The Marco Gonzalez Maya site, Ambergris Caye, Belize: Assessing the impact of human activities by examining diachronic processes at the local scale

Abstract

Research at the Maya archaeological site of Marco Gonzalez on Ambergris Caye in Belize is socio-ecological because human activities have been a factor in the formation and fluctuation of the local marine and terrestrial environments over time. The site is one of many on Belize's coast and cayes that exhibit anomalous vegetation and dark-coloured soils. These soils, although sought for cultivation, are not typical 'Amazonian Dark Earths' but instead are distinctive to the weathering of carbonate-rich anthropogenic deposits. We tentatively term these location-specific soils as Maya Dark Earths. Our research seeks to quantify the role of human activities in long-term environmental change and to develop strategies, specifically Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), that can be applied to environmental impact modelling today. AbstractResearch at the Maya archaeological site of Marco Gonzalez on Ambergris Caye in Belize is socio-ecological because human activities have been a factor in the formation and fluctuation of the local marine and terrestrial environments over time. The site is one of many on Belize's coast and cayes that exhibit anomalous vegetation and dark-coloured soils. These soils, although sought for cultivation, are not typical ‗Amazonian Dark Earths' but instead are distinctive to the weathering of carbonate-rich anthropogenic deposits. We tentatively term these location-specific soils as Maya Dark Earths. Our research seeks to quantify the role of human activities in long-term environmental change and to develop strategies, specifically Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), that can be applied to environmental impact modelling today.

Marco Gonzalez, Ambergris Caye, Belize: A geoarchaeological record of ground raising associated with surface soil formation and the presence of a Dark Earth

“…Occupation detritus (sherds and conch) mixed with open marine sandy carbonate muds, estuarine mud/sand and mangrove sediments were found in cores to the south of the site in 2013. Artefact-containing sands and muds (extending >1.5m below sea level) were recorded at the mangrove site margin (Graham et al, 2015), which suggests that a preserved boundary between natural sediments and earliest anthropogenic deposits can be found at selected locations.…”

“…The other critical role of soil micromorphology is its contribution to our greater goal of assessing the environmental impact of human activity at Marco Gonzalez, which will enable us to construct and test hypotheses concerning how the site formed over time, what materials and elements contributed to the character of the sediments, and how the modern surface soils acquired the appearance of a Dark Earth (Graham et al 2015). The dark brown to black surface soils, commonly removed by locals for use in their gardens, are typical of sites on the caye and of other sites in coastal Belize (Graham 1994(Graham , 2006.…”

“…550/600 to 700/760) were investigated in detail. Development of the coast line, sea level change, mangrove formation, the modern day vegetation (Fig 2), plant macrofossils, the site in its wider landscape and the results of Maya waste disposal in relationship to modern sustainable land use in the region were considered in addition to the geoarchaeological study presented here (Graham et al, 2015). This paper focuses on findings from the salt working levels, on the formation of a Maya Dark Earth, and on current surface soil development.…”

“…A multi-disciplinary study of selected geoarchaeological and archaeological sequences was carried out at the Maya site of Marco Gonzalez, Ambergris Caye, Belize during 2013-2014 to investigate site formation processes. Understanding site formation is only one of a set of aims whose common properties are defined by our goal of elucidating the long-term role of human impact in the formation of the earth's cultivable soils (Graham et al 2015). The content of this paper in particular is focused on describing the methods that we employed to sample, describe, analyse, and interpret all of the accessible strata that comprise the archaeological site.…”

“…Our hope is that such methods-duplicated, altered, or improved-will be of utility to other researchers. Before describing the methods and results of the site formation research, and in order to contextualise the data and discussion presented here, we provide an outline of the cultural context and anthropological significance of the larger study, otherwise detailed extensively in other publications (Graham 1992(Graham , 1998(Graham , 2006Graham et al 2015). 2015).…”