Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41770914›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2026

Maya Postclassic persistence in the Birds of Paradise Wetland Fields, Belize.

Lara M Sánchez-Morales, Timothy P Beach, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Samantha Krause, Duncan Cook, Byron Smith, David Lentz, Carlos Quiroz, William Pratt, Lori Phillips and 3 more

Abstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

13 authors.

Lara M Sánchez-MoralesDepartment of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY 10012.ORCID 0009-0008-7509-8977
Timothy P BeachDepartment of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712.ORCID 0000-0003-0097-7973
Sheryl Luzzadder-BeachDepartment of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712.ORCID 0000-0002-9184-2427
Samantha KrauseDepartment of Geography and Environmental Studies, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666.ORCID 0000-0002-6587-3166
Duncan CookSchool of Arts and Humanities, Australian Catholic University, Banyo, QLD 4014, Australia.
Byron SmithDepartment of Anthropology, California State Polytechnic University Humboldt, Arcata, CA 95521.
David LentzDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221.ORCID 0000-0003-0516-7654
Carlos QuirozBelize Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology, Belize City, Belize.
William PrattDepartment of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712.ORCID 0000-0002-7747-5376
Lori PhillipsAcacia Heritage Consulting, Austin, TX 78731.
Thomas GuderjanDepartment of Social Sciences, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX 75799.
Colleen HanrattyDepartment of Social Sciences, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX 75799.ORCID 0009-0002-1530-9329
Fred ValdezDepartment of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712.

Funding

Australian Research Council DP180101986National Geographic Society (NGS) 7506-03National Geographic Society (NGS) 7861-05National Geographic Society (NGS) 8391-08NSF (NSF) 0924501NSF (NSF) 0924510NSF (NSF) 1114947NSF (NSF) 1550204
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Rapid decay of organic artifacts obscures our view of ancient tropical settlements. We present a study of architecture and artifact assemblages from an ancient settlement excavated at the Birds of Paradise (BOP) fields, the largest lidar and field-validated ancient Maya wetland field complex. The site's unique setting preserved architectural wood and provides exceptional evidence of Maya Terminal Classic (CE 800 to 1000) to Postclassic (CE 1000 to 1500) persistence within tropical wetlands through periods of large-scale societal and climate change. A new Bayesian chronological model tightens the occupation history for the broader BOP wetlands based on 14 new radiocarbon dates of wood and charcoal from this settlement. These wetlands and their preserved ancient wood face imminent destruction through modern land uses.

Indexed as

ArchaeologyBirdsWetlandsAnimalsBayes TheoremBelizeHistory, AncientHumansWoodancient Mayaancient wood postssocioenvironmental resilienceTerminal Classic to Postclassic persistencewetland fields

Identifiers

PMID41770914
PMCPMC12974463

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.