The Obsidian and Ceramics of the Puuc Region: Chronology, Lithic Procurement, and Production at Xkipche, Yucatan, Mexico

The Classic period Puuc region presents Maya archaeologists with significant challenges. One challenge to interpretation lies in the fact that, despite a form of agro-urban settlement that proved highly resilient in the Maya Lowlands overall, Puuc cities flourished relatively briefly, beginning on a grand scale in the sixth century C.E. and with a halt in major building construction and depopulation in the tenth century C.E. This chapter focuses on analyzing how the Puuc economy depended on sustained economic growth and ultimately suffered its consequences for long-term agro-ecological sustainability. We suggest that an important clue to understanding urban collapse in the Puuc is found by looking at transitions in the net energy gain of the agricultural economy over the longterm. The boom-and-crash character of Puuc economic history follows a series of opportunities, challenges, and problem-solving with varying efficacy for long-and short-term sustainability and resilience. These factors include the highly fertile soils as the main resource; water scarcity as a limiting factor; effective water management as a key solution; and costly social complexity a driving force of agro-economic growth. The diminishing returns on energy invested were consequences of a dependency on economic growth as the supply of the primary resource decreased. The elite segments of polities were unable to adjust to decreasing returns, which led to economic decline and, eventually, organizational collapse. The boom-and-crash character of Puuc settlement suggests a political economy that had locked into dependency on constant growth and failed to adapt to diminishing returns. [Puuc Maya, political economy, agro-ecological sustainability, growth, decline]

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“…By the end of the tenth century C.E., if not before, cities throughout the Puuc area were depopulated (Braswell et al. ; Carmean et al. ).…”

Section: The Puuc Maya Boom‐and‐crash Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

4 Growth and Decline in Classic Maya Puuc Political Economies

Isendahl

Dunning

Sabloff

2014

Archaeological Papers of the American

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“…These few residual dwellers were devoted to performing sporadic acts of religious veneration during the drought that affected Uxmal in C.E. 950 (Braswell et al :141; Carmean et al :432, 445; Dunning and Beach :384; Dunning and Kowalski :67; Kowalski :51; Kowalski :93; Kowalski et al ).…”

Section: Uxmalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recent publication, Braswell et al () constructed a chronology for Xkipché using exclusively obsidian data. Braswell and colleagues (:140) chronology dates the end of Xkipché and Uxmal to the first half of the tenth century, but, they commented on a problem in dating by pointing out that Vallo's () ceramic sequence for Xkipché (and particularly the Terminal Classic Xkipché VI phase [C.E. ca.…”

Section: Uxmalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1000–1100]) “is at least 100 years too late” (Braswell et al :141). Although Braswell and colleagues () name Cehpech and Sotuta ceramic forms as being associated with Xkipché VI phase, they comment that a modal analysis of ceramics associated with this phase lacks “the uncommon yet temporally diagnostic Sotuta types” (140–141). Braswell and colleagues () seem to have missed distinctive features that reveal Sotuta types influence on Uxmal and Puuc Terminal Classic ceramics.…”

Section: Uxmalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…950 (Kowalski :48–51). This date also continues to be used to date the end of Classic period civilization and complexity in the Puuc region (Braswell et al ; Carmean et al ; Dunning and Beach ; Dunning and Kowalski ; Kowalski , , ; Reindel ; Walters and Kowalski ). However, in contrast to this earlier date, a review of the architectural, ceramic, and epigraphic evidence reported from the Puuc region suggests that the collapse of Uxmal occurred sometime in the eleventh century.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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5 Ancient Climate and Archaeology: Uxmal, Chichén Itzá, and Their Collapse at the End of the Terminal Classic Period

Cobos

Alanís

Moll

2014

Archaeological Papers of the American

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Archaeological data and evidence of climatic change are used to suggest that the collapse of Uxmal and Chichén Itzá in the Northern Maya Lowlands was the result of long and recurrent drought episodes in the eleventh century. Although environmental evidence indicates that drought episodes might have begun in the ninth century, they gradually increased in frequency through the eleventh century and generated devastating effects on the late Terminal Classic period civilization. Evidence of recurrent drought episodes in the Northern lowlands is reported from the Holtún Cenote at Chichén Itzá. This cenote (sinkhole) shows two moments of the climatic change that affected Northern Yucatán. First, it corroborates the existence of extreme dry environmental conditions during the Terminal Classic period dated between the ninth and eleventh centuries. Second, after C.E. 1100, the water level rose inside the Holtún Cenote when environmental conditions turned wetter at the beginning of the Postclassic period. [northern Yucatán, climatic change, drought episodes, wetter environment, Maya collapse.]

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Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century: A Review

et al. 2015

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Over the past thirty years, geoarchaeology has moved from the fringe to mainstream status within Mesoamerican archaeological investigations. This review focuses on works published since the year 2000. Five themes are identified as central to recent studies: (1) the correlation of environmental change and cultural history; (2) anthropogenic environmental impacts; (3) ancient land cover, land use, and diet; (4) archaeological prospection; and (5) provenance studies. These themes are often interwoven in the application of complex systems approaches that allow scientists to more accurately model the intricacies of ancient human-environment interactions. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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The Obsidian and Ceramics of the Puuc Region: Chronology, Lithic Procurement, and Production at Xkipche, Yucatan, Mexico

Cited by 18 publications

References 21 publications

4 Growth and Decline in Classic Maya Puuc Political Economies

4 Growth and Decline in Classic Maya Puuc Political Economies

5 Ancient Climate and Archaeology: Uxmal, Chichén Itzá, and Their Collapse at the End of the Terminal Classic Period

Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century: A Review

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