Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant:Times of Change: Classic to Postclassic in Champotón, Campeche

Suny At Albany, Albany NY

Investigators

Abstract

The ancient Maya polities of the southern Gulf Coast, in the modern Mexican states of Tabasco and Campeche, have played a pivotal role in many influential models of the Classic to Postclassic transition. These states were strategically positioned along the major maritime trade route linking the distant regions of Mesoamerica. During the Postclassic Period (AD 1000-1450), the movement of goods and ideas along this corridor facilitated an unprecedented level of pan-Mesoamerican economic integration. While most cities of the central Maya lowlands were abandoned at the end of the Classic Period (AD 250-750), polities in the Gulf Coast region rose to prominence within changing economic and political systems in the Postclassic Period. Dissertation research conducted by Jerald D. Ek, under the supervision of Dr. Marilyn A. Masson, will document the relationships between political, economic, and environmental factors in processes of collapse and regeneration at the coastal Maya city of Chakanputun. The ancient city of Chakanputun was located on the central Campeche coast, at the mouth of the Rio Champoton. The location at the intersection of the Gulf Coast trade route and the only navigable river into the Yucatan Peninsula provided opportunities for participation in interregional trade and exploitation of marine and riverine food resources. Preliminary research has revealed evidence for drastic changes in political organization and settlement ecology within the Rio Champoton basin, including the abandonment of large Classic Period centers located inland and a marked concentration of populations at the emergent coastal city of Chakanputun during the Postclassic Period. This project will evaluate the economic foundations of these demographic and political processes through multi-phase archaeological research incorporating regional reconnaissance, settlement survey, and household excavations. The results of this project will have anthropological relevance in understanding the relationship between political, economic, and climatic factors in long-term processes. Research across Mesoamerica has documented a pattern of increasing economic integration, expansion of long-distance trade, and internationalism in the Postclassic Period. This project will examine the results of these pan-Mesoamerican processes within the Rio Champoton basin. With a large body of recent research highlighting the role of environmental catastrophe in the Classic Maya collapse, the mechanisms through which peoples responded to changing sets of constraints and opportunities within the physical environment has emerged as a crucial field of study. The results of this analysis will also have important implications for modern land use and environmental policy. Current research suggests that the catalysts of the Classic Maya collapse include population growth, deforestation, and environmental degradation during a period of relatively warm, wet climatic conditions, with the collapse of the large cities of the Classic period triggered by extended drought and a shift to dryer, cooler climate. Today, we are seeing the same types of processes repeating in many parts of Southern Mexico and Central America, with rapid deforestation and population growth taking place during a period of warm, wet conditions. Understanding how the ancient populations of Champoton were impacted by and managed to adapt to changing political, economic and environmental conditions could contribute to the development of sustainable modern land-use practices.