Environmental History of the Petén Campechano

Summary

This is an abstract from the "A Session in Memory of William J. Folan: Cities, Settlement, and Climate" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Paleoenvironmental inferences are based on pollen and geochemical data from sediment cores collected in Lakes Silvituc and Uxul, and Oxpemul Reservoir, near three archaeological sites that supported agricultural activity between ca. 900 BC and AD 750, under the control of the Kaan Dynasty. These sites show patterns similar to those in sediments from Lake Petén Itzá, northern Guatemala, but different from records from the northeastern of the Peninsula. Patterns of increasing and decreasing relative abundances of maize and other crops pollen reflect changes with respect to their cultivation and importance. High clay and gypsum content in the sediment may be related to deforestation, agriculture, and intervals of greater rainfall. Changes in sediment elemental concentrations were associated with droughts and human activities during the Classic period. The Classic droughts were more severe and prolonged than those of the Preclassic and thus had a greater impact for inhabitants of the Petén Campechano, which led to a cultural collapse by the seventh century, whereas settlements farther north on the Yucatan Peninsula persisted until the tenth century.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• A Session in Memory of William J. Folan: Cities, Settlement, and Climate   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35907.0