectedly, ENSO cycles are fairly apparent inthe sediment records of several west and central Mexi-can lakes (Metcalfe, 2006). Historical records of droughtsafflicting central Mexico between A.D. 1450 and 1900indicate a close correlation between ENSO cycles anddroughts (Mendoza et al., 2005).

Sediment cores recovered from lakes Tixtla and Huizil-tepec, in the West Mexican state of Guerrero documentforest cover change from � 2.70 ka to 1.95 ka indicativeof drier conditions giving way to higher humidity thanthe modern environment, � 1.95 ka to 1.07 ka (Berrıoet al., 2006). In Oaxaca, pollen and geomorphic data re-covered from the lower Rio Verde suggest that periodsof increased aridity and canopy opening in highland wa-tersheds centered around 6.17 ka and 5.34 ka led to in-creased erosion in upper portions of the watershed andaggradation downstream prior to any significant humanimpacts (Joyce & Mueller, 1997). Increased ENSO fre-quencies are also thought to underlie an increase in hur-ricane strikes in coastal Oaxaca in the mid-late Holocene(Goman, Joyce, & Mueller, 2005).

The most detailed record of past precipitation recoveredto date in Mesoamerica comes from Montezuma Bald-cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) growing in Queretaro incentral Mexico (Stahle et al., 2011). Growth rings in thesetrees have provided a 1238 year rainfall record includ-ing droughts at A.D. 810, A.D. 860, and several betweenA.D. 897–922, a record that only partly correlates withthat of the Maya Lowlands but clearly indicates that Ter-minal Classic droughts also affected central Mexico. Im-portantly, periods of droughts are also evident for A.D.1149–1167, during the decline of the Toltec state, andA.D. 1514–1539 during the Spanish conquest of the Aztecstate.

In the Guatemalan Highlands analysis of diatoms in along sediment core from Lake Amatitlan indicate loweredlake levels during two periods (250 B.C. to A.D. 125, andA.D. 875 to 1375), probably indicative of periods of rela-tive aridity (Velez et al., 2011). On the southeastern edgeof Mesoamerica Dull (2004) obtained an 8000-year sedi-ment record from a crater lake in the Sierra de Apaneca,El Salvador. Vegetation and chemical proxies indicate awarm, humid climate during the mid-Holocene optimum(a warm period 9.0 and 5.0 ka), the onset of a cooling,drying trend around 5.5 ka, then stabilization into cli-mate similar to the present day around 3.5 ka. Tephrafrom the Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) eruption of IlopangoVolcano is prominent within the core, followed abruptlyby indications of local abandonment and reforestation.

Volcanic eruptions have been linked to climate dis-ruptions and longer term changes around the globe. Thelargest known stratospheric aerosol loading event of thepast 2000 years occurred in A.D. 536 and disrupted globalclimate until around A.D. 550 and creating agriculturalproblems in many parts of the world, including possi-bly within the Maya Lowlands (Dahlin & Chase, 2014).Although the catastrophic TBJ eruption of Ilopango Vol-cano in El Salvador was originally dated to A.D. 260± 114 yrs, a new suite of radiocarbon dates indicatethe eruption occurred sometime between A.D. 440 and550 suggesting a possible link to the A.D. 536 event(Dull et al., 2010; Kutterolf, Freundt, & Perez, 2008). Re-gardless of whether or not the TBJ eruption occurredin A.D. 536, it had catastrophic effects across south-east Mesoamerica leading to widespread abandonmentof settlements and migration to neighboring areas (Dull,Southon, & Sheets, 2001).

Given the location of Mesoamerica astride conver-gent tectonic plate boundaries, it is not surprisingthat volcanism and earthquakes played a significantrole in shaping the region’s cultural history—as wellas the cultures themselves, particularly their cosmolo-gies (Gill & Keating, 2002; Sheets, 1999, 2008). Al-though much less studied, earthquake activity also clearlyinfluenced Mesoamerican cultures and their histories(Kovach, 2004). In some instances, effusive volcaniceruptions have also provided archaeologists with as-tounding opportunities where towns and villages havebeen rapidly entombed by ejecta. The village of Cerenin El Salvador has now been the subject to decades ofproductive investigation (further discussion follows be-low). Another buried site that has revealed a great dealabout daily life in Mesoamerica is Tetimpa on the slopesof Popocatepetl Volcano in Puebla, Mexico (Plunket &Urunuela, 1998). Sheets (2009) astutely points out thatgiven the widespread deposition of tephras dating tothe period of human occupation in Mesoamerica, otherburied sites surely exist and await discovery; he suggeststhat deposits around Ceboruca Volcano (see Sieron &Siebe, 2008) in Nayarit might be an especially promisingplace to look.

The diffusion of volcanic ash is also now known to haveplayed a significant role in the agricultural potential ofnon-volcanic regions of Mesoamerica. Ash is likely theprimary inorganic component in many soils of the south-ern Maya Lowlands (Tankersley et al., 2011, 2015), and isa significant contributor of clay minerals, silica, and nutri-ents to soils in the northern Maya Lowlands in additionto Saharan dust (Das et al., 2011; Cabadas-Baez et al.,2010).

Another natural hazard with a frequent recurrence in-terval in Mesoamerica is hurricanes and tropical storms.



Paleotempestology is still in its infancy in the region,but initial findings are promising. McClosky and Keller(2009) uncovered a 5000-year record of hurricane strikesin two coastal lagoons in southern Belize. Unfortunately,an enormous hurricane in the 15th century A.D. appar-ently scoured large amounts of sediment from both la-goons, creating a 1700-year gap in the record spanningmuch of the course of ancient Maya civilization. A morecomplete sediment record has been recovered in a se-ries of cores taken in the Blue Hole, a submerged Pleis-tocene sinkhole on the Belizean Barrier Reef (Gischleret al., 2008). These cores indicate numerous hurricanesover the past 1500 years (the limit of the cores), includ-ing two major strikes in the second half of the 8th centuryA.D. Further analysis of the cores indicate that hurricanefrequency appears to correlate more strongly with globalclimate than with local conditions (Denommee, Bentley,& Drowxler, 2014).

Dunning and Houston (2011) examined ethnographic,historic, hieroglyphic, and geomorphic evidence for theeffects of hurricanes on Maya history and culture andon the Maya Lowlands environment. Given the highfrequency of hurricane strikes across the Maya Low-lands, it is not surprising that these sometimes devas-tating storms are deeply embedded in Maya cosmologywarranting their own deity, a malevolent “sparking ser-pent.” In the historic and modern era, hurricanes havegenerated major flooding even in interior regions andare a powerful geomorphic agent presenting clear recordsin fluvial sediments. Targeted examination of fluvial se-quences and coastal deposits in other parts of the MayaLowlands (e.g. Beach et al., 2009) and elsewhere inMesoamerica (e.g., Goman, Joyce, & Mueller, 2005; Neffet al., 2006a) will undoubtedly reveal other records ofhurricane strikes. Mud layers within a speleothem fromnorthern Yucatan have been interpreted as proxies fortropical storms (Frappier et al., 2014), but are notablysuppressed during intense drought episodes when lowregional groundwater levels inhibited the filling of caveswith water and sediment during storms.

Another environmental change affecting Mesoamer-ica owes its origin to orbitally driven, long-term climatefluctuations that influence global sea levels. Fluctuatingsea levels are especially important on the low-lying Yu-catan Platform including the submergence of large por-tions with sea-level rise at the end of the Pleistocene(� 17,000–10,000 years ago) and during the earlyHolocene (� 10,000–5000 years ago). Although the rateof sea level rise slowed dramatically by the middleHolocene, it continued to affect coastal regions and res-idents (Van Hengstum et al., 2009).

