Population, Climate Change, and Agriculture in the Late First Millennium C.E. Maya Lowlands

Summary

Over the last 20 years, a number of studies have provided evidence for a "drought" in the Maya Lowlands between the 8th and 10th centuries. Researchers have argued that a higher water table in the northern lowlands allowed agricultural practices to continue in the north, while sites in the south suffered from the drought. This paper will examine the relationship between population changes and climatic changes in the Maya Lowlands. The nature of the water table and the agricultural practices of the Prehispanic Maya will be examined in light of how they might have helped or hindered the response to a drought.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage