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Lowland Maya radiocarbon dates and the classic Maya collapse

Nature volume 277, pages 269–274 (1979)Cite this article

Abstract

Three processes of the Late Classic Maya collapse, the demise of the stela cult, the breakdown of elite culture, and the reduction of the commoner population, are compared by frequency-distribution bar-graphs of dated monuments in the Southern Lowlands and radiocarbon dates from elite and commoner contexts. The demise of the stela cult and the breakdown of elite culture seem to have coincided. The commoner radiocarbon bar-graph does not necessarily indicate the occurrence of a major demographic catastrophe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Anthropology, Geography and Institute of Geophysics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024

    Raymond Sidrys & Rainer Berger

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  1. Raymond Sidrys
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  2. Rainer Berger
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Sidrys, R., Berger, R. Lowland Maya radiocarbon dates and the classic Maya collapse. Nature 277, 269–274 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/277269a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/277269a0

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