Geoarchaeological Investigations of Human-Environment Interactions in the Maya Lowlands

A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

in the Department of Geography of the College of Arts and Sciences

Carmen Amanda McCane

M.A. University of Cincinnati (2007) B.A. University of Cincinnati (2005)

Committee Chair: Nicholas P. Dunning, Ph.D. Abstract

This dissertation documents geoarchaeological investigations into human-environment interactions in the ancient Maya Lowlands. Further, this research emphasizes the growing importance and subsequent uses of complex systems and resilience theories in the creation of more robust models of ancient environments and behavior. This type of approach encourages researchers to take advantage of the growing array of instrumental techniques available to researchers (e.g., multi-proxy studies of paleoenvironments) which enables researchers to more accurately model the complexities of ancient human-environment interactions. Article 1 is a detailed review article that focuses on published geoarchaeological work in Mesoamerica since the year 2000. Five themes are identified as being central to these most recent geoarchaeological studies: 1) the correlation of environmental change and culture history; 2) anthropogenic environmental impacts; 3) ancient land cover, land use, and diet; 4) archaeological prospection; and 5) provenance studies. Article 2 is a research article that focuses on the Phase II research that was conducted at the Late Classic site of Minanha which is located on the northern portion of the Vaca Plateau in west-central Belize. This article discusses the results of preliminary research into ancient Maya settlement patterns and terrace construction, both temporally and spatially, in a peripheral agricultural community located in the Contreras Valley. Through the use of excavations, spatial statistics, and GIS these investigations were designed to both supplement and expand upon earlier investigations in

Minanha’s epicenter by examining the collapse sequence from the viewpoint of a peripheral support population that is believed to have been home to a population that helped to sustain

Minanha’s royal court. The Contreras inhabitants had a long occupation history in their valley,

ii but eventually, they too abandoned their homes just like those who had lived in the epicentral royal court complex (and in the Site Core too). It is this abandonment of the Contreras Valley that is examined in greater detail in Article 3. At the time of abandonment, several artifact assemblages, in the form of termination rituals, were deposited at three domestic groups in the

Contreras Valley and these assemblages were used to recreate the abandonment context and chronology of these aforementioned domestic groups. The third article also discusses how these termination rituals/ceremonies may have helped to reshape the identity of social groups who were about to abandon their homes. Article 3 also speculates on how the last inhabitants

(of a what is believed to have been a mostly abandoned landscape) lived through a process of gradual depopulation. This dissertation demonstrates that geoarchaeological research directly examines human-environment interactions which can help us to learn about the capacity of humans to adapt to environmental change. More specifically, understanding the success and failure of past societies can help us to predict the sustainability and resilience of these systems.

Therefore, learning about the capacity of humans to adapt to both societal and environmental change is the most important enduring product of geoarchaeological investigations of the ancient world.

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Acknowledgments First and foremost, thank you to my parents, friends, and family for their unwavering support and encouragement during this long journey. They have helped me to overcome many challenges over the years. To my committee: Nick Dunning -- thanks for putting up with me for all of these years (you may be the most patient and understanding person in the world); Robert

South -- I will forever be grateful for your continued support and push to just “get it done;”

Kevin Raleigh -- to the first person that I met who actually loved statistics more than me, I am honored to have sat in your classroom as a student and as your teaching assistant. The essential knowledge and skills you passed down to me are invaluable; lastly, Vern Scarborough – many, many moons ago, you called me into your office to have a chat. You saw something in me and encouraged me to go to graduate school. Thanks for believing in me. Another big thank you goes out to Alan Sullivan who did not serve on this committee, but served as a great advisor and mentor during my undergraduate and master’s career. I would not be the academic that I am today without his constant challenges to “do better.” I am also blessed to have worked with an amazing group of Canadian and Belizean archaeologists for almost a decade. My years working with Gyles Iannone and the Social Archaeology Research Program were some of the best years of my life. A huge thanks also goes out to the Institute of Archaeology for their continued support of this research and to all the Belizeans who made me feel at home in their beautiful country. Lastly, this dissertation is dedicated to my daughter, Bella Ann McCane.

Everything I do, I do for you. I am sorry there were times when you wanted to play, and I had to

“work.” There were many times when I just wanted to quit and walk away from all of this, but I did not. I am not a quitter.

Table of Contents

List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………………….vii

List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………………..…..ix

1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………..….1

2. Article 1 – Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6

3. Article 2 – A Consideration of the Spatial Arrangement of Settlement Groups and Terraces in Contreras, Minanha, Belize………………………………………………………………39

4. Article 3 – The Last Groups Standing: Living Abandonment at the Ancient Maya Center of Minanha, Belize………………………………………………………………………………...50 5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………..70

6. Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………………..79

List of Figures

Article 1 Figure 1. Map of Mesoamerica showing general physiography and some of the places highlighted in the text. Figure 2. Aguada Tintal, San Bartolo, Guatemala: a) Coring aguada floor in 2005; b) sediment composition and pollen frequency of Aguada Tintal core. 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.

Figure 4. Idealized diagram of slope and land use evolution in Tlaxcala, Mexico: a) Preclassic/Formative period cultivation; 2) Classic period degradation and abandonment; c) Postclassic terracing and stabilization. Figure 5. Household 1, Ceren, El Salvador: a) ridges in foreground are the remains of ancient garden plots rapidly buried by volcanic ash along with the household structures; b) map of the crops and trees revealed around Household 1. Figure 6. LiDAR 2-D image of the Pachituk Terminus, Caracol, Belize showing settlement groups and extensive agricultural terracing. Figure 7. GoogleEarth image showing extensive wetland field systems near the Laguna de Términos north of the mouth of the Río Candelaria, Campeche, Mexico. 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.

Article 2 Figure 1. Regional Map Showing the Location of Minanha. Figure 2. Epicentral Court Complex at Minanha. Figure 3. Location of Phase II Settlement Study.

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Figure 4. Contreras Survey Zone. Figure 5. Contour Terraces in Contreras, Minanha. Figure 6. Linear Terraces in Contreras, Minanha. Figure 7. Box Terraces in Contreras, Minanha. Figure 8. Cross-Channel Terraces in Contreras, Minanha. Figure 9. Footslope Terraces in Contreras, Minanha. Figure 10. Terrace Density in Contreras, Minanha.

Article 3 Figure 1. Major sites of the Maya World. Figure 2. The 1-km2 Site-Core Zone and Epicenter of Minanha; groups or structures that revealed on-floor assemblages are indicated. Figure 3. The 1-km2 Contreras Valley Zone and its 98 settlement groups; groups that revealed on-floor assemblages are labeled with large characters. Figure 4. Artistic reconstruction of Group S. Figure 5. Artistic reconstruction of Structure MRS15-M5 (with transparency), showing both the centrally aligned exposed offering and dedication burial. Figure 6. The portable composite ceramic brazier found as part of the on-floor assemblage of Structure MRS 15-M2. Figure 7. Artistic reconstruction of Group MRS15.

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List of Tables

Article 1 Table 1. Mesoamerican pre-Hispanic chronological periods.

Article 2 Table 1. Minanha Phase II Settlement Study: Contreras Zone. Table 2. Compositional/Distributional Settlement Data for Minanha.

Article 3 Table 1. Radiocarbon Dates Discussed in the Text.

Introduction “Every archaeological problem starts as a problem in geoarchaeology” Colin Renfrew (1976:2)

This dissertation documents geoarchaeological investigations into human-environment interactions in the ancient Maya Lowlands. Further, this research emphasizes the growing importance and subsequent uses of complex systems and resilience theories in the creation of more robust models of ancient environments and behavior. This type of approach encourages researchers to take advantage of the growing array of instrumental techniques available to researchers (e.g., multi-proxy studies of paleoenvironments) which enables researchers to more accurately model the complexities of ancient human-environment interactions. This dissertation demonstrates that geoarchaeological research that directly examines human- environment interactions can help us to learn about the capacity of humans to adapt to environmental change. More specifically, understanding the success and failure of past societies can help us to predict the sustainability and resilience of these systems. Therefore, learning about the capacity of humans to adapt to both societal and environmental change is the most important enduring product of geoarchaeological investigations of the ancient world.

Further, the popularity of geoarchaeology has expanded exponentially from its origins to its current widespread use at the nexus of archaeology and the geosciences (see Butzer 1982). It is now considered common practice within archaeological excavations and is offered as courses in universities worldwide (Goldberg and Macphail 2006). An introduction to the published articles included in this dissertation is provided at the end of this chapter; first, however, a brief discussion addressing the question “what is geoarchaeology?” is warranted.

What is Geoarchaeology?

Renfrew (1976:2) provided these insights into the nature of geoarchaeology:

This discipline employs the skills of the geological scientist, using his concern for

soils, sediments and landforms to focus these upon the archaeological “site,” and

to investigate the circumstances which governed its location, its formation as a

deposit and its subsequent preservation and life history. This new discipline of

geoarchaeology is primarily concerned with the context in which archaeological

remains are found. And since archaeology, or at least prehistoric archaeology,

recovers almost all of its basic data by excavation, every archaeological problem

starts as a problem in geoarchaeology.”’

The term geoarchaeology was later redefined by Butzer (1982:35) as “archaeological research using the methods and concepts of the earth sciences.” Therefore, geoarchaeology is the combined study of archaeological and geomorphological records and the recognition of how natural and human induced processes alter the environment (French 2003:3). As a result, the main themes in geoarchaeology are as follows: 1) recognition and decipherment of landscape formation and transformation; 2) recognition of the effect of humans in creating, enhancing or managing landscape and environmental change; and 3) identifying the effects of hydrological and burial regimes on the environment and how it has affected archaeological and paleoenvironmental preservation (French 2003:9). Therefore, as Renfrew (1976) and Butzer

(1982) emphasized, geoarchaeology provides the ultimate context for all aspects of archaeology from understanding the position of a site in a landscape setting to a

2 comprehension of the context of individual finds and features (i.e., all problems in archaeology do begin as problems in geoarchaeology). Renfrew (1976) and Butzer’s (1982) (and ultimately

French’s (2003) definitions of geoarchaeology have not been free of criticism. For example,

Leach (1992) heavily criticized their aims as having no anthropological or culture historical interpretations/perspectives. As a result, Leach (1992) proposed alternative goals for the geoarchaeologist, including the following: 1) material culture – the functions of natural objects in prehistoric societies; 2) cultural attitudes – the symbolic associations of geological materials;

3) subsistence studies – the cultural manipulation of geological resources; and 4) settlement studies – the settlement pattern in the landscape over time. It is now this “blended” approach of Renfrew’s (1976), Butzer’s (1982), and Leach’s (1992) interpretation/perspectives with respect to geoarchaeology that is widely employed in archaeological research that has an interest in examining human-environment interactions. This dissertation exemplifies this type of blended approach.

Introduction to the Research: Chapters 2-4 in this dissertation are published articles on the use of geoarchaeological theories, methods, and techniques in the examination of the archaeological record. Chapter 2 is a detailed review article (Article 1) that focuses on published geoarchaeological work in

Mesoamerica since the year 2000. Five themes are identified as being central to these most recent geoarchaeological studies: 1) the correlation of environmental change and culture history; 2) anthropogenic environmental impacts; 3) ancient land cover, land use, and diet; 4) archaeological prospection; and 5) provenance studies. Chapter 3 is a research article (Article

2) that focuses on the Phase II research that was conducted at the Late Classic site of Minanha

3 which is located on the northern portion of the Vaca Plateau in west-central Belize. This article discusses the results of preliminary research into ancient Maya settlement patterns and terrace construction, both temporally and spatially, in a peripheral agricultural community located in the Contreras Valley. Through the use of excavations, spatial statistics, and GIS these investigations were designed to both supplement and expand upon earlier investigations in

Minanha’s epicenter by examining the collapse sequence from the viewpoint of a peripheral population that is believed to have helped to sustain Minanha’s royal court (e.g., agricultural products). More specifically, what was life like for the individuals living in the Contreras Valley before, during, and after the fall of the royal court. The Contreras inhabitants had a long occupation history in their valley, but eventually, they too abandoned their homes just like those who had lived in the epicentral royal court complex (and in the surrounding Site Core residential zone too). It is this abandonment of the Contreras Valley that is examined in greater detail in Chapter 4 (Article 3). At the time of abandonment, several artifact assemblages, in the form of termination rituals, were deposited at three domestic groups in the Contreras Valley.

Analysis of these assemblages was used to recreate the abandonment context and chronology of the aforementioned domestic groups. The third article also discusses how these termination rituals/ceremonies may have helped to reshape the identity of social groups who were about to abandon their homes. Article 3 also speculates on how the last inhabitants (of a what is believed to have been a mostly abandoned landscape) lived through a process of gradual depopulation. Lastly, Article 3 discusses both cultural and natural formation processes that could have contributed to the absence of termination rituals at a majority of these settlement groups. These research article chapters are followed by a Conclusions chapter that briefly

4 summarizes the results of all three papers and highlights the importance of geoarchaeological investigations in human-environment interactions.

Review Article Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century: A Review Nicholas 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, Ohio 2Department of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 3Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 4Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

Correspondence Over the past thirty years, geoarchaeology has moved from the fringe to main- *Corresponding author; E-mail: stream status within Mesoamerican archaeological investigations. This review [email protected] focuses on works published since the year 2000. Five themes are identiﬁed

Received as central to recent studies: (1) the correlation of environmental change and 13 November 2013 cultural history; (2) anthropogenic environmental impacts; (3) ancient land Revised cover, land use, and diet; (4) archaeological prospection; and (5) provenance 7 January 2015 studies. These themes are often interwoven in the application of complex sys- Accepted tems approaches that allow scientists to more accurately model the intricacies 8 January 2015 of ancient human–environment interactions. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Scientiﬁc editing by Gary Huckleberry

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). doi 10.1002/gea.21507

INTRODUCTION interrelated and to some degree inseparable. In recognition of this interconnectedness, scientists are increasingly Geoarchaeology has rapidly emerged as a critical com- adopting complex systems perspectives to model the dy- ponent in the investigation of the ancient cultures of namic interaction of natural and cultural processes that Mesoamerica. Although environmentally centered stud- have played out in Mesoamerica (e.g., Dunning & Beach, ies in Mesoamerican civilization can be found as early as 2004; Turner & Sabloff, 2012). one hundred years ago (e.g., Bennett, 1926; Cook, 1931; The boundaries of Mesoamerica have not been defini- Huntington, 1917; Sapper, 1896), more concerted efforts tively delimited, nor is there universal agreement about truly began in the 1970s and the pace, depth, and sophis- the northern and southern extremes of this cultural re- tication of such investigations has increased substantially gion. More liberal boundaries extend to the vicinity of in the 21st century. Given the quantity and breadth of Lake Nicaragua in the south and the Yaqui River in geoarchaeological approaches that have emerged in the Sonora, Mexico in the northwest. We follow a more con- past two decades, our review cannot pretend to be com- servative placement of the boundaries around the Gulf prehensive. Rather, we focus chiefly on work published of Fonseca in El Salvador in the south and the Sinaloa since 2000. Five principal themes that have received spe- River Valley in Mexico in the north.1 Even this more cial attention in these investigations are: (1) the corre- constricted region is remarkably environmentally diverse lation of environmental change and cultural history; (2) (Figure 1). In the north past plate divergence produced anthropogenic environmental impacts; (3) ancient land horst and graben terrain and many interior basins that cover, land use, and diet; (4) archaeological prospection; and (5) provenance studies. Although these themes 1For a summary of recent geoarchaeological work in other parts will be treated separately below, it is critical to remem- of upper Central America see Sheets 2009. For work on the ber that the first three in particular are, in fact, strongly northern fringes of Mesoamerica see Metcalfe 2006.

Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1 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- rain shadows in many interior and western coastal ar- lennia. Across much of Mesoamerica the complex con- eas where Easterly Waves cannot bring wet season rains. vergence of the Caribbean, Cocos, North American, and On the other hand, windward slopes and eastern coast Pacific plates has created a mosaic of physiographic zones lowlands experience many months of copious rainfall. that include merging volcanic arcs, orographic uplift, Thus, Holocene vegetation zones range from tropical rain and subsidence. Adjacent lowlands and basins are the forests to true desert. When people first entered the repositories of tens of millions of years of sediment and region in the Pleistocene, conditions across most low- accretion. Major physiographic regions include the Mex- land areas are believed to have been typically cooler and ican Plateau and associated ridges and basins, the abut- drier than the present whereas many interior basins were ting uplifted masses of the Sierra Madres Oriental and cooler, but wetter. It was within this shifting mosaic of Occidental, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Arc, the Central environments that the cultures of ancient Mesoamerica American Volcanic Arc and associated folded and faulted developed. highlands, and the huge, partially emerged carbonate Pre-Hispanic human occupation of Mesoamerica is of- Yucatan Platform. ten divided into the chronological periods as indicated in Mesoamerica straddles the Tropic of Cancer, a latitu- Table I. Some scholars prefer different terminology for dinal position that typically experiences an annual shift some time periods, most notably “Formative” in place from wet to dry seasons as the Intertropical Conver- of “Preclassic.” Population growth (and decline) and cul- gence Zone (ITCZ) shifts northward and southward and tural developments were not uniform across the entire mutes temperature extremes. The distribution of rain- region. In each period, some sites and regions experi- fall is also affected by steep elevation gradients created enced greater growth or more complete abandonment by the region’s mountain systems generating significant than their neighbors while others experienced much less

2 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA

Table I Mesoamerican pre-Hispanic chronological periods. (Ortega et al., 2002). An undeﬁned event occurs at 25

Major Period Sub-period Ages ka which the authors suggest as a depositional hiatus due to tectonic modification of the basin. Further dry- Paleoindian Pre-7000 B.C. ing continues throughout the Pleistocene–Holocene tran- Archaic 7000 – 2200 B.C. sition from 14 to 4.8 ka. After 4.8 ka the authors were un- Preclassic Early Preclassic 2200 – 1000 B.C. able to separate climatic and anthropogenic environmen- Middle Preclassic 1000 – 400 B.C. tal changes. A 48,000 year sediment record from nearby Late Preclassic 400 B.C. – 100 A.D. Lake Patzcuaro´ in the volcanic highlands of Michoacan´ in Terminal Preclassic 100 – 250 A.D. western Mexico exhibits comparatively little fluctuation Classic in atmospheric moisture. In a 17,000 year record from Early Classic 250 – 600 A.D. Lake Zirahuen, Lozano-Garcia et al. (2013) found evi- Late Classic 600 – 770 A.D. dence for cooler and drier conditions in the Pleistocene Terminal Classic 770 – 900 A.D. Postclassic with a transition to moister conditions beginning around Early Postclassic 900 – 1250 A.D. 13.5 ka. Particularly warm periods were noted for 9.5– Late Postclassic 1250 – 1500 A.D. 9.0 ka, a notable cold snap around 8.2 ka, and an especially moist period from 7.5–7.1 ka matching records from elsewhere in Mesoamerica and the North Atlantic. In contrast to other paleoenvironmental records from fluctuation. Some regions or parts of regions were aban- central Mexico, the Lake Patzcuaro´ study indicates rela- doned for hundreds of years at a time, while others were tively moist conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum, never abandoned. whereas the other studies suggest generally greater aridity. After 10 ka, the lake began to experience increased eutrophication possibly as the result of losing its former ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND CULTURE connectivity with the Lerma River. Sequences of pale- HISTORY osols associated with paleolakes in the Basin of Mexico Over the past decade plus, the procurement of deep sedi- indicate that drying conditions in the early Holocene gave ment cores from several Mesoamerica lakes has given sci- way to greater moisture in the mid-Holocene and brief entists the ability to reach back into the last portions of lake resurgence, before drying conditions resumed in the the Pleistocene and, thus, contextualize Holocene envi- late Holocene (Sedov et al., 2001). The gradual retreat ronmental change in a new light. These older sediments of the basin paleolakes and the development of better and their embedded proxy data also help to distinguish drained soils set the stage for the regional expansion of natural from anthropogenic change in some areas. An 85 agriculture in the late Holocene (Sedov et al., 2010). ka sediment record from Lake Peten Itza in Guatemala Perhaps no issue has received more attention in Maya includes distinct dry climate episodes (marked by gyp- archaeology over the past two decades than the role sum precipitation) during stadials and wetter conditions droughts have played in the course of Maya civilization. during inter-stadials (Hodell et al., 2008). Extreme arid- Proxy data were originally obtained from a pair of lakes ity is clearly associated with Heinrich Events and cold sea in the northeast Yucatan Peninsula (Chichancanab and surface temperatures in the North Atlantic, reduced cir- Punta Laguna) and focused on changing composition of culation, and the southward displacement of the ITCZ. sediments (e.g., precipitation of gypsum) and oxygen iso- Oscillations between wetter and drier conditions are also tope values in ostracods and gastropods (Curtis, Hod- evident in the last 10 ky of the Pleistocene before fi- dell & Brenner, 1996; Hodell, Brenner, & Curtis, 1995). nally giving way to more persistently warmer, moister These early studies and other syntheses (e.g., Gill, 2000) conditions in the Holocene. Nevertheless, drier pulses were greeted with considerable skepticism by many Maya are evident within the Holocene and the data from archaeologists who viewed them as deterministic and the Pleistocene raises the question that some of the in- also questioned the chronological precision or correla- creased sedimentation resulting from accelerated soil ero- tions between apparent drought and the archaeologi- sion following Maya occupation may have been triggered cal record (e.g., Aimers, 2007; Demarest, Rice, & Rice, by episodes of aridity and canopy opening as well as 2004; McAnany & Gallareta Negron,´ 2010). However, by anthropogenic deforestation (Hillesheim et al., 2005; evidence for episodic or cyclical droughts has mounted Mueller et al., 2009). over the past decade with additional proxies, additional A 52,000 year sediment record in the Zacapu Basin study sites, and enhanced chronological control. These in Michoacan, Mexico shows moist conditions from data have led to an acceptance by most Maya archae- 52 ka until a drying trend initiates around 35 ka ologists acknowledging the damaging role droughts may

Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 3 GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA DUNNING ET AL. have played in the course of Maya civilization, albeit how Strong corollary proxy paleoclimate data have been causal that role was versus other cultural factors remains obtained from outside of Mesoamerica, most notably contentious (cf. the various chapters in Iannone, 2014). from the Cariaco Basin offshore Venezuela (Haug et al. Limnological studies continue to add important data to 2003; Peterson & Haug 2005). Anaerobic conditions in understanding climate change in the Maya Lowlands. In this deep basin have preserved biannually laminated the northern Maya Lowlands more detailed studies have wet/dry season sediments that record droughts in the been conducted at Laguna Chichancanab and Laguna lower Caribbean that seem to correlate well with the Punta Laguna (Hodell, Brenner, & Curtis, 2005; Hodell Maya Lowlands record; droughts in both places are linked et al., 2007), Lake Coba (Leyden, Brenner, & Dahlin, to the timing and strength of seasonal shifts in the ITCZ. 1998), Aguada Xcaamal (a clay-plugged cenote; Hodell Detailed records of paleoprecipitation have been ob- et al., 2005), and Lake Tzib (Carrillo-Bastos et al., 2010). tained from speleothems harvested from caves in Yu- In the southern Maya Lowlands, further study of Lake catan, Mexico, and Belize. From cave laminae in Peten Itza, Lake Salpeten, and Lake Quexil has not only southern Belize, Webster et al. (2007) used color, lumi- pushed the paleoenvironmental record back tens of thou- nescence, δ 13C, and δ 18O as precipitation proxies to sug- sands of years, but has also resulted in a more refined gest Preclassic climate flux from drought to pluvial, Late chronology (Anselmetti et al., 2006; Mueller et al., 2009; Preclassic (5 B.C. and A.D. 141) severe droughts, Classic Rosenmeier et al., 2002). While earlier studies of the cen- Period wetter conditions sandwiching a drought in the tral Peten lakes were unable to distinguish between an- Middle Classic (A.D. 517), and Late Classic through Post- thropogenic and climate change signals, newer studies classic (A.D. 780, 910, 1074, and 1139) severe droughts. using multiple proxies and enhanced dating have had Analysis of a speleothem from Yok Balum Cave in Belize more success. A brief summary of important findings fol- also show clear periodic drought in the Terminal Clas- lows. Since the onset of the Holocene, climate conditions sic, but with the most extreme peak in the period be- were considerably variable especially with respect to ef- tween A.D. 1000 and 1020, a period not flagged by most fective rainfall, that is, the amount of rainfall that falls other Maya paleoclimate records (Kennett et al., 2012). during the typical growing season (Brenner et al., 2002; In northern Yucatan paleoprecipitation records gathered Hodell, Brenner, & Curtis, 2005). Wetter conditions in from a speleothem (dubbed “Chaak” for the Maya rain the mid-Holocene gave way to a general, progressive dry- god) found in Tzab Na Cave near Tecoh indicate that ing trend that began about 4000 years ago (Mueller et al., the northern lowlands experienced a similar chronolog- 2009). For the late Holocene, it has been proposed that ical pattern of decreased rainfall including a series of short-term (centennial scale) fluctuations in rainfall may eight multi-year droughts, 3–18 years in length, between have been driven by the 208-year cycle of solar output A.D. 806 and 935 (Medina-Elizade et al., 2010; Medina- (Hodell et al., 2001; Wahl et al., 2006). Statistical analysis Elizade & Rohling, 2012). These studies show the high has been used to question the validity of the role of solar potential of speleothems as paleoclimate proxies in the periodicity in Maya droughts, but does not question the karst Maya Lowlands, including the possibility of pro- fact that severe droughts have occurred (Carleton, Camp- viding measures of annual precipitation proxies, by far bell, & Collard, 2014). the finest chronological resolution available. However, Mounting paleoenvironmental data indicate that pe- it needs to be borne in mind that these records can be riods of particularly intense drought may have afflicted severely affected by localized land use changes that may wide areas of the Maya Lowlands in the 4th century B.C., accentuate drought signals for some periods. For exam- and the 2nd, 9th, and 11th centuries A.D. Notably, these ple, land use change, possibly including the construction were not single “megadroughts,” but generally a tem- of plastered surfaces above a cave, will undoubted effect porally concentrated series of droughts (Brenner et al., infiltration and percolation. Hence, speleothem records, 2003). Although most attention has been given to the despite their potential for fine-grained chronological res- Terminal Classic droughts of the 9th century A.D., ear- olution, will be most meaningful when multiple records lier droughts are beginning to garner more attention, can be obtained for a locality and region. Other at- especially those centered on the second century A.D. tempts to analyze speleothems are ongoing, but have (Figure 2). These droughts had a devastating effect on been limited by dating problems associated with low Th Late Preclassic Maya populations, including abandon- levels and disruptions found in individual speleothem ment of many large and small centers, changes that may formation processes (e.g., Dahlin, 2011; Smyth et al., have helped set the stage for the emergence of Classic 2011). Maya civilization (Dunning et al., 2002, 2014a; Hansen The record of recurrent aridity also includes many re- et al., 2002; Wahl, Byrne, & Anderson, 2014; Wahl et al., gional soils. The development of Vertisols on alluvium 2006, 2007). in the lower Usumacinta drainage has been interpreted

4 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA

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- Pollen and sediment composition in a core taken from Castillo et al., 2013). In northern Quintana Roo, the Lake Pompal in the Tuxla Mountains of Veracruz indicate punctuated development of Calcisols in depression soils lower water levels and forest canopy opening consistent indicates fluctuating moisture levels that likely reflect with a drying trend after 2600 14C yr B.P. and peaking climate change, though changes in wetland hydrology around 1300 14C yr B.P., though the record is complicated also likely contributed to varying pedogenic processes by the concurrent intensification of regional agriculture (Wolwage et al., 2012). Cave sediments may also reflect during this same period (Goman & Byrne, 1998). Farther cyclical aridity (Polk, van Beynen, & Reeder, 2007). north in Veracruz, Hudson and Heitmuller (2003) docu- Although the paleoenvironmental proxy data for an- mented the evolving system of natural river levees in the cient droughts in the Maya Lowlands is now compelling, lower Panuco´ River Basin linking these to changing basin it is also clear that the actual distribution of precipitation hydrology through the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. was highly variable across both space and time (as it is to- A speleothem from Cueva del Diablo north of Aca- day, especially during drought years). Such variability is pulco in the Mexican state of Guerrero was analyzed undoubtedly part of the reason that there is an imperfect by Bernal et al. (2011) for δ18O variation within the correlation between the drought record and Maya culture carbonate, and used to infer the environmental condi- history, especially from the perspective of individual sites tions during the periods of speleothem formation and and sub-regions. Certainly some regions and sites were growth. Moist conditions are largely tied with the influx more vulnerable to drought, particularly the Elevated In- of glacial meltwater to the Atlantic with precipitation de- terior Region of the Yucatan Peninsula (EIR in Figure 1) creasing from the Caribbean as a result of cooler Atlantic where access to both surface and subterranean water was sea surface temperatures driving a southern migration of negligible (Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach, 2012). the ITCZ. Pacific climate patterns are suggested to inter- The complex series of historical events that played out fere with Caribbean and Atlantic patterns after 4.3 ka, across the Maya Lowlands over time make it clear that specifically an overall decrease in precipitation resulting the ability of different communities and leaders to cope from increased influence of El Nino-Southern˜ Oscillation and adapt to drought and other stresses indeed varied (ENSO) and marked periods of moisture decrease dur- greatly (Aimers & Hodell, 2011; Iannone, 2014; Yeager & ing ENSO warm phases. The two largest climatic anoma- Hodell, 2008). Nevertheless, it is also clear that droughts lies of the Holocene at 10.3 ka and 8.2 ka, expressed have had devastating effects on the Maya Lowlands and elsewhere by low lake levels at Patzcuaro (the 10.3 ka its inhabitants for millennia (Gill et al., 2007). The Maya anomaly) and glacial advances on the Iztaccihuatl´ Vol- themselves may well have also contributed to the inten- cano, are represented as hiatuses of speleothem growth sification of droughts by removing regional forest cover followed by lower δ18O values. Association with these interfering with water capture and regeneration via tran- known climatic anomalies driving the hiatuses, as op- spiration (Cook et al., 2012; Griffin et al. 2014; Oglesby posed to other processes, is supported by uranium et al., 2010; Shaw, 2003). ratios representing increases in the lighter isotope.

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Unfortunately, the speleothem record terminates at 1.24 Volcanic eruptions have been linked to climate dis- ka and could not provide paleoclimate data on Termi- ruptions and longer term changes around the globe. The nal Classic and Postclassic droughts that plagued parts of largest known stratospheric aerosol loading event of the Mesoamerica. past 2000 years occurred in A.D. 536 and disrupted global Not unexpectedly, ENSO cycles are fairly apparent in climate until around A.D. 550 and creating agricultural the sediment records of several west and central Mexi- problems in many parts of the world, including possi- can lakes (Metcalfe, 2006). Historical records of droughts bly within the Maya Lowlands (Dahlin & Chase, 2014). afflicting central Mexico between A.D. 1450 and 1900 Although the catastrophic TBJ eruption of Ilopango Vol- indicate a close correlation between ENSO cycles and cano in El Salvador was originally dated to A.D. 260 droughts (Mendoza et al., 2005). ± 114 yrs, a new suite of radiocarbon dates indicate Sediment cores recovered from lakes Tixtla and Huizil- the eruption occurred sometime between A.D. 440 and tepec, in the West Mexican state of Guerrero document 550 suggesting a possible link to the A.D. 536 event forest cover change from 2.70 ka to 1.95 ka indicative (Dull et al., 2010; Kutterolf, Freundt, & Perez,´ 2008). Re- of drier conditions giving way to higher humidity than gardless of whether or not the TBJ eruption occurred the modern environment, 1.95 ka to 1.07 ka (Berr´ıo in A.D. 536, it had catastrophic effects across south- et al., 2006). In Oaxaca, pollen and geomorphic data re- east Mesoamerica leading to widespread abandonment covered from the lower Rio Verde suggest that periods of settlements and migration to neighboring areas (Dull, of increased aridity and canopy opening in highland wa- Southon, & Sheets, 2001). tersheds centered around 6.17 ka and 5.34 ka led to in- Given the location of Mesoamerica astride conver- creased erosion in upper portions of the watershed and gent tectonic plate boundaries, it is not surprising aggradation downstream prior to any significant human that volcanism and earthquakes played a significant impacts (Joyce & Mueller, 1997). Increased ENSO fre- role in shaping the region’s cultural history—as well quencies are also thought to underlie an increase in hur- as the cultures themselves, particularly their cosmolo- ricane strikes in coastal Oaxaca in the mid-late Holocene gies (Gill & Keating, 2002; Sheets, 1999, 2008). Al- (Goman, Joyce, & Mueller, 2005). though much less studied, earthquake activity also clearly The most detailed record of past precipitation recovered influenced Mesoamerican cultures and their histories to date in Mesoamerica comes from Montezuma Bald- (Kovach, 2004). In some instances, effusive volcanic cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) growing in Queretaro in eruptions have also provided archaeologists with as- central Mexico (Stahle et al., 2011). Growth rings in these tounding opportunities where towns and villages have trees have provided a 1238 year rainfall record includ- been rapidly entombed by ejecta. The village of Ceren ing droughts at A.D. 810, A.D. 860, and several between in El Salvador has now been the subject to decades of A.D. 897–922, a record that only partly correlates with productive investigation (further discussion follows be- that of the Maya Lowlands but clearly indicates that Ter- low). Another buried site that has revealed a great deal minal Classic droughts also affected central Mexico. Im- about daily life in Mesoamerica is Tetimpa on the slopes portantly, periods of droughts are also evident for A.D. of Popocatepetl Volcano in Puebla, Mexico (Plunket & 1149–1167, during the decline of the Toltec state, and Urunuela,˜ 1998). Sheets (2009) astutely points out that A.D. 1514–1539 during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec given the widespread deposition of tephras dating to state. the period of human occupation in Mesoamerica, other In the Guatemalan Highlands analysis of diatoms in a buried sites surely exist and await discovery; he suggests long sediment core from Lake Amatitlan´ indicate lowered that deposits around Ceboruca Volcano (see Sieron & lake levels during two periods (250 B.C. to A.D. 125, and Siebe, 2008) in Nayarit might be an especially promising A.D. 875 to 1375), probably indicative of periods of rela- place to look. tive aridity (Velez et al., 2011). On the southeastern edge The diffusion of volcanic ash is also now known to have of Mesoamerica Dull (2004) obtained an 8000-year sedi- played a significant role in the agricultural potential of ment record from a crater lake in the Sierra de Apaneca, non-volcanic regions of Mesoamerica. Ash is likely the El Salvador. Vegetation and chemical proxies indicate a primary inorganic component in many soils of the south- warm, humid climate during the mid-Holocene optimum ern Maya Lowlands (Tankersley et al., 2011, 2015), and is (a warm period 9.0 and 5.0 ka), the onset of a cooling, a significant contributor of clay minerals, silica, and nutri- drying trend around 5.5 ka, then stabilization into clients to soils in the northern Maya Lowlands in addition mate similar to the present day around 3.5 ka. Tephra to Saharan dust (Das et al., 2011; Cabadas-Baez´ et al., from the Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) eruption of Ilopango 2010). Volcano is prominent within the core, followed abruptly Another natural hazard with a frequent recurrence in- by indications of local abandonment and reforestation. terval in Mesoamerica is hurricanes and tropical storms.

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Paleotempestology is still in its infancy in the region, Usumacintla in the northwestern Peten, Guatemala have but initial findings are promising. McClosky and Keller uncovered evidence for dynamic environmental changes (2009) uncovered a 5000-year record of hurricane strikes associated with the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and in two coastal lagoons in southern Belize. Unfortunately, with the ancient Maya occupation of the region (Galop an enormous hurricane in the 15th century A.D. appar- et al., 2004; Metailie et al., 2003). In this region of muted ently scoured large amounts of sediment from both la- ridge and valley terrain, late Pleistocene stream channels goons, creating a 1700-year gap in the record spanning draining grabens were aggraded, probably as the result of much of the course of ancient Maya civilization. A more base-level changes in the Holocene. Continued changes complete sediment record has been recovered in a se- in the Preclassic and Classic compelled the Maya to adapt ries of cores taken in the Blue Hole, a submerged Pleis- to continued slow sea level rise and spread of wetlands tocene sinkhole on the Belizean Barrier Reef (Gischler in the coastal plains. In the Holbox Fracture in northern et al., 2008). These cores indicate numerous hurricanes Quintana Roo, wetlands connected to the coast gradually over the past 1500 years (the limit of the cores), includ- changed and likely triggered cycles of site abandonment ing two major strikes in the second half of the 8th century and reoccupation and Maya attempts to manipulate wet- A.D. Further analysis of the cores indicate that hurricane land hydrology (Fedick et al., 2000; Sedov et al., 2008). In frequency appears to correlate more strongly with global the coastal lowlands of northern Belize and adjacent areas climate than with local conditions (Denommee, Bentley, of Mexico, sea level rise triggered changes in groundwa- & Drowxler, 2014). ter chemistry and aggradation in the region’s low gradient Dunning and Houston (2011) examined ethnographic, river systems (Figure 3) (Beach et al., 2009; Luzzadder- historic, hieroglyphic, and geomorphic evidence for the Beach & Beach, 2009; Luzzadder-Beach, Beach, & Dun- effects of hurricanes on Maya history and culture and ning, 2012). Associated wetland field systems were some- on the Maya Lowlands environment. Given the high times adapted to changing hydrology, but at other times frequency of hurricane strikes across the Maya Low- abandoned. Wetland field systems in coastal Veracruz lands, it is not surprising that these sometimes devas- were likewise affected by sea level rise (Heimo, Siemens, tating storms are deeply embedded in Maya cosmology & Hebda, 2004). Sea level rise is also implicated in warranting their own deity, a malevolent “sparking ser- changing fluvial hydrology and associated settlement at pent.” In the historic and modern era, hurricanes have the mouths of the Panuco´ River in northern Veracruz generated major flooding even in interior regions and (Hudson, 2004), the Rio Verde in Oaxaca (Goman, Joyce, are a powerful geomorphic agent presenting clear records & Mueller, 2005) and several drainages on the Pacific in fluvial sediments. Targeted examination of fluvial se- coast of Guatemala (Neff et al., 2006). quences and coastal deposits in other parts of the Maya A natural disaster of the distant past has also had a last- Lowlands (e.g. Beach et al., 2009) and elsewhere in ing impact on the cultural history of part of the north- Mesoamerica (e.g., Goman, Joyce, & Mueller, 2005; Neff ern Maya Lowlands. Though buried under later carbon- et al., 2006a) will undoubtedly reveal other records of ate sediments, the massive 65 million-year-old Chicxulub hurricane strikes. Mud layers within a speleothem from Meteorite Crater underlying the northwestern Yucatan northern Yucatan have been interpreted as proxies for Peninsula continues to profoundly influence groundwa- tropical storms (Frappier et al., 2014), but are notably ter movement and the development of water-bearing suppressed during intense drought episodes when low caves and sinkholes (cenotes), and larger structural and regional groundwater levels inhibited the filling of caves solution depressions in the overlying limestone (Hilde- with water and sediment during storms. brand et al., 1995; Perry et al., 2010). Differences in Another environmental change affecting Mesoamer- bedrock chemistry and topography associated with the ica owes its origin to orbitally driven, long-term climate buried crater also influenced soil development (Pope fluctuations that influence global sea levels. Fluctuating et al., 1996). These hydrologic and pedologic factors have, sea levels are especially important on the low-lying Yu- in turn, influenced settlement distribution and history catan Platform including the submergence of large por- across the region (Winemiller, 2007). tions with sea-level rise at the end of the Pleistocene ( 17,000–10,000 years ago) and during the early Holocene ( 10,000–5000 years ago). Although the rate ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTAL of sea level rise slowed dramatically by the middle CHANGE Holocene, it continued to affect coastal regions and residents (Van Hengstum et al., 2009). The Lake Patzcuaro´ Basin in Michoacan, Mexico has been Geoarchaeological investigations around La Joyanca the focus of a controversy centering on the timing of, and along the Rio San Pedro Matir, a major tributary of the agency behind accelerated soil erosion. Although the lake

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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 figuresin 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 of abandoned. Detailed analyses of four cores taken from the controversy has been in the last 20 years. A study by several parts of the basin lend support to the original O’Hara, Street-Perrott, and Burt (1993) based on cores model of accelerating soil erosion correlating with Pre- taken from many different parts of the large lake re- hispanic population growth and agricultural expansion ported a positive correlation between Prehispanic popu- (Metcalfe et al., 2007). It is likely that the more detailed lation growth and sedimentation rates within the basin stratigraphy and chronological control provided by exca- as a whole indicating erosion peaking in the Classic and vations in a part of the southern basin reveal more nu- Postclassic. A detailed study of a portion of the southern anced, but perhaps localized effects that may not be rep- basin by Fisher et al. (2003) based on deep stratigraphic resentative of the lake basin as a whole. Similar strati- excavations refuted this correlation finding that soil ero- graphic excavations in other parts of the basin could help sion was at its highest during Preclassic land clearance resolve this controversy. and settlement, then stabilized as population increased At lakes Tixtla and Huiziltepec, in the West Mexican in the Classic and Postclassic periods and heavy invest- state of Guerrero increases in watershed cultivation (in- ment was made in agricultural terracing, and finally ac- dicated by maize pollen) are documented for the first celerated again in the early Colonial period when regional millennium A.D. (Berr´ıo et al., 2006). Small pulses of population crashed and soil conservation measures were increased soil erosion are indicated sporadically in both

8 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA lakes during this period, but the most notable increase ated large amounts of erosion, but greater population in erosion is associated with the post-Conquest period. growth in the Late Classic produced notably less erosion, At Lake Zirahuen disturbance is first noted around 3 presumably because of the implementation of conserva- ka and continues with some oscillations before peak- tion measures. Following Terminal Classic abandonment, ing in the Postclassic around 1350 A.D. (Lozano-Garcia a recolonizing Postclassic population renewed the erosion et al., 2013; Ortega et al., 2010). However, the evi- cycle. There is no question that at times some ancient dence for anthropogenic erosion is complicated by indica- Maya groups generated catastrophic soil erosion as evi- tions of episodic aridity that may also have induced ero- dent in the utter denudation of hillslopes and the burial of sion/sedimentation. Similarly, Park et al.’s (2010) study downslope/downstream locations including older occu- of two shallow central Mexican maar lakes produced con- pation sites (Dunning & Beach, 2000; Holley et al., 2000), flated signals for aridity and anthropogenic erosion with but more conservative land management was practiced peaks in both the Preclassic and Classic times. Another in other places and times and soilscapes were stabilized study of Lake Zirahuen and Lake Juanacatlan´ in Jalisco (Dunning et al., 2009). documented increases in erosion and metal contaminants An aspect of urbanization in the Maya Lowlands that linked to Colonial agriculture and mining (Davies et al., undoubtedly contributed to land degradation was the 2005). In sum, each drainage basin that has been exam- quarrying of limestone both for stone and for making ined exhibits a unique history of anthropogenic change. lime plaster. This form of degradation may have been In the Maya Lowlands, scholars have for many years most acute in the Late Preclassic, when architectural style linked the decline of Classic Maya civilization with soil favored massive pyramid complexes coated in extremely erosion and environmental degradation (e.g., Bennett, thick layers of lime stucco, such as in the Mirador Basin 1926; Cooke, 1931; Morley, 1946). Combined paleoen- area (Hansen et al, 2002; Wahl et al., 2007). vironmental and archaeological studies at Lake Yaxha Not surprisingly, soil erosion linked to land clearance, and other central Peten, Guatemala lakes were used to especially for agriculture, has been documented through- develop a more quantitative version of this model that out Mesoamerica. McAuliffe et al. (2001) documented posited a direct relationship between population growth, severe Prehispanic soil erosion in the Tehuacan Val- forest clearance, and soil erosion (Deevy et al., 1979; Rice, ley of central Mexico, probably during both the Clas- 1993). While this model does indeed appear to be rep- sic and Postclassic periods, and continuing into Colonial resentative of some investigated catchments, it does not and modern times. Prehispanic soil conservation terrac- seem to be a universal fit. At Lake Yaxha, high sedimen- ing was present in some parts of the valley, but not tation rates may have been linked as much to urbaniza- others. Where present, the terraces were eventually ne- tion (the large site of Yaxha sprawled across one side of glected and have largely disintegrated. At Tlaxcala, Bore- the lake) as with agriculture. In many areas, the relation- jsza et al. (2008) uncovered a complex landscape that ship between population growth and land degradation is experienced severe erosion in the Preclassic period, fol- much less direct. For many studied catchments, soil ero- lowed by abandonment, then reclamation with extensive sion peaks not with maximum population numbers (typ- agricultural terracing in the Postclassic (Figure 4). Some ically in the Late Classic), but during the first centuries of of that erosion was generated by swidden agriculture in forest clearance and agricultural expansion (Anselmatti high elevation areas (tierra fria) that were brought into et al., 2006; Dunning et al., 1998; Dunning & Beach, production by either population pressure of political eco- 2000, 2010). Evidence suggests that early farmers were nomic exclusion (Borejsza, Frederick, & Lesure, 2011). less conservative while land pressure was slight, some- Ancient, Colonial, and modern soil erosion on sloping times with catastrophic results when sloping, unprotected lands has been widespread in central Mexico (Cordova´ land was subject to erosive tropical rainfall (Beach et al. & Parsons, 1997; Heine, 2003) resulting in the burial of 2006). By sometime in the Late Preclassic, soil conser- ancient land surfaces within basins and valleys (McClung vation measures such as terracing began to appear in de Tapia et al., 2003; Sanchez-P´ erez´ et al., 2013). some areas (Beach et al., 2008; Dunning & Beach, 2000; Around Laguna Pompal in the Tuxla Mountains of Carazzo, et al., 2007; Garrison & Dunning, 2009; see also Veracruz, the first forest clearance for agriculture began further discussion below). around 4830 14C yr B.P., but was followed by a hiatus The relationship between population pressure and soil of nearly 1500 years before cultivation resumed around erosion in the Maya Lowlands was sometimes complex. 2600 14C yr B.P. (Goman & Byrne, 1998). Forest clear- For example, Carozza et al. (2007) document pulses of ance was then pervasive until about 1300 14CyrB.P.re- erosion/sedimentation around La Joyanca, Guatamala. flecting the spread and intensification of agriculture in Light population in the Middle Preclassic initiated little the Preclassic (Formative) and Classic periods, though erosion, rising population in the Late Preclassic gener- without generating a notable increase in the deposition

