Comparing The Olmecs And The Mayans
Auste Treska
Mr. Beaudoin
2nd hour
10/9/14
The Olmecs and The Mayans What happened to two great societies in Mesoamerica? No one seems to know for sure. The Olmecs and the Mayans were two powerful civilizations that were becoming more and more powerful, but all of a sudden they both disappeared. Some archaeologists believe that the Olmecs might have suffered climate change, but only their culture disappeared, not their people. As for the Mayans, their disappearance is one of the greatest world mysteries. There are many theories, but none have yet to been proven. The Olmecs were Mesoamerica 's first great civilization. There are many accomplishments of the Olmec that were taken into other societies such as a writing system
and a calander. No one is sure how this great society went down though. No books are left, but stone carvings and architecture is left. Some Olmecs had moved, but their culture did not. The trade networks the Olmecs had used fell apart. Jades, sculptures and pottery in the
Olmec style were no longer created. Archaeologists are still working to figure out what happened. They believe it was climate change because most of their diet was maize, squash and sweet potatoes. The Mayans were a very advanced society. They developed astronomy, had their own set of calanders, had a developed religion and a good trade system. Their powerful and tall buildings still stand to this day. They were on their way to becoming a very powerful empire, but all of a sudden disappeared. The fall of the Mayans is one of the world 's greatest mysteries; such a great society collapsed so quickly. There are many theories as to what happened, but nothing has yet been proven. There are many theories such as a great disaster like a volcanic eruption or an eruption, but that has been disproven mostly because the decline took about 200 years.
Another theory is the warfare theory. The Mayans were thought to be a peaceful society, but new discoveries of stone carvings show that the Mayans fought quite a bit. The famine theory is that as many more people were appearing, their staple food source of maize, beans and squash started running low. To go with that, as populations boomed, more trading items were in demand and that meant more labor tasks. As some researchers
believe, a hungry, overworked class overthrowing the government isn 't such a outlandish idea. In conclusion, no one knows exactly what happened to two powerful civilizations.
That doesn 't mean people are giving up. Researchers are still trying to figure out what happened to this day. With new technologies and excavations, hopefully one day the world will get its answer.
Citations: http://inneroptics.net/mayan_kingdom_book/decline/ http://www.historytoday.com/historicaldictionary/o/olmeccivilization
Mr. Beaudoin
2nd hour
10/9/14
The Olmecs and The Mayans What happened to two great societies in Mesoamerica? No one seems to know for sure. The Olmecs and the Mayans were two powerful civilizations that were becoming more and more powerful, but all of a sudden they both disappeared. Some archaeologists believe that the Olmecs might have suffered climate change, but only their culture disappeared, not their people. As for the Mayans, their disappearance is one of the greatest world mysteries. There are many theories, but none have yet to been proven. The Olmecs were Mesoamerica 's first great civilization. There are many accomplishments of the Olmec that were taken into other societies such as a writing system
and a calander. No one is sure how this great society went down though. No books are left, but stone carvings and architecture is left. Some Olmecs had moved, but their culture did not. The trade networks the Olmecs had used fell apart. Jades, sculptures and pottery in the
Olmec style were no longer created. Archaeologists are still working to figure out what happened. They believe it was climate change because most of their diet was maize, squash and sweet potatoes. The Mayans were a very advanced society. They developed astronomy, had their own set of calanders, had a developed religion and a good trade system. Their powerful and tall buildings still stand to this day. They were on their way to becoming a very powerful empire, but all of a sudden disappeared. The fall of the Mayans is one of the world 's greatest mysteries; such a great society collapsed so quickly. There are many theories as to what happened, but nothing has yet been proven. There are many theories such as a great disaster like a volcanic eruption or an eruption, but that has been disproven mostly because the decline took about 200 years.
Another theory is the warfare theory. The Mayans were thought to be a peaceful society, but new discoveries of stone carvings show that the Mayans fought quite a bit. The famine theory is that as many more people were appearing, their staple food source of maize, beans and squash started running low. To go with that, as populations boomed, more trading items were in demand and that meant more labor tasks. As some researchers
believe, a hungry, overworked class overthrowing the government isn 't such a outlandish idea. In conclusion, no one knows exactly what happened to two powerful civilizations.
That doesn 't mean people are giving up. Researchers are still trying to figure out what happened to this day. With new technologies and excavations, hopefully one day the world will get its answer.
Citations: http://inneroptics.net/mayan_kingdom_book/decline/ http://www.historytoday.com/historicaldictionary/o/olmeccivilization