Newly excavated Maya wetland settlement shows the civilization's adaptation to changing climate

Past civilizations have been significantly affected by climate change, but how they adapted to new conditions centuries ago is less clear. In research newly published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of archaeologists and geographers describes a new excavation at the Birds of Paradise wetland field complex in northwestern Belize—one that provides insight into how the Maya civilization responded to both societal and environmental change from the years 800 to 1500.