Tony Huynh
4/20/2014
ANTH 160
The Rise and Fall of The Maya Civilization
Imagine if one of today’s greatest civilizations suddenly vanished off the face of the earth without a trace. There have been countless fallen civilizations in the past that have shaped up our world into what it is today, but of all civilizations, the Maya civilization sits on top as one of the most intriguing and mysterious one of all. Other ancient civilizations that collapsed in the past have left many clues to answer why they did collapsed, however, the Mayas almost seemingly vanished without trace as to why and how they did. There are many speculations on what exactly happened to the ancient Mayas but none have been exactly proven. After centuries of research, there is finally enough evidence to believe in one logical explanation. The Maya civilization collapsed because they experienced one of the biggest droughts in all of history.
Before we get into the collapse of the Maya, it is important to understand exactly who the Maya were and why they are such an important civilization in history. The Maya civilization is believed to have begun some thousands of years Before Christ; presumably around 2000 BC which is where some of the oldest Mayan history date back. Maya territory geographically extended throughout Central America mainly between Chichén Itza and Guatemala. By 500 BC, the Maya population was dramatically increasing and small communities were turning into the first major Maya cities in Central America. Maya was unlike usual civilizations that were ran by one empire, but instead, Maya was made up of many neighboring kingdoms all with their own separate kings. Having many kingdoms would lead to wars but there was never really a single city tha...
... middle of paper ...
...al: The Rise And Fall Of Classic Maya Rulers – By Lisa J. Lucero." Historian 69.4 (2007): 786-787. Academic Search Premier.
Masson, Marilyn A. "Maya Collapse Cycles." Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 109.45 (2012): 18237-18238. Academic Search Premier.
Pringle, Heather, and Richard A. Kerr. "Did Pulses Of Climate Change Drive The Rise And Fall Of The Maya?." Science 338.6108 (2012): 730-731. Academic Search Premier.
Pyburn, K. Anne, and Traci Ardren. "The Fall Of The Ancient Maya: Solving The Mystery Of The Maya Collapse." Latin American Antiquity 16.2 (2005): 225-226. Academic Search Premier.
Schwarz, Kevin R. "Through The Rearview Mirror: Rethinking The Classic Maya Collapse In The Light Of Postclassic Rural Social Transformation." Journal Of Social Archaeology 13.2 (2013): 242-265. Academic Search Premier.
The Mayan empire was doing well until they started burning down trees. The reason why they fell was not because of other empires, but technically on themselves. In the article “Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse? A New Study Points to Deforestation and Climate Change” by Joseph Stromberg has many points on how they fell because of this. In the article it states that, “As a result, the rapid deforestation exacerbated an already severe drought—in the simulation, deforestation reduced precipitation by five to 15 percent and was responsible for 60 percent of the total drying that occurred over the course of a century as the Mayan civilization collapsed” (Stromberg). As the Mayan’s kept burning down the trees the Mayan empire started to get lower and lower. When the precipitation went down, that wasn’t what made the Mayan empire fall
Shrouded in mythology and mystery, and frequently solely the focus of academic and archaeological exploration, the ancient Maya remain relatively misunderstood by contemporary culture-one needs to look no further than the endless array of alarmist 2012-centric texts that topped last year's best-seller lists, or commercialized salves and potions touting antiquated Mayan cures, to experience the general misconceptions about the remarkable civilization first
The low land setting of the Maya Civilization was varied, depended upon a rain cycle, not always reliable. The land mass occupies a significant part of modern Mexico, comprising of the eastern parts, spreading to all northwestern high kinds. The weather varied due to?
Maya societies were clearly divided into two classes, the elite and the commoners. This distinction was usually made by who had more power and wealth, a person was usually born into both. The Elite had control over the politics and religion in each city (Sharer, “Social Stratification”). The vast majority of people were considered commoners, but how do you tell which ones are commoners, and which are Elites? Architecture gives us the biggest clue to who had this power and wealth, and who did not. “Monument building and elaborate, vaulted tomb chambers indicate the presence of social ranking and ruling elites. It is likely that ancestor worship was acquiring more weight as the rulers became ever more responsible for acting as intermediaries with the gods and ancestors for the benefit of their people” (Fash). One of the biggest archaeological insights into Maya lifestyles is art...
