Transcript The collapse of the Mayas

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