This volume represents the concerted efforts of a group of Maya archaeologists to employ a different approach to their archaeological data that is consistent with an effort called IHOPE: Integrated History and Future of People on Earth. IHOPE is a global network of scientists and researchers that seeks to use a wide range of data to examine how changes in the Earth's systems of the past have been correlated with changes in the coupled human-biophysical environment (Costanza et al. 2007). “The specific objectives for IHOPE are to identify slow and rapidly moving features of complex social-ecological systems, on local to continental spatial scales, which induce resilience, stress, or collapse in linked systems of humans and nature. These objectives will be reached by exploring innovative ways of conducting inter and trans-disciplinary science, including theory, case studies, and integrated modeling” (Costanza et al. 2012:1). The integration of these data, a large portion of which are derived from archaeology, is seen as an important contribution to the accurate and applicable information base for addressing both short- and long-term planning issues facing modern populations.

Arlen F. Chase is a Mesoamerican archaeologist and is faculty member in the anthropology department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Previously, he served as the Departmental Chair at the University of Central Florida, noted for his work on exploring traces of Mayan civilization using lidar. Vernon L. Scarborough is the author of The Resilience and Vulnerability of Ancient Landscapes: Transforming Maya Archaeology through IHOPE, published by Wiley.