An Archaeological Consideration of Long-Term Socioecological Dynamics on the Vaca Plateau, Belize

Gyles Iannone, Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase, Jaime Awe, Holley Moyes, George Brook, Jason Polk, James Webster, and James Conolly In recent years, a number of eminent scholars have urged archaeologists to focus more attention on the examination of long-term socioecological dynamics, particularly because they believe that such research will generate insights that will be crucial as contemporary society attempts to deal with issues such as declining resources, environmental degradation, and climate change (e.g., Costanza, Graumlich, and Steffen 2007b; Costanza et al. 2007; Dearing 2007; Diamond 2005; Hughes 2001; McAnany and Yoffee 2010b:8; McIntosh, Tainter, and McIntosh 2000b; Redman 1999; Rosen 2007; Sabloff 1998; Scheffer 2009:250; van der Leeuw and Redman 2002:597; Wright 2004; Young et al. 2007:449–50). According to John Dearing (2007:23), the ultimate goal of this research program is not to “predict the future, but [rather to] be able to identify, justify, and rank alternative futures for humanity to work toward.” Our contribution to this endeavor emanates from several multifaceted research programs focused on the Vaca Plateau of west-central Belize, where we are attempting to produce a long-term, fine-grained understanding of the emergence, florescence, and eventual decline of ancient Maya communities (A. Chase and D. Chase 2000, 2009a; Iannone and Awe 2010; Iannone et al. 2009; Moyes et al. 2009; Polk, van Beynen, and Reeder 2007; J. Webster et al. 2007). This chapter introduces the five key research foci that comprise our current data set, and provides a preliminary synthesis of our findings.