Investigating The Relationship Between Climate Change And Social Organization In A Small Scale Society

现代社会最紧迫的问题之一是气候变化对人口的影响。考古研究对于理解这些问题至关重要，因为它们为理解社会如何应对和适应环境压力提供了重要的时间深度。本研究考察了玛雅低地的“崩溃”（包括政治制度的崩溃和城市中心的废弃）与气候变化之间的关系。先前的研究记录了公元660-1100年的气候干燥，在9世纪到11世纪之间发现了严重的几十年一次的干旱。这个时间框架通常与公元750-1000年之间的“经典玛雅崩溃”相关。人们认为，长时间的低降水导致作物歉收，破坏了整个地区的经济和政治制度。然而，目前的考古研究是基于陶瓷年表，往往跨越数百年，阻碍了时间关系的清晰识别。研究人员将开发一种高分辨率的放射性碳年表，以确定崩溃时期与干旱或干旱缺乏时期之间的时间相关性。在更广泛的背景下，这个项目将有助于理解人口统计学、玛雅低地政治制度的解体和气候变化之间的相互作用。这项研究将有助于培养本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员，并为伯利兹当地的玛雅社区提供教育机会。这个项目将有助于回答几个重要问题。古典时期末期的政治崩溃和撂荒是否与持续的干旱事件有关？是否有些中心在干旱期间比其他中心坚持得更久？什么样的环境或文化适应可能帮助人们适应日益严重的干旱？在玛雅中部低地的两个考古遗址的挖掘工作将重点放在扩大现有的埋葬样本和动物骨骼样本的年代测定上。放射性碳测年的结果将与伯利兹南部的精确测年的洞穴记录进行比较，以测试干旱和崩塌之间的时间关系。来自埋葬的骨学数据也将与这些模式进行比较，以确定可能由农业短缺造成的饥荒造成的营养缺乏增加。总之，这项跨学科的科学工作将研究几十年的干旱是否导致了农业的失败，政治制度的崩溃，以及古典玛雅城市中心的放弃。

One of the most pressing issues in modern times is the effect that climate change will have on populations. Archaeological studies are critical for understanding these issues, as they offer important time depth to understand how societies respond and adapt to environmental stress. This study examines the relationship between "collapse", including the breakdown of political systems and the abandonment of urban centers, with climate change in the Maya Lowlands. Previous research has documented climatic drying from AD 660-1100, with intervals of severe multi-decadal drought identified in the ninth through eleventh centuries. This timeframe generally correlates with the "Classic Maya collapse" between AD 750-1000. It is thought that extended episodes of low precipitation caused crop failures that undermined economic and political systems throughout the region. However, current archaeological studies are based on ceramic chronologies that often span hundreds of years and hinder clear identification of temporal relationships. The researchers will develop a high-resolution radiocarbon chronology to identify chronological correlations between periods of collapse and drought or lack thereof. Within the broader context, this project will help to understand the interactions between demography, the disintegration of political systems in the Maya lowlands, and climate change. The research will contribute to training undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, in addition to offering educational opportunities for local Maya communities in Belize. This project will help to answer several important questions. Does political collapse and abandonment at the end of the Classic period correlate with extended drought episodes? Did some centers persist longer during droughts than others? What environmental or cultural adaptations may have helped populations to adapt to increasing aridity? Excavations at two archaeological sites in the central Maya Lowlands will focus on expanding the existing sample of burial and animal bone samples for dating. Results from the radiocarbon dates will be compared with a precisely dated speleothem record from southern Belize to test for temporal relationships between drought and collapse. Osteological data from burials will also be compared with these patterns to identify increased nutritional deficiencies that may have been caused by famine from agricultural shortages. Together, this interdisciplinary scientific work will examine whether multi-decadal droughts contributed to agricultural failure, the breakdown of political systems, and the abandonment of Classic Maya urban centers.