@article{fdd0ab24b2824aabb91f8f0afe212eba,
title = "Correlating the ancient Maya and modern european calendars with high-precision AMS 14C dating",
abstract = "The reasons for the development and collapse of Maya civilization remain controversial and historical events carved on stone monuments throughout this region provide a remarkable source of data about the rise and fall of these complex polities. Use of these records depends on correlating the Maya and European calendars so that they can be compared with climate and environmental datasets. Correlation constants can vary up to 1000 years and remain controversial.Wereport a series of high-resolution AMS14C dates on a wooden lintel collected from the Classic Period city of Tikal bearing Maya calendar dates. The radiocarbon dates were calibrated using a Bayesian statistical model and indicate that the dates were carved on the lintel betweenAD 658-696. This strongly supports the Goodman-Mart?nez-Thompson (GMT) correlation and the hypothesis that climate change played an important role in the development and demise of this complex civilization.",
author = "Kennett, {Douglas J.} and Irka Hajdas and Culleton, {Brendan J.} and Soumaya Belmecheri and Simon Martin and Hector Neff and Jaime Awe and Graham, {Heather V.} and Freeman, {Katherine H.} and Lee Newsom and Lentz, {David L.} and Anselmetti, {Flavio S.} and Mark Robinson and Norbert Marwan and John Southon and Hodell, {David A.} and Haug, {Gerald H.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the Penn Museum for access to the wooden lintel sample from Tikal and the Belize Institute of Archaeology for logistical support in obtaining the modern M. zapota sample from Caracol. The Museum der Kulturen Basel and the Penn Museum kindly provided the photographs of Lintel 3 from Temple I in Fig. 1. Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (HSD-0827305 [Kennett], BCS-0940744 [Kennett], BCS-0917702 [Neff], BCS-0321361 [Neff]) and the German Science Foundation (DFG FOR1380 {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}HIMPAC{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} [Marwan]). We thank the members of the AMS group ETHZ for their support of 14C analysis and S. Brantley and M. Saffer (PSU-EESI, ICP-MS lab), C. Jones (UPenn Museum), C. Bronk Ramsey (RLAHA-ORAU), R. George (CSUF), and C. Ebert (PSU) for their assistance. A. Aveni, D. Webster, and J. Kennett provided valuable comments on this manuscript.",
year = "2013",
month = apr,
day = "11",
doi = "10.1038/srep01597",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "3",
journal = "Scientific Reports",
issn = "2045-2322",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
}