Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Setting the Scene: The Physical and Human Geographies of the Central Lowlands
2.1. Environmental setting
2.2. Case study regions
2.2.1. The Belize River Valley and Peten Lakes region
2.2.2. Northern Yucatan and Northern Quintana Roo
3. Problematising Climate Change, Drought and Human Responses
3.1. From weather to climate, from present to past - the theoretical context
3.2. Examining human-environment relationships in the Maya lowlands
3.2.1. Climate impact: Regional patterns
3.2.2. Settlement survey evidence
3.2.3. Subsistence and water management strategies
3.2.4. Exploration of ritual activity in written records
4. Human Responses to Environmental Stress: Ethnographic and Ethnohistoric Insight
Co-authored with Sean Downey
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Weather, climate and drought
4.3. Geographic, climatic and ethnic background of the case study areas
4.4. Interviews
4.4.1. Cayo District - San Antonio
4.4.2. Arenal/Hydro Road (North Vaca Plateau).
4.4.3. San José Succotz
4.4.4. Toledo District - Crique Sarco/Graham Creek
4.5. Contemporary religious practices related to drought
4.5.1. Drought rituals in the Toledo District
4.5.2. Drought rituals in the Cayo District
4.5.3. 'Superstitions'
4.6. Comparing people's perceptions and the rainfall data
4.6.1. Summary of rainfall data analysis
4.7. Archival data
4.8. Understanding environmental stress: combining perceptions, responses and data
5. Palaeoclimatic Reconstructions
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Long-term precipitation proxies
5.3 Palaeoclimate records - short summary
5.4. Quantitative estimates of droughts
5.5. Driving mechanisms of drought
6. Settlement Patterns
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Regional settlement histories through time
6.2.1. Belize Valley
6.2.2. Peten Lakes region
6.2.3. Northern Yucatan Peninsula
6.3. Changes in settlement patterns
6.3.1. Belize Valley and Peten Lakes
6.3.2. Northern Yucatan Peninsula
6.4. Comparison of occupation data with local palaeoclimatic records
6.4.1. Belize Valley and Peten Lakes region
6.4.2. Northern Yucatan Peninsula
6.5. Evaluation of drivers behind changes in settlement patterns
6.5.1. Distinguishing between the factors
7. Agricultural strategies and water management
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Agricultural and water management strategies - Belize Valley/Peten Lakes
7.2.1. Belize Valley
7.2.2. Peten Lakes region
7.3. Agricultural and water management strategies - The Northern Yucatan Peninsula
7.3.1. Northwestern Yucatan (northwestern karst plain)
7.3.2. Central Yucatan (northeast karst plain)
7.3.3. The northeast Yucatan3
7.4. Why did agricultural and water management strategies change?
7.4.1. Population pressure
7.4.2. Land degradation
7.4.3. Drying trends
7.4.4. Socio-political complexity
7.4.5. Implications of agricultural and water management changes
7.5. Summary
8. Epigraphic Insights into Culture, Society and Climate Change
Co-authored with Christophe Helmke and Andrew Bevan
8.1. Introduction
8.2. Cultural and political history
8.2.1. Eastern Central Lowlands
8.2.2. Relationship between Naranjo, Caracol and other Central Belize sites
8.2.3. Northern Yucatan Peninsula
8.3. Changes in the written records from the Classic to the Postclassic period
8.3.1. Change in the focus of the Terminal Classic texts
8.3.2. Stelae scene composition: from captive-taking to conversation
8.3.3. Independence claims by secondary centres
8.3.4. Iconographic, stylistic and linguistic differences
8.4. Change in written records as a potential response to water scarcity
8.4.1. Rain-beckoning rituals
8.4.2. Possible Classic Maya parallels
8.4.3 Analytical approach and data
8.4.4. The seasonality of at and chok statements
8.4.5. Palaeoclimate and at and chok statements
8.4.6. Spatial patterning of at and chok statements
8.4.7. Specific occasion rituals
8.5. Discussion
Appendices
9. Two millennia of human response to environmental stress in the Maya lowlands:
Interweaving Narratives
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Interweaving narratives and evidence
9.2.1. Coping strategies in the written and archaeological records
9.2.2. Political disintegration
9.2.3. Demographic collapse
9.3. Recurring patterns from the Preclassic to Classic to Postclassic
9.3.1. Terminal Preclassic/Early Classic versus Terminal Classic/Postclassic
9.3.2. Maya collapse(s)
9.4. Environmental conditions and Maya resilience
9.5. Precipitating change: Lessons for the future
References

About the Author

Eva Jobbová is a Maya archaeologist interested in a broad range of topics including the development of Neotropical urbanism, the growth of social complexity and societal collapse, and the choices humans make in response to spatial and temporal variation in climate and environmental stress. Currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College Dublin, she is involved in a project focusing on Irish droughts.

Reviews

'This is a fascinating study that compiles detailed and well-researched information from several different fields to approach the question of ancient environmental stress and response in the Maya area. This work has global implications.' Dr Kitty F. Emery, Florida Museum of Natural History
'This work is a great contribution to the understanding of the human-environment interactions among the Mayan communities. It will be of interest not only for specialists dealing with Maya archaeology but also for all those scholars interested in the past human-environment interactions.' Dr Alessio Palmisano, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München