Jason H Curtis

Biographic Data

ID3635336
NAMEJason H Curtis
GIVEN NAMESJason H
FAMILY NAMECurtis
SIGNATURECURTIS J H
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Florida
ORCID0000-0003-0884-9941
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS28
TOTAL CITATIONS80
AUTHOR COUNT28
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1991
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2025
H-INDEX5

  • The environmental signal of lake sediments in Mesoamerica

    Open AccessMauricio León-Carreño, Alex Correa-Metrio et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2025References: 94

    Lake sediment composition depends on the environmental context where sediments are produced, transported, and deposited. Factors involved in sedimentary processes imprint specific signatures on sediments, thus providing evidence on the environmental context at the time of deposition. The interaction of the involved factors and processes, however, results in complex signals that in some instances are difficult to interpret. Here, we explore and qu…

  • An isotopic examination of Maya Preclassic and Classic animal and human diets at Ceibal, Guatemala

    Open AccessAndrew Sharpe, Juan Manuel Palomo et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science…2024Cited by: 1References: 27

    This study examines the carbon (δ13C), oxygen (δ18O), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes from the dental enamel of 63 animals and compares these data to the carbon signatures from 21 humans from the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Comparing both domestic dogs and non-domestic species over a history spanning two millennia, we find that subsistence strategies and interregional relationships between Ceibal and other areas changed over time, likely b…

  • The influence of tropical Atlantic sea-surface temperatures and the North Atlantic Subtropical High during the Maya Droughts

    Open AccessDerek K Gibson, Jonathan Obrist‐Farner et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2023References: 12

    The frequency and duration of Late-Holocene hydrologic extremes in northern Guatemala were investigated using multiple sedimentological and geochemical proxies preserved in a sediment core collected from Lake Petén Itzá. A general trend of increasing aridity in the Maya Lowlands during the past 2000 years was punctuated by several multidecadal- to centennial-scale drought events recorded in the Petén Itzá sediments. In particular, the period span…

  • Early Maize in the Maya Area

    Open AccessJon C Lohse, Molly Morgan et al.ARTICLELatin American Antiquity2022Cited by: 3References: 64

    The history of maize in Central America and surrounding areas has implications for the slow transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. The spread of early forms of domesticated maize from southern Mexico across Mesoamerica and into South America has been dated to about 8,700-6,500 years ago on the basis of a handful of studies relying primarily on the analysis of pollen, phytoliths, or starch grains. Recent genomic data from southern B…

  • Ecological turnover in neotropical freshwater and terrestrial communities during episodes of abrupt climate change

    Open AccessLiseth Pérez, Alex Correa-Metrio et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research2021

    The last 85,000 years were characterized by high climate and environmental variability on the Yucatán Peninsula. Heinrich stadials are examples of abrupt climate transitions that involved shifts in regional temperatures and moisture availability. Thus, they serve as natural experiments to evaluate the contrasting responses of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. We used ostracodes and pollen preserved in a 75.9-m-long sediment core (PI-6, ~85 ka) …

  • A preliminary multi-isotope assessment of human mobility and diet in pre-Columbian Panama

    Open AccessAndrew Sharpe, Nicole E Smith-Guzm ́an et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science…2021Cited by: 4References: 22

    This study uses carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N), oxygen (δ18O), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes to infer the diets and mobility patterns of pre-Columbian humans from seven archaeological sites in Panama: Cerro Mangote, Sitio Sierra, and Cerro Juan Díaz in central Pacific Panama; Cerro Brujo and Sitio Drago along Panama’s northwest Caribbean coast; Jicarita Island in the Gulf of Chiriquí; and Pedro González Island in the Gulf of Panama. Our init…

  • Novel responses of diatoms in neotropical mountain lakes to indigenous and post-European occupation

    Open AccessMaria I Velez, Jorge Salgado et al.ARTICLEAnthropocene2021Cited by: 1References: 54

  • Ecology and paleoenvironmental application of testate amoebae in peatlands of the high-elevation Colombian páramo

    Open AccessBing Liu, Robert K Booth et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research2019

    We investigated the ecology and paleoecology of testate amoebae in peatlands of the Colombian páramo to assess the use of testate amoebae as paleoenvironmental indicators. Objectives were to (1) identify environmental controls on testate amoebae, (2) develop transfer functions for paleoenvironmental inference, and (3) examine testate amoebae in a Holocene peat core and compare our findings with other proxy records. Results from 96 modern samples …

  • Holocene environmental history of tropical, mid-altitude Lake Ocotalito, México, inferred from ostracodes and non-biological indicators

    Open AccessKaren A Díaz, Liseth Pérez et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2017References: 8

