Why The Maya Disappeared When They Did

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 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.

The Maya weren't an empire, but they were a civilization. One known for their extraordinary achievements, such as the Mayan calendar. There wasn't a single factor alone, that caused the end of the Maya civilizations. There are many factors that could have caused the fall of the Mayas. One theory is that increased warfare caused the end of the "Classic Maya Age". Another theory was that the region suffered from a long dry period, & drought. This would have caused a shortage of food & water. And finally, the demands of the Mayan kings, could have caused the people in the city-states to rebell.

The drought was brought on by changing climate in the mid-west; the drought during the Dust

That made it a lot harder for the farmers to grow things. The wind blew all the remaining topsoil away. There were four droughts. Each drought came one after the other.

According to Kimberly Amadeo, he clearly states in his article that,“The lack of rain killed the crops that kept the soil in place. ”This quote shows that the rain helped the soil stay in place while the crops were growing, and since there is no rain the soil is everywhere and the crops are all gone. As Kimberly explained later on, “In 1934 The third drought created the hottest year on record until 2014. There were 29 consecutive days with temperatures above 100 degrees. Almost 80 percent of the country recorded bone-dry conditions.

The Mayan had a very interesting History. The Mayan civilization was in Mesoamerica. The Mayan population in its height was around 2 million people. The post classic period took place from 915 until 1524. Also, most Mayan cities were abandoned in the post classic period. The battle of Utatlan marked the end of the Mayan civilization in 1524.

Most reasons to the Mayans disappearance are very likely but not enough proof is found for it to be narrowed down to one answer. I looked at many different reasonings for the Mayans collapse and took them all together giving my opinion and like many historians try and form which is arguably the most likely answer. The Mayans lived in southern Mexico/Northern central America and was thus likely to drought as most historians expect. Some evidence was found leading to this answer but at the same time, the Mayans had a really advanced water system and more evidence needs to be found. Another theory suggested was the reconfiguration of the landscape may have led to soil degradation considering that the Mayans cut down many trees and did deconstruct nature to form their cities. Others still believe that it was not nature but Mayans themselves that defeated them, with social and economic problems. The Mayans were an advanced colony and seemed to be doing very well that their unexpected disappearance is puzzling. A lot of controversy is being made simply because it arguably seems unlikely for an advanced colony to just suddenly go missing, leaving hardly any evidence behind as to how and

A big climate change in the Mayan civilization is drought and hurricanes and its effects on the Mayans. Jared Diamond states “rainfall in the Maya homeland is unpredictably variable between years; some recent years have had three or four times more rain than other years. Also, the timing of rainfall within the year is somewhat unpredictable, so it can easily happen that farmers plant their crops in anticipation of rain and then the rains do not come when expected.” (Diamond 254). This proves how the Mayans did not have a sure season that rainfall would come.

Many people relied on government assistance and relief programs to survive the drought. A high majority of people still couldn’t make a living in drought areas, even with governmental assistance. Millions of people migrated from drought areas and headed west for work. There, they

At the end of the first millennium A.D., the lowland Maya empires disintegrated after 750 years of prominence (Handout 1). Warfare, the growing population, resource depletion, and climatic fluctuations contributed to the downfall of the Classical lowland empires (Schele and Freidel 321). 500 years later, the scattered Maya that remained would again face a crisis as the Spanish conquistadores invaded Yucatan, conquered, and began to rule. Though the Spanish conquest of the Maya brought a new religion and diseases that decimated the population, the collapse of Classical Maya civilization was the greatest crisis in Maya history. It marked the end of the great Classical empires whose knowledge and artistic achievements surpassed all

The Mayans; one of the first peoples to ever live, grow, and thrive on and around the land of modern day Guatemala, the highlands and lowlands of Mesoamerica. Whether it be their numerous inventions, their culture, their social structure, or their way of life, the Mayans constantly seemed to be wiser than most empires around them. The Mayan advances in mathematics, communication, astronomy, architecture, and farming were superior for their time and continue to influence modern day living. The Mayans were pretty much centered in a singular geographical “hub”, almost having complete control over modern day Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Yucatan Peninsula.

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.

This is seen as a problem because before the drought it was hard to feed people. Than again with constant heat hydration was always an issue also. With the hard conditions ones lifestyle has to organized enough to survive.