You are here:
Molecular genetic and geochemical assays reveal severe contamination of drinking water reservoirs at the ancient Maya city of Tikal
Citation:
Lentz, D., T. Hamilton, N. Dunning, V. Scarborough, Todd P. Luxton, A. Vonderheide, E. Tepe, C. Perfetta, J. Brunemann, L. Grazioso, F. Valdez, K. Tankersley, AND A. Weiss. Molecular genetic and geochemical assays reveal severe contamination of drinking water reservoirs at the ancient Maya city of Tikal. Scientific Reports. Nature Publishing Group, London, Uk, 10:10316, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67044-z
Impact/Purpose:
Archaeological investigations offer insights into the impacts of long term human behavior patterns and activities. Careful examination of these data sets can lead to a better understanding of the impacts of resource management, land use practices, and sustainable environmental interactions.
Description:
Understanding civilizations of the past and how they emerge and eventually falter is a primary research focus of archaeological investigations because these provocative data sets offer critical insights into long-term human behavior patterns, especially in regard to land use practices and sustainable environmental interactions. The ancient Maya serve as an intriguing example of this research focus, yet the details of their spectacular emergence in a tropical forest environment followed by their eventual demise have remained enigmatic. Tikal, one of the foremost of the ancient Maya cities, plays a central role in this discussion because of its sharp population decline followed by abandonment during the late 9th century CE. Our results, based on geochemical and molecular genetic assays on sediments from four of the main reservoirs, reveal that two of the largest reservoirs at Tikal, essential for the survival of the city during the dry seasons, were contaminated with high levels of mercury, phosphate and cyanobacteria known to produce deadly toxins.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Molecular genetic and geochemical assays reveal severe contamination of drinking water reservoirs at the ancient Maya city of Tikal
Free access through PubMed Central