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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- & Neff, 2011). Erosion in the upper watershed initiated sion. An earlier study of nearby Lake Catemaco found sedimentation in the lower Rio Verde drainage, creating a similar record of forest clearance with little increase alluvial soils that became a new focus for agricultural in- in sedimentation (Byrne & Horn, 1989). Whether the tensification and population concentration, though this lack of indicated erosion is the result of local watershed aggradation also created new flooding problems. Depo- characteristics, natural resistance of the region’s Andis- sition at the coastal outlet of the Rio Verde created a ols to erosion, or ancient soil conservation practices is dynamic lagoon environment with new, but shifting re- unknown. sources (Goman, Joyce, & Mueller, 2005). The Rio Verde drainage basin includes the Nochixtlan´ A core taken from Aguada Petapilla in a small valley Valley, Ejutla Valley, and the Valley of Oaxaca. Many near Copan, Honduras showed two peaks in deforesta- years of research have demonstrated that episodes of soil tion: around 900 B.C. when agriculture began in the area, erosion were triggered by land clearance for agriculture and around A.D. 400 when a Maya kingdom was estab- in the upper watersheds during the Preclassic as early as lished at Copan (McNeil, Burney, & Burney, 2010). These 1500 B.C. and continued episodically through the Clas- findings are contrary to earlier studies of Petapilla that in- sic period, punctuated by periods of stability and soil for- dicated accelerating deforestation in the region through mation in individual tributaries (Joyce & Goman, 2012; the Classic period (Abrams & Rue, 1988; Rue, 1987). The Joyce & Mueller, 1992, 1997; Perez´ Rodr´ıguez, Anderson, new finding, however, fails to account for the evidence

10 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA of significant soil erosion in the Copan Valley during the created a risk spiral within the region, especially when Classic period (Abrams et al., 1996). coupled with other environmental and cultural risk fac- In the Guatemalan Highlands, Velez et al. (2011) corre- tors (Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach, 2012; Turner late increased inorganic sedimentation with forest clear- & Sabloff, 2012). ance and soil erosion brought on by population increases The Maya are a forest people who have accumulated in the Middle Preclassic, Early Classic, and Late Postclas- a cultural storehouse of the economic properties associ- sic. On the nearby Pacific coast, periods of population ated with trees and other plants including food, timber, growth also correlate with increased fluvial sedimenta- fuel, fiber, and medicine among others. Hence, it is likely tion (Neff et al., 2006a, 2006b). Population levels, forest that for millennia the Maya selectively removed some clearance, and agriculture are also linked in Laguna Cuz- species and encouraged others. For many years, it has cachapa in El Salvaror (Dull, 2007). been suspected that even in areas abandoned for cen- In reality, human–environment interactions are often turies, the species composition of the tropical forest in highly intertwined and modeling these interactions re- the Maya Lowlands partly reflects ancient forest manage- quires a complex systems perspective. A good example ment (e.g., Gomez-Pompa et al., 1987). Surveys of forest of the complexity of such interrelationships can be il- mantling ancient Maya sites have been used to document lustrated by the effects of forest removal in the Maya the species that were likely incorporated into gardens, or- Lowlands (Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach, 2012; chards, or managed forest (Ford, 2008; Ross, 2011; Ross & Turner & Sabloff, 2012), a set of interactions that begins Rangle, 2011; Thompson et al., 2015). Analysis of wood with the nature of bedrock on the Yucatan Peninsula. and charcoal recovered from archaeological excavations Much of this limestone bedrock is nearly pure calcite. In also sheds light on the changing composition of ancient the southern Lowlands the inorganic fraction comprising forests (Hageman & Goldstein, 2009; Lentz et al., 2014, regional soils is largely derived from windblown volcanic 2015). At Tikal, Lentz and Hockaday (2009) found that ash; in the north the parent material is a compound of Manilkara zapata, a tree favored for lintels in monumen- volcanic ash, Saharan and North American eolian dust, tal architecture, was likely carefully managed but even- plus local calcite. While these soils are fairly fertile, they tually became scarce enough to be replaced by another are notoriously low in phosphorus. Over the long term, less desirable species. Charcoal recovered from many sites P is recharged by new inputs of volcanic ash. On an an- indicate that pine may have become intentionally culti- nual basis, P is recharged by inputs of eolian dust (Das vated in areas outside its natural range because it was et al., 2011; Lawrence et al., 2007). However, as for- favored in ritual contexts (Lentz et al., 2005; Morehart, est is progressively removed from a location, the capture Lentz, & Prufer, 2005). Genetic analysis is beginning to of dust is proportionally diminished leading to decreas- add a new dimension to understanding the management ing P levels in the soil. Thus, as agriculture was intensi- of tree species through domestication or “wild” manage- fied across the Maya Lowlands, P levels in regional soils ment (e.g., Galindo-Tovar et al., 2008; Petersen, Parker, would have progressively declined. Reductions in forest & Potter, 2012; Thompson et al., 2015). fallowing would also likely decrease nitrogen levels by Anthropogenic land use changes also had lasting im- reducing inputs from leguminous Leucaena species, which pacts on hydrology. Forest clearance, agriculture, and comprise a significant portion of regional forests. Declin- quarrying triggered erosion on sloping land surrounding ing soil fertility would have had cascading effects. Yields closed depressions (bajos) in the southern Maya Low- would have declined necessitating clearance of more for- lands and the resulting sedimentation often resulted in est if available. Plant health would have declined making the blockage of groundwater recharge of once peren- crops more vulnerable to diseases such as maize mosaic nial wetlands (Beach et al., 2003; Dunning et al., 2002; virus. Declining soil fertility would also increase vulnera- Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach 2006; Hansen et al., bility to field invasion by weedy species, most notably of 2002). Sedimentation, eutrophication, and climate drying bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinium), an aggressive species all likely contributed to the long-term transformation of that thrives in nutrient poor soil and which is noted for many perennial wetlands and shallow lakes into seasonal invading over-cropped fields in the Southern Maya Low- swamps in which deep clay Vertisols developed. How- lands and for being difficult to remove once established ever, although many wetlands or parts of wetlands were (Dunning & Beach, 2010; Perez-Salicrup,´ 2004). Thus, “degraded”, other parts were actually enhanced from a ironically, while the high base status soils and tropical cli- Maya point of view. Wide aprons of calcium-rich collu- mate of the Maya Lowlands were favorable for cultivating vial and alluvial sediment derived from upslope erosion maize and supporting high population densities, popula- accumulated along the margins of bajos. These aprons of tion growth led to the incremental reduction of forest for deep, high-base-status soils developed into some of the construction material, fuel, and farm land would have best agricultural land available in the southern lowlands

Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 11 GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA DUNNING ET AL. and became the focus of intensive cultivation (Dunning ing mixes of exploited animals (Emery, 2008; Emery et al., 2002; Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach 2006; & Thornton, 2008b; Somerville, Fauvelle, & Froehle, Gunn et al., 2002). In some perennial wetlands in ripar- 2013). ian settings in the coastal lowlands, canals were dug to Estimates of the amount of forest cover that existed facilitate drainage and agriculture (see further discussion during regional population zeniths (most typically in the below). More than a thousand years later, these canal Late Classic) range from as high as 75% to as low as systems often continue to influence wetland hydrology, 15%. This range likely reflects both actual place-to-place ecology, and pedogenesis (Figure 3) (Beach et al., 2009). variation as well as differences in the methods used to In the Valley of Guatemala, a canal system associated reconstruct vegetative cover. Pollen percentages are the with former Lake Miraflores may have abetted the per- most commonly used method, but can lead to underrep- manent desiccation of the lake in conjunction with dry- resentation of many tree species (e.g., the many insect- ing climate (Popenoe de Hatch et al., 2002). pollinated species predominant in tropical forest; Ford, 2008). Macrobotanical remains recovered from archaeological contexts can provide a partial picture of actual LAND COVER, LAND USE, PALEODIET forest use, though one biased by both cultural and preservation filters – as well as recovery methods (Hageman & By 1000 B.C., much of Mesoamerica was becoming an Goldstein, 2009). At Teotihuacan and neighboring sites, ever-changing patchwork of forest and fields (Dunning the relatively consistent use of certain woody species for & Beach, 2010). Charting how this increasingly human- fuel and for construction from Preclassic through Post- ized landscape changed over time and space has become classic times suggests that some type of forest manage- an ever more sophisticated scientific endeavor. As dis- ment was in play within at least this part of the Basin of cussed above, investigations of ancient forests have uti- Mexico to ensure the continued availability of these trees lized palynology, macrobotanical analysis of wood and and shrubs (Adriana-Moran´ & McClung de Tapia, 2008). charcoal, surveys of contemporary forests, and studies of Nevertheless, widespread sedimentation over long peri- genetic variation. As will be discussed in the next sec- ods in the Teotihuacan Valley indicate that substantial tion, analysis of carbon isotopes in soil organic matter forest clearance occurred resulting in persistent erosion also offers information about changing vegetation com- on surrounding highlands (Sanchez-P´ erez´ et al., 2013). position. The nature of forest cover can also be partly Similarly, soil erosion in many watersheds in the Maya reconstructed by analysis of fauna recovered in archaeo- Lowlands and other regions of Mesoamerica indicates pe- logical investigations. The diversity of animal species ex- riods of widespread land clearance, though sedimentation ploited by residents of investigated Maya sites suggests rates also indicate that denudation varied greatly across that a wide range of habitats were visited by hunters space and time (see above). (Emery & Thornton, 2008a; Freiwald, 2010). Carbon The buried village of Ceren, El Salvador and sur- isotope ratios in the bones of species such as white- rounding land provide the best evidence on the na- tailed deer and peccary indicate that these animals con- ture of agriculture thus far recovered in Mesoamerica sumed a significant quantity of maize and were proba- (Sheets, 2002, 2008). At Ceren, rapidly deposited vol- bly procured from farmer’s fields (Emery, 2003), though canic ash entombed not only the small town, but the there are indications at some sites that deer were cap- gardens and fields worked by its inhabitants (Figure 5). tured and fed maize before slaughter, a practice also used Excavations for many years were concentrated within with dogs (White, Longstaffe, & Law, 2001). Variation in the village site and its immediate environs. These ex- strontium isotopes in animal skeletons indicates that at cavations revealed areas of intensive garden produc- some larger Maya sites animals were being procured from tion that included small plots of maize and manioc, as considerable distances, perhaps through trade or tribute well as beans, squashes, hog plum (Spondias), avocado, (Freiwald, 2010; Thornton, 2011). In the northern Maya guava, calabash, and cacao, among others species (Lentz Lowlands, species composition of animals recovered from &Ram´ırez-Sosa, 2002; Sheets, 2008). These gardens were archaeological contexts indicate that most animals were clearly carefully planned and well tended. More recently, likely procured locally, though higher status house- investigations have been extended into the buried land- holds consumed more exotic species as well (Gotz, 2008; scape beyond the margins of the village site and have Masson & Lope, 2008). In sum, these studies indicate that revealed extensive fields of maize and manioc (Sheets most Maya sites were surrounded by a mosaic of fields et al., 2011, 2012). While manioc has been posited as and forest, some fairly mature, some secondary scrub. a major crop in Mesoamerica, data had been previously However, the specific composition of this field/forest mix lacking to support this hypothesis. Since the cultiva- varied greatly across space and time as reflected in vary- tion of manioc and other root crops does not involve

12 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA

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, systems. Most dramatically, the Maya city of Caracol, Be- its absence in most archaeological pollen studies is not lize grew amidst a system of tens of square kilometers of surprising. Nevertheless, examples of manioc and other terracing in a hilly landscape (Figure 6) that would oth- root crops are increasingly being found in pollen and erwise not have allowed such a large urban population macrobotanical records (e.g., Akpinar-Ferrand et al., concentration (Chase & Chase, 1998; Dunning & Beach, 2012; Dunning et al., 2003; Lentz et al., 2014, 2015). Al- 2010; Chase et al., 2011). Concentrated terrace systems though lacking the advantageous burial by ash, investiga- also were a significant part of urbanization at the major tions at the Maya village site of Chan in Belize have pro- centers of Monte Alban in Oaxaca and Anagamuco near duced paleobotanical and archaeological data that closely Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan (Fisher, 2005; Fisher, Leisz, & parallels that found at Ceren with a diversified and inten- Outlaw, 2011; Perez´ Rodr´ıguez & Anderson, 2013; Joyce sified agricultural system that additionally included agri- & Goman, 2012). cultural terracing (Robin, 2012). One puzzling aspect of land use in Mesoamerica is the Agricultural terracing was used widely in Mesoamer- lack of agricultural terracing in some places where such ica occurring to greater or lesser extents in any region an investment would seem to have been highly benefi- with sloping land. In Oaxaca, terracing began to appear cial. The ancient Maya city of Tikal is a case in point. in the Middle Preclassic likely in response to increasing Much of urban Tikal lies on gently to steeply sloping land soil erosion as land was brought into cultivation (Joyce & in a region where terracing has been found at nearby Goman, 2012; Kowalewski et al., 2009; Perez´ Rodr´ıguez sites (e.g., San Bartolo and Xultun; Garrison & Dunning, & Anderson, 2013). Similar land degradation processes 2009), only a handful of probable agricultural terraces probably prompted other early investments in terracing have been identified at Tikal despite numerous surveys in other parts of Mesoamerica including Michoacan and and detailed mapping (Dunning et al., 2015). Carbon iso- the Basin of Mexico, the highlands of Veracruz, and the topes recovered from organic matter within sediments Maya Lowlands (Beach et al., 2009; Fisher, 2005; Gar- in two of Tikal’s reservoirs, as well as a slow rate of rison & Dunning, 2009; Heine, 2003). Terraces systems sedimentation in those reservoirs, suggest that the ur- show great variation in scale and degree of organization. ban residential catchment areas feeding these reservoirs In most cases, accretionary growth appears evident, typ- were protected by perennial tree cover (e.g. orchards ically in close association with rural household groups; or tree-dominated gardens) (Scarborough et al., 2012; this association and the lack of apparent central plan- Tankersley et al., 2011, 2015). This “garden city” model ning indicate that the terraces systems evolved infor- seems to apply to many other Maya cities in the Clas- mally as farmers brought more sloping land into produc- sic periods as well (Dunning & Beach, 2010; Lentz et al., tion (Beach et al., 2002; Dunning, 2004; Dunning et al., 2015) and elsewhere, such as the Gulf Lowlands of Ve- 2003; Dunning & Beach, 2010; Lemonnier & Vanniere, racruz (Stark & Ossa, 2007). Investigations at two sites 2013; Wyatt, 2012). In other instances, centralized orga- in the Tuxla Mountains of Veracruz found archaeobotan- nization is evident in large-scale, carefully orchestrated ical evidence for increasing use of tree crops over time,

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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- season cultivation and production of crops with high wa- Derwarker, 2005). ter demand, most notably cacao (Dunning, Beach, & Rue, Much of Tikal’s staple food production may have taken 1997; Lentz et al. 2014, 2015; Munro-Strasiuk, Man- place on colluvial aprons around localized depressions ahan, & Stockton, 2014; Munro-Strasiuk, Manahan, & (“pocket bajos”) and the edges of the sprawling Bajo Stockton, 2014). de Santa Fe on the eastern flank of the city (Balzotti Wetlands were a widespread locus of agriculture et al., 2013; Dunning et al., 2015; Lentz et al. 2014). in Mesoamerica. Wetland agriculture developed early An unexpected outcome of Preclassic erosion near many within the Gulf Lowlands of Veracruz, where it may southern Maya Lowlands population centers was the have evolved from cultivation along natural alluvial lev- dumping of huge quantities of base-rich eroded soil into ees (Arnold III, 2009). Macrobotanical, phytolith, and the region’s many karst depressions (bajos) which had pollen evidence from this area indicates maize cultivation previously been largely unsuitable for maize agriculture by 7100 14C yr B.P., the earliest known in Mesoamerica (Beach et al., 2003; Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach, (Pohl et al., 2007). Surprisingly, this area has also pro- 2006; Dunning et al., 2002; Gunn et al., 2002). These ar- duced evidence for the Mesoamerican domestication of eas of new, deep colluvial and alluvial soils became the sunflowers (Lentz et al., 2008). Investigations in an ex- foci of intensified agricultural production in the ensuing tensive wetland field complex at Mandinga in central Ve- Classic period; at some sites this cultivation is evident in racruz indicate that development of the island fields be- extensive field wall systems, though these are not evident gan in the Preclassic and intensive cultivation of the fields at Tikal. continued until the 7th century A.D., when several factors Another focus of intensive and specialized cultivation including sea-level rise, aggradation, a volcanic eruption, in both the southern and northern Maya Lowlands were and regional population decline contributed to abandon- limestone sinkholes or rejolladas. Deeper, more humid ment of the system (Heimo, Siemens, & Hebda, 2004). soils in rejolladas allowed these places to be used for dry Early agriculture also appears to have been established

14 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA along alluvial levees along the Pacific Coast as well, remotely sensed imagery is helping to map the former though this cultivation did not evolve into a system of distribution of wetland fields (Morehart, 2012). Chi- wetland cultivation (Neff et al., 2006b; Rosenswig, 2006). nampa systems are also now known to have extended Large and small patches of island fields are found in into lake basins in western Mexico (Fisher, 2005). riparian and connected perennial wetlands across north- Compared to many regions of early civilization, ern Belize and contiguous areas of Mexico. Many of these Mesoamerica is not incised with any great river systems. field systems originated in the Preclassic, though use and Nevertheless, shorter, less voluminous rivers abound in formation history varies from place to place reflecting some areas, but are notably absent in others such as the both differing and changing environmental and politi- Yucatan Peninsula. Water management was of critical im- cal economic conditions (Figure 3) (Beach et al., 2009; portance both in areas of abundant surface water as well Pyburn, 1998). One notable finding has been the im- as those without. The Elevated Interior Region of the portant though variable role played by the gradual cap- Maya Lowlands is an example of the latter, a karst region illary precipitation of gypsum and calcium carbonate in essentially lacking in perennial surface water and largely the formation of these field systems (Luzzadder-Beach & inaccessible groundwater (Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder- Beach, 2009). These systems appear to have given depen- Beach, 2012). Yet this region formed the heartland of dent populations greater resilience during the troubling Maya civilization. Urbanization was achieved by harvest- times of the Terminal Classic, but ultimately they too ing rainwater during the rainy season, storing it, and met- succumbed and the fields were abandoned (Luzzadder- ing it out through the dry. Large urban centers required Beach, Beach, & Dunning, 2012). Similar field systems sophisticated hydraulic systems. At Tikal, a multi-tiered are found along the Candelaria River (Siemens et al., system of reservoirs was developed to impound and store 2002) and wetlands around the Laguna de Terminos in rainwater (Scarborough et al., 2012). The majority of har- southwestern Campeche, Mexico, but have been sub- vested water at Tikal was likely used to meet domes- ject to relatively little investigation. The true extent of tic needs, including filtering water entering some reser- the Campeche fields has only recently become apparent voirs. A few reservoirs appear to have functioned to pro- (Figure 7). tect downstream fields during heavy rains, and may have The wetlands of the Yalahau Fracture zone in north- also provided irrigation water to nearby fields. Given the ern Quintana Roo, Mexico were also manipulated by heavy rains and tropical storms that periodically affect the ancient Maya with a system of dikes and dams, but the Maya Lowlands, flood control was an important part how this system functioned has not been firmly estab- of water management systems (Davis-Salazar, 2006). Not lished (Fedick et al., 2000; Fedick & Morrison, 2004; Se- surprisingly, sites in the Elevated Interior Region that in- dov et al., 2008). One important use of these wetlands vested heavily in water management often fared better was the harvesting of periphyton that was used to fer- during times of increased drought frequency (Akpinar- tilize nearby dryland agricultural fields. Analysis of the Ferrand et al., 2012; Dunning, Beach, & Luzzadder-Beach agricultural fields in the Yalahau was aided greatly by mi- 2012; Dunning et al., 2015). cromorphological study of soil thin sections (Sedov et al., At the large Puuc region site of Xcoch in the north- 2008), a technique that has been little used to date in ern Maya Lowlands a system of large reservoirs was de- Mesoamerica (but see Beach et al. 2009; Sanchez-P´ erez´ vised in the Preclassic period (Dunning et al., 2014b). et al., 2013). Periphyton may also have been harvested This reservoir system was functionally integrated with the from wetlands in northwestern Yucatan to enrich urban site’s monumental architecture (which funneled water garden plots at Chunchucmil, a large urban center located into the reservoirs), systemically linked to the network in an agriculturally inhospitable area, though with ready of household cisterns, symbolically linked to a deep cave access to groundwater (Beach, 1998; Dahlin et al., 2005; underlying the site center (and home to rain god wor- Luzzadder-Beach, 2000). ship), and possibly linked to nearby fields for irrigation. The best known wetland agriculture system in Similar relationships are evident in the hydraulic systems Mesoamerica is the chinampa or island field system once at other regional sites (Isendahl, 2011). found over large areas around the margins of lakes within Although irrigation in ancient Mesoamerica was the Basin of Mexico. Unlike other areas of Mesoamer- nowhere practiced at the same scale as in parts of the Old ica where wetland agriculture began in Preclassic times, World, it was nevertheless of critical importance in some the chinampa system appears to have been developed areas. Localized irrigation was a vital part of the agricul- largely in the Postclassic (Parsons & Morett, 2004). While tural system that supported the huge Classic period city of the chinampa system is known to have been extensive Teotihuacan (Nichols, Spence, & Berland, 1991; Sanchez-´ in the Basin of Mexico in the Postclassic, its full ex- Perez´ et al., 2013). With the fall of Teotihuacan, settle- tent is not known; analysis of historical documents and ment shifted onto the lake plains of the Basin of Mexico

