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Palaeolimnological evidence of late-Holocene settlement and abandonment in the Mirador Basin, Peten, Guatemala

Holocene
By: , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607080522

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Abstract

Pollen, loss on ignition and magnetic susceptibility analyses provide a high-resolution palaeoenvironmental record from Lago Puerto Arturo, Peten, Guatemala. The presence of Zea pollen ~2650 BC provides a latest date for the arrival of maize agriculture to the region. The following 3600 years are marked by significant opening of the forest and episodic pulses of erosion. During the early Preclassic, around 1450 BC, all proxies indicate an abrupt increase in human activity, coincident with archaeological evidence of early settlement. Three discrete periods of decreased human activity are indicated by cessations of landscape disturbance. Such decreased human activity likely reflects periodic local population decline. These events coincide with times of cultural transition in the Maya lowlands and correspond to the terminal phases of the middle Preclassic, late Preclassic and late Classic periods. There is no evidence for human activity in the area following the late Classic abandonment.

Suggested Citation

Wahl, D., Byrne, R., Schreiner, T., and Hansen, R., 2007, Palaeolimnological evidence of late-Holocene settlement and abandonment in the Mirador Basin, Peten, Guatemala: Holocene, v. 17, no. 6, p. 813-820, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607080522.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Palaeolimnological evidence of late-Holocene settlement and abandonment in the Mirador Basin, Peten, Guatemala
Series title Holocene
DOI 10.1177/0959683607080522
Volume 17
Issue 6
Publication Date September 01, 2007
Year Published 2007
Language English
Publisher Sage Publications
Description 8 p.
First page 813
Last page 820
Country Guatemala
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