    This paleolimnological study used ostracodes assemblages, element concentrations, organic and inorganic carbon content, organic C:N ratios, and stable isotope values in valves of the ostracodes Cytheridella ilosvayi as paleoindicators and is the first such investigation from a mid-elevation site in southern México. We provide a ~7600-year (9540–1970 BP) environmental history from karst Lake Ocotalito (920 m a.s.l.), which lies in the Lacandon For…

  • Middle to late Holocene relative sea level rise, climate variability and environmental change along the Colombian Caribbean coast

    Open AccessMaria I Velez, Jesús Escobar et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2014Cited by: 2References: 8

    We analyzed diatoms, lithology, and stable isotopes in a sediment core from the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta lagoon to reveal the history of late Holocene relative sea level rise and the ontogeny of the lagoon on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. At ~5300 cal. yr BP, the area was characterized by shallow, freshwater ponds that were prone to seasonal flooding. From ~4250 to ~2060 cal. yr BP, these ponds became brackish as relative sea level began …

  • Georeferencing a Cold Case Victim With Lead, Strontium, Carbon, and Oxygen Isotopes

    Open AccessGeorge Kamenov, George D Kamenov et al.ARTICLEAnnals of Anthropological Practice2014References: 10

    Two men walking across a bridge along highway I-75 found a young woman's body floating in the water below. This 1971 case has since become known as the "Little Miss Panasofkee" case. It is still an open homicide, for which neither the victim nor the perpetrator have been identified. Throughout the United States, thousands of similar cases remain open. The medicolegal communities work on these cases, as the years pass, applying new scientific meth…

  • Environmental and cultural changes in highland Guatemala inferred from Lake Amatitlán sediments

    Open AccessMaria I Velez, Jason H Curtis et al.ARTICLEGeoarchaeology2011Cited by: 10References: 6

    We inferred the late Holocene environmental history of the Guatemala highlands from multiple lines of evidence in a sediment core from Lake Amatitlán. Inferred environmental changes are generally synchronous with archaeologically documented highland Maya cultural shifts. Population increases in the Middle Preclassic, Early Classic, and Late Postclassic are associated with deforestation and soil erosion. Land abandonment in the Late Preclassic, La…

  • Climate drying and associated forest decline in the lowlands of northern Guatemala during the late Holocene

    Open AccessA Mueller, Andreas D Mueller et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research2009

    Palynological studies document forest disappearance during the late Holocene in the tropical Maya lowlands of northern Guatemala. The question remains as to whether this vegetation change was driven exclusively by anthropogenic deforestation, as previously suggested, or whether it was partly attributable to climate changes. We report multiple palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment proxies (pollen, geochemical, sedimentological) from sediment cores c…

  • Deglaciation and Holocene climate change in the western Peruvian Andes

    Open AccessChengyu Weng, Mark B Bush et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research2006

    Pollen, charcoal, magnetic susceptibility, and bulk density data provide the first paleoecological record spanning the last 33,000 years from the western cordillera of the Peruvian Andes. Sparse super-puna vegetation existed before 30,000 cal yr B.P. around Lake Compuerta (3950 m elevation), prior to a sedimentary hiatus that lasted until c. 16,200 cal yr B.P. When sedimentation resumed, a glacial foreland or super-puna flora is represented in wh…

  • Climate change on the Yucatan Peninsula during the Little Ice Age

    Open AccessDavid A Hodell, Mark Brenner et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research2005

    We studied a 5.1-m sediment core from Aguada X'caamal (20° 36.6′N, 89° 42.9′W), a small sinkhole lake in northwest Yucatan, Mexico. Between 1400 and 1500 A.D., oxygen isotope ratios of ostracod and gastropod carbonate increased by an average of 2.2‰ and the benthic foraminifer Ammonia beccarii parkinsoniana appeared in the sediment profile, indicating a hydrologic change that included increased lake water salinity. Pollen from a core in nearby Ce…

  • Terminal Classic drought in the northern Maya lowlands inferred from multiple sediment cores in Lake Chichancanab (Mexico)

    Open AccessDavid A Hodell, Mark Brenner et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Science Reviews2005

  • A 4000-Year Lacustrine Record of Environmental Change in the Southern Maya Lowlands, Petén, Guatemala

    Open AccessMichael F Rosenmeier, David A Hodell et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research2002

    A 4000-yr sediment core record from Lake Salpetén, Guatemala, provides evidence for Maya-induced forest clearance and consequent soil erosion between ∼1700 cal yr B.C. and 850 cal yr A.D. Radiocarbon ages of wood, seeds, and charcoal support an age-depth model with average errors of ±110 cal yr. Relatively low carbonate δ 18 O values between 1300 and 400 cal yr B.C. coincide with pollen evidence for forest loss, consistent with increased surface …

