Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2015, Environmental Studies (Voinovich)

This thesis is an analysis of land use patterns in the Copan Valley, Honduras. It is a comparative, GIS-based analysis of the archaeological/population site data of the ancient Copan Maya population (A.D. 250-1300) and the 1978 modern Copan Valley population. These two populations were compared to ascertain the resilience of the Valley's ecosystem over time. Time series data from the ancient Maya was combined with mean center and standard distances tests on both populations and these were overlain onto slope and aspect data to determine how both populations utilized similar landscapes. Results demonstrate that the ancient Mayan utilization of the valley was nonresilient, and unsustainable, while the 1978 population was also non resilient, and only currently sustainable due to outside markets.

Committee: AnnCorinne Freter-Abrams (Committee Chair); Elliot Abrams (Committee Member); Dorothy Sack (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Economics; Agriculture; Ancient Civilizations; Ancient History; Archaeology; Cultural Anthropology; Demography; Ecology; Environmental Philosophy; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Geographic Information Science; Latin American History; Latin American Studies; Sustainability