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Figure 7 GoogleEarth image showing extensive wetland field systems near the Laguna de Terminos´ north of the mouth 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, several types of multi-spectral satellite imagery and air- 2004). Kaminaljuyu, a close political and economic ally of borne sensors is proving to be of considerable use for Teotihuacan in highland Guatemala, also adopted an irri- locating sites and large landscape features obscured by gation system (Popenoe de Hatch et al., 2002). Irrigation tropical forest canopy in the southern Maya Lowlands was also important in other areas including the Pacific (Sever & Irwin, 2003). Saturno et al. (2007) successfully piedmont of Guatemala and Chiapas, where it was used developed a spectral signature based on IKONOS images to facilitate cacao cultivation (Kaplan, 2008). to identify Maya sites taking advantage of the differential drainage and nutrient status of vegetation growing on the ruins. However, this signature may be region- PROSPECTION specific and needs to be refined, or alternate signatures developed to facilitate site detection in other parts of the A long-standing problem for archaeologists seeking to southern lowlands (Garrison et al., 2008). Airborne radar understand ancient Maya settlement and land use pat- has been employed in archaeological survey in the Maya terns is the pervasive cover of tropical vegetation over Lowlands since the late 1970s, but system resolution was large areas. Aerial surveys have been used since a se- initially too coarse to be useful—despite errant claims of ries of regional overflights by Charles Lindbergh and success. Newer systems such as AIRSAR (Airborne Syn- Alfred Kidder in 1929, but with limited effectiveness ex- thetic Aperture Radar) offer much better resolution and cept in areas where the forest has been cleared; other- initial experiments have proven successful in site detec- wise only the largest of features are typically detectable tion (Garrison et al., 2011). Combinations of different under the forest mantle. Recent developments in the use imagery can also be used to provide invaluable land- of both satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques scape context data such as topography, physiographic fea- offer the promise of revealing the previously invisible an- tures, drainage, and vegetation (Estrada-Belli & Kock, cient landscape at multiple scales. The combined use of 2007). However, none of these satellite sensor systems or

16 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA airborne radar is capable of mapping features down to the stone like basalt, such as Cotzumalhuapa in the Pacific scale of individual house mounds. Piedmot of Guatemala (Safi et al., 2012) and Texcoco Airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging) was in the Basin of Mexico (Arciniega-Ceballos et al., 2009). flown over the ancient Maya city of Caracol, Belize in Magnetic Susceptibility (MS) has also been used success- 2009; the results after processing were spectacular in the fully in naturally aggrading environments including the amount of land surface detail revealed including thou- Tuxla Mountains of Veracruz (Venter et al., 2006). GPR sands of house mounds and agricultural terraces (Figure and MS have also been highly useful in urbanized or ur- 6) (Chase et al., 2011). While these features were al- banizing landscapes, both ancient and modern – essen- ready known to exist at Caracol (existing detailed sur- tially anthropogenically aggrading contexts (Arciniega- face maps allowed for ready ground truthing), the LiDAR Ceballos et al., 2009; Chavez´ et al., 2001, 2005). In survey revealed sprawling, previously unmapped terrace environments such as alluvial wetlands of Veracruz systems and residential areas. Previously unknown phys- where hard stone was infrequently used, gridded auger- iographic features such as cave openings were also de- ing programs have proven necessary to map subsurface tected (Weishampel et al., 2011). sites (Wendt, 2003). In humid tropical environments it LiDAR has also been tested on the large Tarascan is important to note that low elevation structures can (Purepucha)´ site of Anagamuco near Lake Patzcuaro, Mi- be rendered essentially invisible by bioturbation and or- choacan, Mexico (Fisher, Leisz & Outlaw, 2011). Though ganic accumulation, and site surveys should systemati- not tropical, heavy forest cover on much of the site made cally sample open areas (Johnston, 2002, 2004). traditional mapping a labor-intensive process, whereas Site prospection must also be sensitive to geomorpho- the LiDAR survey revealed many square kilometers of logically dynamic settings such as within fluvial systems. urbanized landscape. High initial costs make LiDAR cur- Given the attraction of riparian environments for settle- rently too expensive for most archaeological projects, but ment, archaeologists should actively look for sites in such its pay off in detailed, digital maps readily incorporated settings even though early sites especially might be deeply into a Geographic Information System (GIS) makes it buried (e.g., Holley et al., 2000). This is especially needed a technology of choice for thorough site survey (Carter in the search for early, more ephemeral, pre-ceramic sites et al., 2012; Chase et al., 2012). LiDAR has also now been in fluvial environments that have undergone multiple cut flown over the sites of Uxbenka in Belize and Yaxnohcah, and fill episodes (Figure 8) (Borejsza et al., 2014). Campeche and other Maya sites in Mexico with promis- The study of chemical signatures remaining on residing results still forthcoming. LiDAR has also been used to ual lime plaster floors in order to identify ancient activ- good effect at Izapa in Chiapas, Mexico (Rosenswig et al., ity areas has been pioneered in central Mexico, particu- 2012). The effectiveness of LiDAR suggests it would be a larly at Teotihuacan, then extended to other sites in Mex- highly useful tool for archaeological survey for other ar- ico, including an ethnoarchaeological study of traditional eas in Mesoamerica where ground visibility is very poor homes in Tlaxcala which helped developed activity “sig- (e.g., the tropical lowlands of Veracruz; Stark & Garraty, natures” (e.g., Barba & Ort´ız, 1992; Manzanilla & Barba, 2008). 1990). Over time, the sophistication of these studies has Satellite remote sensing has also been used to good increased from the analysis of a few elements to over 20 effect in other parts of Mesoamerica, perhaps proving elements and compounds such as fatty acids and proteins most useful in documenting ancient wetland field sys- (Barba, 2007). tems. Morehart (2012) used analysis of Landsat 7 ETM+ Chemical prospection for ancient activity areas has (Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus) imagery in conjuc- been extended to soil floors. Studies have included a tion with historical maps to reconstruct the extent of signature-establishing ethnoarchaeological study of con- chinampa agriculture in the northern Basin of Mexico. temporary earth-floored homes in Las Pozas, Guatemala Heimo, Siemens, & Hebda (2004) document the environ- (Fernandez et al., 2002). At the rapidly buried site of mental parameters of wetland field systems in coastal Ve- Ceren, investigators had the advantage of chemically racruz. Including digital imagery as part of a research de- testing for activities areas inside and outside houses sign has the advantage of being readily incorporated into with in situ architecture, artifacts, and plant remains a study GIS (e.g., Estrada-Belli & Kock, 2007; Morehart, (Parnell, Sheets, & Terry, 2002). As expected high 2012). phosphorus levels were found in food processing, con- Subsurface remote sensing techniques are also being sumption, and disposal areas; iron with areas of animal effectively employed in some Mesoamerican archaeolog- butchery; and heavy metals with pigment processing. ical projects. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been At the rapidly abandoned site of Aguateca, Guatemala used successfully in aggrading landscapes where buried phosphorus was similarly found to closely correlate with features were constructed at least partially with hard artifact assemblages indicative of food processing and

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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 of high concentrations of organic wastes. Phosphorus can Cancuen, Guatemala, Cook et al. (2006) used ICP-MS also be used to identify agricultural gardens and fields (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) analy- where organic amendments were repeatedly applied as sis to test for 60 major, minor, and rare-earth elements part of intensification of cultivation (Dunning, Beach, & collected from two Late Classic house floors, with 30 el- Rue, 1997). Once soil use patterns have been identified, ements showing enrichment over controls. The most no- soil mapping can be used to extrapolate probable agricul- table concentrations were mercury (likely from process- tural potentials around and between sites (e.g., Fernan- ing Cinnabar as a pigment) and gold (since there is no dez et al., 2005). Where available, the folk soil classifi- evidence that the Maya at Cancuen processed gold, this cations used by local traditional farmers can be used to enrichment might reflect micro-debitage from jade pro- analyze probable land use patterns in the soilscape (Dun- cessing). Like Ceren, at Piedras Negras, Guatemala, Par- ning & Beach, 2003; Jensen et al., 2007). nell, Terry and Nelson (2002b) found phosphorus to be Analysis of residual carbon isotopes in the humin frac- the most useful indicator of human activity, especially tion of soil organic matter (SOM) has proven to be an ef- food processessing and disposal, iron as an indicator of fective tool for understanding ancient rural land use in animal slaughter, and various metals as indicators of min- parts of Mesoamerica. Research in several parts of the eral pigments. Testing of newly available portable X-ray world has shown that δ13C enrichment occurs when a fluorescence scanner (pXRF) at the Colonial era Hacienda high percentage of vegetation contributing to the buildup

Telchaquillo in Yucatan indicates that this unit was use- of SOM utilizes the C4 photosynthetic pathway such as ful for detecting trace metals, but not for phosphorus many tropical grasses, including maize. Changes down (Coronel et al., 2014). the soil profile in carbon isotope ratios can provide an Beyond the immediate vicinity of houses, phospho- important line of evidence for vegetation change and ero- rus continues to be the most useful chemical prospec- sion over time, especially in well dated aggrading profiles. tion toolfor identifying middens, however, Eberl et al. In the Maya Lowlands, paleosols from known agricultural (2012) found that not all middens show up as phosphorus contexts such as terraces and wetland fields provide the hotspots, probably because not all trash disposal involved most secure evidence for intensive cultivation of maize

18 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA resulting in significant δ13C enrichment (Beach et al., and allowing for much greater numbers of samples to be 2011; Webb, Schwarcz, & Healy, 2004). Studies around assessed (e.g., Pool, Knight, & Glascock, 2014). several ancient Maya sites including Aguateca (Johnson, A variety of laboratory techniques have also been ap- Wright, & Terry, 2007; Wright, Terry, & Eberl, 2009), plied to other material in Mesoamerica to identify sources Motul de San Jose (Webb et al., 2007), Piedras Negras and movement. Material for the manufacture of ground (Johnson et al., 2007b), and Ramonal (a satellite center stone tools is a scarce resource in the Maya Lowlands of Tikal; Burnett et al., 2012), have documented distinc- and manos and metates made from hard igneous and tive spatial patterns for δ13C enrichment (greater than the metamorphic rocks from the Maya Mountains were a 2.5–3‰ typical from bacterial fractionation) suggestive of valuable item. Abramiuk and Meurer (2006) used thin fields kept in maize production for extended periods. Al- section analysis to pinpoint sources for ground stone arti- together, these studies indicate that C4 plants (presum- facts in the Bladen District of Belize. Jade is also a scarce ably mainly maize) made up 25% of the vegetation resource, with the only known source area in Mesoamer- at these sites in the Maya Classic period, but only a few ica occurring in the Motagua Valley of Guatemala. How- percent today. At Tikal GIS-based soil maps have been ever, ICP-MS analysis has been employed to begin to dis- used to extrapolate probable zones of maize production tinguish the homogenous jadeites on the north side of beyond sampled areas (Balzotti et al., 2013). However, the valley from more chemically heterogeneous sources such extrapolations must remain tenuous for the time on the south side (Neff, Kovacevich, & Bishop, 2010). being because data points are quite limited. The identi- Chert, perhaps the most widely stone used for tools in fication of δ13C enrichment with in situ maize production Mesoamerica, has largely defied attempts to develop ele- must also remain provisional at present because of de- mental signatures tied to specific sources (Bishop, 2014). ranging factors such as slope transport, burial, and the Other provenance studies have sought to identify or presence of other vegetation that can cause δ13C enrich- differentiate important clay sources, largely in an effort ment (other C4 grasses and CAM pathway vegetation, to develop and refine trade models. This endeavor has both of which can be expected to increase during peri- proven most successful in areas with greater geologic di- ods of drier climate; cf. Sol´ıs-Castillo et al., 2013). Ulti- versity which produce distinctive elemental signatures mately, DNA analysis of soil organic matter may provide within clay, temper, and pigments used in ceramic man- more definitive information on ancient cropping practices ufacture such as in the Mexican and Guatemalan high- (Speller, 2013). lands (Alex, Nichols & Glascock, 2012; Charlton et al., 2008; Ina˜ nez˜ et al. 2010; Neff et al., 2000; Reents-Budet et al., 2006). Although in use in archaeology since the 1930s, petrographic analysis continues to be a useful tool PROVENANCE for identifying distinctive minerals within ceramics as well as microstructure (e.g., Stoltman, 2011), though of- Many provenance studies in Mesoamerican archaeology ten coupled with other techniques such as NAA and ICP- have focused on obsidian (Braswell, 2004). Many of these MS (e.g., Cecil, 2007). Despite the increasing precision of studies have been used to elicit trade relations and re- data being produced by the application of instrumental source procurement over time (e.g., Brown, Dreiss, & techniques to Mesoamerican ceramics, interpretation of Hughes, 2004; Knight, 2003; Knight & Glascock, 2009). these data can still be contentious as seen in the lively These assessments have become refined enough that debate over directionality of trade among the Olmec and changing obsidian sources evident in the archaeologi- Olmec-linked cultures (cf., Blomster, Neff, & Glascock, cal record can be used to help refine site-specific or re- 2005; Neff et al. 2006c; Neff et al. 2006d; Sharer et al., gional chronologies (Braswell, 2011). Laboratory tech- 2006; Stoltman et al., 2005). niques such as NAA (neutron activation analysis), XRF Attempts to establish clay/ceramic provenance in the (X-ray florescence), and ICP-MS have partially replaced Maya Lowlands have met with much more limited suc- visual inspection by refining the elemental “signatures” of cess because of more limited geologic diversity (e.g., obsidian sources (e.g., Ponomarenko, 2004), differentiate Bartlett et al., 2000), and seemingly require a multiplicity sub-sources (e.g., Argote-Espino et al., 2012), and in the of techniques to be successful (e.g. Cecil, 2007). However, prospection for, and identification of more obscure obsid- exceptions occur, including the rare palygorskite that was ian sources such as that at San Luis, Honduras (Aoyama, mixed with indigo to make the unique Maya Blue pig- Tashiro, & Glascock, 1999). Nevertheless, because visual ment (Arnold et al., 2007). inspection is capable of distinguishing many Mesoameri- One localized provenance study sought the sources for can obsidians at almost no cost this method is still widely bitumen found in Olmec archaeological sites (Wendt & employed, often as a compliment to machine-based tests Lu, 2006). Provenance studies have even helped bring

Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 19 GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA DUNNING ET AL. scientific scrutiny to items of pseudo-scientific interest: a even a few years finds a large and expanding array of combination of microscopy and mineralogy was used to studies that either employ geoarchaeological techniques demonstrate that at least two of the “mysterious” crys- or are driven by concerns central to geoarchaeoloogy tal skulls could not be of pre-Columbian manufacture or such as those discussed in the preceding pages. of Mesoamerican origin as had been purported by some A common element in each of the areas reviewed (Sax et al., 2008). above is the growing recognition of the importance, and One of the many effects of the Chicxulub meteor im- consequent use of convergent approaches in order to cre- pact on the Yucatan Platform was the creation of a dis- ate more robust models of ancient environments and tinctive generally north-south differential distribution of economies. These approaches include multi-proxy studies strontium isotopes across the landmass (Gilli et al., 2009; of paleoenvironments, land use, and ancient diet to take Hodell et al., 2004). Strontium isotopes, of course, vary advantage the growing array of instrumental techniques across Mesoamerica along with geologic substrates. Hu- available to researchers (e.g., Lentz et al., 2014; Morell- man bones absorb small amounts of Sr during child- Hart, Joyce, & Henderson, 2014; Wahl, Byrne, & Ander- hood growth years. Hence, both places and the humans son, 2014). A highly promising new approach involves who grew up there have distinctive Sr signatures, a fact the analysis of hydrogen and carbon isotopes in plant- that has led to what are essentially human provenance wax lipids preserved in sediments, because it potentially studies (Price et al., 2008). One notable study of a large provides a direct measurement of climate signals along skeleton population from Tikal, Guatemala was able to with land cover/use data (Douglas et al., 2012), though identify immigrants to the city (Wright, 2005). Skeletal time and costs currently constrain its application. In the detective work has been used to check hieroglyphic in- area of prospection, the introduction of airborne LiDAR scriptions, iconography, and artifacts that suggested inter- to the archaeological study of heavily forested areas of relationhips between Tikal, Teotihuacan, Kaminaljuyu, Mesoamerica has revolutionized the ability of perform- and Copan (Price et al., 2010; Wright, 2005; Wright, ing complete site surveys, a formerly cost and time pro- 2012; Wright et al., 2010), and movement of popula- hibitive possibility. In provenance studies, the convergent tion through the port town of Xcambo in northern Yu- use of multiple instrumental techniques has allowed for catan (Cucina et al., 2011). Oxygen isotope ratios have tremendous gains in the accuracy of sourcing ancient ma- also proven useful for differentiating populations and terials. However, as Bishop (2014) has cautioned, these individuals of different geographic origins, particularly advances are threatened by their very complexity and ex- between Teotihuacan and the Maya Lowlands and High- pense in a time of fiscal constraint in many academic and lands (White et al., 2000, 2001). other research institutions. In a review of the use of instrumental technologies to As information about the ancient cultures and envi- address provenance and other economic issues in the an- ronment of Mesoamerica accumulates at a rapid rate, our cient Mesoamerican economy, Bishop (2014) extols the models need to reflect the complexity of interactions that many advances in precision and variety of techniques took place in the past. Complex systems models can pro- available to archaeologists today. However, he also de- vide a useful means of intertwining cultural and envi- cries the apparent declining use of these techniques to ronmental factors and processes (e.g., Turner & Sabloff, high costs and the closure of research laboratories by uni- 2012). The power and success of these models depends versities and other entities as part of fiscal cutbacks. On in great part on their ability to synthesize and correlate the other hand, the incorporation of the growing body of large quantities of data in effective and meaningful ways. provenance data into centralized geographic information In pursuit of this goal it is imperative that the rapidly systems is helping create more robust spatial-temporal growing body of data being produced by geoarchaological models of ancient exchange patterns, such as that be- and other types of archaeological investigations be incor- ing developed for Central Mexican ceramics (Nicholas, porated into databases capable of supporting integrated Stoner, & Crider, 2014). analyses. Geospatial databases offer one effective way to synthesize and compare data from multiple sources in support of temporally dynamic models (e.g., Chase et al., CONCLUSIONS 2012; Heckbert, 2013; Kennett & Beach, 2013; Nichols, Stoner, & Crider, 2014). Forty years ago, a review of geoarchaeological research As Sheets (2009) has pointed out, the large majority in Mesoamerica would have been short, but not sweet. of investigations in which geoarchaeology plays an im- Studies in which paleoenvironmental concerns were portant role are based in processual theory. Although given more than passing consideration were just emerg- this focus has proven highly productive, it has tended ing. Today, a review of geoarchaeological research of to exclude more humanistic perspectives. In issues such

