Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40802777›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Classic Maya response to multiyear seasonal droughts in Northwest Yucatán, Mexico.

Daniel H James, Stacy A Carolin, Sebastian F M Breitenbach, Julie A Hoggarth, Fernanda Lases-Hernández, Erin A Endsley, Jason H Curtis, Christina D Gallup, Susan Milbrath, John Nicolson and 8 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Maya Postclassic persistence in the Birds of Paradise Wetland Fields, Belize.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Modeling the rise and demise of Classic Maya cities: Climate, conflict, and economies of scale.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Daniel H JamesGodwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0009-0007-1188-5683
Stacy A CarolinGodwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7181-2370
Sebastian F M BreitenbachDepartment of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9615-2065
Julie A HoggarthDepartment of Anthropology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8612-8846
Fernanda Lases-HernándezFacultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.ORCID 0000-0002-7310-2214
Erin A EndsleySwenson College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, USA.ORCID 0009-0008-3666-5158
Jason H CurtisDepartment of Geological Sciences and Land Use and Environmental Change Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0884-9941
Christina D GallupSwenson College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, USA.ORCID 0009-0009-0510-665X
Susan MilbrathFlorida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
John NicolsonGodwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0009-0000-9337-4674
James RolfeGodwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1991-115X
Ola KwiecienDepartment of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6018-9181
Christopher J OttleyDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1613-5551
Alexander A IvesonDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4189-3824
James U L BaldiniDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6810-0700
Mark BrennerDepartment of Geological Sciences and Land Use and Environmental Change Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Gideon M HendersonDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6279-7137
David A HodellGodwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-8537-1588

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

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.

Identifiers

PMID40802777
PMCPMC12346346

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Read underepoch 390

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.