Social and cultural consequences of a late Holocene eruption of Popocatépetl in central Mexico

Volcanic disasters often have been invoked as prime movers in the culture history of ancient civilizations. They have been used to explain large-scale migrations, the destruction of cities, famine, and demographic collapse. In this paper we explore the geological, archeological, and sociological records in order to provide insights into the complex nature of human responses to a major volcanic event of Popocatépetl in central Mexico that took place 2000 years ago. We suggest that the population implosion experienced by two emerging highland cities in the first century AD—Teotihuacan in the Basin of Mexico and Cholula in the Puebla Valley—was due to both the immediate consequences of the volcanic event and the disaster-driven acceleration of social processes already underway when the catastrophe struck. We conclude that a better understanding of the relationship between human populations and volcanic hazards and disasters permits a more realistic assessment of the social and cultural significance of eruptive phenomena in the prehispanic period.