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Fuel economy, woodland management and adaptation strategies in a Classic Maya city: applying anthracology to urban settings in high biodiversity tropical forests

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Abstract

Fuelling ancient Maya cities and industries has been identified for some time now as a critical concern for the pre-Columbian Maya, especially since there is evidence of dramatic deforestation throughout the Maya Lowlands during the Preclassic and Classic periods. This article aims to trace the domestic fuel economy at the lowland site of Naachtun, Guatemala, over 8 centuries (150–950 ce) in order to discover its role in the development of society. A significant anthracological (charcoal) dataset from household contexts is examined through multivariate analyses and sequencing. A detailed statement of taxon identification is provided. The results demonstrate that there were two systems of firewood use over time. The first consisted of the sustainable use of fragmented, diverse woodlands. The second, beginning around 750 ce, changed to a heavier reliance on multi-purpose, fruit-bearing trees and pine wood. We hypothesize that forest resource management was initially linked to an extensive, subsistence-based farming system in which mature forests and fallow land were constantly renewed, ensuring their sustainability. The change towards the use of woodlands enriched with useful plants (perhaps forest gardens or fruit tree plantations) was probably an adaptation strategy at the time of the Naachtun population peak. It suggests that fuel was now subject to a city allocation system that relied on new supply sources, some of which were potentially remote. Our results also indicate a substantially drier forest cover during at least the Early Classic period in the Naachtun region, corroborating regional palaeoclimate data. This demonstrates the reliability and usefulness of charcoal studies for palaeoecological reconstructions in the high biodiversity tropical forests of the Maya Lowlands.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Instituto de Antropología e Historia (IDAEH, Institute of Anthropology and History of Guatemala) for giving permission for fieldwork, exportation of samples and laboratory analysis. All members of the Naachtun Archaeological Project actively participated in the field anthracological sampling and are greatly thanked for it. In particular, this study could not have been possible without the support of Lilian Garrido, Carlos Morales-Aguilar and Divina Perla-Barrera, who have successively taken care of the administrative procedures related to the export of samples from Guatemala. We are particularly grateful to Josefina Barajas-Morales and Marie-Claude Saad for their help and advices regarding tropical taxon identification. Finally, we would like to express our sincere thanks to Marie-Charlotte Arnauld, Eva Lemonnier, Shanti Morell-Hart, Louise Purdue, and two reviewers for their comments on this study which helped to improve the manuscript and opened interesting perspectives towards future research.

Funding

This study was funded by the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and by the French Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). It also received the financial support of the L’Oreal-UNESCO Foundation as part of the For Women in Science programme in France (2015). The Naachtun Archaeological Project (2010–2018, directed by P. Nondédéo and L. Garrido) is part of the Centre d’études mexicaines et centraméricaines (CEMCA-Guatemala, Centre of Mexican and Central-American studies). It is supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the CNRS, the Pacunam Foundation, the Perenco Company, the Simone et Cino del Duca Foundation and the LabEx DynamiTe (ANR-11-LABX-0046) as part of the “Investissements d’Avenir” programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, CNRS, UMR 8096 Archéologie des Amériques, 21 Allée de l’Université, 92023, Nanterre, France

    Lydie Dussol, Dominique Michelet & Philippe Nondédéo

  2. University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, CNRS, UMR 7041 Archéologie et Science de l’Antiquité, 21 Allée de l’Université, 92023, Nanterre, France

    Michelle Elliott

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  1. Lydie Dussol
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Dussol, L., Elliott, M., Michelet, D. et al. Fuel economy, woodland management and adaptation strategies in a Classic Maya city: applying anthracology to urban settings in high biodiversity tropical forests. Veget Hist Archaeobot 30, 175–192 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-020-00776-0

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