The Fall Of The Classic Maya Society

​Many of the cultures that we have today have evolved from past events. Such as language it was something that became known throughout the years. Some of the languages that came from that were English, Spanish, German, and Latin to name a few. These languages were derived more past civilizations. One important civilization that is known for having great success is the Mayan civilization. The Mayan civilization is known for many things like they fully developed written language, art, architecture, math and some other factors. Historians have said that they don’t know an exact date of when this civilization rose up but they do mention that it flourished for about 2000 years. Although staring in 250 AD it is said that it was the start of their high point and it continued until the arrival of the Spanish in 1524. The Maya area covers southern Mexico and northwestern Central America. According to Sharer the area is divided into three regions: the Pacific coastal plain to the south, the highlands in the center, and the lowlands to the north. Even though these three regions were under the same civilization they all practiced different religious rituals. Religion plays a big role in every civilization. Some civilizations tend to praise more than one god and they always mention that what they have is thanks to their god. When they see things going wrong they often say that their god is punishing them because they did something that the god/s did not like. This tends to be the same

The Mayan Civilization collapsed because of Malnutrition. First, people were abandoned by erosion and debris. Mayan farmed an area for up to five years, then they planted nothing there for ten years. Since, their population grew bigger and bigger, they had to overfarmed the hill sides. Naturally, the erosion occurred in the area. Houses were abandoned, and some houses were completely buried by debris. Therefore, people left the area because of erosion and debris can be proved. Second, the land made less and less crops. As the Maya got bigger and bigger, the population also increased. In order to feed large population in valley, farmers decided to grow crops every year. However, even they grew crops every year, the population was too big, so

Ever since the collapse of the once powerful Maya civilization, people have been trying to find out what caused it. Authors of the article, "“Climate and the Collapse of Maya Civilization”", which include Gerald Haug, Detlef Günther, Larry Peterson, Daniel Sigman, Konrad Hughen, and Beat Aeschlimann propose a theory that the Mayans collapsed because of an extended dry period between 760 and 910 A.D.

The culture of the Mayans gradually uplifted, and the peak of their civilization appeared during the Classic Age of 250 to 900 CE. During this time, The Mayans created an abundance of art and amazing architecture that still inspire the architects of today. This civilization was on the road to greatness, but this greatness came to an end quickly. The Mayan city-states were in a constant feud and violence was constantly raging. Because of this, The Maya never became a single government unlike other major societies. Despite this, The Mayans achieved many remarkable accomplishments such as their calendar, architecture, marvelous trade system, and genius numerals that continue to be a template for the people of today.

The ancient Maya once occupied a vast geographic area in Central America. Their civilization inhabited an area that encompasses Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. "From the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization produced awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, highly accurate calendars, mathematics and hieroglyphics, and a complex social and political order" ("Collapse..." 1). Urban centers were important to the Maya during the Classic period; they offered the Mayans a central place to practice religion.

The collapse of the Mayan Empire is one of history’s greatest mysteries. It was one of the most advanced and developed civilizations of its time period, reining during the Pre-Classic period and into the Classic and Post-Classic Periods (2000 B.C. – 900 A.D.). The territory stretched from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, down to modern day El Salvador in Central America. Its achievements were monumental for the era, being the first empire communicating with the use of a written language having over 800 symbols and producing the first 365 day calendar. They maintained an in-depth understanding of astrological cycles that would assist in planning harvesting cycles and predicting solar eclipses. The Mayan’s

The Maya of Mesoamerica, along with the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru, made up the high civilizations of the American Indians at the time of the Spanish conquest. Both the Aztecs and the Incas were late civilizations, between 1300-1533 AD, but the Maya of the Yucatan and Guatemala exhibited a cultural continuity spanning more than 2,000 years, 1000 BC-AD 1542. Many aspects of this culture continue yet today. The Ancient Maya in their time had actually refined writing.