Geoarchaeological investigations around La Joyancaalong the Rio San Pedro Matir, a major tributary of the

Usumacintla in the northwestern Peten, Guatemala haveuncovered evidence for dynamic environmental changesassociated with the Pleistocene-Holocene transition andwith the ancient Maya occupation of the region (Galopet al., 2004; Metailie et al., 2003). In this region of mutedridge and valley terrain, late Pleistocene stream channelsdraining grabens were aggraded, probably as the result ofbase-level changes in the Holocene. Continued changesin the Preclassic and Classic compelled the Maya to adaptto continued slow sea level rise and spread of wetlandsin the coastal plains. In the Holbox Fracture in northernQuintana Roo, wetlands connected to the coast graduallychanged and likely triggered cycles of site abandonmentand reoccupation and Maya attempts to manipulate wet-land hydrology (Fedick et al., 2000; Sedov et al., 2008). Inthe coastal lowlands of northern Belize and adjacent areasof Mexico, sea level rise triggered changes in groundwa-ter chemistry and aggradation in the region’s low gradientriver systems (Figure 3) (Beach et al., 2009; Luzzadder-Beach & Beach, 2009; Luzzadder-Beach, Beach, & Dun-ning, 2012). Associated wetland field systems were some-times adapted to changing hydrology, but at other timesabandoned. Wetland field systems in coastal Veracruzwere likewise affected by sea level rise (Heimo, Siemens,& Hebda, 2004). Sea level rise is also implicated inchanging fluvial hydrology and associated settlement atthe mouths of the Panuco River in northern Veracruz(Hudson, 2004), the Rio Verde in Oaxaca (Goman, Joyce,& Mueller, 2005) and several drainages on the Pacificcoast of Guatemala (Neff et al., 2006).

A natural disaster of the distant past has also had a last-ing impact on the cultural history of part of the north-ern Maya Lowlands. Though buried under later carbon-ate sediments, the massive 65 million-year-old ChicxulubMeteorite Crater underlying the northwestern YucatanPeninsula continues to profoundly influence groundwa-ter movement and the development of water-bearingcaves and sinkholes (cenotes), and larger structural andsolution depressions in the overlying limestone (Hilde-brand et al., 1995; Perry et al., 2010). Differences inbedrock chemistry and topography associated with theburied crater also influenced soil development (Popeet al., 1996). These hydrologic and pedologic factors have,in turn, influenced settlement distribution and historyacross the region (Winemiller, 2007).

ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTALCHANGE

The Lake Patzcuaro Basin in Michoacan, Mexico has beenthe focus of a controversy centering on the timing of, andagency behind accelerated soil erosion. Although the lake



Figure 3 Processes involved in wetland field formation as documented in riparian wetlands in northern Belize: a) ditching through peaty wetland; b)

peat formation over paleosol after sea-level and water table rise followed by ditching; c) aggradation from alluvial deposition over peat or paleosol; d)

“gyp-heave” or subsurface gypsum accumulation or pillowing; e) “raising” or aggradation via anthropogenic deposition (adapted from various figures in

Beach et al., 2009, 2015). Note: in reality multiple of these processes may affect a given location.

has been cored multiple times since the 1940s, much ofthe controversy has been in the last 20 years. A study byO’Hara, Street-Perrott, and Burt (1993) based on corestaken from many different parts of the large lake re-ported a positive correlation between Prehispanic popu-lation growth and sedimentation rates within the basinas a whole indicating erosion peaking in the Classic andPostclassic. A detailed study of a portion of the southernbasin by Fisher et al. (2003) based on deep stratigraphicexcavations refuted this correlation finding that soil ero-sion was at its highest during Preclassic land clearanceand settlement, then stabilized as population increasedin the Classic and Postclassic periods and heavy invest-ment was made in agricultural terracing, and finally ac-celerated again in the early Colonial period when regionalpopulation crashed and soil conservation measures were

abandoned. Detailed analyses of four cores taken fromseveral parts of the basin lend support to the originalmodel of accelerating soil erosion correlating with Pre-hispanic population growth and agricultural expansion(Metcalfe et al., 2007). It is likely that the more detailedstratigraphy and chronological control provided by ex-cavations in a part of the southern basin reveal morenuanced, but perhaps localized effects that may not berepresentative of the lake basin as a whole. Similar strati-graphic excavations in other parts of the basin could helpresolve this controversy.

At lakes Tixtla and Huiziltepec, in the West Mexicanstate of Guerrero increases in watershed cultivation (in-dicated by maize pollen) are documented for the firstmillennium A.D. (Berrıo et al., 2006). Small pulses ofincreased soil erosion are indicated sporadically in both



lakes during this period, but the most notable increasein erosion is associated with the post-Conquest period.At Lake Zirahuen disturbance is first noted around 3ka and continues with some oscillations before peak-ing in the Postclassic around 1350 A.D. (Lozano-Garciaet al., 2013; Ortega et al., 2010). However, the evi-dence for anthropogenic erosion is complicated by indica-tions of episodic aridity that may also have induced ero-sion/sedimentation. Similarly, Park et al.’s (2010) studyof two shallow central Mexican maar lakes produced con-flated signals for aridity and anthropogenic erosion withpeaks in both the Preclassic and Classic times. Anotherstudy of Lake Zirahuen and Lake Juanacatlan in Jaliscodocumented increases in erosion and metal contaminantslinked to Colonial agriculture and mining (Davies et al.,2005). In sum, each drainage basin that has been exam-ined exhibits a unique history of anthropogenic change.

In the Maya Lowlands, scholars have for many yearslinked the decline of Classic Maya civilization with soilerosion and environmental degradation (e.g., Bennett,1926; Cooke, 1931; Morley, 1946). Combined paleoen-vironmental and archaeological studies at Lake Yaxhaand other central Peten, Guatemala lakes were used todevelop a more quantitative version of this model thatposited a direct relationship between population growth,forest clearance, and soil erosion (Deevy et al., 1979; Rice,1993). While this model does indeed appear to be rep-resentative of some investigated catchments, it does notseem to be a universal fit. At Lake Yaxha, high sedimen-tation rates may have been linked as much to urbaniza-tion (the large site of Yaxha sprawled across one side ofthe lake) as with agriculture. In many areas, the relation-ship between population growth and land degradation ismuch less direct. For many studied catchments, soil ero-sion peaks not with maximum population numbers (typ-ically in the Late Classic), but during the first centuries offorest clearance and agricultural expansion (Anselmattiet al., 2006; Dunning et al., 1998; Dunning & Beach,2000, 2010). Evidence suggests that early farmers wereless conservative while land pressure was slight, some-times with catastrophic results when sloping, unprotectedland was subject to erosive tropical rainfall (Beach et al.2006). By sometime in the Late Preclassic, soil conser-vation measures such as terracing began to appear insome areas (Beach et al., 2008; Dunning & Beach, 2000;Carazzo, et al., 2007; Garrison & Dunning, 2009; see alsofurther discussion below).

The relationship between population pressure and soilerosion in the Maya Lowlands was sometimes complex.For example, Carozza et al. (2007) document pulses oferosion/sedimentation around La Joyanca, Guatamala.Light population in the Middle Preclassic initiated littleerosion, rising population in the Late Preclassic gener-

ated large amounts of erosion, but greater populationgrowth in the Late Classic produced notably less erosion,presumably because of the implementation of conserva-tion measures. Following Terminal Classic abandonment,a recolonizing Postclassic population renewed the erosioncycle. There is no question that at times some ancientMaya groups generated catastrophic soil erosion as evi-dent in the utter denudation of hillslopes and the burial ofdownslope/downstream locations including older occu-pation sites (Dunning & Beach, 2000; Holley et al., 2000),but more conservative land management was practicedin other places and times and soilscapes were stabilized(Dunning et al., 2009).

An aspect of urbanization in the Maya Lowlands thatundoubtedly contributed to land degradation was thequarrying of limestone both for stone and for makinglime plaster. This form of degradation may have beenmost acute in the Late Preclassic, when architectural stylefavored massive pyramid complexes coated in extremelythick layers of lime stucco, such as in the Mirador Basinarea (Hansen et al, 2002; Wahl et al., 2007).

