ABSTRACT
Mesoamerican archaeologists have long been aware that several major sociopolitical shifts occur red in multiple regions of the culture area, beginning in the middle Classic period (ad 400-700) and culminating in the Late/Terminal Classic (ad 800-900/1000). These include the collapse of the Teotihuacán state in Central Mexico, as well as the subsequent fall of various political entities in the southern Maya Lowlands. The Late to Terminal Classic period in Mesoamerica correlates with social, political, and economic disruption that may have been provoked, worsened, or at the very least influenced by a number of environmental factors. Indeed, increasingly sophisticated paleoclimatic studies carried out in areas such as Central Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula indicate that this period was characterized by important fluctuations in annual precipitation that led to massive drought events (Bernal et al. 2011; Haug et al. 2003; Hodell et al. 1995, 2000, 2001; Stahle et al. 2011). These data raise a number of questions regarding the spatial scale at which these climatic phenomena occurred and the specific mechanisms by which they could have provoked social upheaval and contributed to political breakdowns.
