Page 25 - Central America

t was subsequently occupied, like some of an expanding population requires consist- hunting of megafauna. Some scholars have

I the other centers, but new massive struc- ently more food production. Soil erosion recently theorized that an intense 200-year
tures were not built and the old temples did or drought would have greatly affected the drought led to the collapse of Maya civiliza-

not serve the same functions as they had in large settlements; but no conclusive evi- tion.

the past. What factors caused the demise dence has been found to determine a sud- N ewer research from 2011, with use of
of the Mayan empire remains a mystery. den, widespread catastrophe. high-resolution climate models and
Destruction from earthquakes is evident in new reconstructions of past landscapes,
some Mayan centers, but not all, and earth- W hatever happened to the Mayans was suggests that converting much of their for-
quakes are not believed to have leveled any an event of such magnitude that it

of the major centers. There is no evidence of caused a fracture in the long-standing prac- est land into cropland may have led to re-

mass burials that would indicate an epidem- tices and social order of the entire culture. duced evapotranspiration and thus rainfall,

ic, such as plague, small pox, or other infec- The great cities continued to be occupied magnifying natural drought. A study pub-

tious diseases that swept through Europe for decades after the hieroglyphics stopped lished in Science in 2012 found that modest

during the same time as the Mayan’s golden reporting triumphs, and then the majes- rainfall reductions, amounting to only 25 to

era and downfall. tic temples, stately pyramids, and massive 40% in annual rainfall, may have been the

T he great success of the Mayan cul- edifices were abandoned completely to the tipping point to the Maya collapse.
ture may be a plausible reason for surrounding jungle. There is evidence that
the Maya population exceeded the carrying

their downfall. As the population grew, the capacity of the environment including ex-

stress on agriculture became greater, for haustion of agricultural potential and over-