Not surprisingly, soil erosion linked to land clearance,especially for agriculture, has been documented through-out Mesoamerica. McAuliffe et al. (2001) documentedsevere Prehispanic soil erosion in the Tehuacan Val-ley of central Mexico, probably during both the Clas-sic and Postclassic periods, and continuing into Colonialand modern times. Prehispanic soil conservation terrac-ing was present in some parts of the valley, but notothers. Where present, the terraces were eventually ne-glected and have largely disintegrated. At Tlaxcala, Bore-jsza et al. (2008) uncovered a complex landscape thatexperienced severe erosion in the Preclassic period, fol-lowed by abandonment, then reclamation with extensiveagricultural terracing in the Postclassic (Figure 4). Someof that erosion was generated by swidden agriculture inhigh elevation areas (tierra fria) that were brought intoproduction by either population pressure of political eco-nomic exclusion (Borejsza, Frederick, & Lesure, 2011).Ancient, Colonial, and modern soil erosion on slopinglands has been widespread in central Mexico (Cordova& Parsons, 1997; Heine, 2003) resulting in the burial ofancient land surfaces within basins and valleys (McClungde Tapia et al., 2003; Sanchez-Perez et al., 2013).

Around Laguna Pompal in the Tuxla Mountains ofVeracruz, the first forest clearance for agriculture beganaround 4830 14C yr B.P., but was followed by a hiatusof nearly 1500 years before cultivation resumed around2600 14C yr B.P. (Goman & Byrne, 1998). Forest clear-ance was then pervasive until about 1300 14C yr B.P. re-flecting the spread and intensification of agriculture inthe Preclassic (Formative) and Classic periods, thoughwithout generating a notable increase in the deposition



Figure 4 Idealized diagram of slope and land use

evolution in Tlaxcala, Mexico (based on figures and

discussion in Borejsza et al., 2008): a)

Preclassic/Formative period cultivation; 2) Classic period

degradation and abandonment; c) Postclassic terracing

and stabilization.

of inorganic sediments indicative of accelerated soil ero-sion. An earlier study of nearby Lake Catemaco founda similar record of forest clearance with little increasein sedimentation (Byrne & Horn, 1989). Whether thelack of indicated erosion is the result of local watershedcharacteristics, natural resistance of the region’s Andis-ols to erosion, or ancient soil conservation practices isunknown.

The Rio Verde drainage basin includes the NochixtlanValley, Ejutla Valley, and the Valley of Oaxaca. Manyyears of research have demonstrated that episodes of soilerosion were triggered by land clearance for agriculturein the upper watersheds during the Preclassic as early as1500 B.C. and continued episodically through the Clas-sic period, punctuated by periods of stability and soil for-mation in individual tributaries (Joyce & Goman, 2012;Joyce & Mueller, 1992, 1997; Perez Rodrıguez, Anderson,

& Neff, 2011). Erosion in the upper watershed initiatedsedimentation in the lower Rio Verde drainage, creatingalluvial soils that became a new focus for agricultural in-tensification and population concentration, though thisaggradation also created new flooding problems. Depo-sition at the coastal outlet of the Rio Verde created adynamic lagoon environment with new, but shifting re-sources (Goman, Joyce, & Mueller, 2005).

A core taken from Aguada Petapilla in a small valleynear Copan, Honduras showed two peaks in deforesta-tion: around 900 B.C. when agriculture began in the area,and around A.D. 400 when a Maya kingdom was estab-lished at Copan (McNeil, Burney, & Burney, 2010). Thesefindings are contrary to earlier studies of Petapilla that in-dicated accelerating deforestation in the region throughthe Classic period (Abrams & Rue, 1988; Rue, 1987). Thenew finding, however, fails to account for the evidence



of significant soil erosion in the Copan Valley during theClassic period (Abrams et al., 1996).

In the Guatemalan Highlands, Velez et al. (2011) corre-late increased inorganic sedimentation with forest clear-ance and soil erosion brought on by population increasesin the Middle Preclassic, Early Classic, and Late Postclas-sic. On the nearby Pacific coast, periods of populationgrowth also correlate with increased fluvial sedimenta-tion (Neff et al., 2006a, 2006b). Population levels, forestclearance, and agriculture are also linked in Laguna Cuz-cachapa in El Salvaror (Dull, 2007).

In reality, human–environment interactions are oftenhighly intertwined and modeling these interactions re-quires a complex systems perspective. A good exampleof the complexity of such interrelationships can be il-lustrated by the effects of forest removal in the MayaLowlands (Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach, 2012;Turner & Sabloff, 2012), a set of interactions that beginswith the nature of bedrock on the Yucatan Peninsula.Much of this limestone bedrock is nearly pure calcite. Inthe southern Lowlands the inorganic fraction comprisingregional soils is largely derived from windblown volcanicash; in the north the parent material is a compound ofvolcanic ash, Saharan and North American eolian dust,plus local calcite. While these soils are fairly fertile, theyare notoriously low in phosphorus. Over the long term,P is recharged by new inputs of volcanic ash. On an an-nual basis, P is recharged by inputs of eolian dust (Daset al., 2011; Lawrence et al., 2007). However, as for-est is progressively removed from a location, the captureof dust is proportionally diminished leading to decreas-ing P levels in the soil. Thus, as agriculture was intensi-fied across the Maya Lowlands, P levels in regional soilswould have progressively declined. Reductions in forestfallowing would also likely decrease nitrogen levels byreducing inputs from leguminous Leucaena species, whichcomprise a significant portion of regional forests. Declin-ing soil fertility would have had cascading effects. Yieldswould have declined necessitating clearance of more for-est if available. Plant health would have declined makingcrops more vulnerable to diseases such as maize mosaicvirus. Declining soil fertility would also increase vulnera-bility to field invasion by weedy species, most notably ofbracken fern (Pteridium aquilinium), an aggressive speciesthat thrives in nutrient poor soil and which is noted forinvading over-cropped fields in the Southern Maya Low-lands and for being difficult to remove once established(Dunning & Beach, 2010; Perez-Salicrup, 2004). Thus,ironically, while the high base status soils and tropical cli-mate of the Maya Lowlands were favorable for cultivatingmaize and supporting high population densities, popula-tion growth led to the incremental reduction of forest forconstruction material, fuel, and farm land would have

created a risk spiral within the region, especially whencoupled with other environmental and cultural risk fac-tors (Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach, 2012; Turner& Sabloff, 2012).

The Maya are a forest people who have accumulateda cultural storehouse of the economic properties associ-ated with trees and other plants including food, timber,fuel, fiber, and medicine among others. Hence, it is likelythat for millennia the Maya selectively removed somespecies and encouraged others. For many years, it hasbeen suspected that even in areas abandoned for cen-turies, the species composition of the tropical forest inthe Maya Lowlands partly reflects ancient forest manage-ment (e.g., Gomez-Pompa et al., 1987). Surveys of forestmantling ancient Maya sites have been used to documentthe species that were likely incorporated into gardens, or-chards, or managed forest (Ford, 2008; Ross, 2011; Ross &Rangle, 2011; Thompson et al., 2015). Analysis of woodand charcoal recovered from archaeological excavationsalso sheds light on the changing composition of ancientforests (Hageman & Goldstein, 2009; Lentz et al., 2014,2015). At Tikal, Lentz and Hockaday (2009) found thatManilkara zapata, a tree favored for lintels in monumen-tal architecture, was likely carefully managed but even-tually became scarce enough to be replaced by anotherless desirable species. Charcoal recovered from many sitesindicate that pine may have become intentionally culti-vated in areas outside its natural range because it wasfavored in ritual contexts (Lentz et al., 2005; Morehart,Lentz, & Prufer, 2005). Genetic analysis is beginning toadd a new dimension to understanding the managementof tree species through domestication or “wild” manage-ment (e.g., Galindo-Tovar et al., 2008; Petersen, Parker,& Potter, 2012; Thompson et al., 2015).

