The Postclassic period of Mayan civilization (800-1500 AD) was characterized by significant environmental and social pressures, including prolonged drought and a shift from centralized power to smaller, competitive polities. A new excavation at an archaeological site shows that despite these challenges, Postclassic Maya communities not only survived, but thrived.
The excavation was conducted by a team of archaeologists and geologists at the Birds of Paradise (BOP) field complex on the Bravo River floodplain in northwest Belize. It is the culmination of 20 years of field research in the lowland Maya region, providing evidence that the Maya settled these wetlands after nearby inland urban centers were abandoned.
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“Our most exciting discovery is the remarkable preservation of wooden architecture in tropical wetlands,” said Lara Sánchez-Morales, an assistant professor of anthropology at New York University. The research was published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Sanchez-Morales and her colleagues, including Timothy Beach, a professor of geography and environmental studies at the University of Texas at Austin, located the settlement using a variety of methods, including lidar mapping. Subsequent excavations revealed the remains of raised structures of earth, stone and wood, as well as animal bones and household artifacts.
“Together these reveal a highly adaptable community with a variety of tools, foods and building materials,” Beach said. “This shows us that Mayan communities could modify their habitat and persist in extreme climates.”
The paper’s authors note that the Maya’s response to the socio-environmental pressures of their time offers lessons for our own time, writing that these communities’ transition to riverine subsistence supports current calls to protect wetlands in the face of climate change and unsustainable land use.
