Over the last two decades, archaeologists have documented the widespread ancient Maya practice of collecting cave formations (speleothems) from ritually important caves and transporting them to their settlements. Little is known about their specific uses within settlements, but it is hypothesized that these objects convey a degree of sanctity from...
This dissertation presents the results of three studies that assessed climate variability on short and long timescales in western United States. The growth of carbonate formations in caves (speleothems) is used to infer the timing and amplitude of past climate variability. We first assess the controls on speleothem growth for...