The Lake Atitlan Basin of highland Guatemala boasted fertile soils and was rich in natural resources, making it an attractive area for permanent settlement. However, the region lacked a number of important items, such as salt, cotton, and obsidian, all of which had to be obtained through trade. Good agricultural land was also scarce in certain parts of the lake and the steep hillslopes were easily eroded, making it necessary for communities to maintain access to emergency supplies of corn. Lake Atitlan’s communities were therefore highly dependent on exchanges with neighboring groups who occupied contrasting ecological zones, especially those in the Pacific Coast. However, the Pacific piedmont was a corridor of interregional trade and a source of valuable goods such as cacao; factors which made it a focus of political contestation and instability. Additionally, the lower coast appears to have been vulnerable to episodes of drought, prompting periodic migrations to higher altitudes. All of these factors must have made it challenging for the communities of Lake Atitlan to maintain access to the resources they needed, and therefore to sustain their way of life. And while there is currently no evidence to suggest a collapse or abandonment of the lake, the majority of the existing data comes from a small number of sites concentrated near the southern shore and the lack of rural settlement data makes it impossible to assess the impact that broad scale political, economic, and environmental changes had on the general population of the lake and their internal organization. The Lake Atitlan Archaeological Project (PALA) set out to rectify this situation by generating systematic settlement and ceramic data for an important sub-region of the lake, namely the southwestern shore. The current dissertation combines the data generated by this project with data from previous investigations, to provide a more comprehensive synthesis of the cultural-historic development of the lake and to place this development in its broader Mesoamerican context. Drawing on resilience and world systems concepts, the two main questions that I set out to answer in this dissertation are: How did Lake Atitlan’s socio-cultural systems adapt to broad scale fluctuations in the Mesoamerican world system, and, did these adaptations succeed in producing a more resilient society?

Considering the changes the Lake Atitlan, Guatemala region has undergone in the last several years, ODIM (Organization for the Development of the Indigenous Maya) seeks to understand the needs of the San Juan La Laguna and San Pablo La Laguna communities, and to provide competent, culturally-aligned care that is affordable to the Indigenous Maya of this region. Using mixed-methods approaches that incorporate interviews, surveys, graphic anthropology, and evaluation methods, this study investigated (1) the formal and informal health care services (including those offered by ODIM) and how and why they are utilized by local Guatemalans, (2) Guatemalan perceptions and experiences of health, wellbeing, and illness to understand how they might influence health related behavior, and (3) community health care needs and how ODIM can fill those needs. These objectives served to inform key stakeholders of current gaps in healthcare services, provide feedback regarding the ODIM health services and programs, and provide insight into the current health needs in order to ameliorate the burden of disease and illness around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. This study produced a comprehensive community health profile, and it discusses the current state of health care, explains the local perspectives of health care, and gives direct feedback and recommendations to ODIM's community health programs.