One issue worthy of study is the suggestive evidence that drought was an important factor in the demographic decline of the Calakmul kingdom during the Terminal Classic. Despite ample proof of a significant Terminal Classic occupation in the epicenter of Calakmul, and evidence—in the form of carved monuments—for a late occupation at secondary sites within the kingdom, most rural sites were abandoned early in the period. We have recovered only trace quantities of Terminal Classic ceramics from our recent survey transects, and so far have identified only two C-shaped and no “Peten veneer” structures known to be diagnostic of the Terminal Classic and Postclassic periods (e. g., Bey et al. 1997; Orrego Corzo and Larios Villalta 1983; Tourtellot 1988b; D. Rice 1986; P. Rice 1987c; Tourtellot et al. 1992). Although our demographic analyses are still in their initial stages, we believe that the rural zone lost 90 percent of its population during the ninth century.
Why did occupation, albeit diminished, continue at Calakmul and certain secondary sites after much of the rural zone was abandoned? We suspect that the principal reason was access to water. Calakmul and many of the larger sites in the kingdom have elaborate reservoir systems and are built along the bajo margins. Our ethnographic investigations indicate that planting in artificially and naturally raised areas in the bajo is a viable strategy in years when the rainy season is too short to support agriculture in the uplands (Folan and Gallegos Osuna 1992). Reconnaissance and excavations in the El Laberinto bajo have discovered not only lithic extraction and reduction stations, but also house platforms and raised agricultural fields bounded by stone walls (Figure 9.2; Dominguez Carrasco 1992a). The ecotone of the bajo margin, when complemented by a functioning reservoir system, is therefore the best local environment for habitation during periods of drought. Calakmul and many of the secondary sites of the kingdom were the last places to be abandoned during the Terminal Classic because they were the most habitable.
World History