20 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 00 (2015) 1–32 Copyright C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DUNNING ET AL. GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MESOAMERICA as the role of drought in the Terminal Classic col- Abrams, E.M., & Rue, D.J. (1988). The causes and lapse of Maya Civilization, the dominance of processual consequences of deforestation among the prehistoric Maya. studies has led to charges of determinism (Aimers, 2007; Human Ecology, 16, 377–395. McAnany & Gallareta Negron,´ 2010; Webster, 2002). As Abrams, E.M., Freter M., Rue, D.J., & Wingard, J. (1996). The noted by Sheets, cave investigations are one area where role of deforestation in the collapse of the Late Classic processessual and humanistic approaches are being wed CopanMayastate.InM.C.Pearl(Ed.),Tropical (e.g., Brady & Prufer, 2010). Given the symbolic impor- deforestation: The human dimension (pp. 55–75). New tance attached to caves in Mesoamerican cultures, the York: Columbia University Press. convergence of investigations seeking the “meaning” of Adriana-Moran,´ C.C., & McClung de Tapia, E. (2008). Trees caves and their uses and those seeking paleoenvironmen- and shrubs: The use of wood in Pre-Hispanic Teotihuacan. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35, 2927–2936. tal proxies is to be expected. For example, speleothems Aimers, J.J. (2007). What Maya collapse? Terminal Classic are an archive of paleoclimate information and are also variation in the Maya Lowlands. Journal of Archaeological important artifacts used in ancient rain-related rituals Research, 15, 329–377. (Brady et al., 1997; Moyes et al., 2009). Aimers, J.J., & Hodell, D. (2011). Societal collapse: Drought Resilience theory (Holling & Gunderson, 2002) offers and the Maya. Nature, 479, 44–45. one useful avenue for synthesizing human-environment Alex, B. A., Nichols, D. L. & Glascock, M. D. (2012). interactions (Redman, 2005; Scarborough, 2009). This Compositional analysis of Formative Period ceramics in the perspective sees human-environment systems as an open Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico. Archaeometry, 54, 821–834. set of relationships and interdependencies that either Akpinar-Ferrand E., Dunning, N.P., Jones, J.G., & Lentz, D.L. adapt to change and survive, or fragment and collapse; (2012) Aguadas and ancient Maya water management in human beliefs and actions are an integral part of the the southern Maya Lowlands. Ancient Mesoamerica, 23, outcomes. An important aspect of coming to understand 85–101. human-environment systems from this perspective is that Anselmetti, F.S., Ariztegui, D., Hodell, D.A., Hillesheim, M.B, not only does it help us understand the success and fail- Brenner, M., Gilli, A., and McKenzie, J.A., 2006. Late ure of past societies, but can help predict the sustain- Quaternary climate-induced lake level variations in Lake ability and resilience of these systems and their compo- Peten-Itza, Guatemala, inferred from seismic stratigraphic nents in the future (Fisher et al., 2009). The perspec- analysis. Palaeogeography. Palaeoclimatoloy. tive of using information gathered from archaeological Palaeoecology, 230, 52–69. investigations of all kinds, especially those that most di- Anselmetti, F.S., Ariztegui, D., Brenner, M., Hodell, D., & rectly involve human-environment interactions, under- Rosenmeier, M.F. (2007). Quantiﬁcation of soil erosion lies a growing body of research (for example, that sup- rates related to ancient Maya deforestation. Geology, 35, ported by the IHOPE initiative: Costanza, Graumlich, & 915–918. Steffen 2007; Chase & Scarborough 2014). Ultimately Aoyama, K., Tashiro, T., & Glascock, M. (1999). A Pre-Columbian obsidian source in San Luis, Honduras. what we can learn about the capacity to adapt to envi- Ancient Mesoamerica, 10, 237–250. ronmental change, including that induced by human ac- Arciniega-Ceballos, A., Hernandez-Quintera, E., Cabral, Cano, tivities, may be the most enduring product of geoarchae- E., & Morett-Alatorre, L. (2009). Shallow geophysical ological studies of the ancient world. survey at the archaeological site of San Miguel Pocuila Basin of Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36, This paper is partly the result of a graduate seminar held in the Department of Geography, University of Cincinnati during 1199–1205. the Spring Semester of 2013. All of the co-authors were par- Argote-Espino, D., Sole, J., Lopez-Garcia, P., & Sterpone, O. ticipants in that seminar. David Lentz is to be thanked for pro- (2012). Obsidian subsource identiﬁcation in the Sierra de viding the photograph and map in Figure 5. Arlen Chase pro- Pachuco and Otumba Volcanic Regions, central Mexico, by vided the image in Figure 6. Jon-Paul McCool drafted the map ICP-MS and DBSCAN statistical analysis. Geoarchaeology, in Figure 1. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for 27, 48–62. their many helpful comments that led to the improvement of the Arnold III, P.J. (2009). Settlement and subsistence among the article. Early Formative Gulf Olmec. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 28, 397–411. REFERENCES Arnold, D. E., Neff, H., Glascock, M.D., & Speakman, R.J. (2007). Sourcing the palygorskite used in Maya Blue: A Abramiuk, M.A., & Meurer, W.P. (2006). A preliminary pilot study comparing the results of INAA and LA-ICP-MS. geoarchaeological Investigation of Ground Stone Tools in Latin American Antiquity, 18, 44–58. and around the Maya Mountains, Toledo District, Belize. Balzotti, C.S., Webster, D.L., Murtha, T.M, Petersen, S.L., Latin American Antiquity, 17, 335–354. Burnett, R.L., & Terry, R.E. (2013). 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Classic Period collapse of at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico (pp. 32–46). Los Angeles: the Central Maya Lowlands: Insights about The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. human-environment relationships for sustainability. Wendt, C.J., & Lu, S.-T. (2006). Sourcing archaeological Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 109, bitumen in the Olmec Region. Journal of Archaeological 13908–13914. Science, 33, 89–97. Van Derwarker, A.M. (2005). Field cultivation and tree Weishampel, J.F., Hightower, J.N., Chase, A.F., Chase, D.Z., & management in tropical agriculture: A view from Gulf Patrick, R.A. (2011) Detection and morphologic analysis of Coastal Mexico. World Archaeology, 37, 275–289. potential below-canopy cave openings in the karst Van Hengstum, P.J., Reinhardt, E.G., Beddows, P.A., & landscape around the Maya polity of Caracol using Gabriel, J.J. (2009). Linkages between Holocene airborne LiDAR. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 73, paleoclimate and paleohydrogeology preserved in a 187–196. Yucatan underwater cave. Quaternary Science Reviews 29, White, C.D., F.J. Longstaffe, M.W. Spence, & K. Law. (2000). 2788–2798. Testing the nature of Teotihuacan imperialism at Velez, M.L., Curtis, J.H., Brenner, M., Escobar, J., Leyden, Kaminaljuyu using phosphate oxygen-isotope ratios. B.W., & Popenoe de Hatch, M. (2011). Environmental and Journal of Anthropological Research, 56, 535–558. cultural changes in highland Guatemala inferred from Lake White, C.D., F.J. Longstaffe, & K.R. Law. (2001). Revisiting Amatitlan´ sediments. Geoarchaeology, 26, 346–364. the Teotihuacan connection at Altun Ha: Oxygen-isotope

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analysis of Tomb F-8/1. Ancient Mesoamerica, 12, ratios of human tooth enamel. Journal of Archaeological 65–72. Science, 32, 555–566. White, C.D., Schwarcz, H.P., Pohl, M.D., & Longstaffe, F.J. Wright, L.E. (2006). Diet, health, and status among the Pasion (2004). Feast, ﬁeld, and forest: Deer and dog diets at Maya: A reappraisal of the collapse. Nashville: Vanderbilt Lagartero, Tikal, and, Copan. In K.F. Emery (Ed.), Maya University Press. zooarchaeology: New directions in method and theory Wright, L.E. (2012). Immigration to Tikal: Evidence from (pp. 141–158). Los Angeles, Costen Institute of stable strontium and oxygen isotopes. Journal of Archaeology. Anthropological Archaeology, 31, 334–352. Winemiller, T.L. (2007). The Chicxulum Meteor impact and Wright, L.E., Valdes,´ J.A., Burton, J.H., Price, T.D., & ancient locational decisions on the Yucatan Peninsula, Schwarz, H.P. (2010). The children of Kaminaljuyu: Mexico: The application of remote sensing, GIS, and GPS in Isotopic insights into diet and long distance interaction in settlement pattern studies. ASPRS Proceedings. Mesoamerica. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 29, http://www.asprs.org/a/publications/proceedings/tampa 155–178. 2007/0080.pdf (accessed 7 October 2013). Wyatt, A.R. (2012). Agricultural practices at Chan: Farming Wolwage, L., Fedick, S., Sedov, S., & Solleiro-Rebolledo, E. and political economy in an ancient Maya community. In (2012). The deposition and chronology of Cenote T’isil: A C. Robin (Ed.), Chan and ancient Maya farming multiproxy study of human/environment interaction in community (pp. 71–88). Gainsville: University of Florida the northern Maya Lowlands of southeast Mexico. Press. Geoarchaeology, 27, 441–446. Yeager J., & Hodell, D. (2009). The collapse of Maya Wright, D.R., Terry, R.E., & Eberl, M. (2009). Soil properties civilization: Assessing the interaction of culture, climate, and stable carbon isotope analysis of landscape features in and environment. In D.H. Sandweiss & J. Quilter (Eds), El the Petexbatun´ region of Guatemala. Geoarchaeology, 24, Nino,˜ catastrophism, and culture change in ancient 466–491. America (pp. 187–242). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Wright, L.E. (2005). Identifying immigrants to Tikal, University Press. Guatemala: Deﬁning local variability in strontium isotope

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14 A CONSIDERATION OF THE SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF SETTLEMENT GROUPS AND TERRACES IN CONTRERAS, MINANHA, BELIZE

Carmen A. McCane, Scott A. Macrae and Gyles Iannone

Even though the extent of “greater Minanha” has not yet been defined, early investigations indicate that many of the surrounding valleys and hilltops were home to the people and communities that helped sustain Minanha’s Late Classic royal court. More specifically, Contreras is a one kilometer square zone located approximately one kilometer southeast of Minanha’s epicenter and is situated a densely terraced valley with an abundance of archaeological remains. In 2006, Phase II investigations began in Contreras which have focused on examining the composition of this peripheral settlement community. As a result, for the past four field seasons, reconnaissance, excavations within the settlement groups, and the mapping of the terraces have been completed in order to examine the organization of these aforementioned anthropogenic features. More specifically, this research is aimed at exploring settlement patterns and terrace construction, both temporally and spatially, of the Contreras inhabitants through excavations and by integrating spatial statistics and GIS. Lastly, these investigations were designed to both complement and expand upon previous investigation in Minanha’s epicenter by examining the collapse sequence from the standpoint of a peripheral support population.

Introduction Minanha is a medium sized center located within the North Vaca Plateau of west- central Belize, near the Guatemalan border. The center is situated almost equidistant between two of the major power houses in the ancient Maya world, Caracol and Naranjo (Figure 1). Minanha was first documented in 1922 when a chiclero came across the ruins while searching for chicle trees (Iannone 2004:3). Five years later in 1927, the British Museum mounted an expedition to map the site and carry out test excavations (Joyce et al. 1927). In 1997 Trent University’s Social Archaeology Research Program was asked by the Government of Belize to relocate the site, and assess the potential for carrying out an archaeological project there. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that the site was incorrectly marked on the government map; however, in May of 1998, the site was eventually relocated.

Community Archaeology at Minanha In the summer of 1999 a long-term research project was initiated at Minanha. In 2006, Phase I investigations were completed at Minanha, those focused on extensive excavations within Minanha’s epicenter, the royal court complex. The Phase I investigations Figure 1. Regional Map Showing the Location of Minanha provided a view of the rise and fall of the Minanha city-state from the view point of Minanha’s royal court (Figure 2). Phase II

Spatial Arrangement of Settlements Groups at Mininha

zones of varying distance from the Minanha epicenter; 2) to excavate a stratified sample of settlement units in both study zones; and, 3) to map the large-scale ancient Maya terrace agricultural system associated with one of the settlement zones. This paper will discuss the research conducted in association with the Contreras settlement zone, along with its associated terrace agricultural system. The research design, for the Phase II study at Minanha was formulated so as to emulate the methods employed by the neighboring Xunantunich Archaeological Project (XAP), directed by Richard Leventhal (University of Pennsylvania) and Wendy Ashmore (University of California, Riverside) (Iannone 2006). This was for three primary reasons. First, Xunantunich exhibits a developmental sequence similar to Minanha’s, and it is of comparable size and complexity. Secondly, at both centers a concerted effort was made to conduct detailed investigations were carried out in both the epicenter and in the periphery. Lastly, the researchers involved with XAP have produced a multitude of publications by which comparative examinations can be Figure 2. Epicentral Court Complex at Minanha made. The terrace survey design also followed methods employed at Xunantunich. For investigations which began in 2006, focused on example, in the most basic sense, terraces are the composition of two settlement zones, the retaining walls built of stacked stones running Site Core and Contreras Zones, which are of perpendicular to the slope of the hillside to varying distances from Minanha’s epicenter retain and increase the depth of soil, regulate and (Figure 3). The Phase II investigations in the distribute water, and enhance the nutritional Site Core Zone and in the Contreras Zone were value of the soil, they can be classified into designed to both complement, and expand upon, several different types that exploit various the previous investigations in Minanha’s topographical situations and involve different epicenter. Specifically, they were aimed at construction methods. The different construction examining the rise and fall of the Minanha city- methods have been noted in the past and used to state from the perspective of the support group terraces into “sets” which have been population. Archaeologists investigating the classified as “individual terraces (that) are ancient Maya cannot rely on interpretations roughly parallel and collectively appear to derived only from the epicentral court manage the same immediate topographic complexes, nor from the sole examination of the setting.” (Ashmore et al. 1994:259). At peripheral settlement zones. Rather, as Iannone Xunantunich, Neff (2008:63-66) created a (2006:18) suggested at the onset of the Phase II classification scheme based on terrace investigations, an “archaeology of community,” characteristics, association to other terraces and which combines the two perspectives, must be to structures. This classificatory model was completed (see also Yaeger and Canuto followed at Minanha, although it was slightly 2000:10-11). The Phase II investigations had tailored for the Contreras Valley. three broad goals: 1) to compare the settlement densities and composition of two settlement

142 McCane et al

The Contreras Valley is located approximately one kilometer south of the Minanha epicenter, and was chosen as one of the two Phase II settlement areas because it was considered to have once been a diverse segment of the greater Minanha community, particularly because it is a densely terraced valley with an abundance of archaeological remains (Figure 4). Contreras is bounded on the north, east and west by sloping hillsides which offered its inhabitants an ideal location for the placement of terraces, which are easily observed throughout the valley. In addition to the terraces, settlement groups of various sizes are distributed across the landscape. Over the past four field seasons, reconnaissance, excavations within the settlement units, and the mapping of the terraces in Contreras have been completed in order to examine the temporal and spatial organization of these anthropogenic features. The settlement in Contreras will be discussed first followed by a

Figure 3. Location of Phase II Settlement Study discussion of the agricultural terrace system.

Settlement in the Contreras Valley The settlement units in Contreras range in composition from single, isolated mounds to organized orthogonal units consisting of multiple structures. These settlement groups have been organized into seven types based on the Xunantunich Archaeological Project’s classification scheme (Table 1). The seven different group types are based on number of structures, formal arrangement, and height of structures present in the settlement units. Differences in the characteristics of the aforementioned classification scheme are assumed to have social implications. Originally, a 20% random sample of these units was generated to determine which units would be subject to excavations. The sample was stratified based on the settlement types, so that it would accurately reflect the settlement group frequencies for the population. However, after more reconnaissance in Contreras, and the eventual discovery of more settlement units, it was determined that a 15% stratified random sample of these units would have to be a Figure 4. Contreras Survey Zone. sufficient in terms of generating a representative sample of the settlement community. There are Contreras Valley 98 known settlement units in

143 Spatial Arrangement of Settlements Groups at Mininha

Minanha Phase II Settlement Study: Contreras Zone. Table 1.

Table 2. Compositional/Distributional Settlement Data for Minanha

144 McCane et al

Contreras, compared to 14 settlement units in between group type (1 through 7) and elevation the epicenteral zone, and 39 in the site core zone (low, middle, high). The relationship between (Table 2). Of the 98 settlement units in group types and elevation was found to be Contreras, 64.3% of them are either of the Type statistically insignificant (calculated chi-square I or Type II variety, which indicates that most of = 6.92; critical chi-square = 15.507, p = 0.05). the units are made up of a limited number of Therefore, elevation may not have had any buildings and are informally arranged. Within impact over where the residents chose to reside, the epicenteral zone, only 14.3% on the and some other variable (e.g., agricultural settlement units are of the Type I or Type II potential) may have been the primary variety, and in the site core zone 41% of the determinant. Additionally, Average Nearest settlement units are of the Type I or Type II Neighbor analysis was conducted in ESRI’s variety. Additionally, only 35.7% of the ArcMap as a preliminary investigation of the settlement units in Contreras are formally distribution of settlement groups in Contreras. arranged, while 85.7% of the settlement units in The results are as follows: the calculated R- the epicenter are formally arranged, and 59% of statistic was 0.99. Since the R-value is smaller the settlement units in the site core are formally than 1.00 it indicates that the settlement groups arranged. For the larger and more formal in Contreras are dispersed randomly across the settlement units in the Contreras Valley, Iannone one kilometer square survey area. In reality, et al (2006:121) have hypothesized that these however, spatial settlement arrangements can units may represent long-standing rural families. rarely be described via the three “traditional” They also suggest that many of the solitary idealized states of point distributions: random, mounds represent special function or field clustered, or dispersed. More specifically, the buildings. In summation, as you move away analysis of spatial settlement patterns should be from the epicenter, the density of the settlement sympathetic to the fact that several diverse, units increases, but their formal arrangement small-scale patterns may exist within a study decreases. area, and that different types of patterning often Preliminary ceramic analysis from the exist at different scales. In other words, nearest excavated settlement units indicates that the neighbor analysis may overlook more complex Contreras valley was inhabited from at least the spatial patterns because it is sensitive at only one Late to Terminal Preclassic all the way through scale (Conolly and Lake 2006:162-164). the Terminal Classic. Therefore, there was a Further, the underlying spatial process may not population residing in the Contreras Valley be homogenous over the study region in regard settlement zone long before the establishment of to the point distribution being analyzed. the royal court and Minanha and a population Therefore, in the future, a Ripley’s K-statistic was able to keep persist in the valley after the will be conducted in ArcMap on the Contreras fall of theroyal court. data to evaluate if clustering is present and, if so, It was initially thought that the hilltops to assess its magnitude; these results will enables in Contreras were “prime locations” for the more us to depict the randomness of the settlement formally arranged settlement units because the groups over different spatial scales. inhabitants would have had a commanding view Lastly, Iannone et al. (2006) reported of the Contreras Valley when outside of the that a majority of the settlement groups in buildings. Additionally, it was believed that Contreras are situated on the terraced hillside as single isolated mounds and “less organized” opposed to the valley bottom. This type of groups would be located at lower elevations. settlement patterning may be indicative of a Thus, a chi-square goodness of fit test was conscious effort on the part of the Contreras conducted to test these hypotheses. A chi- residents not to build on the rich soils of the square goodness of fit was selected as an valley bottom because these areas would have appropriate test because the comparison desired been the most fruitful agricultural lands. This examines how two nominal variables are related, in this case testing to see if differences exist

145 Spatial Arrangement of Settlements Groups at Mininha

Figure 5. Contour Terraces in Contreras, Minanha. Figure 6. Linear Terraces in Contreras, Minanha.

Figure 7. Box Terraces in Contreras, Minanha. Figure 8. Cross-Channel Terraces in Contreras, Minanha.

may explain why, while the results are not avenues into understanding both the socio- significant, there is some clustering present on political and socio-economic organization of the the hillsides. valley. The Contreras valley terrace survey was We have just provided you with a brief carried out over the last four years. The survey overview of what the settlement in the Contreras was oriented towards examining a sample of Valley is like with respect to the spatial terraces from the varying topographic situations distribution and with respect to compositional found throughout the valley. This was settlement in the site core and epicenteral zones. accomplished with a small team of surveyors, a Now, it is time to examine the Contreras Valley GPS, and a theodolite. agricultural terrace system in more detail. As previously mentioned, the terraces have been classified into sets using the same Contreras Agricultural Terrace System typology employed by the Xunantunich project Examining the relic agricultural terrace (Ashmore et al. 1994:259). Contour terraces are systems and the culturalized landscape found in the most common, known to vary in length and the Contreras Valley has provided us with follow the topography of the hill slopes (Beach

146 McCane et al et al. 2002:386). Within the Contreras Valley, they are found prolifically along the twisting slopes of the interfluvial residual hills and the primary valley (Figure 5). Linear terraces are placed independent of contours, and have been observed to run up and down slopes between terrace systems to create lattice-like patterns, or perpendicular to contour terraces to create vast level fields (Demarest 2004:138; Kunen 2001:326; Treacy and Denevan 1994:98-100) (Figure 6). Box terraces or rectangular terraces are found on moderate flat land, in close association with residential complexes (Beach et al. 2002:386; Dunning and Beach 1994:58; Kunen 2001:326) (Figure 7). These are uncommon or easily hidden in or erased from the landscape, and few examples exist within the Figure 9. Footslope Terraces in Contreras, Minanha. Contreras Valley (Beach et al. 2002:386). This set also includes many terraces that are not farming. Within the surveyed area there are a strictly box terraces, but rather terraces total of 458 terraces covering 36.5 hectares of exhibiting extreme complexity in close land. These data are indicative of the high association with settlement units. Cross-channel density of terraces in the valley (Figure 10). terraces, also known as weir or check dams, are Several of the terraces span great distances, 10 usually short and tall, and are found in the of which are over 100 m in length and one that is smaller subsidiary valleys between the residual 217 meters long. The terraces also exhibit great hills, running perpendicular to gullies, drainages, uniformity, which is supported by the ability to and other locations that exhibit constricting classify the terraces into clear “sets”. In several topography (Kunen 2001:326; Treacy and cases longer terraces are incorporated into Denevan 1994:96) (Figure 8). These are often several different “sets”, which effectively found running perpendicular to contours (Kunen changes their classification. It is also apparent 2001:326; Treacy and Denevan 1994:96). that a few areas in close proximity to settlements Footslope terraces are found at the base of steep exhibit a significant increase in the frequency slopes that exhibit very little to no terraces and complexity of terraces. These terraces often (Beach et al. 2002:387; Dunning and Beach transcend both terrace typology and slope 1994:59-60; Kunen 2001:327; Treacy and characteristics. This has produced an interesting Denevan 1994:100-101) (Figure 9). They are mix, with the construction of some large-scale rare within Contreras Valley as hills rarely get terrace networks that extend beyond individual steep enough to be suitable for contour terracing. households and terrace “sets”, along with others The goals of footslope terraces are to control that are likely reflective of more intensive, erosion and collect the runoff thereby creating small-scale household systems. large, flat, plots of land below the hill slopes (Beach et al. 2002:387; Kunen 2001:327). The Theconstruction method of terraces has aforementioned five terraces types, with their also been examined in our Phase II study at specific topographic locations, provide an Minanha. Excavations have revealed that there empirical way to group them. The issue that were two types of terrace walls constructed; arises, however, is whether these sets reflect any single and double-walled terraces (Pollock degree of differing social organization, or simply 2006:187). These terrace walls were found to the environmental situation? utilize the natural step-like nature of the Terraces are found abundantly limestone bedrock to reduce labor (Pollock throughout the Contreras Valley and they were 2006:222-223). The natural bedrock outcrops built in all locations conducive to terrace

147 Spatial Arrangement of Settlements Groups at Mininha

the establishment of the royal court at Minanha, the Contreras Valley saw a significant settlement increase in conjunction with the development of the vast terrace system. This is substantiated by the degree of incorporation between the visible terraces and the majority of settlement groups dating to this time period. Then, during the Terminal Classic—with the collapse of the royal court and subsequent depopulation in the epicenter—the settlement in Contreras also saw a gradual decline; but, several of the larger settlement groups established during the Early Classic in Contreras continued to be occupied into the Terminal and Early Postclassic periods. In broader terms, the primary goal of the survey has been to explore the socio-political and socio-economic organization behind the Figure 10. Terrace Density in Contreras, Minanha. construction and maintenance of the Contreras found within the Contreras Valley were also Valley terrace systems. In the Maya lowlands used. The individuals building the terraces were there is considerable variability in the timing, taking advantage of these formations by either scale, spatial patterning, and forms of terrace starting or ending on the bedrock outcrops, field systems. This is thought to reflect which incorporated them into the overall design. differences in the social-political organization of This further reduced the labor needed for both agricultural production and intensification at construction and maintenance. One final different centers. Traditionally, this data has observation was noted on the construction of the been used to interpret terrace systems as being Contreras Valley terrace system. Throughout the the result of centralized, decentralized, or more valley there were varying levels of terrace recently, heterarchical socio-political quality. High quality terraces are found in close organization. proximity to certain settlement units, sometimes A centralized development is an linking groups and key agricultural plots intensive, top-down approach to community together (Macrae et al. 2008). In contrast, low growth reflecting a hierarchical process, and quality terraces serve to articulate the high interpreted as evidence of the direct involvement quality terraces in many cases, creating convex of political elites in the organization and control platforms (Macrae et al. 2008). Unfortunately, of surplus (Demarest 1994:146). Decentralized this observation will remain purely speculative growth is a bottom-up, non-hierarchal process unless extensive terrace excavations are based on individual farming households, undertaken. lineages, or communities that involve the local control and development of extensive agricultural systems (Beach et al. 2002:386; Agricultural terraces have been Demarest 1994:146). Heterarchical organization notoriously difficult to date. Within the exists in the middle ground, incorporating Contreras Valley we have been lucky in the fact aspects of both hierarchical and non-hierarchical that three of our settlement excavations have social organizations (Crumley 1995:3; uncovered underlying terrace constructions. Scarborough et al. 2003:xiv). Social structures These underlying terraces have been dated to as defined as heterarchical are more reflective of early as the Late Preclassic. When combined the complex organization, adaptability, and with our settlement data, we hypothesize that flexibility of typical human societies (Crumley there was a small population of agriculturalists 1995:3; Scarborough et al. 2003:xiv). This using and constructing these terraces during the complex management system works on all levels Late Preclassic. During the Late Classic, with of society, from agricultural production, to

