Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521;
Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Jan 4;119(1). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2115657118.
Paleoclimatic evidence indicating a series of droughts in the Yucatan Peninsula during the Terminal Classic period suggests that climate change may have contributed to the disruption or collapse of Classic Maya polities. Although climate change cannot fully account for the multifaceted, political turmoil of the period, it is clear that droughts of strong magnitude could have limited food availability, potentially causing famine, migration, and societal decline. Maize was undoubtedly an important staple food of the ancient Maya, but a complete analysis of other food resources that would have been available during drought remains unresolved. Here, we assess drought resistance of all 497 indigenous food plant species documented in ethnographic, ethnobotanical, and botanical studies as having been used by the lowland Maya and classify the availability of these plant species and their edible components under various drought scenarios. Our analysis indicates availability of 83% of food plant species in short-term drought, but this percentage drops to 22% of food plant species available in moderate drought up to 1 y. During extreme drought, lasting several years, our analysis indicates availability of 11% of food plant species. Our results demonstrate a greater diversity of food sources beyond maize that would have been available to the Maya during climate disruption of the Terminal Classic period than has been previously acknowledged. While drought would have necessitated shifts in dietary patterns, the range of physiological drought responses for the available food plants would have allowed a continuing food supply under all but the most dire conditions.
古气候证据表明，在经典末期尤卡坦半岛发生了一系列干旱，这表明气候变化可能导致了古典玛雅文明的瓦解或崩溃。尽管气候变化不能完全解释这一时期复杂的政治动荡，但很明显，强烈程度的干旱可能会限制食物的供应，导致饥荒、移民和社会衰退。玉米无疑是古代玛雅人的重要主食，但对于在干旱期间可用的其他食物资源的全面分析仍未解决。在这里，我们评估了在低地玛雅人使用的所有 497 种记录在民族志、民族植物学和植物学研究中的本地食用植物物种的抗旱性，并根据各种干旱情况对这些植物物种及其可食用成分的可用性进行分类。我们的分析表明，在短期干旱情况下，有 83%的食用植物物种可用，但在中度干旱情况下，这一比例下降到 22%，在持续数年的极端干旱情况下，我们的分析表明只有 11%的食用植物物种可用。我们的研究结果表明，在经典末期的气候动荡期间，玛雅人可用的食物来源比以前认为的要多样化，除了最恶劣的情况外，这些食物来源可以持续供应。虽然干旱将需要改变饮食模式，但可用食物植物的生理干旱响应范围将允许在所有情况下除了最恶劣的条件下继续供应食物。
