essay
Climatic settings and prehistoric social complexity: the Central American isthmus
formation of complex society in southeastern mesoamerica • Boca Raton • Published In 1991 • Pages: 237-275
By: Messenger, Lewis C..
Abstract
In this paper, Messenger takes a general systems approach to culture change in the Mayan region and attempts to map climatic data onto cultural sequences to determine if there is a possible relationship between the two. He examines the data for different areas, including the northeast and central (El Cajón) areas of Honduras, the Chalchuappa and Quelepa regions in El Salvador, and the Greater Nicoya archeological subarea of Costa Rica and Nicaragua He covers the time span from 1400 B.C. up to Spanish contact. He does find in some instances a correlation between warm and cool temperature oscillations and cultural transformation. He speculates that the onset of a global cooling period with decreased precipitation may have prompted a changeover from manioc to maize cultivation. He also surmises that complex societies may have been less able to adapt to climatic changes, contributing to a crisis of confidence, and their ultimate collapse.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2001
- Region
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub Region
- Maya Area
- Document Type
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ; 2000
- Field Date
- 1980-1987
- Coverage Date
- 3500-400 BP
- Coverage Place
- Central America
- Notes
- Lewis C. Messenger, Jr.
- Revised papers from the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Nov. 1987, and additional material
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 272-275)
- LCCN
- 91010478
- LCSH
- Mayas--Antiquities