This lack of foresight into protecting their home led to their eventual downfall. Rising soil toxicity from their farming methods, deforestation, and malnutrition from a poor diet all contributed towards their decline. All of which led into a drought, which Diamond links to the rise and fall of civilizations based on the availability of water to the populace. When their population increased, they lost land they could grow on, leaving the Mayans desperate for what few resources they could

The Mayans were a unique civilization with the most sophistication in mesoamerica (1800 BC-250 AD). In this civilization, the major cities include Tikal and Chichen Itza, however independent city-states are run by, kings. Mayans had a polytheistic religion where they believed in afterlife. In addition, Mayans built temples, pyramids for sacrifices, and bloodletting. Yet, they were excellent astronomers. Here priests charted movements of planets, moon, and sun. Also, these distinctive people created calendars, developed a number system, and glyphic writing. Withal their economy was based on agriculture and trade. Nevertheless, what caused this great civilization to collapse? While analyzing the theories, I believe this civilization collapsed, due to: warfare, disease, famine, and disaster/ environmental change.

The mystery concerning the fundamental explanation for the collapse of the Mayan Civilization has been a major focus for researchers in the fields of anthropology and archeology for a considerable period of time. At the very core of this mystery of the Mayan collapse was the question of how could such a strong, stable civilization that had flourished for approximately twenty-seven hundred years disappear without a clear, rational explanation. As a result, researchers have put forth a large number of theories for the explanation of the collapse and subsequent decimation of the Mayan empire.

The early Mayan civilization had lowly beginnings. They rose to remarkable heights in a seemingly inhospitable land. As Maya scholar Arthur Demarest said “Such a civilization, had no business there.” The Mayans had to battle with torrential rain in the rainy season, and when the weather turned hot, it scorched the land and their water supplies would plummet. They were always faced with floods or drought. They were probably forced here due to overcrowding from other tribes. But nonetheless they began to conquer these threats as they learned advanced farming techniques to make the shallow earth fertile. They burned and cleared jungle to make room for their agriculture, particularly maize. They then began the process of crop rotation, long before anyone else. As the Mayan civilization began its steady uprising they began to redouble their efforts, they started composting, cultivating, they built irrigation systems and began to terrace the landscape to make farming more efficient and prevent erosion. They dammed rivers and flooded swamplands and marshes to create rich farmland. They instituted transport systems to move fertile silt and mud from lowlands to higher enclosed gardens and farms and created man made lakes and ponds that they used to fish and systems of corrals held wild game. They maximized their talents and squeezed out enough nourishment to support their population which had risen to several million people.

The Classic Maya was a time of great expansion in the Yucatan peninsula. Socially impactful art, massive architecture, and thriving complex societies. Across the swath of time that was the Classic Maya, there were great rulers that defined cities. Pakal in Palenque, Tahn Te ' K 'inich in Acqueteca, several kings in Tikal, and several other cities all possessed great leaders that created stability. The Terminal Classic period was when most all central power, across the Yucatan, was disrupted. There were cities that were totally abandoned, cities where people dwelled outside of but all activity within the city had halted, and a general loss of central power. While it can be puzzling to understand what created the "shift," or "collapse" from

The Mayan Civilization at its height was one of the greatest civilization to ever reign on the planet. Their advances in astronomy and mathematics well in advance has helped present civilizations to prosper. But one of the great questions is what happened to the Mayans? Why did they collapse? What caused them to collapse? It is a question that had gone unanswered for decades until some of the worlds great historians and scientist finally concluded to three reasons why the Mayan Civilization collapsed. The Mayans Collapse was fast and occurred due to Deforestation and Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Internal and Exterior Rivalry.

Many decades ago, northern Central America and southern Mexico cultures developed complex political and social ranks. Researchers today know this region as Mesoamerica, known for its rich soil, abundant amount of rainfall, and agriculture. (Judge & Langdon, 2012) The Mesoamericans, Aztec and Mayan tribes, developed into complex civilizations for multiple reasons. These societies were advanced and complex for their time in areas, such as architecture, agriculture, militarism, and education. Each had unique religion and political systems as well. The rise and fall of both were due to several factors.

The Mayans were a very ideological society. They had a very weak military, so they were unable to force taxes on the people. They had to enforce ideology by building temples, monuments and statues. When there was a king who was not liked, then they would not build temples to support him. The ruler would have no symbols of power, which meant no authority. The city of Copan had great monuments, which were rebuilt every twenty years. People were needed for the labor, which was often stopped if they were displeased with the ruler. Therefore evidence for a sudden halting of monument building gives clues to archeologists of the state of government, or society as a whole.