Anthropogenic land use changes also had lasting im-pacts on hydrology. Forest clearance, agriculture, andquarrying triggered erosion on sloping land surroundingclosed depressions (bajos) in the southern Maya Low-lands and the resulting sedimentation often resulted inthe blockage of groundwater recharge of once peren-nial wetlands (Beach et al., 2003; Dunning et al., 2002;Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach 2006; Hansen et al.,2002). Sedimentation, eutrophication, and climate dryingall likely contributed to the long-term transformation ofmany perennial wetlands and shallow lakes into seasonalswamps in which deep clay Vertisols developed. How-ever, although many wetlands or parts of wetlands were“degraded”, other parts were actually enhanced from aMaya point of view. Wide aprons of calcium-rich collu-vial and alluvial sediment derived from upslope erosionaccumulated along the margins of bajos. These aprons ofdeep, high-base-status soils developed into some of thebest agricultural land available in the southern lowlands



and became the focus of intensive cultivation (Dunninget al., 2002; Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach 2006;Gunn et al., 2002). In some perennial wetlands in ripar-ian settings in the coastal lowlands, canals were dug tofacilitate drainage and agriculture (see further discussionbelow). More than a thousand years later, these canalsystems often continue to influence wetland hydrology,ecology, and pedogenesis (Figure 3) (Beach et al., 2009).In the Valley of Guatemala, a canal system associatedwith former Lake Miraflores may have abetted the per-manent desiccation of the lake in conjunction with dry-ing climate (Popenoe de Hatch et al., 2002).

LAND COVER, LAND USE, PALEODIET

By 1000 B.C., much of Mesoamerica was becoming anever-changing patchwork of forest and fields (Dunning& Beach, 2010). Charting how this increasingly human-ized landscape changed over time and space has becomean ever more sophisticated scientific endeavor. As dis-cussed above, investigations of ancient forests have uti-lized palynology, macrobotanical analysis of wood andcharcoal, surveys of contemporary forests, and studies ofgenetic variation. As will be discussed in the next sec-tion, analysis of carbon isotopes in soil organic matteralso offers information about changing vegetation com-position. The nature of forest cover can also be partlyreconstructed by analysis of fauna recovered in archaeo-logical investigations. The diversity of animal species ex-ploited by residents of investigated Maya sites suggeststhat a wide range of habitats were visited by hunters(Emery & Thornton, 2008a; Freiwald, 2010). Carbonisotope ratios in the bones of species such as white-tailed deer and peccary indicate that these animals con-sumed a significant quantity of maize and were proba-bly procured from farmer’s fields (Emery, 2003), thoughthere are indications at some sites that deer were cap-tured and fed maize before slaughter, a practice also usedwith dogs (White, Longstaffe, & Law, 2001). Variation instrontium isotopes in animal skeletons indicates that atsome larger Maya sites animals were being procured fromconsiderable distances, perhaps through trade or tribute(Freiwald, 2010; Thornton, 2011). In the northern MayaLowlands, species composition of animals recovered fromarchaeological contexts indicate that most animals werelikely procured locally, though higher status house-holds consumed more exotic species as well (Gotz, 2008;Masson & Lope, 2008). In sum, these studies indicate thatmost Maya sites were surrounded by a mosaic of fieldsand forest, some fairly mature, some secondary scrub.However, the specific composition of this field/forest mixvaried greatly across space and time as reflected in vary-

ing mixes of exploited animals (Emery, 2008; Emery& Thornton, 2008b; Somerville, Fauvelle, & Froehle,2013).

Estimates of the amount of forest cover that existedduring regional population zeniths (most typically in theLate Classic) range from as high as 75% to as low as15%. This range likely reflects both actual place-to-placevariation as well as differences in the methods used toreconstruct vegetative cover. Pollen percentages are themost commonly used method, but can lead to underrep-resentation of many tree species (e.g., the many insect-pollinated species predominant in tropical forest; Ford,2008). Macrobotanical remains recovered from archae-ological contexts can provide a partial picture of actualforest use, though one biased by both cultural and preser-vation filters – as well as recovery methods (Hageman &Goldstein, 2009). At Teotihuacan and neighboring sites,the relatively consistent use of certain woody species forfuel and for construction from Preclassic through Post-classic times suggests that some type of forest manage-ment was in play within at least this part of the Basin ofMexico to ensure the continued availability of these treesand shrubs (Adriana-Moran & McClung de Tapia, 2008).Nevertheless, widespread sedimentation over long peri-ods in the Teotihuacan Valley indicate that substantialforest clearance occurred resulting in persistent erosionon surrounding highlands (Sanchez-Perez et al., 2013).Similarly, soil erosion in many watersheds in the MayaLowlands and other regions of Mesoamerica indicates pe-riods of widespread land clearance, though sedimentationrates also indicate that denudation varied greatly acrossspace and time (see above).

The buried village of Ceren, El Salvador and sur-rounding land provide the best evidence on the na-ture of agriculture thus far recovered in Mesoamerica(Sheets, 2002, 2008). At Ceren, rapidly deposited vol-canic ash entombed not only the small town, but thegardens and fields worked by its inhabitants (Figure 5).Excavations for many years were concentrated withinthe village site and its immediate environs. These ex-cavations revealed areas of intensive garden produc-tion that included small plots of maize and manioc, aswell as beans, squashes, hog plum (Spondias), avocado,guava, calabash, and cacao, among others species (Lentz& Ramırez-Sosa, 2002; Sheets, 2008). These gardens wereclearly carefully planned and well tended. More recently,investigations have been extended into the buried land-scape beyond the margins of the village site and haverevealed extensive fields of maize and manioc (Sheetset al., 2011, 2012). While manioc has been posited asa major crop in Mesoamerica, data had been previouslylacking to support this hypothesis. Since the cultiva-tion of manioc and other root crops does not involve



Figure 5 Household 1, Ceren, El Salvador. a) ridges in the foreground are the remains of ancient garden plots rapidly buried by volcanic ash along with

the house structures; ridges are about 15 cm high and 30 cm apart, crest to crest; b) map of the crops and trees revealed around Household 1. Photo and

image courtesy of David Lentz, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati.

pollination and the plants naturally produce little pollen,its absence in most archaeological pollen studies is notsurprising. Nevertheless, examples of manioc and otherroot crops are increasingly being found in pollen andmacrobotanical records (e.g., Akpinar-Ferrand et al.,2012; Dunning et al., 2003; Lentz et al., 2014, 2015). Al-though lacking the advantageous burial by ash, investiga-tions at the Maya village site of Chan in Belize have pro-duced paleobotanical and archaeological data that closelyparallels that found at Ceren with a diversified and inten-sified agricultural system that additionally included agri-cultural terracing (Robin, 2012).

Agricultural terracing was used widely in Mesoamer-ica occurring to greater or lesser extents in any regionwith sloping land. In Oaxaca, terracing began to appearin the Middle Preclassic likely in response to increasingsoil erosion as land was brought into cultivation (Joyce &Goman, 2012; Kowalewski et al., 2009; Perez Rodrıguez& Anderson, 2013). Similar land degradation processesprobably prompted other early investments in terracingin other parts of Mesoamerica including Michoacan andthe Basin of Mexico, the highlands of Veracruz, and theMaya Lowlands (Beach et al., 2009; Fisher, 2005; Gar-rison & Dunning, 2009; Heine, 2003). Terraces systemsshow great variation in scale and degree of organization.In most cases, accretionary growth appears evident, typ-ically in close association with rural household groups;this association and the lack of apparent central plan-ning indicate that the terraces systems evolved infor-mally as farmers brought more sloping land into produc-tion (Beach et al., 2002; Dunning, 2004; Dunning et al.,2003; Dunning & Beach, 2010; Lemonnier & Vanniere,2013; Wyatt, 2012). In other instances, centralized orga-nization is evident in large-scale, carefully orchestrated

systems. Most dramatically, the Maya city of Caracol, Be-lize grew amidst a system of tens of square kilometers ofterracing in a hilly landscape (Figure 6) that would oth-erwise not have allowed such a large urban populationconcentration (Chase & Chase, 1998; Dunning & Beach,2010; Chase et al., 2011). Concentrated terrace systemsalso were a significant part of urbanization at the majorcenters of Monte Alban in Oaxaca and Anagamuco nearLake Patzcuaro, Michoacan (Fisher, 2005; Fisher, Leisz, &Outlaw, 2011; Perez Rodrıguez & Anderson, 2013; Joyce& Goman, 2012).

