James Daniel H, Carolin Stacy A, Breitenbach Sebastian F M, Hoggarth Julie A, Lases-Hernández Fernanda, Endsley Erin A, Curtis Jason H, Gallup Christina D, Milbrath Susan, Nicolson John, Rolfe James, Kwiecien Ola, Ottley Christopher J, Iveson Alexander A, Baldini James U L, Brenner Mark, Henderson Gideon M, Hodell David A
Godwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Sci Adv. 2025 Aug 15;11(33):eadw7661. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adw7661. Epub 2025 Aug 13.
Protracted droughts may have contributed to sociopolitical upheaval and depopulation of cultural centers in the Maya Lowlands during the Terminal Classic Period (~800 to 1000 CE). Regional proxy climate records suggest multiple prolonged drought episodes during the Terminal Classic. The relationship between drought and response of individual sites, however, remains unclear because of large chronological uncertainties and poor temporal resolution of existing local paleoclimate inferences. We present a subannual rainfall record from northwest Yucatán, Mexico, derived from an annually laminated stalagmite spanning 871 to 1021 CE, with ±6-year age uncertainty. Interpretation of the stalagmite oxygen isotope record is supported by modern rain and drip water monitoring. Precisely dated droughts enable detailed analyses of timing and dynamics of regional human-climate interactions. Despite uncertainties in archaeological chronologies, these results suggest political activity at major northern Maya sites, including Chichén Itzá and Uxmal, declined at different times relative to droughts, implying differential cultural responses to climate stress.
在古典时期晚期（约公元800年至1000年），长期干旱可能导致了玛雅低地文化中心的社会政治动荡和人口减少。区域代理气候记录表明，古典时期晚期出现了多次长期干旱事件。然而，由于年代学上的巨大不确定性以及现有当地古气候推断的时间分辨率较低，干旱与各个遗址的响应之间的关系仍不明确。我们展示了一份来自墨西哥尤卡坦半岛西北部的亚年度降雨记录，该记录来自一根跨越公元871年至1021年的每年形成纹层的石笋，年龄不确定性为±6年。石笋氧同位素记录的解释得到了现代降雨和滴水监测的支持。精确测定年代的干旱使得能够详细分析区域人类 - 气候相互作用的时间和动态。尽管考古年代学存在不确定性，但这些结果表明，包括奇琴伊察和乌斯马尔在内的玛雅北部主要遗址的政治活动在相对于干旱的不同时间有所下降，这意味着对气候压力的文化反应存在差异。
