This paper examines the archaeological data collected during the 2008 and 2009 seasons at the Maya settlement, Hun Tun, in northwestern Belize. Hun Tun was initially identified in 2008 where preliminary investigations have focused on survey, mapping and testing courtyard spaces. Architectural evidence and material culture will be discussed generally in terms of chronology and possible function. Ceramic analysis suggests a single occupation with a Late Classic hiatus. Analysis of field research will be limited to studies of settlement patterns, chronological sequencing of courtyard spaces and proposed function of limestone features. These initial field seasons have yielded information pertaining to socioeconomic status, sociopolitical interaction and potential hypotheses related to these topics. Future research at Hun Tun is presented with an emphasis on household archaeology. / text

Kollapsen av den klassiska Mayakulturen under sen 700- till sen 900-tal e.Kr. har förbluffat forskare ända sedan studier av Mayakulturen påbörjades på 1840-talet. Både arkeologer och antropologer som epigrafiker eller klimatforskare har arbetat med att lösa gåtan av hur ett kulturellt vidsträckt samhälle kunde kollapsa utan någon klar förklaring. Civilisationen som än idag talar till oss genom sina kolossala pyramider och tempel, inskriptioner och den vetenskapliga kunskapen som ansetts outförbara utan moderna instrument. Dock har inte kollapsen varit ett direkt fokus i Mayastudier sedan forskningen påbörjades. Det var inte förrän på 1960-talet som systematiska undersökningar utfördes för att hitta rimliga teorier till kollapsen. Ända sedan dess har hypoteser och teorier haglat in och forskarna idag hittar sig själva i en sjö av oförklarlig information. Kunskapen av Mayakulturen är enorm men det har inte hjälpt att hitta någon bestämd teori om kollapsen av klassiska Maya. Det finns forskare som fokuserar på stora katastrofala händelser såsom drastiska klimatförändringar, sjukdomar eller jordbävningar så svåra att återhämtning var omöjligt. Sedan finns den andra skaran av forskare som förkastar enskilda händelser och fokuserar mer på mångfaldiga katastrofer som kunnat utlösa ödesdigra mönster i samhället som till slut utmynnat i en kollaps. Trots oklarheter kring kollapsen har framsteg gjorts inom fältet. Många teorier har mycket tack vare avancerade metoder kunnat förkastas medan andra blivit mer debatterade. Vad som än Mayakulturen kan berätta för oss, står ändå kollapsen som den stora nöten att knäcka och ju längre forskningen av ämnet fortgår desto närmare kommer även forskare till svaret. Frågor dyker dock fortfarande upp om det är möjligt att lösa en av arkeologins stora gåtor.

Triple oxygen and hydrogen isotope analysis of the structurally-bound water in gypsum can provide a direct measure of past hydrologic variability. This thesis presents the development of the water extraction and isotopic measurement procedures, the calculation of the gypsum-water isotope fractionation factors, and the application of the method to constrain the palaeohydrologic conditions in two temporally and geographically disparate sites. Measurement of the isotopic composition of gypsum hydration water is used to examine the hydrological changes that occurred during the Terminal Classic Drought of the Maya lowlands (~800-1000 CE), coincident with the period when the Classic Maya Civilization of Mesoamerica collapsed. The data provide a complete and direct archive of hydrological conditions that have previously been limited to ice core records. Mean annual rainfall is shown to have decreased by between 41% and 54%, with intervals of up to 70%, compared to present-day conditions. This study has also shown for the first time that relative humidity was 2%-7% lower during the Terminal Classic Drought compared to today. The methodology is also applied to the massive gypsum deposits in the marginal and deep basins of the Mediterranean to interpret the chemical evolution of parent water bodies during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.97-5.3 Ma). By combining the measurement of gypsum hydration water with other traditional (e.g. strontium) and novel (e.g. calcium and barium) isotope tracers, the hydrological changes during the deposition of Primary Lower Gypsum units of the Sorbas Basin in southeastern Spain, the Upper Gypsum units of Sicily, and deep basin deposits have been constrained. The results indicate that all deposits experienced a significant freshwater contribution to the mother fluids from which they formed. It is proposed that obliquity-controlled sea level and eccentricity-modulated precession, superimposed on longer-term tectonic restriction of the Mediterranean-Atlantic exchange, together controlled the varying depositional environments during the formation of the Messinian Salt Giant. This thesis demonstrates that the analysis of gypsum hydration water is a powerful tool for palaeoclimate reconstruction. The methodology can be applied to gypsum (and other hydrated minerals) in a wide range of settings across geological space and time, providing a rich source of information about the environmental conditions under which they formed.