148 McCane et al settlement organization, to social structuring, Conclusions involving both vertical and horizontal power relationships (Crumley 1995:3; Potter and King Over the past four years of research in 1995:17). Horizontal relations include societal the Contreras Valley, we have generated a elements perceived to be unranked and number of intriguing insights. For one, the equivalent to each other (Crumley 1995:3; Potter Contreras Valley was inhabited much longer and King 1995:17). Vertical relations occur on a than originally anticipated – it was originally tiered, ranked organization. Heterarchical social occupied as early as the Late to Terminal organization networks assume different roles of Preclassic, and continued to be occupied through ranking depending upon their context of use the Terminal Classic and possibly even into the (Crumley 1995:3; Potter and King 1995:17). early Postclassic period. Some of the larger, This flexibility makes elements within society more complex settlement units in the Contreras unrankable in comparison to each other, or when Valley were inhabited for the entire time span. ranking is possible; the ability to be ranked in a The success of these groups is likely tied to the variety of different ways is retained based on Principle of First Occupancy, their control of participation in individual systems (Brumfiel improved land, and proximity to perennial 1995:3,15). springs. In terms of other observations, the The results from the terrace survey in, settlement in Contreras is “less formal” when Contreras Valley, suggests aspects of centralized compared to what was found in the epicenteral and decentralized organization. The uniformities and site core survey zones. Nevertheless, the found within the terrace construction, Contreras community itself was still quite organization, and typology is suggestive of a diverse – it was clearly home to a vast range of well-founded knowledge of the principles of peoples with varying roles and statuses. With terrace construction. The interconnectivity with respect to preliminary spatial analyses, it appears surrounding terrace systems, high number, and as if elevation did not have significant impact the protracted length of several of these terraces, over where the residents chose to reside, and suggests a level of interaction that extends some other variable, or variables may have been beyond the household, and involves a large-scale the primary determinants -- such as agricultural construction method. These characteristics point potential, proximity to springs, etc. Preliminary towards a centralized organization of the terrace global spatial analysis suggests that the systems. Evidence for higher terrace densities, settlement units in the Contreras Valley are complexity, and quality within close proximity dispersed randomly across the 1 square to settlement units suggests a piecemeal process kilometer. Still, the settlement will need to be of construction, and decentralized development. examined on a more localized scale so that any The practicality exhibited in the labor saving sort of clustering on the hillsides or near the methods, such as incorporating natural features springs can be identified. into terrace construction also suggests an From our terrace survey within the intrinsic knowledge of the local topography and Contreras Valley we have learned1) our research the fluvial and sediment deposition processes. has provided independent confirmation that, as These lines of evidence point towards has been found elsewhere in the Maya decentralized organization of the construction Lowlands, the inhabitants of the Contreras and maintenance of the intensive agricultural Valley began using agricultural terraces at a very terrace systems. Overall this blending of early date, to help support a developing characteristics suggests a mix of both centralized community, likely sometime in the Late to and decentralized organization. This is why it is Terminal Preclassic; 2) the inhabitants of the important to consider the heterarchical approach. Contreras Valley had a well found knowledge of However, one question remains: What does the terrace construction resulting in uniform terrace heterarchical classification of the intensive “sets”; 3) the terrace systems within the terrace systems of Minanha mean to the Contreras Valley exhibit characteristics of both interpretation of the ancient Maya of the decentralized and centralized socio-political Contreras Valley, and Minanha?

149 Spatial Arrangement of Settlements Groups at Mininha organization, which suggests a heterarchical L. Crumley, Robert M. Ehrenreich, Janet E. organization. Levy, pp. 125-131. American Anthropological Association, Virginia, Arlington. This paper has outlined the goals and some of the results of the Phase II research in Crumley, Carole L. the Contreras Valley. These investigations 1995 Heterarchy and the Analysis of Complex continue to provide a wealth of evidence Societies. In Heterarchy and the Analysis of Complex Societies, edited by Carole L. Crumley, concerning the peripheral community of Robert M. Ehrenreich, Janet E. Levy, pp. 1-6. Minanha; however, further analyses will help American Anthropological Association, shed light on our understanding of this Arlington, VA. community and the issues which affected it during its lifetime. Conolly, James, and Mark Lake 2006 Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Acknowledgements First and foremost, we Cambridge. would like to thank the Institute of Demarest, Arthur Archaeology in Belize for their continued 2004 Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a support of our ongoing research at Minanha. Rainforest Civilization. Cambridge University Additionally, we would like to thank the Press, Cambridge. following funding agencies for their financial Dunning, Nicholas P., and Timothy Beach support of this research presented herein: the 1994 Soil Erosion, Slope Management, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ancient Terracing in the Maya Lowlands. Latin Council of Canada, and the University American Antiquity 5(1):51-69.

Research Council at the University of Iannone, Gyles Cincinnati. Lastly, we would like to thank 2004 The Search for the “Place without Water”. nd all of the students, staff, and Belizean Paper presented at the 2 Annual Belizean Archaeology Symposium, Belize City, Belize. assistants on the North Vaca Archaeology Program along with our greater Belizean Iannone, Gyles family. This paper is dedicated to the late 2006 Detailed Description of the Proposed Phase II Research. In Archaeological Investigations in David “Ciego” Valencio, thank you for all the North Vaca Plateau, Belize: Progress Report your years of commitment to Belizean of the Eighth (2006) Field Season, edited by archaeology and for being a great friend… Gyles Iannone, Jeffrey Seibert, and Jason Seguin, pp. 12- 26. Social Archaeology Research you are missed. Program, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario. References Cited Iannone, Gyles, Jesse Phillips, and Carmen McCormick 2006 Community Archaeology at Minanha: Some Ashmore, Wendy, Samuel V. Connell, Jennifer J. Ehret, Preliminary Musings on the 2006 Field Season. Chad H. Gifford, L. Ted Neff, and John C. Vandenbosch In Archaeological Investigations in the North 1994 The Xunantunich Settlement Survey. In Vaca Plateau, Belize: Progress Report of the Xunantunich Archaeological Project: 1994 Field Eighth (2006) Field Season, edited by Gyles Season, edited by Richard Leventhal, pp. 248- Iannone, Jeffrey Seibert, and Jason Seguin, pp. 288. Xunantunich Archaeological Project, Los 115-127. Social Archaeology Research Program, Angeles. Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.

Beach, Timothy, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Nicholas P. Joyce, T. A., J. Cooper Clark, and J. E. S. Thompson Dunning, Joe Hageman, and John Lohse 1927 Report on the British Museum Expedition to 2002 Upland Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands: British Honduras, 1927. Journal of the Royal Ancient Maya Soil Conservation in Northwestern Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Belize. The Geographical Review 92(3):372-397. Ireland 57:295-323.

Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. Kunen, Julie L. 1995 Heterarchy and the Analysis of Complex 2001 Ancient Maya Agricultural Installations and Societies: Comments. In Heterarchy and the Development of Intensive Agricultural in NW Analysis of Complex Societies, edited by Carole

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Belize. Journal of Field Archaeology 28(3/4):325-346.

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151 THE LAST GROUPS STANDING: LIVING ABANDONMENT AT THE ANCIENT MAYA CENTER OF MINANHA, BELIZE

Maxime Lamoureux-St-Hilaire, Scott Macrae, Carmen A. McCane, Evan A. Parker, and Gyles Iannone

The most archaeologically visible dimension of the Classic Maya Collapse is the abandonment of monumental royal courts. Yet, in some cases, non-elite populations lived for centuries in and around Classic Maya centers without rulers. Processes of abandonment among Classic Maya commoners are detectable and reflect their own ritual and social practices divorced from the ritual performances undertaken by the ruling elite. We study the abandonment context and chronology of three domestic groups from the Contreras Valley, an agricultural community located on the outskirts of the Classic Maya center of Minanha, Belize. There, several artifact assemblages were deposited at the time of abandonment, representing termination rituals. This study goes beyond the ideological dimension of termination rituals to examine how these ceremonies helped reshape the identity of social groups who were about to abandon their home. We explore how the last inhabitants of a mostly abandoned landscape lived through this process of gradual depopulation. Moreover, we evaluate potential explanations for the archaeological processes behind the occurrence or non-occurrence of termination rituals in different domestic groups.

El aspecto arqueológico más visible del colapso Maya Clásico es el abandono de las cortes reales monumentales. Sin embargo, en algunos casos, poblaciones que no pertenecían a la élite vivieron por siglos en centros Mayas Clásicos sin la presencia de gobernantes. Los procesos de abandono de la gente común durante el periodo Clásico pueden ser discernibles y reflejar sus propias prácticas rituales y sociales, las cuales fueron distintas de la élite. En este artículo estudiamos el contexto de abandono y la cronología de tres grupos domésticos del Valle de Contreras, los cuales formaron parte de una comunidad agrícola ubicada en los alrededores del centro Maya Clásico de Minanha, Belice. Varios conjuntos de artefactos fueron depositados durante el abandono de este valle, los cuales representan rituales de terminación. Este estudio va más allá de las dimensiones ideológicas para examinar cómo estas ceremonias transformaron la identidad de los grupos sociales que estuvieron a punto de abandonar sus casas. Exploramos cómo estos últimos habitantes de un paisaje prácticamente abandonado vivieron este proceso de des- población gradual. Además, evaluamos explicaciones potenciales para los procesos arqueológicos responsables de la presencia o ausencia de rituales de terminación en diferentes grupos residenciales.

hat makes a settlement an archaeolog- households outlasted a political elite and re- ical site? It could be said that once a mained living in a progressively depopulated settlement is abandoned, it enters the landscape for generations. archaeological record. Yet, abandonment is not Settlement abandonment studies have trans- Walways the uniform social process it appears to formed since their original development in the be; it may be gradual, affecting distinct parts of early 1990s when the first seminal volume on the same site in a differential fashion and at a the topic, edited by Cameron and Tomka (1993), different pace. In this article, we look at aban- was published. Early research on the topic, in- donment from a diachronic and social perspec- fluenced by Michael Schiffer’s (1972) formation tive, according to which agricultural commoner processes theory, focused on artifact assemblages Ⅲ Maxime Lamoureux-St-Hilaire Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118 ([email protected]) Ⅲ Scott Macrae Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 ([email protected]) Ⅲ Carmen A. McCane Department of Geography, University of Cincinnati, OH 45221 ([email protected]) Ⅲ Evan A. Parker Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118 ([email protected]) Ⅲ Gyles Iannone Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8 ([email protected])

550 Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al.] THE LAST GROUPS STANDING 551

and on recognizing various types of abandonment critical components of Maya abandonment studies. (Cameron and Tomka 1993). Recent abandon- We then summarize the research led by the Social ment studies have tended to shift away from low- Archaeology Research Program (SARP) at Mi- level inquiry to study broader social phenomena nanha, focusing on its settlement sampling strategy such as resilience or migration among both small- and the broader chronology of the site. During scale and complex societies (Cameron 2013; this process, we examine the Contreras Valley— Glowacki 2015; McAnany et al. 2015). Settle- a peripheral agricultural community— where six ment abandonment has garnered particular inter- termination offerings were recovered from three est in several archaeological regions, including commoner domestic groups. We then interpret the lowland Maya area, where exceptional finds these assemblages and explore the implications from rapidly abandoned sites such as Aguateca, for the social groups that lived through most of Guatemala, and Cerén, El Salvador, have attracted the abandonment of the Contreras Valley before particular attention (Inomata and Triadan 2010; finally departing themselves. Finally, we examine McKee and Sheets 2003). Beyond these two three potential explanations for the occurrence rapidly abandoned sites, settlement abandonment and non-occurrence of termination offerings studies have focused on the elite segment of so- among the households of the Contreras Valley. ciety (Aimers 2003; Chase and Chase 2000; Ino- mata and Triadan 2010; Pagliaro et al. 2003; Stan- Background: Abandonment-Related ton et al. 2008; Suhler and Freidel 2003). On-Floor Assemblages Lowland Maya abandonment research has tended to focus on abandonment ceremonies (i.e., ter- The abandonment of settlements can leave several mination rituals), on the squatting and reuse of different types of artifactual assemblages on the elite architecture, and on post-abandonment ven- floor of architectural structures. The last inhabi- eration and pilgrimages to monumental buildings tants of these structures and their behaviors are (Inomata and Webb 2003; Mock 1998a; Navarro- responsible for the deposition of these on-floor Farr et al. 2008; Stanton and Magnoni, eds. 2008). assemblages and directly influence these assem- The topics of intrasite differential abandon- blage types (Schiffer 1972). While thinking about ment, gradual abandonment by commoners, and on-floor assemblages, we must also consider the social transformations during abandonment have processes that affected them after they reached rarely been discussed (Palka 2003:123). Processes the archaeological record— processes such as bio- of abandonment among ancient Maya commoners turbation, erosion, and scavenging (Schiffer 1972, are generally assumed to be directly related to 1985). the fate of elite groups. In other words, the col- What probably constitutes the most common lapse of the Classic Maya royal courts has over- abandonment-related on-floor assemblage is pri- shadowed the dynamics of abandonment among mary or secondary refuse left in unexpected or ancient Maya commoners. peripheral sections of buildings (Cameron 1993:3; In this article, we argue that the processes of LaMotta and Schiffer 1999:21; Pagliaro et al. abandonment among Classic Maya commoners 2003:79; Palka 2003:126–127; Schiffer 1975:56, reflected their own ritual practices divorced from 1976:33–34; Stanton et al. 2008; Suhler and Frei- the civic-ceremonial performances undertaken by del 2003:137). These artifacts typically consist of the ruling elite. Further, we also address the ques- discarded items or small amounts of material not tion of why certain domestic groups and structures worth bringing away. In other instances, aban- were ritually terminated while others were not. doned structures may have been reoccupied by We explore these questions through the study of so-called “squatters,” who discarded a consider- the ancient Maya center of Minanha, Belize (Figure able amount of trash in post-abandonment context 1), which underwent differential and gradual aban- inside or around buildings (Aimers 2003:157; donment of its elite and non-elite components over Chase and Chase 2000:69; Child and Golden a period of a few centuries (ca. A.D. 810–1200). 2008:82; Schiffer 1985:211; Stanton and Magnoni We first review the concepts of on-floor as- 2008:14). Some usable items might be left behind semblages and ritual termination, which have been in a storage context (see discussion below) or, in 552 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 26, No. 4, 2015

Figure 1. Major sites of the Maya World (copyright Witschey and Brown 2008). the case of rapid abandonment, many artifacts LaMotta and Schiffer 1999:22; Schiffer 1985:201; might be left in situ; in both cases, the items con- Stanton et al. 2008:231–238). As is well-docu- sist of de facto material (Chase and Chase mented in the Maya area, in some cases, artifacts 2000:69; Joyce and Johannessen 1993:138, 151; might be deposited or smashed in a ritual fashion Inomata 2008:288–89; McKee and Sheets 2003; on certain structures, as part of abandonment-re- Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al.] THE LAST GROUPS STANDING 553

lated termination rituals (Chase and Chase 1998, acts of destruction or scattered human remains 2000, 2004; Child and Golden 2008; Demarest (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011). This central place- 2006; Freidel et al. 1998; Navarro-Farr et al. 2008; ment inside or in front of doorways symbolically Palka 2003; Suhler and Freidel 2003; Yaeger hindered access to the terminated structure (Lam- 2010). oureux-St-Hilaire 2011:34–38). In contrast, scattered human remains appear to be a marker of Termination Rituals as Exposed Offerings desecratory termination rituals, a type of ritual It has been over 30 years since abandonment-re- associated with military conquest recognized at lated termination rituals were defined for the an- several Lowland Maya sites (Harrison-Buck et cient Maya (Garber 1983:117), and they have al. 2007; Inomata and Ponciano 2010; Mock since been related to the “Maya philosophy of 1998a; Palka 2003; Suhler and Freidel 2003; the regeneration of life,” also referred to as jaloj- Yaeger 2010). Finally, we argue that exposed rev- k’exoj1 (Carlsen 1997:56–58; Carlsen and Prechtel erential offerings should be associated with struc- 1991; McAnany 2014; Mock 1998b). This ritual tural votive features (i.e., dedication and rededi- system, associated with ancestor veneration and cation caches or burials), thus associating them architecture, involves dedication and rededication with a broader architectural ritual program per- rituals that preclude the placement of ancestral taining to the jaloj-k’exoj. burials and caches within buildings (Freidel et These offerings are understood to be the result al. 1998:135; Garber 1983; Mock 1998b). of abandonment-related ceremonies that would According to the jaloj-k’exoj, dedication and have taken place in the structures and adjoining rededication rituals occurring inside the buildings patios and that would have ended with the depo- during their different construction phases con- sition or breaking of vessels in these contexts. ferred ch’ulel, or life energy, to the newly con- We believe that, beyond playing a religious role, structed building (Mock 1998b:10; Stuart these ceremonies were related to the social effects 1998:395–396). Termination rituals, upon aban- of detachment from place during abandonment donment, served to release the ch’ulel accumu- (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire and Iannone 2012:216; lated by architectural structures, for the purpose McAnany and Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2013). of either symbolically killing the buildings (desecratory termination rituals) or appeasing the an- The Social Role of Termination Rituals cestors (reverential termination rituals) (Chase Ancient Maya elite and commoners were eco- and Chase 1998:301; Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011; nomically and ideologically attached to their con- Mock 1998a; Stanton et al. 2008:237). structed landscape. Commoners and agricultur- We do not adopt the concept of termination alists were tied to their homeland, including their ritual uncritically. Instead, we propose a behav- houses, surrounding fields, and orchards, which ioral-contextual approach that prescribes a series represented their belongings and sources of sus- of factors for recognizing abandonment-related tenance. Detachment from these resources during on-floor assemblages as exposed reverential of- abandonment would have dramatically impacted ferings (Iannone 2000; Lamoureux-St-Hilaire the lives of commoners. Additionally, the ancient 2011). An exposed reverential offering corre- Maya buried their ancestors within this con- sponds to a ritual-oriented artifactual assemblage structed landscape (Knapp and Ashmore 1999). found on the floor of a structure in a ceremonial According to the jaloj-kexoj, these interred an- context dissociated from any violent episode. By cestors ensouled houses and shrines and conferred “ritual-oriented,” we mean that an exposed of- ideological importance to the architecture. This fering consists of an accumulation of broken ce- ideational landscape (Knapp and Ashmore 1999) ramic vessels comprising a high proportion of was erected over ancestral living spaces and en- serving vessels and censers, as well as other fine larged with every new construction episode, artifacts (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011). By “dis- building on their ancestors’ legacy and creating sociated,” we mean that the assemblage was a “genealogy of space” (McAnany 2014:100). placed along the central axis of an abandoned This detachment of social groups from their eco- domestic structure and was not associated with nomic, prestigious, and ancestral heritage must 554 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 26, No. 4, 2015 have represented a critical process in reshaping tations of the exposed offerings presented in this their identity (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire and Iannone paper attempt to leave room for nuances and con- 2012:216-217). tingencies, they remain interpretations. We suggest that termination rituals served as In summary, we suggest that the performance easing mechanisms for abandoning groups, mark- of termination rituals not only symbolized the re- ing the passage of this social landscape from its leasing of ch’ulel from architecture in a moment systemic context into social memory. The serving of transition, but also played an important role in and ceremonial vessels found in the exposed of- fashioning the social fabric of abandoning groups, ferings discussed below suggest that incense burn- thus easing detachment from place. After the per- ing and food consumption were at the center of formance of these liminal rituals, the identity of these ceremonies (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011). social groups probably shifted from inhabitants These communal events, along with the symbolic to abandoners. This, in turn, entailed the physical closure of buildings, may have helped inhabitants and symbolic detachment from both the con- to cope with the grief associated with abandon- structed and ideational landscape. These cere- ment and to reshape their new social identity as monies were not necessarily dogmatic, and both abandoners, or migrants (Palmer and Jankowiak their performance and interpretation may have 1996:240-244, 252). Taking place in a period of yielded various interpretations on the part of its liminality, such a rite of passage signified a tran- participants (Turner 1995). We argue that the ex- sitory, defining moment for the abandoning social posed offerings found at Minanha and discussed groups who were about to begin a new cycle of in this article were deposited during such trans- occupation elsewhere (Bloch and Parry 1982; formational ceremonies. Mock 1998b:9–11; Van Gennep 1909). This ritual process redefined houses by removing them from Background: Minanha and the Social the living world and abolishing their raison d’être: Archaeology Research Program “a house without people in it is not a proper house” (Carsten and Hugh-Jones 1995:44). This Investigations at the Lowland Maya site of Mi- animistic concept is particularly compelling given nanha were conducted by SARP under the direc- the aforementioned ritual program aimed at en- tion of Iannone from 1999 to 2010. Research was souling Maya architecture with ch’ulel and then designed to address the structure, development, releasing it through termination, thus providing apogee, and abandonment of this ancient com- a parallel between mortuary and termination rit- munity (Iannone 2009). Minanha is situated in uals (Mock 1998b:9–11). the North Vaca Plateau of west-central Belize, Our approach to termination rituals is an at- between the two major sites of Caracol to the tempt to model them in light of their social and south and Naranjo to the northwest (Figure 1). historical context. We recognize the limits of our After initial occupation in the Late Preclassic pe- inferences, which are clearly rooted in our own riod (400 B.C.–A.D. 250), the Minanha commu- modern understanding of religion and are there- nity became a medium-sized polity during the fore inherently biased (Asad 1993). This is re- Classic period (A.D. 250–810) and was progres- flected, for example, in our adoption of the dis- sively depopulated during the Terminal Classic tinction between categories of termination rituals and Early Postclassic periods (two periods span- (reverential vs. desecratory). We realize that for ning A.D. 810–1200; Iannone 2005). the ancient Maya the concept of religion was The research program was designed to inves- likely malleable and tolerant of a variety of atti- tigate Minanha in three phases (Iannone 2009). tudes towards spirituality (Asad 1993; Turner The first phase of the program focused its exca- 1995). Hence, we understand that different par- vations on key groups of the monumental epi- ticipants must have had their own interpretation center of the site (Iannone 2009). The second of the values and symbols brought forth during phase, through a 20 percent (Site-Core) and 15 the ceremonies that led to the deposition of ex- percent (Contreras Valley) random stratified sam- posed offerings (Humphrey and Laidlaw 1994; pling strategy adopted from the Xunantunich Ar- Turner 1995). In other words, while our interpre- chaeological Project,2 excavated eight architec- Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al.] THE LAST GROUPS STANDING 555

Figure 2. The 1-km2 Site-Core Zone and Epicenter of Minanha; groups or structures that revealed on-floor assemblages are indicated (map by SARP).

tural groups out of 39 in the Site-Core Zone (Fig- allowing for a fuller understanding of its devel- ure 2), as well as 15 groups out of 98 in the 1 opmental history and its social processes, includ- km2 Contreras Valley zone (Figure 3; Iannone ing its abandonment. The most notable advantage 2006:2). This random stratified excavation strat- of this method is the possibility of extending con- egy crosscut all settlement types, from small iso- clusions from the excavated sample to the wider lated mounds to larger groups exhibiting multiple Minanha community. Finally, the third phase of structures (Iannone 2006). The goal of this re- the research program focused on the broader po- flexive sampling method was to develop a repre- litical integration and paleo-environmental dy- sentative dataset of the whole ancient community, namics of the North Vaca Plateau (Iannone 2009). 556 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 26, No. 4, 2015

Figure 3. The 1-km2 Contreras Valley Zone and its 98 settlement units; groups that revealed on-floor assemblages are labeled with large characters (map by SARP; see Note 2).

