Classic Period collapse of the Central Maya Lowlands: Insights about human–environment relationships for sustainability

Abstract

The ninth century collapse and abandonment of the Central Maya Lowlands in the Yucatán peninsular region were the result of complex human-environment interactions. Large-scale Maya landscape alterations and demands placed on resources and ecosystem services generated high-stress environmental conditions that were amplified by increasing climatic aridity. Coincident with this stress, the flow of commerce shifted from land transit across the peninsula to sea-borne transit around it. These changing socioeconomic and environmental conditions generated increasing societal conflicts, diminished control by the Maya elite, and led to decisions to move elsewhere in the peninsular region rather than incur the high costs of maintaining the human-environment systems in place. After abandonment, the environment of the Central Maya Lowlands largely recovered, although altered from its state before Maya occupation; the population never recovered. This history and the spatial and temporal variability in the pattern of collapse and abandonment throughout the Maya lowlands support the case for different conditions, opportunities, and constraints in the prevailing human-environment systems and the decisions to confront them. The Maya case lends insights for the use of paleo-and historical analogs to inform contemporary global environmental change and sustainability.Mesoamerica | complex systems | land management

Caracol, Belize, and Changing Perceptions of Ancient Maya Society

“…Caracol was abandoned during a time of increased rainfall and not drought (based on data in Kennett et al 2012; also see Lachniet 2015 for possible issues with these data), although extremely wet and/or unpredictable conditions can impact agricultural sustainability as much as drought. Evidence at Caracol (as described below) is in accord with divergent scenarios that look at the broader context of the collapse (e.g., Turner and Sabloff 2012). For Caracol at least, it appears that other human-induced change led to site abandonment.…”

“…While both warfare and environmental change may have played a role in the ultimate collapse of Caracol, research suggests that the situation was far more complicated than these single causal factors (D. Chase and A. Chase 2000;Iannone et al 2014;Turner and Sabloff 2012); the Terminal Classic social changes at Caracol may provide lessons for our own future.…”

Modeling Historical Land Cover and Land Use: A Review fromContemporary Modeling

“…In general terms, the study areas of these models are small, ranging from a couple to hundreds of square kilometers. Most of these models use archaeological inputs and have as their goals either the reconstruction of the behavior of past civilizations or attempting to find explanations for their sudden collapse [18].…”

“…Several works have recognized that LCLUC and the intensification of agricultural practices in response to demographic growth can lead to severe change in local or regional environmental conditions [7,8]. Such intensification of agriculture can lead to problems for population persistence [1,3,[9][10][11] and even cause the collapse of civilizations [7,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Endurance and Adaptation of Community Forest Management in Quintana Roo, Mexico

“…Climate variability and biophysical shocks, such as drought, have been linked to major shifts in socio-cultural development in the Yucatan Peninsula [122][123][124]. Hurricane Dean, a category 5 storm that made landfall in Quintana Roo in 2007 damaging approximately 22,000 km 2 of forests [125], provides an apt example to examine the response of forestry communities and institutions.…”