Zooarchaeological Habitat Analysis Of Ancient Maya Landscape Changes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18977643 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kitty F Emery (0000-0002-4031-1968, Florida Museum of Natural History, corresponding author), Erin Kennedy Thornton (0000-0003-0522-1294, University of Florida) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 154-178 |
| Publication date | 2008-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Ethnobiology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0278-0771 • E-ISSN: 2162-4496 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2993/0278-0771-28.2.154 |
| OpenAlex | W2104343606 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 15 |
| References cited | 66 |
Consensus has not yet been reached regarding the role of human-caused environmental change in the history of Classic Maya civilization. On one side of the debate, researchers argue that growing populations and agricultural expansion resulted in environmental over-exploitation that contributed to societal collapse. Researchers on the other side of the debate propose more gradual environmental change resulting from intentional and sustainable landscape management practices. In this study, we use zooarchaeological data from 23 archaeological sites in 11 inland drainage systems to evaluate the hypothesis of reduction of forest cover due to anthropogenic activities across the temporal and spatial span of the ancient Maya world. Habitat fidelity statistics derived from zooarchaeological data are presented as a proxy for the abundance of various habitat types across the landscape. The results of this analysis do not support a model of extensive land clearance and instead suggest considerable chronological and regional stability in the presence of animals from both mature and secondary forest habitats. Despite relative stability, some chronological variation in land cover was observed, but the variation does not fit expected patterns of increased forest disturbance during periods of greatest population expansion. These findings indicate a complex relationship between the ancient Maya and the forested landscape
Archaeology · Biology · Geography · Habitat · Land cover · Land use · Landscape ecology · Maya · Population · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Ecology
Classic Period collapse of the Central Maya Lowlands
Paleozoology and Paleoenvironments
Origins of the Maya Forest Garden
The zooarchaeology of exclusion and expropriation
In Search of the Ancient Maya Foods. A Paleoethnobotany Study From a Non-elite Context in Sihó, Yucatán
Chapter 10. Intensification does not require modification
Modelling Resilience
Agriculture in the Ancient Maya Lowlands (Part 1)
Current methods and theory in quantitative zooarchaeology
Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century
How Maya Archaeologists Discovered the 99% Through the Study of Settlement Patterns
The Green Deer
Swidden Counts
Taking the high ground
Differential animal use within three Late Classic Maya states
Animal use by the Cozumel Maya
The Feral Forests of the Eastern Petén
Quantitative zooarchaeology
A 4000-Year Lacustrine Record of Environmental Change in the Southern Maya Lowlands, Petén, Guatemala
Mayan Urbanism
Climate and the Collapse of Maya Civilization
Habitat destruction and the extinction debt
Possible role of climate in the collapse of Classic Maya civilization
Impacts of the ancient Maya on soils and soil erosion in the central Maya Lowlands
Quantification of soil erosion rates related to ancient Maya deforestation
The Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization
Environments of the Maya Collapse
Scale and Intensity in Classic Period Maya Agriculture
Prehispanic Agrosystems and Adaptive Regions in the Maya Lowlands
“Garden hunting” in the American tropics
Maya environmental successes and failures in the Yucatan Peninsula
A Holocene vegetation history from lowland Guatemala
Isotopic Analysis of Ancient Deer Bone
Archaeofaunal Relative Abundance, Sample Size, and Statistical Methods
Human-Environment Interactions in a Tropical Watershed
Human-Environment Interactions in a Tropical Watershed
Caracol, Belize
Mexico and Central America
An Ancient Maya Dam in the Cayo District, Belize
Methodological Issues Concerning Screen Size Recovery Rates and Their Effects on Archaeofaunal Interpretations
Arising from the Bajos
Pollen Evidence for Climatic Variability and Cultural Disturbance in the Maya Lowlands
The prehistoric agricultural landscape of the central Maya lowlands
Economic Variation of Ancient Maya Residential Settlement in the Upper Belize River Area
Comparison of 1/8′′- and 1/4′′-Mesh Recovery of Controlled Samples of Small-to-Medium-Sized Mammals
Itza Maya Tropical Agro-Forestry [and Comments and Replies]
The jolly green giant in tenth century Yucatan, or fact and fancy in classic Maya agriculture
Ancient Maya Agricultural Terracing in the Upper Belize River Area
Paleolimnology of the Maya Lowlands
The Paleoecology and Ancient Settlement of the Petexbatun Region, Guatemala
Climate Change and Deforestation
Animal resource manipulation in ritual and domestic contexts at Postclassic Maya communities
An Ancient Maya Reservoir and Dam at Tamarindito, El Peten, Guatemala
Soil Erosion, Slope Management, and Ancient Terracing in the Maya Lowlands
A Classic Maya House-Lot Drainage System in Northwestern Belize
The noble beast
Temple mountains, sacred lakes, and fertile fields
On the Maya Collapse
Garden Game
| Unique citing works | 15 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,88 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2025 (17) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 15 |