The measure of the “Mayacene,” a microcosm of the Early Anthropocene that occurred from
c. 3000 to 1000 BP, comes from multiple Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental records. We …

Abstract “Hills rose around us on every side, and, for that country, the scene was
picturesque, but all waste and silent. The stillness of the grave rested upon the ruins, and the …

Episodes of population loss and cultural change, including the famous Classic Collapse,
punctuated the long course of Maya civilization. In many cases, these downturns in the …

Many humans live in large, complex political centers, composed of multi-scalar communities
including neighborhoods and districts. Both today and in the past, neighborhoods form a …

Archaeological research at Caracol, an ancient Maya site that was rediscovered in 1937,
has become a major resource in the interpretation and understanding of the ancient Maya …

Market economies are notoriously difficult to identify in the archeological record. This is
particularly true in the subtropical Maya lowlands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize because …

Urban adaptation to climate change is a global challenge requiring a broad response that
can be informed by how urban societies in the past responded to environmental shocks. Yet …

Pre-Columbian food production in the Maya Lowlands was long characterized as reliant on
extensive, slash-and-burn agriculture as the sole cultivation system possible in the region …

How will archaeology contribute to agricultural sustainability? To address that question, this
overview reflects on the diverse and complementary ways that archaeology has advanced …

We focus on pre-Columbian agricultural regimes in the Maya Lowlands, using new datasets
of archaeological wood charcoal, seeds, phytoliths, and starch grains; biological properties …