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A Holocene vegetation history from lowland Guatemala

Hugo de Vries Laboratorium, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Henry Hooghiemstra

Hugo de Vries Laboratorium, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Mark Brenner

Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida, 7922 NW 71 st Street, Gainesville, Florida, 32653, USA

Jason H. Curtis

Department of Geology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA

David A. Hodell

Department of Geology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA

A 5.45-m core from Lake Peten-Itza, lowland Guatemala, contains a near-complete record of Holo cene sedimentation. The age-depth relationship for the core is based on AMS ¹⁴C dating of terrestrial wood fragments and provides a reliable chronology in this karst region where hard-water lake error has typically confounded sediment geochronology. In the basal part of the sequence, pollen of the Moraceae-Urticaceae group dominate, indicating the presence of widespread tropical forest during the early Holocene (c. 8600-5600 yr BP). Relative abundance of pollen of high forest taxa declined beginning as early as 5600 yr BP, indicating climatic drying or perhaps initial land clearance. Deforestation by prehistoric Mayan inhabitants is documented clearly in the pollen record beginning about 2000 yr BP (106 cal BC-122 cal AD, 95.4%, 2 sigmas) by the appearance of disturbance taxa (e.g. Ambrosia and Poaceae) and presence of Zea. Forest regrowth occurred following the Classic Maya collapse, c. AD 900, as reflected by a relative increase in Moraceae-Urticaceae pollen.

Key Words: Pollen analysis • vegetation history • Guatemala • wood radiocarbon dating • Holocene • Maya culture • AMS dating.

The Holocene, Vol. 6, No. 3, 265-271 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/095968369600600302


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