  • Paleolimnology of the Maya Lowlands

    Open AccessMark Brenner, Michael F Rosenmeier et al.ARTICLEAncient Mesoamerica2002Cited by: 17

    Since the late 1950s, scientists have used sediment cores from lakes on the Yucatan Peninsula to explore the complex interactions among climate, environment, and ancient Maya culture. Early paleolimnological studies generally assumed that late Holocene climate was invariable. Consequently, paleolimnologically inferred environmental changes that occurred during the past 3,000 years or so—for example, forest decline and soil erosion—were attributed…

  • Solar Forcing of Drought Frequency in the Maya Lowlands

    Open AccessDavid A Hodell, Mark Brenner et al.ARTICLEScience2001

    We analyzed lake-sediment cores from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, to reconstruct the climate history of the region over the past 2600 years. Time series analysis of sediment proxies, which are sensitive to the changing ratio of evaporation to precipitation (oxygen isotopes and gypsum precipitation), reveal a recurrent pattern of drought with a dominant periodicity of 208 years. This cycle is similar to the documented 206-year period in records …

  • A 10,300 14 C yr Record of Climate and Vegetation Change from Haiti

    Open AccessAntonia Higuera-Gundy, Mark Brenner et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research1999

    Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation dynamics in the American tropics are inferred largely from pollen in continental lake sediments. Maritime influences may have moderated climate and vegetation changes on Caribbean islands. Stable isotope (δ 18 O) study of a 7.6-m core from Lake Miragoane, Haiti, provided a high-resolution record of changing evaporation/precipitation (E/P) since ∼10,300 14 C yr B.P. The Miragoane pollen record documents climate …

  • Paleoclimate of Southwestern China for the Past 50,000 yr Inferred from Lake Sediment Records

    Open AccessDavid A Hodell, Mark Brenner et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research1999

    Long sediment cores (12.5 and 13.5 m) from two lakes in Yunnan Province were used to infer the paleoclimate of southwest China over the past 50,000 yr. During the Holocene and marine isotope stage (MIS 3), bio-induced carbonate precipitation and organic matter (OM) production was high, suggesting warm temperatures and high primary productivity. In contrast, sediment inorganic carbon (IC) and organic carbon (OC) concentrations were low in last gla…

  • Climate change in the Lake Valencia Basin, Venezuela, ~12600 yr BP to present

    Open AccessJason H Curtis, Mark Brenner et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene1999Cited by: 5References: 3

    We present a palaeoclimate record for northern South America, extending from the latest Pleistocene (~12600 14 C yr BP) to present. Climate reconstruction for the Valencia Basin, Venezuela, was based on sediment geochemistry and δ 18 O records from ostracod and gastropod shells in a 568 cm sediment core. Sediment chronology was established by AMS 14 C dating of terrestrial wood fragments. From ~12600 to ~10000 14 C yr BP the Valencia basin was dr…

  • Climate Variation and the Rise and Fall of an Andean Civilization

    Open AccessMichael W Binford, Alan L Kolata et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research1997

    Paleolimnological and archaeological records that span 3500 years from Lake Titicaca and the surrounding Bolivian–Peruvian altiplano demonstrate that the emergence of agriculture (ca. 1500 B.C.) and the collapse of the Tiwanaku civilization (ca. A.D. 1100) coincided with periods of abrupt, profound climate change. The timing and magnitude of climate changes are inferred from stratigraphic evidence of lake-level variation recorded in 14 C-dated la…

  • Climate Variability on the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) during the Past 3500 Years, and Implications for Maya Cultural Evolution

    Open AccessJason H Curtis, David A Hodell et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research1996

    Climate variability on the Yucatan Peninsula during the past 3500 yrs is reconstructed from the measurement of δ 18 O in monospecific ostracods and gastropods in a 6.3-m sediment core from Lake Punta Laguna, Mexico. This late Holocene record is divided into three periods based on changes in mean δ 18 O values. From ∼3310 to ∼1785 14 C yr B.P. (Period I), low mean δ 18 O values indicate relatively wet conditions (i.e., low evaporation to precipita…

  • A Holocene vegetation history from lowland Guatemala

    Open AccessGerald A Islebe, Henry Hooghiemstra et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene1996Cited by: 23References: 3

    A 5.45-m core from Lake Peten-Itza, lowland Guatemala, contains a near-complete record of Holo cene sedimentation. The age-depth relationship for the core is based on AMS 14 C dating of terrestrial wood fragments and provides a reliable chronology in this karst region where hard-water lake error has typically confounded sediment geochronology. In the basal part of the sequence, pollen of the Moraceae-Urticaceae group dominate, indicating the pres…