One puzzling aspect of land use in Mesoamerica is thelack of agricultural terracing in some places where suchan investment would seem to have been highly benefi-cial. The ancient Maya city of Tikal is a case in point.Much of urban Tikal lies on gently to steeply sloping landin a region where terracing has been found at nearbysites (e.g., San Bartolo and Xultun; Garrison & Dunning,2009), only a handful of probable agricultural terraceshave been identified at Tikal despite numerous surveysand detailed mapping (Dunning et al., 2015). Carbon iso-topes recovered from organic matter within sedimentsin two of Tikal’s reservoirs, as well as a slow rate ofsedimentation in those reservoirs, suggest that the ur-ban residential catchment areas feeding these reservoirswere protected by perennial tree cover (e.g. orchardsor tree-dominated gardens) (Scarborough et al., 2012;Tankersley et al., 2011, 2015). This “garden city” modelseems to apply to many other Maya cities in the Clas-sic periods as well (Dunning & Beach, 2010; Lentz et al.,2015) and elsewhere, such as the Gulf Lowlands of Ve-racruz (Stark & Ossa, 2007). Investigations at two sitesin the Tuxla Mountains of Veracruz found archaeobotan-ical evidence for increasing use of tree crops over time,



Figure 6 LiDAR 2-D image of the Pachituk Terminus, Caracol Belize showing settlement groups and extensive agricultural terracing. Courtesy of Arlen

and Diane Chase, Caracol Archaeological Project.

which would have helped conserve sloping lands (Van-Derwarker, 2005).

Much of Tikal’s staple food production may have takenplace on colluvial aprons around localized depressions(“pocket bajos”) and the edges of the sprawling Bajode Santa Fe on the eastern flank of the city (Balzottiet al., 2013; Dunning et al., 2015; Lentz et al. 2014).An unexpected outcome of Preclassic erosion near manysouthern Maya Lowlands population centers was thedumping of huge quantities of base-rich eroded soil intothe region’s many karst depressions (bajos) which hadpreviously been largely unsuitable for maize agriculture(Beach et al., 2003; Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach,2006; Dunning et al., 2002; Gunn et al., 2002). These ar-eas of new, deep colluvial and alluvial soils became thefoci of intensified agricultural production in the ensuingClassic period; at some sites this cultivation is evident inextensive field wall systems, though these are not evidentat Tikal.

Another focus of intensive and specialized cultivationin both the southern and northern Maya Lowlands werelimestone sinkholes or rejolladas. Deeper, more humidsoils in rejolladas allowed these places to be used for dry

season cultivation and production of crops with high wa-ter demand, most notably cacao (Dunning, Beach, & Rue,1997; Lentz et al. 2014, 2015; Munro-Strasiuk, Man-ahan, & Stockton, 2014; Munro-Strasiuk, Manahan, &Stockton, 2014).

Wetlands were a widespread locus of agriculturein Mesoamerica. Wetland agriculture developed earlywithin the Gulf Lowlands of Veracruz, where it mayhave evolved from cultivation along natural alluvial lev-ees (Arnold III, 2009). Macrobotanical, phytolith, andpollen evidence from this area indicates maize cultivationby 7100 14C yr B.P., the earliest known in Mesoamerica(Pohl et al., 2007). Surprisingly, this area has also pro-duced evidence for the Mesoamerican domestication ofsunflowers (Lentz et al., 2008). Investigations in an ex-tensive wetland field complex at Mandinga in central Ve-racruz indicate that development of the island fields be-gan in the Preclassic and intensive cultivation of the fieldscontinued until the 7th century A.D., when several factorsincluding sea-level rise, aggradation, a volcanic eruption,and regional population decline contributed to abandon-ment of the system (Heimo, Siemens, & Hebda, 2004).Early agriculture also appears to have been established



along alluvial levees along the Pacific Coast as well,though this cultivation did not evolve into a system ofwetland cultivation (Neff et al., 2006b; Rosenswig, 2006).

Large and small patches of island fields are found inriparian and connected perennial wetlands across north-ern Belize and contiguous areas of Mexico. Many of thesefield systems originated in the Preclassic, though use andformation history varies from place to place reflectingboth differing and changing environmental and politi-cal economic conditions (Figure 3) (Beach et al., 2009;Pyburn, 1998). One notable finding has been the im-portant though variable role played by the gradual cap-illary precipitation of gypsum and calcium carbonate inthe formation of these field systems (Luzzadder-Beach &Beach, 2009). These systems appear to have given depen-dent populations greater resilience during the troublingtimes of the Terminal Classic, but ultimately they toosuccumbed and the fields were abandoned (Luzzadder-Beach, Beach, & Dunning, 2012). Similar field systemsare found along the Candelaria River (Siemens et al.,2002) and wetlands around the Laguna de Terminos insouthwestern Campeche, Mexico, but have been sub-ject to relatively little investigation. The true extent ofthe Campeche fields has only recently become apparent(Figure 7).

The wetlands of the Yalahau Fracture zone in north-ern Quintana Roo, Mexico were also manipulated bythe ancient Maya with a system of dikes and dams, buthow this system functioned has not been firmly estab-lished (Fedick et al., 2000; Fedick & Morrison, 2004; Se-dov et al., 2008). One important use of these wetlandswas the harvesting of periphyton that was used to fer-tilize nearby dryland agricultural fields. Analysis of theagricultural fields in the Yalahau was aided greatly by mi-cromorphological study of soil thin sections (Sedov et al.,2008), a technique that has been little used to date inMesoamerica (but see Beach et al. 2009; Sanchez-Perezet al., 2013). Periphyton may also have been harvestedfrom wetlands in northwestern Yucatan to enrich urbangarden plots at Chunchucmil, a large urban center locatedin an agriculturally inhospitable area, though with readyaccess to groundwater (Beach, 1998; Dahlin et al., 2005;Luzzadder-Beach, 2000).

The best known wetland agriculture system inMesoamerica is the chinampa or island field system oncefound over large areas around the margins of lakes withinthe Basin of Mexico. Unlike other areas of Mesoamer-ica where wetland agriculture began in Preclassic times,the chinampa system appears to have been developedlargely in the Postclassic (Parsons & Morett, 2004). Whilethe chinampa system is known to have been extensivein the Basin of Mexico in the Postclassic, its full ex-tent is not known; analysis of historical documents and

remotely sensed imagery is helping to map the formerdistribution of wetland fields (Morehart, 2012). Chi-nampa systems are also now known to have extendedinto lake basins in western Mexico (Fisher, 2005).

Compared to many regions of early civilization,Mesoamerica is not incised with any great river systems.Nevertheless, shorter, less voluminous rivers abound insome areas, but are notably absent in others such as theYucatan Peninsula. Water management was of critical im-portance both in areas of abundant surface water as wellas those without. The Elevated Interior Region of theMaya Lowlands is an example of the latter, a karst regionessentially lacking in perennial surface water and largelyinaccessible groundwater (Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach, 2012). Yet this region formed the heartland ofMaya civilization. Urbanization was achieved by harvest-ing rainwater during the rainy season, storing it, andmeting it out through the dry. Large urban centers re-quired sophisticated hydraulic systems. At Tikal, a multi-tiered system of reservoirs was developed to impound andstore rainwater (Scarborough et al., 2012). The major-ity of harvested water at Tikal was likely used to meetdomestic needs, including filtering water entering somereservoirs. A few reservoirs appear to have functionedto protect downstream fields during heavy rains, andmay have also provided irrigation water to nearby fields.Given the heavy rains and tropical storms that period-ically affect the Maya Lowlands, flood control was animportant part of water management systems (Davis-Salazar, 2006). Not surprisingly, sites in the Elevated In-terior Region that invested heavily in water managementoften fared better during times of increased drought fre-quency (Akpinar-Ferrand et al., 2012; Dunning, Beach,& Luzzadder-Beach 2012; Dunning et al., 2015).

