Doctoral Dissertation Research: Holocene Environmental Change in the Northern Peten and its Implications for Maya Prehistory

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During the last 40 years, several paleoecological and geochemical studies have been carried out in the Maya lowlands of southern Mexico and Guatemala. These studies have shown that climate in this important archaeological area has changed on a variety of time scales during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Some records also indicate that human impacts associated with agricultural activity and urbanization caused significant forest clearance and soil erosion. In most cases, however, it has not been possible to distinguish between natural and human-induced environmental change. This has led to uncertainty regarding the primary causes of population growth and decline in the Maya lowlands. This doctoral dissertation research project will provide a detailed record of late Holocene environmental change in the northern Peten of Guatemala, an area that was densely populated during the Preclassic period but now is virtually uninhabited. The record will be based on the analysis of sediment cores recovered in 2001 from two relatively small lakes: Puerto Arturo and Chuntuqui. The cores will be analyzed to determine variations in sediment chemistry, fossil pollen, microscopic charcoal, magnetic susceptibility and stable isotopes. Chronological control will be provided by 16 radiocarbon determinations (eight per lake) on charcoal and terrestrial plant material. Initial results suggest that the Puerto Arturo core covers most of the Holocene and the Chuntuqui core the last 1,350 years. The Puerto Arturo core therefore will provide a long-term record and the Chuntuqui core a high-resolution record of the Late Classic Maya abandonment.The dramatic population changes in the Maya lowlands have led scholars to speculate on the possible roles of environmental degradation and climate change. This project will attempt to separate the relative importance of human-induced and natural environmental change by using a wide range of analytical techniques. A similar approach has been attempted at Lake Peten-Itza in the southern Maya lowlands, the results of which were inconclusive because of the large size of the lake. The authors of that study concluded that smaller lakes in the Peten could provide more sensitive records. The intellectual merit of this dissertation research therefore lies in its potential ability to fill an important gap in our knowledge of paleoenvironmental change in the Maya lowlands. In a broader sense, the findings of the study will be useful to current land-use policies. Understanding the causes and effects of environmental change in the Maya lowlands will help develop sound policy for resource management. The Peten supported dense populations from 2500 to 1000 BP, and the resulting pressure on natural resources may well have led to the Preclassic and Classic period abandonments of the area. Studies of prehistoric Maya agriculture have shown that deforestation and erosion increased with population growth. Population has exploded in the Peten in recent decades, and so too has the need for a resource policy that takes into account the history of environmental change. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.