The first and second phases uncovered 12 on- it was concluded that 11 of the 12 on-floor assem- floor assemblages associated with the abandon- blages resulted from reverential termination rituals, ment of six architectural groups from the Epicenter, six of which were found in the Contreras Valley Site-Core, and Contreras Valley. The contextual- (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011). behavioral analytical framework that we adopted This research examined a variety of abandon- allowed for the identification of distinct settlement ment behaviors and gathered considerable infor- abandonment scenarios in a systematic, replicable mation about commoner abandonment practices fashion, while using a specific contextual termi- (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011). One of its key find- nology.3 Following this process (detailed below), ings was that the first inhabitants to abandon Mi- Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al.] THE LAST GROUPS STANDING 557 nanha were those of the royal court complex and nostic ceramics, such as Platon Punctated-Incised those of the most recently settled commoner res- dishes (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011:89–90). Fol- idential groups. These two groups—representing lowing the abandonment of the Epicenter, the the top and bottom of the socio-political hierar- surrounding areas of the site remained occupied, chy—abandoned the site at the onset of the Ter- with their population living without the gover- minal Classic period (ca. A.D. 810–900). Other nance of a royal court (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire and groups— especially the first occupants of the Con- Iannone 2012). treras Valley— continued living in the region for During the Terminal Classic, Groups R and centuries after the polity had collapsed. S, located in the Site-Core Zone, were abandoned in a manner that left on-floor assemblages The Abandonment of the Epicenter and in one structure. Group R, located a few hundred Site-Core of Minanha meters east of the epicenter, consisted of a large The royal court of Minanha, centered at Group J, raised platform that supported four buildings was built during the Late Classic period (A.D. (Prince 2000). Structure 91R, the smallest of 675–810; Iannone 2005:29). The royal acropolis the group, revealed a small ceramic on-floor as- was constructed north of Plaza A and consisted of semblage dated to the Terminal Classic (Prince a succession of courtyards, including Group J and 2000:58). This on-floor assemblage, consisting functionally related groups (such as Group L; Ian- of four partial vessels— a bowl, a dish, and two none 2005:29). Plaza A, the main public space of jars— was not centrally aligned, was devoid of the site, included a ball court to the east, a few ritual paraphernalia, and thus does not appear temples to the south, and a large range structure to have been deposited during a termination rit- to the west, Structure 12A, which led into an elite ual (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011:62–64). This courtyard, Group F (Iannone 2005:29). assemblage likely represents refuse left behind At the onset of the ninth century, the vaulted at the time of abandonment (Lamoureux-St-Hi- structures of Group J were in-filled with stones, laire 2011:95). the frieze of the temple-pyramid was defaced, Group S (Figure 4), located roughly 100 m and the whole courtyard was buried under 5 m south of Group R, consisted of a large raised of carefully laid construction material, thus ter- courtyard that supported nine residential struc- minating its royal-administrative functions (Ian- tures and a tripartite eastern temple (Schwake none 2005:34; 2010:363). Soon after, two archi- 2008; Zehrt 2006). At some point during the Ter- tectural groups placed in close relation with the minal Classic, a large amount of refuse was royal court, Groups L and F, were terminated. dumped inside the northern wing of the temple, First, three buildings from Group L were filled Structure 76S, including thousands of ceramic with a sizable amount of artifacts, including many sherds and many other artifacts, such as faunal chipped stone tools, whole and partial ceramic and lithic materials (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire vessels of all kinds, and apparently random 2011:98). Some of the ceramic material was dated sherds, and then purposefully collapsed (Lam- to the Middle Classic, thus suggesting that the oureux-St-Hilaire 2011:82–89; further informa- refuse was gathered from a nearby deep midden tion on the contents of all discussed on-floor as- (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011:98). A masonry semblages may be found in Supplemental cache was then built inside the doorway of the Documents 1 and 2). Meanwhile, the Passage- room, thus physically blocking access to that Structure 12A leading to Group F was symboli- room (Zehrt 2006). The cache was devoid of any cally blocked with partial ceramic vessels, in- non-perishable material except for a greenstone cluding eight jars, three bowls, a dish, and a adze (Zehrt 2006). The ceramic data from this ground stone disc, and then collapsed (Lam- assemblage may be combined with a set of ra- oureux-St-Hilaire 2011:55–61). These epicentral diocarbon dates (Table 1) associated with an in- termination rituals were apparently aimed at de- trusive burial from the adjacent Structure 77S, activating the royal-related functions of those which indicates a Terminal Classic date: [1200 ± d13 prominent buildings and are dated to the begin- 40 B.P. (Beta-254851; Bone collagen; C = ning of the Terminal Classic on the basis of diag- 10.8‰) 770 to cal A.D. 890 (p = .68) (calibrated 558 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 26, No. 4, 2015

Figure 4. Artistic reconstruction of Group S (illustration by Lamoureux-St-Hilaire).

s at 1 with the program INTCAL04) cal A.D. 1200). Six on-floor assemblages were found on s 690–900 and 920–950 (p = 95) (calibrated at 2 the domestic structures of Groups MRS4, MRS15, with the program INTCAL04)] and [1170 ± 40 and MRS89. Two of the earlier on-floor assem- d13 B.P. (Beta-281098; Bone collagen; C = 12.8‰) blages were located in Group MRS89, situated s 780 to cal A.D. 900 (p = .68) (calibrated at 1 on a hilltop, and contained ceramics dated to the with the program INTCAL04) cal A.D. 770–980 Terminal Classic (McCormick 2007, 2008). These s (p = 95) (calibrated at 2 with the program INT- two ceramic on-floor assemblages were found in CAL04)]. This termination event and the deposi- domestic structures, with the larger of the two tion of the associated burial were likely a com- placed in a centrally aligned position on Structure munal termination ritual that signified detachment MRS89-M1 and comprising seven partial vessels from this important residential group on the part (three bowls, two jars, one dish, and one Chiquibul of its former inhabitants (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire Scored-Incised censer; Lamoureux-St-Hilaire 2011:95–97). 2011:109–111). A second, smaller on-floor assemblage was found on Structure MRS89-M4. The Abandonment of the Contreras Valley This assemblage was not centrally aligned and The abandonment of the Contreras Valley occurred included only a partial jar, but was located directly more gradually than was the case for the Epicenter next to Structure MRS89-M1. and Site-Core, spanning both the Terminal Classic Group MRS15, located at the edge of the val- and Early Postclassic periods (from A.D. 810– ley bottom, revealed an on-floor assemblage on

Table 1. Radiocarbon Dates Discussed in the Text.

Kernel #, 14C ± σ Yrs. Reference, Lab # B.P. δ13 C corrected Sample δ13C Cal A.D. Yrs. ± 2σ Beta-254851 1200 ± 40 Bone Collagen 10.8 690–900, 920–950 Beta-281098 1170 ± 40 Bone Collagen 12.8 770–980 Beta-254848 1050 ± 40 Bone Collagen -12.4 900–1030 Beta-254850 1770 ± 50 Charred Material 25.1 130–390 Note: All radiocarbon dates were processed by Beta Analytic Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory using INTALCAL04 database. Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al.] THE LAST GROUPS STANDING 559

Figure 5. Artistic reconstruction of Structure MRS15-M5 (with transparency), showing both the centrally aligned exposed offering and dedication burial.

each of its three larger domestic structures have been deposited at the same time as its cere- (MRS15-M2, -M3, and -M5; Figure 5). Those monial counterparts (as was the case for Group assemblages comprised many serving and cere- MRS89), which suggests that they were contex- monial vessels dating them to the transition from tually related. the Terminal Classic to the Early Postclassic pe- Finally, the latest abandonment date at the site riod (ca. A.D. 900; Lamoureux-St-Hilaire comes from the largest group excavated in the 2011:99–109; McCane et al. 2009). The assem- heart of the valley, Group MRS4. There, a sizable blages from structures MRS15-M2 and -M5 were ceramic on-floor assemblage was deposited along substantial and included between one and four the central axis on the various tiers of the largest Chiquibul Scored-Incised censers, several ash- domestic structure of the group, Structure MRS4- tempered serving dishes of the Belize Red and M1 (McCormick 2008). This assemblage com- Platon Punctated-Incised types, and, in the case prised four Cayo Unslipped jars, a Yalbac of Structure MRS15-M2, an elaborate composite Smudged Brown bowl, and a Chiquibul Scored- three-prong brazier (Figure 6), a miniature snuff Incised censer (McCormick 2008). This exposed bottle, and a rare ceramic cylindrical seal. The offering was dated to the Early Postclassic by its assemblage from Structure MRS15-M3 was ceramic material and by a radiocarbon date from smaller, located on the edge of the platform, and an associated intrusive burial (Table 1) placed in not ritual in nature, consisting of a partial bowl the pyramidal shrine located across the patio, and complete metate (Lamoureux-St-Hilaire Structure MRS4-M3:[1050 ± 40 B.P. (Beta- d13 2011). Despite this, the assemblage appears to 254848; Bone collagen; C = -12.4‰) cal A.D. 560 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 26, No. 4, 2015 s 980 to 1020 (p = .68) (calibrated at 1 with the was revealed through the random stratified sam- program INTCAL04) cal A.D. 900 to 1030 (p = pling led by SARP. This study of the Contreras s .95) (calibrated at 2 with the program INT- settlement reveals that the first groups established CAL04)]. were the last to be abandoned. Five conclusions from the contextual-behav- During its long occupation, the Contreras Val- ioral approach used to interpret these on-floor as- ley was densely populated and extensively mod- semblages suggest that they were all the result of ified for agricultural purposes by the construction termination rituals: (1) each of the six assem- of numerous terrace systems (Macrae 2010). The blages excavated in the Contreras Valley included earliest date from the Contreras settlement comes fragmentary or complete vessels, thus indicating from the antepenultimate floor of a structure from the breakage of vessels in situ; (2) four of the ce- Group MRS4, which was located below a radio- ramic assemblages (from Structures MRS4-M1, carbon-dated (Table 1) tamped earth floor [1770 d13 MRS15-M2, -M5, and MRS89-M1) included ± 50 B.P. (Beta-25480; charred material; C = serving vessels and censers or braziers, thus in- 25.1‰) cal A.D. 220 to 330 (p = .68) (calibrated s dicating that the activity associated with their de- at 1 with the program INTCAL04) cal. A.D. s position involved food consumption and incense 130 to 390 (p = .95) (calibrated at 2 with the burning; (3) the same four assemblages were program INTCAL04)], and indicates a Terminal found clustered inside or aligned in front of door- Preclassic date (A.D. 100–250) (Macrae ways, thus indicating that they symbolically 2010:110–113). Moreover, fortuitous excavations blocked their access; (4) the two structures that under the later architecture of Group MRS15 re- did not exhibit this pattern (MRS15-M3 and vealed several Sierra Red ceramic fragments in a MRS89-M4) were directly associated with at least terrace planting surface, dating it to the Terminal one assemblage that did, thus contextually tying Preclassic period (Macrae 2010:110–113). All the them to these ritual deposits; and (5) the three features dated to this period were found in the termination rituals proposed for the three groups valley floor, located in an inter-fluvial valley be- were directly associated with structural votive tween residual hills (Macrae 2010:110–113). features, thus supporting this choice of location In the Early Classic period (A.D. 250–550), for these transformative ceremonies (Lamoureux- construction continued at Group MRS4, but over- St-Hilaire 2011). all occupation remained low. However, the Mid- The terminated domestic groups and agricul- dle Classic period (A.D. 550–675) witnessed a tural landscape of the Contreras Valley represented significant expansion, when Group MRS15 and crucial economic resources for the abandoners, Group MRS89 were settled (Macrae 2010:110– who were also leaving behind their genealogy of 113). By then, residential groups were located space. The combination of the constructed and outside the productive valley bottom, sometimes ideational dimensions of Maya architecture is occupying ridge-top loci. clearly manifested in the eastern shrines of Group During the Late Classic period, the occupation MRS4 and Structure MRS15-M2 (Figure 5), of the Contreras Valley reached its maximum ex- which were both the result of multiple construction tent and all the studied groups expanded (Macrae episodes and contained the remains of ancestors. 2010:114). This major expansion was related to This was also the case for Structure MRS89-M1, the contemporary founding and development of which contained a dedicatory burial. As discussed the royal court of the site and expansion of the above, detachment from these prized resources Site-Core Zone, including Groups R and S (Ian- would have been distressing for the abandoners, none 2005). This rise in population would have whose grief may have been mitigated by the per- increased the demand for food, thus stimulating formance of termination rituals. the development of the agricultural population of the Contreras Valley. The Settlement History of the Contreras Valley The Terminal Classic period witnessed both In order to better understand the social implica- the first phase of depopulation in the Contreras tions of the abandonment of the Contreras Valley, Valley and the demise of the Minanha royal court, we must review its full settlement history which two trends that seem related (Iannone 2005; Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al.] THE LAST GROUPS STANDING 561

Figure 6. The portable composite ceramic brazier found as part of the on-floor assemblage of Structure MRS15-M2 (illustration by Lamoureux-St-Hilaire). The bowl sitting atop is of the Yalbac Smudged Brown type, while the lid is of the Chiquibul Scored-Incised type. 562 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 26, No. 4, 2015

Figure 7. Artistic reconstruction of Group MRS15 (illustration by Lamoureux-St-Hilaire).

Macrae 2010:114). Yet, despite this political and the colonization of an area” (McAnany 2014:96– general demographic collapse, several construc- 97). Following this, newcomers or descendants tion projects were undertaken in the groups of wishing to establish new groups had to settle in interest. The inhabitants of Group MRS4 erected relatively marginal areas of the valley, where they a sizable pyramidal shrine, Structure MRS4-M3 had to invest more energy in intensive agricultural (Schwake 2008:157–163), while Group MRS15 techniques such as terraces (McAnany 2014:97; grew significantly (McCane et al. 2009:15–33). Macrae 2010:142). Both Groups MRS89 and Some groups of the Site-Core Zone also expanded MRS15 were among these later settlements, but during this period, including Group S (Schwake their settlement patterns are dissimilar. Group 2008). These divergent trends for the populations MRS89 was built in a marginal location: on a of the epicenter and the periphery highlight that hilltop, remote from water sources, and on land the fate of the non-elite was not directly associ- that would have been unproductive to farm. In ated to the royal court. Nonetheless, depopulation contrast, Group MRS15 (Figure 7) was con- increased throughout this period, and by the be- structed over terraced agricultural soils dating to ginning of the Early Postclassic, both Groups S the Terminal Preclassic, only 175 m away from and MRS89 had been abandoned. Group MRS4 and oriented directly toward it. This The Early Postclassic period was the last pe- contrast suggests that different social or economic riod of occupation at Minanha (Macrae factors characterized the settlers of Groups 2010:114). There is no evidence for architectural MRS89 and MRS15 (Macrae 2010:112). There- modifications at this time, save for intrusive fea- fore, not only was the location of Group MRS15 tures such as the intrusive burial in Structure more favorable than that of Group MRS89, but it MRS4-M3. Indications are that Group MRS15 appears that some form of relationship tied it to was abandoned at the onset of the Early Post- Group MRS4. Interestingly, by A.D. 900, Groups classic while Group MRS4 was abandoned at MRS4 and MRS15 were the only two groups to some point during this period. remain occupied among those we excavated. We suggest that the apparent resiliency of First and Last Occupancy Group MRS4 and neighboring Group MRS15 in the Contreras Valley may be related to the principle of first occupancy, Established in the agriculturally productive valley which prescribed preferential location and access bottom, Group MRS4 is the earliest settlement to resources. Consequently, those advantaged among all excavated Contreras groups. This set- commoner groups were either able to remain or tlement pattern fulfills the principle of first occu- simply more interested in remaining in the valley pancy, that is, “one could be the initial ‘occupant’ for a longer period than later established groups. or cultivator of land and thus lay claim to it in This privileged land tenure would have been par- that way” and “the best lands are claimed early in ticularly instrumental given that paleoclimatic Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al.] THE LAST GROUPS STANDING 563

data indicate that this region suffered droughts rying about land tenure by neighbors. Otherwise, during the Early Postclassic period and that the the abandoned landscape may have represented soils of the Contreras Valley may have been ex- a harsh reminder of the failure of the ancient hausted during the height of the Minanha polity community. (Iannone et al. 2014; Kennett et al. 2012). In Alternatively, the economic situation of the other words, given the absence of a ruler or an last inhabitants of the valley might not have been urban population in need of agricultural surpluses, particularly advantageous. Beyond the detrimen- and given probable environmental stress, groups tal ecological context and the lack of clients in that did not have preferential access to the land the site-core, broader societal factors such as the migrated. Accordingly, we suggest that the prin- disintegration of inland trade routes may have ciple of first occupancy may have favored groups contributed to undermine the viability of the Con- that were first settled to endure through last oc- treras Valley (Turner and Sabloff 2012:13911). cupancy. The socially deprived landscape seems fit for framing reverential termination ceremonies as Living Abandonment rituals for coping with the reality of abandonment. According to the random stratified sample, 78 Yet, if termination rituals played such an impor- percent of the domestic structures from the Con- tant role, why do we find evidence for them only treras Valley were occupied in the Late Classic in a fifth of the excavated domestic groups in the and 54 percent were occupied in the Terminal Contreras Valley? Classic, while only 21 percent remained inhabited by the Early Postclassic period. This gradual de- Discussion: The Occurrence and population of the Contreras Valley would have Non-Occurrence of Exposed Reverential significantly transformed the social landscape Offerings and affected the identity of its remaining inhabitants. As generations passed, the loss of neighbors The presence of exposed offerings in just a fifth may well have become part of the daily life of of the excavated sample challenges the idea that the remaining population. termination rituals played a decisive role in the The contrastive social landscape of the in- transformation of the Contreras landscape. There- creasingly abandoned Contreras Valley would fore, it is important to reflect on why certain ar- have been sharpened only by the then fully aban- chitectural groups were ritually terminated while doned monumental Site-Core. At face value, this others were not. More to the point: Why do we situation is somewhat comparable to the occupa- find archaeological correlates of termination rit- tional level of the Contreras Valley during the uals in only certain architectural groups? Below, Early Classic (18 percent rate of occupation vs. we present three potential explanations for the 21 percent). Nonetheless, the last occupants of disparity in the archaeological recovery of ter- the valley were surrounded by ruins being over- mination rituals. grown by an encroaching ecosystem, instead of Natural and cultural formation processes. A being surrounded by a natural landscape. Whereas first hypothesis to explain the lack of termination these resilient social groups used to live among rituals in most excavated structures relates to peers in a densely populated area, they had be- post-depositional formation processes (Schiffer come the few inhabitants of a sparsely populated 1972). These formation processes may have been area. They were the last groups standing, and the natural, such as erosion, animal disturbance, or place where they stood had changed dramatically. bioturbation, or they may have been cultural, like These observations highlight how the process squatting or artifact scavenging (Lamoureux-St- of abandonment was lived not only by abandon- Hilaire 2011:124). These formation processes ers, but also by those who remained. How did would have occurred after the abandonment of these social groups perceive this abandoned land- the concerned groups, but while inhabitants re- scape? From an economic perspective, this may mained in the valley. Some factors may have pre- have seemed beneficial, since they could have vented the desecration of artifacts, including the taken full advantage of the valley without wor- fact that most vessels placed on the terminated 564 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 26, No. 4, 2015 structures were probably broken in situ and that ibility in religious customs among the ancient in- termination rituals may have involved the dis- habitants of the Contreras Valley. Indeed, the per- mantling of structures, thereby covering the of- formance of rituals within this rural community ferings (Suhler and Freidel 2003:141). Given the long-divorced from a royal court was probably perishable nature of the Contreras buildings, as- not dogmatic, rather being adapted to local eco- sessing such a dismantling is, unfortunately, im- nomic, social, and ideological contexts possible. (Humphrey and Laidlaw 1994). Thus, some It is also plausible that the remaining inhabi- households may have decided to conduct termi- tants avoided disturbing termination offerings out nation rituals while the majority opted not to, or of respect for the departed groups, or due to the simply carried out different types of ceremonies religious dimension of the exposed offerings. that did not leave archaeological traces. Nonetheless, some agents lacking inhibition, such Abandonment with anticipated return. Another as children, may have led activities in and around potential factor attributable to the absence of ter- these buildings, thus disturbing the offerings mination offerings in most architectural groups (Hammond and Hammond 1981). This hypothesis of the Contreras Valley is the possibility that, at may be supported by the fact that the only re- the time of abandonment, some social groups be- maining on-floor assemblages were found either lieved that they would be returning to their home on a steep hilltop, a location probably rarely vis- in the near future. This explanation rests on the ited, or on the last structures to be abandoned. condition that social or ecological factors would Indeed, data suggest that by the time the occu- have pushed the inhabitants of these groups to pants of Group MRS15 deposited their termina- proceed to what they believed to be an episodic tion offerings, the occupants of Group MRS4 abandonment with anticipated return (Plunket were among the very few left living in the valley. and Uruñuela 2003). This type of abandonment It is therefore plausible that the MRS4 occupants, normally results in a considerable amount of ma- who were related to the former occupants of terial typically placed in the corners of rooms Group MRS15, did not disturb these nearby ter- (Simms et al. 2012). mination offerings out of respect for kin. Such a mobility strategy may have been more Variability in termination rituals. A second common than we suspect. Indeed, the return of hypothesis for explaining the differential recovery abandoners and the resumption of daily activities of on-floor offerings relates to variability in the would eliminate the archaeological signatures performance of termination rituals. Economically that are most often associated with abandonment. speaking, groups who had invested less effort in Over centuries, a household group may experi- the creation of their social landscape, and perhaps ence several such abandonment episodes, yet did not have preferential access to agricultural these would be rendered invisible by the return land, were probably predisposed to abandon their of the occupants. Evidence of abandonment with settlement more easily. This may have resulted anticipated return would surface only if the aban- in a reduced prestige and attachment to their doners never returned and if the material they home, which may account for archaeologically left behind was never disturbed afterward. invisible termination rituals, or even their absence Counterexample from Escalera al Cielo. altogether. Abandonment with anticipated return is indicated Alternatively, kinship ties among groups may by the presence of de facto refuse such as house- not have prescribed termination rituals in all con- hold goods in storage contexts (Schiffer 1972). texts. The most important structures within groups The Late and Terminal Classic period Puuc site often provided the only example of a termination of Escalera al Cielo offers an excellent example ritual. Similarly, the termination of the principal of such behavior (Simms et al. 2012). There, ex- domestic group for a given lineage may have cavations of household groups uncovered ceramic served as a proxy for the termination of subsidiary vessels and tools in storage, suggesting that the groups bound by various social ties. site was abandoned between A.D. 950–1150, at Another likely explanation for this heteroge- which time the episodic abandoners anticipated neous “ritual” landscape lies in the probable flex- returning to their homes. Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al.] THE LAST GROUPS STANDING 565