At the large Puuc region site of Xcoch in the north-ern Maya Lowlands a system of large reservoirs was de-vised in the Preclassic period (Dunning et al., 2014b).This reservoir system was functionally integrated with thesite’s monumental architecture (which funneled waterinto the reservoirs), systemically linked to the networkof household cisterns, symbolically linked to a deep caveunderlying the site center (and home to rain god wor-ship), and possibly linked to nearby fields for irrigation.Similar relationships are evident in the hydraulic systemsat other regional sites (Isendahl, 2011).

Although irrigation in ancient Mesoamerica wasnowhere practiced at the same scale as in parts of the OldWorld, it was nevertheless of critical importance in someareas. Localized irrigation was a vital part of the agricul-tural system that supported the huge Classic period city ofTeotihuacan (Nichols, Spence, & Berland, 1991; Sanchez-Perez et al., 2013). With the fall of Teotihuacan, settle-ment shifted onto the lake plains of the Basin of Mexico



Figure 7 GoogleEarth image showing extensive wetland field systems near the Laguna de Terminos north of themouth of the Rıo Candelaria, Campeche,

Mexico. The large variety of shapes and sizes of the fields suggest that they date to multiple cultural time periods. These fields were first noted by

Dr. Hugo Lopez Rosas, an ecologist with Universidad Autonoma de Mexico.

and irrigation became less important (Parsons & Morett,2004). Kaminaljuyu, a close political and economic ally ofTeotihuacan in highland Guatemala, also adopted an irri-gation system (Popenoe de Hatch et al., 2002). Irrigationwas also important in other areas including the Pacificpiedmont of Guatemala and Chiapas, where it was usedto facilitate cacao cultivation (Kaplan, 2008).

PROSPECTION

A long-standing problem for archaeologists seeking tounderstand ancient Maya settlement and land use pat-terns is the pervasive cover of tropical vegetation overlarge areas. Aerial surveys have been used since a se-ries of regional overflights by Charles Lindbergh andAlfred Kidder in 1929, but with limited effectiveness ex-cept in areas where the forest has been cleared; other-wise only the largest of features are typically detectableunder the forest mantle. Recent developments in the useof both satellite and airborne remote sensing techniquesoffer the promise of revealing the previously invisible an-cient landscape at multiple scales. The combined use of

several types of multi-spectral satellite imagery and air-borne sensors is proving to be of considerable use forlocating sites and large landscape features obscured bytropical forest canopy in the southern Maya Lowlands(Sever & Irwin, 2003). Saturno et al. (2007) successfullydeveloped a spectral signature based on IKONOS imagesto identify Maya sites taking advantage of the differen-tial drainage and nutrient status of vegetation growingon the ruins. However, this signature may be region-specific and needs to be refined, or alternate signaturesdeveloped to facilitate site detection in other parts of thesouthern lowlands (Garrison et al., 2008). Airborne radarhas been employed in archaeological survey in the MayaLowlands since the late 1970s, but system resolution wasinitially too coarse to be useful—despite errant claims ofsuccess. Newer systems such as AIRSAR (Airborne Syn-thetic Aperture Radar) offer much better resolution andinitial experiments have proven successful in site detec-tion (Garrison et al., 2011). Combinations of differentimagery can also be used to provide invaluable land-scape context data such as topography, physiographic fea-tures, drainage, and vegetation (Estrada-Belli & Kock,2007). However, none of these satellite sensor systems or



airborne radar is capable of mapping features down to thescale of individual house mounds.

Airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging) wasflown over the ancient Maya city of Caracol, Belize in2009; the results after processing were spectacular in theamount of land surface detail revealed including thou-sands of house mounds and agricultural terraces (Figure6) (Chase et al., 2011). While these features were al-ready known to exist at Caracol (existing detailed sur-face maps allowed for ready ground truthing), the LiDARsurvey revealed sprawling, previously unmapped terracesystems and residential areas. Previously unknown phys-iographic features such as cave openings were also de-tected (Weishampel et al., 2011).

LiDAR has also been tested on the large Tarascan(Purepucha) site of Anagamuco near Lake Patzcuaro, Mi-choacan, Mexico (Fisher, Leisz & Outlaw, 2011). Thoughnot tropical, heavy forest cover on much of the site madetraditional mapping a labor-intensive process, whereasthe LiDAR survey revealed many square kilometers ofurbanized landscape. High initial costs make LiDAR cur-rently too expensive for most archaeological projects, butits pay off in detailed, digital maps readily incorporatedinto a Geographic Information System (GIS) makes ita technology of choice for thorough site survey (Carteret al., 2012; Chase et al., 2012). LiDAR has also now beenflown over the sites of Uxbenka in Belize and Yaxnohcah,Campeche and other Maya sites in Mexico with promis-ing results still forthcoming. LiDAR has also been used togood effect at Izapa in Chiapas, Mexico (Rosenswig et al.,2012). The effectiveness of LiDAR suggests it would be ahighly useful tool for archaeological survey for other ar-eas in Mesoamerica where ground visibility is very poor(e.g., the tropical lowlands of Veracruz; Stark & Garraty,2008).

Satellite remote sensing has also been used to goodeffect in other parts of Mesoamerica, perhaps provingmost useful in documenting ancient wetland field sys-tems. Morehart (2012) used analysis of Landsat 7 ETM+(Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus) imagery in conjuc-tion with historical maps to reconstruct the extent ofchinampa agriculture in the northern Basin of Mexico.Heimo, Siemens, & Hebda (2004) document the environ-mental parameters of wetland field systems in coastal Ve-racruz. Including digital imagery as part of a research de-sign has the advantage of being readily incorporated intoa study GIS (e.g., Estrada-Belli & Kock, 2007; Morehart,2012).

Subsurface remote sensing techniques are also beingeffectively employed in some Mesoamerican archaeolog-ical projects. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has beenused successfully in aggrading landscapes where buriedfeatures were constructed at least partially with hard

stone like basalt, such as Cotzumalhuapa in the PacificPiedmot of Guatemala (Safi et al., 2012) and Texcocoin the Basin of Mexico (Arciniega-Ceballos et al., 2009).Magnetic Susceptibility (MS) has also been used success-fully in naturally aggrading environments including theTuxla Mountains of Veracruz (Venter et al., 2006). GPRand MS have also been highly useful in urbanized or ur-banizing landscapes, both ancient and modern – essen-tially anthropogenically aggrading contexts (Arciniega-Ceballos et al., 2009; Chavez et al., 2001, 2005). Inenvironments such as alluvial wetlands of Veracruzwhere hard stone was infrequently used, gridded auger-ing programs have proven necessary to map subsurfacesites (Wendt, 2003). In humid tropical environments itis important to note that low elevation structures canbe rendered essentially invisible by bioturbation and or-ganic accumulation, and site surveys should systemati-cally sample open areas (Johnston, 2002, 2004).

Site prospection must also be sensitive to geomorpho-logically dynamic settings such as within fluvial systems.Given the attraction of riparian environments for settle-ment, archaeologists should actively look for sites in suchsettings even though early sites especially might be deeplyburied (e.g., Holley et al., 2000). This is especially neededin the search for early, more ephemeral, pre-ceramic sitesin fluvial environments that have undergone multiple cutand fill episodes (Figure 8) (Borejsza et al., 2014).

