Journal article
Classic Maya response to multi-year seasonal droughts in northwest Yucatán, Mexico
- Abstract:
- Protracted droughts may have contributed to sociopolitical upheaval and depopulation of cultural centers in the Maya Lowlands during the Terminal Classic Period (~800 to 1000 CE). Regional proxy climate records suggest multiple prolonged drought episodes during the Terminal Classic. The relationship between drought and response of individual sites, however, remains unclear because of large chronological uncertainties and poor temporal resolution of existing local paleoclimate inferences. We present a subannual rainfall record from northwest Yucatán, Mexico, derived from an annually laminated stalagmite spanning 871 to 1021 CE, with ±6-year age uncertainty. Interpretation of the stalagmite oxygen isotope record is supported by modern rain and drip water monitoring. Precisely dated droughts enable detailed analyses of timing and dynamics of regional human-climate interactions. Despite uncertainties in archaeological chronologies, these results suggest political activity at major northern Maya sites, including Chichén Itzá and Uxmal, declined at different times relative to droughts, implying differential cultural responses to climate stress.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 1.2MB, Terms of use)
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(Supplementary materials, zip, 228.3KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1126/sciadv.adw7661
Authors
+ National Geographic Society
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/04bqh5m06
- Grant:
- 5917-97
- Programme:
- Committee for Research and Exploration Grant
+ Leverhulme Trust
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/012mzw131
- Grant:
- RPG-2019-228
+ University of Cambridge
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/013meh722
- Programme:
- Sedgwick Prize
- Publisher:
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Journal:
- Science Advances More from this journal
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 33
- Article number:
- eadw7661
- Publication date:
- 2025-08-13
- Acceptance date:
- 2025-06-06
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
2375-2548
- Language:
-
English
- Pubs id:
-
2247686
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2247686
- Deposit date:
-
2025-07-23
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- James et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2025
- Rights statement:
- © 2025 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY).
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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