what happened?
The Maya have been around for thousands of years, the earliest known Maya settlement dates back to around 2600BC. Then they ended around 900 A.D.
Many groups of people have performed human sacrifices as a way of
pleasing or appeasing their gods. The Maya were no different in this regard.
Inscribed stones bear witness to the Maya practice of human sacrifice. But
the only problem is, is that the mayans did a little too much. So over time the
mayan population slowly went down due to the amount of sacrifices.
The disaster theory
So, early mayan researchers believe that some sort of catostrophic event could have happend. Some things that they think could of happened would be a volcano, an earthquake, or just a sudden diesease. These things could of wiped out the mayans very quickly. BUt in todays world it wouldn't. The mayans civilization took 200 years to finally fall. Some cities died while others thrived. Most people tried to escape from the disasters but they came by surprise.
The Maya have been around for thousands of years, the earliest known Maya settlement
dates back to around 2600BC. Then they ended around 900 A.D. Here could be one
of the many reasons why the mayans fell. This volcano represents how it could of
destroyed villages and killed many people while the mayans were in power.
the famine theory
Preclassic Maya (1000 B.C. - 300 A.D.) practiced basic subsistence agriculture: on small family plots. They planted mostly corn, beans and squash. On the coast they did some basic fishing. As the Maya civilization advanced, the cities grew, their population growing much larger than could be fed by local production. But later on researchers believed that they could have had a period of time in which they had a drought and the crops wouldnt grow. This means that all of the people could not have been fed. Therefore, some people turned into canibals.
One of the big cities like Tikal would look like this on a normal
day. Tikal is so populated because it is the capital of the Mayan civilization. The ancient Mayan city of Tikal, in modern-day Guatemala, flourished between roughly 600 B.C. and A.D. 900. Starting out as a modest series of hamlets, it would become a great Mayan city-state with more than two dozen major pyramids.
day. Tikal is so populated because it is the capital of the Mayan civilization. The ancient Mayan city of Tikal, in modern-day Guatemala, flourished between roughly 600 B.C. and A.D. 900. Starting out as a modest series of hamlets, it would become a great Mayan city-state with more than two dozen major pyramids.
the warfare theory
The Maya were once thought to have been a peaceful, pacific culture. This image has been shattered by the historical record: new discoveries and newly deciphered stonecarvings clearly indicate that the Maya warred frequently and viciously among themselves. City-states such as Dos Pilas, Tikal, Copán and Quirigua went to war with one another quite often: Dos Pilas was invaded and destroyed in 760 A.D. Did they war with one another enough to cause the collapse of their civilization? It’s quit possible: war brings with it economic disaster as well as collateral damage that could have caused a domino effect in the Maya cities.
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One of the big cities like Tikal would look like this on a normal
day. Tikal is so populated because it is the capital of the Mayan civilization.
The ancient Mayan city of Tikal, in modern-day Guatemala, flourished between roughly 600 B.C. and A.D. 900. Starting out as a modest series of hamlets, it would become a great Mayan city-state with more than two dozen major pyramids.
The best-documented and possibly the most important
conflict was the struggle between Calakmul and Tikal in the fifth and sixth
centuries. These two powerful city-states were each dominant politically,
militarily and economically in their regions, but were also relatively close to
one another. They began warring, with vassal cities like Dos Pilas and Caracol
changing hands as the power of each respective city waxed and waned. In 562 A.D. Calakmul and/or Caracol defeated the mighty city of Tikal, which fell into a brief decline before regaining its former glory. Some cities were hit so hard that they never recovered, like Dos Pilas in 760 A.D. and Aguateca sometime around 790 A.D.
One of the big cities like Tikal would look like this on a normal
day. Tikal is so populated because it is the capital of the Mayan civilization.
The ancient Mayan city of Tikal, in modern-day Guatemala, flourished between roughly 600 B.C. and A.D. 900. Starting out as a modest series of hamlets, it would become a great Mayan city-state with more than two dozen major pyramids.
The best-documented and possibly the most important
conflict was the struggle between Calakmul and Tikal in the fifth and sixth
centuries. These two powerful city-states were each dominant politically,
militarily and economically in their regions, but were also relatively close to
one another. They began warring, with vassal cities like Dos Pilas and Caracol
changing hands as the power of each respective city waxed and waned. In 562 A.D. Calakmul and/or Caracol defeated the mighty city of Tikal, which fell into a brief decline before regaining its former glory. Some cities were hit so hard that they never recovered, like Dos Pilas in 760 A.D. and Aguateca sometime around 790 A.D.
Environmental change theory
Climate change may also have done in the ancient Maya. As the
Maya were dependent on the most basic agriculture and a handful of crops, supplemented by hunting and fishing, they were extremely vulnerable to droughts, floods, or any change in the conditions that affected their food supply. Some researchers have identified some climatic change that occurred around that time: for example, the coastal water levels rose towards the end of the Classic period. As coastal villages flooded, people would have moved to the large inland cities, placing strain upon their resources while at the same time losing food from farms and fishing.
Maya were dependent on the most basic agriculture and a handful of crops, supplemented by hunting and fishing, they were extremely vulnerable to droughts, floods, or any change in the conditions that affected their food supply. Some researchers have identified some climatic change that occurred around that time: for example, the coastal water levels rose towards the end of the Classic period. As coastal villages flooded, people would have moved to the large inland cities, placing strain upon their resources while at the same time losing food from farms and fishing.
civil strife theory
As the populations in the large cities boomed, great strain was placed on the working class to produce food, build temples, clear rainforest, mine obsidian and jade and do other labor intensive tasks. At the same time, food was becoming more and more scarce. The idea that a hungry, overworked working class might overthrow the ruling elite is not too farfetched, especially if warfare between city-states was as endemic as researchers believe.
so what happend..?
Experts dont have enough solid information to tell what exactly happend to the mayans. Most likely the mayans could of fell because of a mix of all the theorys. Currently archioligists are going to sites to help find out what happened to the mayans. The question seems to be which factors were most important and if they were linked somehow. For example, did a famine lead to starvation, which in turn led
to civil strife and warring upon neighbors? Archioligists use chemical analysis of soil samples. This indicates that a certain area at the archaeological site in Yucatan was used for a food market, as had been long suspected. Mayan glyphs, long a mystery to researchers, have mostly been tried to convert into another language.
to civil strife and warring upon neighbors? Archioligists use chemical analysis of soil samples. This indicates that a certain area at the archaeological site in Yucatan was used for a food market, as had been long suspected. Mayan glyphs, long a mystery to researchers, have mostly been tried to convert into another language.