When the Spanish began to arrive in Mexico and in Central America in the early 15th century, one of the many civilizations they found was the Maya. The Maya, building upon the Olmec culture, were located in present-day Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, southern Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Even though they had many similarities, the Maya were separated by language differences. Because of that they were organized into city-states. Since there wasn’t a single city-state powerful enough to impose a political structure, the period from 200 A.D. to the arrival of the Spanish was characterized by the struggle of rival kingdoms for dominance.
A few examples of the most well known indigenous communities in Latin America are the Maya people and the Guaraní people. The term “Maya” includes many different sub-groups of which thirty different languages are spoken. The Ma...
Carlsen, Robert. The War for the Heart & Soul of a Highland Maya Town. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
Diamond, Jared M. (2005) "The Maya Collapses.” Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking, 157-77.
In the Central America, most notably the Yucatan Peninsula, are the Maya, a group of people whose polytheistic religion and advanced civilization once flourished (Houston, 43). The Maya reached their peak during the Classic Period from around CE 250 to the ninth century CE when the civilization fell and dispersed (Sharer, 1). Although much has been lost, the gods and goddesses and the religious practices of the Classic Maya give insight into their lives and reveal what was important to this society.
The Mayan civilization was located in southeastern Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula. One of the first American civilizations, it lasted from about 1000 B.C.-1542 A.D. Their civilization flourished during the Sixth Century. They built many temples and over forty cities. The Mayan population consisted of almost fifteen million people who were all living in one of the many cities. The Mayan people were extremely religious and believed in multiple gods which meant they were polytheistic. Their most commonly worshiped god was the Maize God, or god of corn, as corn was the most grown and most relied on crop. The Mayans grew all of their own food so they needed to have useful farming methods. The one they used most often was the slash and burn method, which involved cutting down trees and burning them to make the soil fertil which was necessary to grow crops. This method worked for many years, but soon started to backfire. The Mayans were ahead of their time, but that did not prevent their mysterious decline which occurred between the years 800 A.D.-900 A.D. Although it is not known exactly why the powerful empire fell, but there are various probable theories. The mysterious decline of the Mayans may have been caused by
The Dark Ages were a time of great loss in regards to the lack of any grand achievement being made in Europe. After the fall of Rome, it was as if European society paused, and resumed during the Renaissance. This was not true for the Mayans, however. While the Europeans were squandering trying to subsist through the fall of the Roman Empire, the Mayans were building great pyramids, making substantial discoveries in astronomy and mathematics, their culture was rich. The Maya stood out for its sophisticated culture and society, which is eventually overshadowed by Europe’s monumental resurgence during the Renaissance period. It’s salient that the Maya never had a time period in which their culture was lost, despite the mysterious abandonment of
Mark, Joshua J. "The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya." Ancient History Encyclopedia. TSOHOST, 7 July 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Thompson, john. The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization. 2 edition . Univ of Oklahoma, 1973. 335. Print.
Their source of power, however, was susceptible to fluctuations, especially in the water supply, a fact that accounts for the Maya abandoning royal centers by the ninth or tenth century.” Areas with little water or poor soil would have been very destructive for the Maya and their environment. Siltation in the soil would have led to failure of crops and the rest of the water supply, leading to starvation across the land. The article “The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization” states that “effects of a crop failure where the system of monoculture is the rule could be
.... The Maya may have worn down the land they used (Houston and Inomata 2009). There are, however, descendants of ancient Maya who are still occupying some areas today. Their way of life is almost the same as the ancient Maya but they lean more towards Christianity. They live in villages from two houses to 100 houses. The sites are nearly impossible to find because the Maya are dedicated to keeping it hidden (Gann and Thompson 1931). They Maya thrived for a long period of time before falling. They were strong in their religious beliefs, their love for agriculture, and their protection of territory.