Excavations at Escalera al Cielo recovered social spectrum were first abandoned. The agri- rich assemblages of pottery and lithic artifacts culturalist groups settled on the best land in the found around the exteriors of doorways and along Contreras Valley— incidentally the first estab- back and side walls within structures. This pattern lished there— were the last to be abandoned. This contrasts with the centrally aligned on-floor as- pattern indicates that many household groups re- semblages of Minanha. Yet the assemblages remained occupied after most of their neighbors covered from Escalera al Cielo most likely do and the royal-administrative core had been va- not represent the complete material inventories cated. This differential abandonment and the pres- of the abandoners. As a point of comparison, the ence of termination offerings in three residential site of Cerén, El Salvador, was rapidly abandoned groups allows us to inquire into the transformative due to catastrophic volcanism, forcing its inhab- aspects of abandonment on the identity of both itants to leave almost all of their possessions be- the abandoners and the remaining inhabitants of hind (McKee and Sheets 2003). There, each the Contreras Valley. Moreover, this study yields household contained between 40 and 100 vessels, interesting findings regarding the nature of com- which were located practically everywhere in and moner-specific abandonment ceremonies. around structures, save for doorways (Beaudry- The behavioral-contextual analysis of six on- Corbett and Bishop 2002). The assemblages from floor assemblages from three Contreras domestic Escalera al Cielo are considerably smaller, with groups indicates that a portion of the settlement an average of 4.14 vessels per structure, indicating was reverentially and ritually abandoned. Rever- that many items were removed during abandon- ential termination rituals, while anchored in reli- ment (Simms et al. 2012). This average is com- gious precepts, also played a social role in helping parable to the four vessels per on-floor assem- abandoners detach from their settlement and re- blage at Minanha, yet the types of vessels, their define themselves as migrants. While leaving completeness, and their context is markedly dif- Maya cities would have meant a thorough social ferent. reordering for the abandoning groups, remaining While some Contreras residential groups were within a depopulated and transformed settlement ritually terminated, others may have been aban- also would have induced an adaptation to a trans- doned temporarily, rather than permanently, forming landscape. The disparity in abandonment thereby circumventing the actual need for ritual chronology and behaviors among household termination. That being said, no evidence for groups suggests that social ties may have favored abandonment with anticipated return was found differential resilience and affected abandonment at Minanha. behaviors. Summary. It is impossible to explain with cer- Studying households from a diachronic tainty the disparities in the abandonment perspective— from founding to abandonment— processes documented in the Contreras Valley. allows us to inquire into the shaping and trans- Nonetheless, considering abandonment as a social formation of the identity of social groups. This practice, rather than a purely behavioral one, approach may be coupled with a consideration opens new avenues of inquiry for investigating of the multiple dimensions of ancient landscapes, the subtleties of differential and gradual aban- in which social groups anchored their life and donment. These abandonment processes and re- identity, and which provide us with an excellent lated social practices highlight the complexity of background for framing archaeological social social organization, or differentiation, character- models. This emic-oriented method of inquiry is izing the commoner segment of an ancient Maya strengthened by the behavioral-contextual analy- community. sis of on-floor assemblages, which provides a systematic and replicable analytical framework. Conclusion The approach proposed by Cameron (2013) and other authors inquires into the transformative The ancient Maya community of Minanha was power that migrant groups had over their new gradually and differentially abandoned between host community by studying the often forced im- A.D. 810 and 1200. The top and bottom of the migration of sedentary populations. On the other 566 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 26, No. 4, 2015 hand, by looking at the differential abandonment SAA member login at www.saa.org/members-login: of an agricultural population, we have studied Supplemental Document 1. Excerpts from Maxime Lam- oureux-St-Hilaire’s Master’s thesis, including a detailed the transformative power that abandoners had on description and analysis of each on-floor assemblage dis- their former community. Abandonment and mi- cussed in this paper, as well as associated top plans and gration are two faces of the same coin, yet they illustrations. yield very different implications for settlements. Supplemental Document 2. A summary of the recon- The question of migrations during the Classic structible ceramic vessels contained in each of the on-floor assemblages discussed in this paper with ceramic types. Maya Collapse remains problematic for scholars because next to no data is available on the topic. Data Availability Statement. This article is based on data ex- Nevertheless, this case study does not suggest a cavated by SARP. Excavations in the Contreras Valley were case of rapid mass migration. Instead, this aban- mostly supervised by Carmen A. McCane, whose site report donment appears to have played out in a more chapters contain raw data and may be emailed by the first author upon request. The analysis and interpretation of the on- subtle and gradual fashion that entailed idiosyn- floor assemblages relies on the M.A. thesis of Maxime Lam- cratic ritual and social phenomena that deserve oureux-St-Hilaire, available on Proquest (and partly available to be studied in their own right. as Supplemental Document 1). The organization of the Con- Finally, this study affords us a glimpse into a treras Settlement data and its interpretation relies on the M.A. critical moment of ancient Maya culture-history, thesis of Scott Macrae, available on Proquest. Moreover, several papers presented at the Belizean Archaeology Symposium where many aspects of the identity and structure by the authors contain preliminary interpretations and are of social groups played themselves out. 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Stanton, Travis W., M. Kathryn Brown, and Jonathan B. Yaeger, Jason Pagliaro 2010 Shifting Political Dynamics as Seen from the Xu- 2008 Garbage of the Gods? Squatters, Refuse Disposal, nantunich Palace. In Classic Maya Provincial Politics: and Termination Rituals among the Ancient Maya. Latin Xunantunich and Its Hinterlands, edited by Lisa J. American Antiquity 19(3):227-248. LeCount and Jason Yaeger, pp. 145–160. University of Stanton, Travis W., and Aline Magnoni Arizona Press, Tucson. 2008 Places of Remembrance: The Use and Perception of Zehrt, Claudia Abandoned Structures in the Maya Lowlands. In Ruins 2006 Excavations in Group S, the 2006 Season. In Ar- of the Past: The Use and Perception of Abandoned Struc- chaeological Investigations in the North Vaca Plateau, tures in the Maya Lowlands, edited by Travis W. Stanton Belize: Progress Report of the Eighth (2006) Field Season, and Aline Magnoni, pp.1-24. University Press of Colorado, edited by Gyles Iannone, Jeffrey Seibert, and Jason Boulder. Seguin, pp. 27–57. Trent University, Peterborough. Stanton, Travis W., and Aline Magnoni (editors) 2008 Ruins of the Past: The Use and Perception of Abandoned Structures in the Maya Lowland. University Notes Press of Colorado, Boulder. Stuart, David 1. The term jaloj-k’exoj is used among modern Tzutujil 1998 “The Fire Enters his House”: Architecture and Ritual Maya of the Lake Atitlan region of highland Guatemala and in Classic Maya Texts. In Function and Meaning in refers to a “concentric system of change within change, a Classic Maya Architecture , edited by Steven Houston, single system of transformation and renewal” (Carlsen and pp. 373–426. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. Suhler, Charles, and David Freidel Prechtel 1991; McAnany 2014; Mock 1998a). 2003 The Tale End of Two Cities: Tikal, Yaxuna, and 2. The sampling strategy elaborated by Iannone for the Abandonment Contexts in the Lowland Maya Archaeo- SARP investigations of Minanha emulates the sampling strat- logical Record. In The Archaeology of Settlement Aban- egy adopted by Ashmore and the other members of the Xu- donment in Middle America, edited by Takeshi Inomata nantunich Archaeological Project (Ashmore et al. 1994). It and Ronald W. Webb, pp. 135–147. University of Utah separated all settlement types in six categories along a contin- Press, Salt Lake City. uum based on the size and quantity of mounds, from single Turner, B.L. II, and Jeremy Sabloff isolated mound (Type I), five or more mounds of less than 2 2012 Classic Period Collapse of the Central Maya Lowlands: m in height (Type IV), to groups with at least on mound of 2– Insights about Human-Environmental Relationships for Sustainability. Proceedings of the National Academy of 5 m in height (Type VI). It should be noted that no group out- Sciences 109(35):13908–13914. side the Epicenter qualified for Type VII, which included a Turner, Victor mound of more than 5 m in height. 1995 The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. 3. Original contextual terminology defined by Iannone Transaction Publishers, Piscataway. (2000) for SARP and modified by Lamoureux-St-Hilaire Van Gennep, Arnold (2011). 1909 Les rites de passage. Émile Nourry, Paris. Witschey, Walter R. T., and Clifford T. Brown 2008 The Electronic Atlas of Ancient Maya Sites. Electronic document, http://mayagis.smv.org/, accessed October 28, Submitted March 4, 2015; Revised July 3, 2015; Accepted 2015. October 22, 2015. Conclusion Information about the prehistoric past is only available in the archaeological remains left behind in the archaeological record which is dependent upon the environment, time, and substance. Therefore, to be meaningful, these remains must be interpreted under the influence of an always-changing archaeological record (Sullivan 2008; Lucas 2005). More specifically, the archaeological record is ambiguous in the sense that prehistoric phenomena

“do not speak for themselves” and are therefore subject to the problem of equifinality (i.e., having the same end result) (Schiffer 1976; Shanks and Tilley 1987). As a result, researchers are forced to make (hopefully) objective conclusions from the data about what these data indicate about the past, and these data can range from individual artifacts, to archaeological sites, to the results of regional surveys, to paleoenvironmental proxy signals. Additionally, archaeology relies on the contemporary character of the archaeological record as a means of mediating between the past and present (Jones 2002:169). More specifically, from the time archaeological and paleoenvironmental phenomena materialized in the past, they have been subjected to a series of cultural and natural formation processes which may have disturbed their original place of deposition during the abandonment process (Schiffer and Rathje 1973;

Schiffer 1976:11), and may have affected the ability of researchers to gather these types of data from the archaeological record. Consequently, non-subjective conclusions can only be made about the origins of the archaeological record with an understanding of the cultural and natural processes that could have affected is content and formation. The effects of cultural and natural formation processes must be taken into consideration and corrected for before making inferences so that a more accurate picture of past behavior or environment can be understood.

So, how can researchers become more cognizant of the effects of cultural and natural formation processes?

Multi-disciplinary approaches (e.g., geoarchaeology) to the study of the archaeological record enable archaeologists (and other participating geoscientists) to have a firmer grasp of the ambiguous nature of these archaeological phenomena and be able to interpret them more intelligently. This dissertation demonstrates not only the importance of geoarchaeological research in examining human-environment interactions in antiquity, which can help us to learn about the capacity of humans to adapt to environmental change (discussed in more detail in the concluding paragraph), but each of the three articles also highlight some of the concerns/limitations encountered when interpreting these types of potentially “ambiguous” results. A summary of the (hopefully unambiguous) results and potential future work for each of the three articles is provided below.

Article 1: As Article 1 illustrates, geoarchaeology has rapidly emerged as an important component in the investigations of ancient cultures. This article focused on the expansion of geoarchaeological research since 2000 within Mesoamerican archaeological investigations1. It was determined that there were five major themes central to recent studies: 1) the correlation of environmental change and culture history; 2) anthropogenic environmental impacts; 3) ancient land cover, land use, and diet; 4) archaeological prospection; and 5) provenance studies. These five central themes are often times interwoven (the first three are sometimes

1 The author of this dissertation completed a majority of the survey related to the growth of geoarchaeological research in the southern Maya Lowlands since 2000.

71 inseparable) and applied under a complex systems approach that allows scientists to more accurately model the intricacies of cultural and natural processes through their use of multiple environmental proxies. These five themes also fit nicely into the ‘blended’ definition of what constitutes geoarchaeological research discussed in the dissertation Introduction.

Not only were examples of the geoarchaeological research being conducted in the different regions of Mesoamerica provided in this article; but, often times, the article also highlighted some of the criticisms/concerns with respect to the philosophies under which the results were being interpreted, a method’s chronological precision, or correlations being made between variables (e.g., drought led to the collapse of the ancient Maya). Due to a growing array of instrumental techniques, information about ancient cultures and environments continues to expand at a rapid rate through the use of multi-proxy studies of paleoenvironments, land use, and diet. As a result, it was proposed that, in the future, the data being produced by geoarchaeological (and other types of archaeological investigations) be incorporated into a database capable of supporting integrated analyses (e.g. a Geographic

Information System). This would be an effective way to synthesize and compare data from multiple sources in support of more robust and temporally dynamic models.

Article 2: Early investigations indicated that many of the surrounding valleys and hilltops were home to the people and communities that helped sustain the Late Classic royal court of

Minanha, a moderately large Maya center in west-central Belize. In 2006, Phase II investigations began in a terraced valley with an abundance of settlement units located

72 approximately one kilometer southeast of Minanha’s epicenter, the Contreras Valley2. These

Phase II investigations were designed to complement and expand upon previous investigations in Minanha’s epicenter by focusing on the examination the composition of this peripheral settlement community (both temporally and spatially), creating an ‘archaeology of community.’

Specifically, these investigations were aimed at examining the rise and fall of the Minanha city- state from the perspective of the support populations.

There are 98 known settlement units in Contreras with a majority of them being made up of a limited number of buildings informally arranged (there are much ‘less formal’ when compared to the epicenter and Site Core); however, larger and more formal groups do exist in the Contreras Valley and it has been proposed that these settlement units may have represented long-standing rural families (i.e., according to the Principle of First Occupancy).

Preliminary ceramic analysis from the excavated settlement units indicates that the Contreras

Valley was inhabited from at least the Late to Terminal Preclassic all the way through the

Terminal Classic. Therefore, there was a population residing in the Contreras Valley long before, during, and after the fall of the royal court. Preliminary spatial analyses indicated that elevation did not have any significant impact over where the residents chose to resides and settlement units in the Contreras Valley are also dispersed randomly across the 1 square kilometer survey area.

With respect to terrace construction, it was determined that the inhabitants of the

Contreras Valley: 1) began using agricultural terraces at a very early date to help support a

2 Phase II investigations also included the examination of the composition of the Site Core zone, but the authors of this article only focused their research on the settlement groups and terrace construction in the Contreras Valley.

73 developing community (some time during the Late to Terminal Preclassic); 2) the inhabitants had a well founded knowledge of terrace construction resulting in uniform terraces ‘sets;’ and

3) the terrace system within the Contreras Valley exhibit characteristics of having a heterarchical organization.

These investigations provided a wealth of knowledge concerning the peripheral community of Minanha; however, further analyses could continue to help shed light on our understanding of this community and the issues which affected it during its lifetime. In 2010,

Phase II research ended at Minanha and Phase III investigations shifted to the examination of the minor centers surrounding Minanha (the Waybil and Martinez sites). However, if research were to ever resume at Minanha again, it could be beneficial to expand on some of the research performed in the Contreras Valley. For example, how would settlement composition and density change if the survey area was expanded to 2 square kilometers? Additionally, what if some of the geoarchaeological methods and techniques described in Article 1 were employed with respect to land cover, land use, and diet? More specifically, carbon isotope and isotope analysis on the faunal (and human remains) could help us to understand the types of foods that were being consumed and from where resources were being procured from. Further, soil chemical analysis could help to shed light on the extent and intensity of domestic and agricultural production. Lastly, pollen records could help to estimate the amount of forest cover and the recovery of macrobotanical remains could be used to reconstruct food preferences beyond the standard models that focus on corn, beans, and squash. All of these aforementioned hypothetical geoarchaeological data could help us to “paint a better picture”

74 of the life of the Contreras inhabitants. These data could also help us to understand the eventual abandonment of the Contreras Valley described in more detail in Article 3.

Article 3: The ancient Maya community of Minanha was gradually and differentially abandoned between A.D. 810 and 1200. It appears as if the dwellings at the top and bottom of the social spectrum were the first to be abandoned. Interestingly, the agricultural groups settled on the best lands in the Contreras Valley –the first groups established there -- were the last to be abandoned (e.g., Principle of First Occupancy). Therefore, some of the Contreras household groups remained occupied after most of their neighbors and the royal court complex had been vacated. Further, the presence of termination offerings in three of the residential groups indicates that a portion of the settlement may have been reverentially and ritually abandoned.

These offerings may have played both a religious and social role (i.e., helping abandoners detach from their home). The difference in chronology and behavior among different settlement groups may have favored differential resilience and affected abandonment behaviors.

The authors also explored why certain architectural groups were ritually terminated and others were not. Three potential explanations were offered for the disparity in the archaeological recovery of termination rituals. First, post-depositional natural (e.g., erosion, bioturbation, etc.) and cultural (e.g., squatting, scavenging, etc.) formation processes may help to explain the lack of termination rituals in many excavated structures. Second, variability in termination rituals may help to explain a lack of on-floor offerings relating to termination rituals

(i.e., ceremonies that did not leave archaeological traces). Lastly, at the time of abandonment,

75 some household groups may have believed that they would be returning to their home in the near future. In this portion of the article, the authors emphasize the importance of including the potential effects of natural and cultural formation processes in their interpretations of the termination rituals in the Contreras Valley as highlighted in this chapter’s opening paragraphs.

In the future, again, if research were to be resumed at Minanha it could be beneficial to expand on the research being conducted in the Contreras Valley. Not only should the geoarchaeological techniques mentioned in the “future work” portion of Article 2 (discussed above) be conducted, it might also be interesting to perform residue analysis and/or phytolith analysis on the ceramic vessels and burners left in ritual deposits to help determine potential plant use and ritual behavior. Further, carbon isotope, phosphorous and other trace element analysis could be performed to locate areas of household gardening, food processing, craft production, etc. Lastly, a more in depth examination of the potential effects that drought may have had on the Contreras (and greater Minanha) populations is warranted. This third article provides an excellent overview of the presence (and absence) of the termination rituals and abandonment of the Contreras Valley; however, what this article fails to discuss is why the individuals abandoned this community. Through the use of the aforementioned geoarchaeological techniques discussed in Articles 1, 2, and 3, the “story” of the Contreras inhabitant’s occupation and abandonment of the valley could be strengthened. For example, a few potential questions that could help to explain the gradual and differential abandonment of the Contreras Valley could be investigated with the use of more geoarchaeological techniques:

1) were there any temporal changes in resource exploitation (e.g. clay, obsidian, etc.) and what sorts of implications do such changes have for understanding resource acess?; 2) did the soils in

76 this agricultural valley become depleted?; 3) any evidence of overhunting?; 4) did their diet change and why?; and 5) could the drought(s) have had devastating effects on the population?

Answers to these questions, and others like them, not only could help to strengthen our understanding of the abandonment of the Contreras Valley, but the use of these potential paleo-analogs can help us also to learn about the capacity of humans to adapts to environmental (and societal) changes. Understanding the potential success and failure of the

Contreras inhabitants (and any other prehistoric/historic communities, civilizations, etc.) can help us to predict the sustainability of and resilience of these systems and their contemporary counterparts.

Concluding Remarks: To reiterate, this dissertation demonstrates that geoarchaeological research that directly examines human-environment interactions can help us to learn about the capacity of humans to adapt to environmental change. More specifically, understanding the success and failure of past societies can help us to predict the sustainability and resilience of these systems.

That is, learning about the capacity of humans to adapt to both societal and environmental change is the most important enduring product of geoarchaeological investigations of the ancient world. Geographers such as Carl Sauer, felt a moral responsibility to contemporary society to study the human-environment interactions of prehistoric cultures so that we, as humans, do not make the same mistakes as those that were made in the past (e.g., environmental degradation) (Livingstone 1992). As a result, geoscientists (e.g., paleoecologists, soil scientists, geologists, biologists, and climatologists) are increasingly turning to archaeology because it can provide a long-term view of human-environment interactions that have shaped

77 both Quaternary and Holocene landscapes (Goldberg and Macphail 2006). Therefore, the past is essential not only to understanding the present, but even more important to evaluate the potential outcomes of modern trends (e.g., regional development, resource management, ecological sustainability, etc.) which have become central concerns in human geography (Butzer

1982:320). As we continue to learn more and more about the past, it becomes more apparent that former generations, civilizations, and ecological history can tell us a lot about the sustainability of our present-day and future strategies.

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