Off The Record
Scientists Uncover Eerie Truth Behind The Disappearance Of The Ancient Mayan Civilization
The Mayans have long been a subject of fascination because of their agricultural accomplishments, hieroglyphic writing, and their antiquated calendar, which in 2012 famously foretold the end of the world.
The Maya reached their peak population and established prosperous towns with palaces and temples about the year 250 A.D.
However, nearly all of the great Maya-civilized towns had been abandoned by the end of the period, about A.D. 900.
Where did they go, then?
Before we get ahead of ourselves, the Mayans did not entirely disappear since they are still in existence today.
As Lisa Lucero, professor of anthropology and medieval studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, explained: “It was the Maya political system that collapsed, not [their] society.”
“The over 7 million Maya living today in Central America and beyond attest to this fact.”
NASA had previously suggested that extended droughts were the cause of the collapse of the Maya city-states.
“Less rainfall likely impacted canoe trade since water levels noticeably drop each dry season — so less rain meant less canoe travel,” Lucero added.
Some Mayans did, however, survive this catastrophe.
Jared Diamond, a historian and scientific writer, stated that the drought was only the beginning in his book Collapse.
The Mayans’ own environmental disaster was the real reason for their disappearance; perhaps this is a problem that is all too familiar in the current climate?
To construct their monuments, the Mayans felled hundreds to thousands of trees; 20 burnt trees were needed for every metre of material.
According to the research’s computer simulations, the land’s capacity to absorb solar radiation was diminished as a result of this widespread deforestation.
Over the course of a century, the temperature rose and there was 5–15% less rain because there was less water that could evaporate, which drove society to its breaking point.
The Mayans would eventually have had to leave their lowland home in search of food as a result of the failed crops and lack of commerce for prosperity.
According to the researchers, societal unrest, conflicts, and illness would have made this worse.
However, the Mexican cities of Tabasco, Yucatan, Campeche, Chiapas, and Quintana Roo still retain elements of their Mayan culture.
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