Late Holocene climatic variability and site sensitivity in the Maya lowlands of northern Belize
by
Ann Breen
Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK
Coauthors: Sarah Metcalfe, Malcolm Murray, Peter Furley (Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK)

Palaeolimnological records from the limestone Yucatan peninsula have been key in supporting the idea that the Maya 'collapse' of around AD 850 coincided with a period of severe drought. Here we present results from two basins in northern Belize which give rather different pictures of events over this period.

The New River Lagoon is a large, freshwater system which flows into the sea near Corozal. The Maya site of Lamanai lies on its western bank and remained occupied throughout the period of the 'collapse'. Honey Camp lagoon is much smaller and today has no surface outlet. There is evidence for two Maya settlements: one occupied in the late classic/early postclassic and another, on islands in the lagoon, dating from AD 1100.

A number of cores were collected from both lagoons and have been analysed using a range of proxies (e.g. d18O, d13C, diatoms). Dating control has been provided by 14C and 210Pb. The records show a clear transition from a dry glacial into a moist mid-Holocene. The late Holocene saw the onset of drier conditions. Cores taken close to the Lamanai site show clear evidence of human impact which can be associated with major periods of building activity. While change is recorded in a number of proxies, the oxygen isotope signal remains remarkably stable over the key period from 1,240 to 870 BP. Honey Camp lagoon shows much more variability, particularly over the last 2000 years. From ca. 1200 BP there is a clear change to drier conditions. There is a major positive excursion in d18O prior to 764 14C yr BP which may coincide with the severe late Holocene drought recorded elsewhere. Here, climate change appears to be associated with changes in settlement.

These two examples indicate that any linking of climatic and cultural change has to take local conditions into account.

Date received: April 30, 2002