The study of chemical signatures remaining on resid-ual lime plaster floors in order to identify ancientactivity areas has been pioneered in central Mexico, par-ticularly at Teotihuacan, then extended to other sites inMexico, including an ethnoarchaeological study of tradi-tional homes in Tlaxcala which helped developed activ-ity “signatures” (e.g., Barba & Ortız, 1992; Manzanilla &Barba, 1990). Over time, the sophistication of these stud-ies has increased from the analysis of a few elements toover 20 elements and compounds such as fatty acids andproteins (Barba, 2007).

Chemical prospection for ancient activity areas hasbeen extended to soil floors. Studies have included asignature-establishing ethnoarchaeological study of con-temporary earth-floored homes in Las Pozas, Guatemala(Fernandez et al., 2002). At the rapidly buried site ofCeren, investigators had the advantage of chemicallytesting for activities areas inside and outside houseswith in situ architecture, artifacts, and plant remains(Parnell, Sheets, & Terry, 2002). As expected highphosphorus levels were found in food processing, con-sumption, and disposal areas; iron with areas of animalbutchery; and heavy metals with pigment processing.At the rapidly abandoned site of Aguateca, Guatemalaphosphorus was similarly found to closely correlate withartifact assemblages indicative of food processing and



Figure 8 Cross section of a hypothetical entrenched stream valley (barranca) in Oaxaca showing the effects of multiple alluvial cut-and-fill episodes over

time resulting in the creation of multiple occupation surfaces, many of which are buried or partially removed. Many pre-ceramic sites are likely located in

such settings, but may be difficult to detect (after Borejsza et al., 2014).

consumption (Terry et al., 2004). At the ancient site ofCancuen, Guatemala, Cook et al. (2006) used ICP-MS(Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) analy-sis to test for 60 major, minor, and rare-earth elementscollected from two Late Classic house floors, with 30 el-ements showing enrichment over controls. The most no-table concentrations were mercury (likely from process-ing Cinnabar as a pigment) and gold (since there is noevidence that the Maya at Cancuen processed gold, thisenrichment might reflect micro-debitage from jade pro-cessing). Like Ceren, at Piedras Negras, Guatemala, Par-nell, Terry and Nelson (2002b) found phosphorus to bethe most useful indicator of human activity, especiallyfood processessing and disposal, iron as an indicator ofanimal slaughter, and various metals as indicators of min-eral pigments. Testing of newly available portable X-rayfluorescence scanner (pXRF) at the Colonial era HaciendaTelchaquillo in Yucatan indicates that this unit was use-ful for detecting trace metals, but not for phosphorus(Coronel et al., 2014).

Beyond the immediate vicinity of houses, phospho-rus continues to be the most useful chemical prospec-tion toolfor identifying middens, however, Eberl et al.(2012) found that not all middens show up as phosphorushotspots, probably because not all trash disposal involved

high concentrations of organic wastes. Phosphorus canalso be used to identify agricultural gardens and fieldswhere organic amendments were repeatedly applied aspart of intensification of cultivation (Dunning, Beach, &Rue, 1997). Once soil use patterns have been identified,soil mapping can be used to extrapolate probable agricul-tural potentials around and between sites (e.g., Fernan-dez et al., 2005). Where available, the folk soil classifi-cations used by local traditional farmers can be used toanalyze probable land use patterns in the soilscape (Dun-ning & Beach, 2003; Jensen et al., 2007).

Analysis of residual carbon isotopes in the humin frac-tion of soil organic matter (SOM) has proven to be an ef-fective tool for understanding ancient rural land use inparts of Mesoamerica. Research in several parts of theworld has shown that δ13C enrichment occurs when ahigh percentage of vegetation contributing to the buildupof SOM utilizes the C4 photosynthetic pathway such asmany tropical grasses, including maize. Changes downthe soil profile in carbon isotope ratios can provide animportant line of evidence for vegetation change and ero-sion over time, especially in well dated aggrading profiles.In the Maya Lowlands, paleosols from known agriculturalcontexts such as terraces and wetland fields provide themost secure evidence for intensive cultivation of maize



resulting in significant δ13C enrichment (Beach et al.,2011; Webb, Schwarcz, & Healy, 2004). Studies aroundseveral ancient Maya sites including Aguateca (Johnson,Wright, & Terry, 2007; Wright, Terry, & Eberl, 2009),Motul de San Jose (Webb et al., 2007), Piedras Negras(Johnson et al., 2007b), and Ramonal (a satellite centerof Tikal; Burnett et al., 2012), have documented distinc-tive spatial patterns for δ13C enrichment (greater than the2.5–3‰ typical from bacterial fractionation) suggestive offields kept in maize production for extended periods. Al-together, these studies indicate that C4 plants (presum-ably mainly maize) made up � 25% of the vegetationat these sites in the Maya Classic period, but only a fewpercent today. At Tikal GIS-based soil maps have beenused to extrapolate probable zones of maize productionbeyond sampled areas (Balzotti et al., 2013). However,such extrapolations must remain tenuous for the timebeing because data points are quite limited. The identi-fication of δ13C enrichment with in situ maize productionmust also remain provisional at present because of de-ranging factors such as slope transport, burial, and thepresence of other vegetation that can cause δ13C enrich-ment (other C4 grasses and CAM pathway vegetation,both of which can be expected to increase during peri-ods of drier climate; cf. Solıs-Castillo et al., 2013). Ulti-mately, DNA analysis of soil organic matter may providemore definitive information on ancient cropping practices(Speller, 2013).

PROVENANCE

Many provenance studies in Mesoamerican archaeologyhave focused on obsidian (Braswell, 2004). Many of thesestudies have been used to elicit trade relations and re-source procurement over time (e.g., Brown, Dreiss, &Hughes, 2004; Knight, 2003; Knight & Glascock, 2009).These assessments have become refined enough thatchanging obsidian sources evident in the archaeologi-cal record can be used to help refine site-specific or re-gional chronologies (Braswell, 2011). Laboratory tech-niques such as NAA (neutron activation analysis), XRF(X-ray florescence), and ICP-MS have partially replacedvisual inspection by refining the elemental “signatures” ofobsidian sources (e.g., Ponomarenko, 2004), differentiatesub-sources (e.g., Argote-Espino et al., 2012), and in theprospection for, and identification of more obscure obsid-ian sources such as that at San Luis, Honduras (Aoyama,Tashiro, & Glascock, 1999). Nevertheless, because visualinspection is capable of distinguishing many Mesoameri-can obsidians at almost no cost this method is still widelyemployed, often as a compliment to machine-based tests

and allowing for much greater numbers of samples to beassessed (e.g., Pool, Knight, & Glascock, 2014).

A variety of laboratory techniques have also been ap-plied to other material in Mesoamerica to identify sourcesand movement. Material for the manufacture of groundstone tools is a scarce resource in the Maya Lowlandsand manos and metates made from hard igneous andmetamorphic rocks from the Maya Mountains were avaluable item. Abramiuk and Meurer (2006) used thinsection analysis to pinpoint sources for ground stone arti-facts in the Bladen District of Belize. Jade is also a scarceresource, with the only known source area in Mesoamer-ica occurring in the Motagua Valley of Guatemala. How-ever, ICP-MS analysis has been employed to begin to dis-tinguish the homogenous jadeites on the north side ofthe valley from more chemically heterogeneous sourceson the south side (Neff, Kovacevich, & Bishop, 2010).Chert, perhaps the most widely stone used for tools inMesoamerica, has largely defied attempts to develop ele-mental signatures tied to specific sources (Bishop, 2014).

Other provenance studies have sought to identify ordifferentiate important clay sources, largely in an effortto develop and refine trade models. This endeavor hasproven most successful in areas with greater geologic di-versity which produce distinctive elemental signatureswithin clay, temper, and pigments used in ceramic man-ufacture such as in the Mexican and Guatemalan high-lands (Alex, Nichols & Glascock, 2012; Charlton et al.,2008; Inanez et al. 2010; Neff et al., 2000; Reents-Budetet al., 2006). Although in use in archaeology since the1930s, petrographic analysis continues to be a useful toolfor identifying distinctive minerals within ceramics aswell as microstructure (e.g., Stoltman, 2011), though of-ten coupled with other techniques such as NAA and ICP-MS (e.g., Cecil, 2007). Despite the increasing precision ofdata being produced by the application of instrumentaltechniques to Mesoamerican ceramics, interpretation ofthese data can still be contentious as seen in the livelydebate over directionality of trade among the Olmec andOlmec-linked cultures (cf., Blomster, Neff, & Glascock,2005; Neff et al. 2006c; Neff et al. 2006d; Sharer et al.,2006; Stoltman et al., 2005).

