Human Ecology, Agricultural Intensification and Landscape Transformation at the Ancient Maya Polity of Uxbenká, Southern Belize

摘要

Identifying connections between land use, population change, and natural andhuman-induced environmental change in ancient societies provides insights into thechallenges we face today. This dissertation presents data from archaeological research atthe ancient Maya center of Uxbenká, Belize, integrating chronological,geomorphological, and settlement data within an ecological framework to developmethodological and theoretical tools to explore connections between social andenvironmental change or stability during the Preclassic and Classic Period (~1000 BC toAD 900). High-precision AMS 14C dates from Uxbenká were integrated with stratigraphicinformation within a Bayesian framework to generate a high-resolution chronology ofsociopolitical development and expansion in southern Belize. This chronology revises theprevious understanding of settlement and development of Classic Maya society at Uxbenkáand indicates specific areas of investigation to elucidate the Late and Terminal Classicperiods (AD 600-900) when the polity appears to disintegrate. A geoarchaeological recordof land use was developed and interpreted with respect to regional climatic and culturalhistories to track landscape transformations associated with human-environment interactions at Uxbenká. The first documented episode of landscape instability (i.e.,erosion) was associated with farmers colonizing the area. Later, landscape stability in thesite core parallels Classic Period urbanization (AD 300-900) when swidden agriculture waslikely restricted in the core. Another erosional event followed political disintegration asfarmers resumed cultivation in and around the abandoned city.Maize yields derived from contemporary Maya farms in the area were used toestimate the maximum population size of Uxbenká during its Classic Period peak. Themaximum sustainable population is estimated between 7500 and 13,000, including apotential population of ~525 elites in the core, assuming low levels of agriculturalintensification. This accords well with the lack of archaeological evidence for intensiveland management during the Classic Period (e.g., terraces). An ecological model developedusing maize productivity and other environmental/social datasets largely predicts thesettlement pattern surrounding Uxbenká. Settlements in marginal areas may be evidence ofelite intra-polity competition during the Late Preclassic Period (ca. AD 1-300), though it ispossible that marginal areas were settled early as garrisons to mediate travel into the sitecore.