Climate and the Maya

Climate and the collapse of Maya civilization.

In the anoxic Cariaco Basin of the southern Caribbean, the bulk titanium content of undisturbed sediment reflects variations in riverine input and the hydrological cycle over northern tropical South America. A seasonally resolved record of titanium shows that the collapse of Maya civilization in the Terminal Classic Period occurred during an extended regional dry period, punctuated by more inte...

The Maya Forest: destroyed or cultivated by the ancient Maya?

B oth academic and popular perceptions concerning the relationship between the Maya (ancient and modern) and the Maya Forest in which their culture developed and persisted formore than three millennia are varied and continuously subject to change (1). The analysis of a sediment core from a pond located near the ancient Maya city of Copan, Honduras, interpreted byMcNeil et al. (2) in this issue ...

Origins of the Maya Forest Garden: Maya Resource Management

High resolution stalagmite climate record from the Yucatán Peninsula spanning the Maya terminal classic period

⁎ Corresponding author. National Oceanography Cen Campus, European Way Southampton, Hampshire Tel.: +44 23 805 96573. E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Medi 1 MME designed and planned the research, conducted dating analyses, participated in the field work and data in manuscript. 2 SJB and DWL helped planned the research, partic analysis, interpretation and writing. 3 YA and VP helped de...

Who Were the Maya ?

12 volume 54, number 1 expedition he ancient maya created one of the world’s most brilliant and successful civilizations. But 500 years ago, after the Spaniards “discovered” the Maya, many could not believe that Native Americans had developed cities, writing, art, and other hallmarks of civilization. Consequently, 16th century Europeans readily accepted the myth that the Maya and other indigeno...