The collapse of the Mayas

By

Daniel Lund

Possible Reasons

• Constant Bosnia-like warfare

• Severe climate change, specifically drought

Drought Theory

• Decrease in rainfall between 800 and 1000AD, around the time of Mayan collapse

Problems with Drought Theory

• Many researchers shy away from attributing the collapse of any ancient civilization to climate change

• Margin of error is too great in judging the timeframe of a climatic change such as a drought

• Correlation of drought and Mayan downfall misleading- the drought could have happened at a different time all together

• Also, early Mayans had a history of beating dry climates by growing tolerant root crops

Mayan Question

• The Mayans not only had a history of beating dry weather with growing certain tolerant crops, but a history of agricultural skills and building technology far advanced beyond their years

• Evidence of their technology is in their ability to build great cities and monuments

• Then, why is there no evidence at even an attempt at irrigation systems to combat the supposed drought?

Mayan Warfare Epidemic

• The Mayans were plagued by war with outsiders, as well as civil wars between two major factions held together by fragile alliances of tribute payment and marriage

• Fragile alliances led to constant warfare• Evidence of many burned cities, villages, and mass burial grounds show

evidence of warfare epidemic• Also, evidence of defensive walls put up in a hurried fashion around certain

cities and sometimes areas as small as fields in the ninth century, around the time of collapse

• Possibly to combat mass invasions• This constant fighting with others, and themselves, would obviously create

confusion and political unrest at the VERY LEAST• Many were all ready dying in these wars, and Mayan leaders were no doubt

focused on these constant battles • Basically, these wars were no doubt the number one priority

Conclusion

• The collapse of the Mayan civilization remains a great mystery to this day

• There is no clear reason, however the evidence is too weak to attribute the downfall to climatic change

• The downfall of these people must be traced to the unrest and confusion caused by the constant warfare, which at the very least prevented them from organizing to deal with possible problems, even the supposed drought that their technology and knowledge was definitely equipped to handle

The end