Drought-Induced Civil Conflict Among the Ancient Maya

Kennett, Douglas J., Masson, Marilyn, Lope, Carlos Peraza, Serafin, Stanley, George, Richard J., Spencer, Tom C., Hoggarth, Julie A., Culleton, Brendan J., Harper, Thomas K., Prufer, Keith M., Milbrath, Susan, Russell, Bradley W., González, Eunice Uc, McCool, Weston C., Aquino, Valorie V., Paris, Elizabeth H., Curtis, Jason H., Marwan, Norbert, Zhang, Mingua, Asmerom, Yemane, Polyak, Victor J., Carolin, Stacy A., James, Daniel H., Mason, Andrew J., Henderson, Gideon M., Brenner, Mark, Baldini, James U. L., Breitenbach, Sebastian and Hodell, David A. (2022) Drought-Induced Civil Conflict Among the Ancient Maya. Nature Communications, 13 (1). p. 3911. ISSN 2041-1723

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31522-x

Abstract

Abstract: The influence of climate change on civil conflict and societal instability in the premodern world is a subject of much debate, in part because of the limited temporal or disciplinary scope of case studies. We present a transdisciplinary case study that combines archeological, historical, and paleoclimate datasets to explore the dynamic, shifting relationships among climate change, civil conflict, and political collapse at Mayapan, the largest Postclassic Maya capital of the Yucatán Peninsula in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries CE. Multiple data sources indicate that civil conflict increased significantly and generalized linear modeling correlates strife in the city with drought conditions between 1400 and 1450 cal. CE. We argue that prolonged drought escalated rival factional tensions, but subsequent adaptations reveal regional-scale resiliency, ensuring that Maya political and economic structures endured until European contact in the early sixteenth century CE.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding information: financially supported by grants from Central Queensland University (S.S.; New Staff Research Grant), Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University (S.S.), and Sigma Xi (S.S.). Interdisciplinary research supported by the NSF (BCS-0940744, D.J.K) and general lab support for radiocarbon work supported by the NSF Archaeometry program (BCS-1460369, D.J.K. & B.J.K.), The Pennsylvania State University (PSU; D.J.K.), and the University of California, Santa Barbara D.J.K).
Uncontrolled Keywords: Acclimatization, Archaeology, Climate Change, Droughts
Subjects: F400 Forensic and Archaeological Science
F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences
Department: Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Geography and Environmental Sciences
Depositing User: Rachel Branson
Date Deposited: 27 Jul 2022 12:54
Last Modified: 27 Jul 2022 13:00
URI: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/49632

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