Attempts to establish clay/ceramic provenance in theMaya Lowlands have met with much more limited suc-cess because of more limited geologic diversity (e.g.,Bartlett et al., 2000), and seemingly require a multiplicityof techniques to be successful (e.g. Cecil, 2007). However,exceptions occur, including the rare palygorskite that wasmixed with indigo to make the unique Maya Blue pig-ment (Arnold et al., 2007).

One localized provenance study sought the sources forbitumen found in Olmec archaeological sites (Wendt &Lu, 2006). Provenance studies have even helped bring



scientific scrutiny to items of pseudo-scientific interest: acombination of microscopy and mineralogy was used todemonstrate that at least two of the “mysterious” crys-tal skulls could not be of pre-Columbian manufacture orof Mesoamerican origin as had been purported by some(Sax et al., 2008).

One of the many effects of the Chicxulub meteor im-pact on the Yucatan Platform was the creation of a dis-tinctive generally north-south differential distribution ofstrontium isotopes across the landmass (Gilli et al., 2009;Hodell et al., 2004). Strontium isotopes, of course, varyacross Mesoamerica along with geologic substrates. Hu-man bones absorb small amounts of Sr during child-hood growth years. Hence, both places and the humanswho grew up there have distinctive Sr signatures, a factthat has led to what are essentially human provenancestudies (Price et al., 2008). One notable study of a largeskeleton population from Tikal, Guatemala was able toidentify immigrants to the city (Wright, 2005). Skeletaldetective work has been used to check hieroglyphic in-scriptions, iconography, and artifacts that suggested inter-relationhips between Tikal, Teotihuacan, Kaminaljuyu,and Copan (Price et al., 2010; Wright, 2005; Wright,2012; Wright et al., 2010), and movement of popula-tion through the port town of Xcambo in northern Yu-catan (Cucina et al., 2011). Oxygen isotope ratios havealso proven useful for differentiating populations andindividuals of different geographic origins, particularlybetween Teotihuacan and the Maya Lowlands and High-lands (White et al., 2000, 2001).

In a review of the use of instrumental technologies toaddress provenance and other economic issues in the an-cient Mesoamerican economy, Bishop (2014) extols themany advances in precision and variety of techniquesavailable to archaeologists today. However, he also de-cries the apparent declining use of these techniques tohigh costs and the closure of research laboratories by uni-versities and other entities as part of fiscal cutbacks. Onthe other hand, the incorporation of the growing body ofprovenance data into centralized geographic informationsystems is helping create more robust spatial-temporalmodels of ancient exchange patterns, such as that be-ing developed for Central Mexican ceramics (Nicholas,Stoner, & Crider, 2014).

CONCLUSIONS

Forty years ago, a review of geoarchaeological researchin Mesoamerica would have been short, but not sweet.Studies in which paleoenvironmental concerns weregiven more than passing consideration were just emerg-ing. Today, a review of geoarchaeological research of

even a few years finds a large and expanding array ofstudies that either employ geoarchaeological techniquesor are driven by concerns central to geoarchaeoloogysuch as those discussed in the preceding pages.

A common element in each of the areas reviewedabove is the growing recognition of the importance, andconsequent use of convergent approaches in order to cre-ate more robust models of ancient environments andeconomies. These approaches include multi-proxy studiesof paleoenvironments, land use, and ancient diet to takeadvantage the growing array of instrumental techniquesavailable to researchers (e.g., Lentz et al., 2014; Morell-Hart, Joyce, & Henderson, 2014; Wahl, Byrne, & Ander-son, 2014). A highly promising new approach involvesthe analysis of hydrogen and carbon isotopes in plant-wax lipids preserved in sediments, because it potentiallyprovides a direct measurement of climate signals alongwith land cover/use data (Douglas et al., 2012), thoughtime and costs currently constrain its application. In thearea of prospection, the introduction of airborne LiDARto the archaeological study of heavily forested areas ofMesoamerica has revolutionized the ability of perform-ing complete site surveys, a formerly cost and time pro-hibitive possibility. In provenance studies, the convergentuse of multiple instrumental techniques has allowed fortremendous gains in the accuracy of sourcing ancient ma-terials. However, as Bishop (2014) has cautioned, theseadvances are threatened by their very complexity and ex-pense in a time of fiscal constraint in many academic andother research institutions.

As information about the ancient cultures and envi-ronment of Mesoamerica accumulates at a rapid rate, ourmodels need to reflect the complexity of interactions thattook place in the past. Complex systems models can pro-vide a useful means of intertwining cultural and envi-ronmental factors and processes (e.g., Turner & Sabloff,2012). The power and success of these models dependsin great part on their ability to synthesize and correlatelarge quantities of data in effective and meaningful ways.In pursuit of this goal it is imperative that the rapidlygrowing body of data being produced by geoarchaologicaland other types of archaeological investigations be incor-porated into databases capable of supporting integratedanalyses. Geospatial databases offer one effective way tosynthesize and compare data from multiple sources insupport of temporally dynamic models (e.g., Chase et al.,2012; Heckbert, 2013; Kennett & Beach, 2013; Nichols,Stoner, & Crider, 2014).

As Sheets (2009) has pointed out, the large majorityof investigations in which geoarchaeology plays an im-portant role are based in processual theory. Althoughthis focus has proven highly productive, it has tendedto exclude more humanistic perspectives. In issues such



as the role of drought in the Terminal Classic col-lapse of Maya Civilization, the dominance of processualstudies has led to charges of determinism (Aimers, 2007;McAnany & Gallareta Negron, 2010; Webster, 2002). Asnoted by Sheets, cave investigations are one area whereprocessessual and humanistic approaches are being wed(e.g., Brady & Prufer, 2010). Given the symbolic impor-tance attached to caves in Mesoamerican cultures, theconvergence of investigations seeking the “meaning” ofcaves and their uses and those seeking paleoenvironmen-tal proxies is to be expected. For example, speleothemsare an archive of paleoclimate information and are alsoimportant artifacts used in ancient rain-related rituals(Brady et al., 1997; Moyes et al., 2009).

Resilience theory (Holling & Gunderson, 2002) offersone useful avenue for synthesizing human-environmentinteractions (Redman, 2005; Scarborough, 2009). Thisperspective sees human-environment systems as an openset of relationships and interdependencies that eitheradapt to change and survive, or fragment and collapse;human beliefs and actions are an integral part of theoutcomes. An important aspect of coming to under-stand human-environment systems from this perspectiveis that not only does it help us understand the successand failure of past societies, but can help predict thesustainability and resilience of these systems and theircomponents in the future (Fisher et al., 2009). The per-spective of using information gathered from archaeo-logical investigations of all kinds, especially those thatmost directly involve human-environment interactions,underlies a growing body of research (for example, thatsupported by the IHOPE initiative: Costanza, Graumlich,& Steffen 2007; Chase & Scarborough 2014). Ultimatelywhat we can learn about the capacity to adapt to envi-ronmental change, including that induced by human ac-tivities, may be the most enduring product of geoarchae-ological studies of the ancient world.

This paper is partly the result of a graduate seminar held inthe Department of Geography, University of Cincinnati duringthe Spring Semester of 2013. All of the co-authors were par-ticipants in that seminar. David Lentz is to be thanked for pro-viding the photograph and map in Figure 5. Arlen Chase pro-vided the image in Figure 6. Jon-Paul McCool drafted the mapin Figure 1. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers fortheir many helpful comments that led to the improvement of thearticle.

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