Collapse and diverse responses in the Gulf lowlands, Mexico

Between AD 800-1000, the south-central and southern Veracruz lowlands experienced a process of collapse with depopulation that we document with data from systematic archaeological surveys and paleoenvironmental studies. The subsequent record in the Postclassic period indicates varied responses, predominantly settlement reorganization involving retrenchment to fewer settlements or highland immigration. In the latter case, we argue that collapse with depopulation has an important link to migration, providing lightly occupied or vacant lands that afford opportunities for outside migrants. The Spanish conquest and ensuing Colonial period serve as a general comparative analogy for some processes we discuss in prehispanic times for the Gulf lowlands. Unlike the Colonial period, the causes of the prehispanic Gulf collapse are not well studied, but multiple factors likely contributed. Drought and socioeconomic domino effects could explain the extensive spatial scale of collapse that we document. The dramatic, complex collapse in the southern Maya lowlands during a similar interval has dominated Mesoamerican discussions of collapse, but a wider spatial perspective indicates not only a more extensive interregional phenomenon, but also a greater diversity of responses.