Reconstructing Resource Availability, Use, and Management at Naachtun (Guatemala), a Regional Maya Center of the Classic Period

One of the objectives of the Naachtun Archaeological Project is to conduct a multidisciplinary study of the resources used by the site’s ancient Maya inhabitants, as well as the evolution of its economy through time, in order to better understand the social and political history of this city. We propose to discuss two issues related to the availability and management of various resources, focusing on the supply strategies and the technical system associated to their use. How did the Maya of Naachtun manage the soils, water and forests and positively construct their surrounding landscape to sustain a large population during roughly a millennium of prosperity? Do the variations observed in the availability and management of these resources reflect phases of environmental and/or economic stress? To what extent did human activities and climate changes impact the local environment and what were the consequent adaptive strategies? Combining paleoenvironmental and material culture studies, these questions are broached via a diachronic approach to evidence the temporal variability of human responses to environmental variations. This perspective would highlight the importance of resources management strategies in the socio-cultural cycles and population dynamics we observe within the history of Lowland Maya cities.