Abstract

New zooarchaeological methods are challenging models of relationships between society and the environment. My use of multiple zooarchaeological techniques in the analysis of animal bones from sites in Guatemala creates overlapping tests of environmental and social models of the Classic "Maya collapse". Combined environmental reconstructions and isotopic analysis of land use reveal strong environmental stability throughout the occupation of the Petexbatun region. This result is supported by a reconstruction of dietary patterns through ecological statistics. However, detailed analyses of worked bone from the region describe changing systems of bone tool production, and suggest that "collapse" patterns are not a direct result of declining environmental conditions or dietary health, but instead reflect the shifting economic and political conditions of the period.