Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Disappearanbce of the Mayan Civilization

Good Essays
667 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Disappearanbce of the Mayan Civilization
Disappearance of the Mayan Civilization
Adrianna Clayton-McGowan
Strayer University
HUM111
Professor Cynthia Creel
04/29/2012

Disappearance of the Mayan Civilization
Adrianna Clayton-McGowan
Strayer University
HUM111
Professor Cynthia Creel
04/29/2012

No one can say for certain what happened to the Mayan people, but theories abound and include varied possible alternatives to explain the abrupt and mysterious disappearance of the Mayan civilization.
One of the prime mysteries in archaeology is still the collapse of classic Maya. The Mayans are but one of many Mesoamerican ethnic groups whose existence has been known in all of the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala, and Belize, the eastern half of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the northwest regions of Honduras and El Salvador. Originating in Yucatan in 2600 B.C. and rising to prominence around A.D. 250 Mayans spread into the other areas when evidence for the first kings and dynasties emerged. Around A.D. 750 began the worst drought in the past 7,000 years, climaxing around the year A.D. 800 and suspiciously linked with the Classic collapse. Political issues and warfare is a cultural theory adding to the decline holding that the elite fought too much amongst each other and provided deprived leadership.
Climate change is believed to be the onset and main cause of the Mayan drought leading to the diminishing of the culture. The drought theory also provides a comprehensive explanation, because non-environmental and cultural factors can all be clarified by the effects of elongated drought on Classic Mayan civilization. A heavy dependence upon water-based intensive agricultural techniques was common among the Mayans, particularly in the Classic period. “Too many elites were making too many demands on the system” (William L. Fash). Exceeding the human capacity the environment could withhold led to overhunting of wildlife leaving food scarce. Mayans exhausted the thin tropical soils leaving the land unworkable with little fertilization that took several years to self-replenish. Their harvest required a vast amount of water which became not able to be sustained with the absence of river systems, such as in the Petén Basin and the rarity of lakes, especially in the Yucatán Peninsula.
3
3
The Mayans were warlike and raided their neighbors for land and took captives which sometimes were sacrificed. Mayan warfare was intense, prolonged, and irresoluble because of limitations of food supply and transportation making uniting impossible and could be found both within cities and among separate kingdoms. Fighting would mainly occur during the dry season to not interfere with their agricultural productivity. Victors would move into their exterminated opponent’s living spaces after defeating them. The lower class began revolting over the elite to overtake them because of work being scarce. If the lower class didn’t die from starvation then they died fighting.
Identify one (1) of the theories and provide at least two (2) convincing reasons why the theory you have chosen is the best one to explain the mystery.
The regular seasonal drought played the major role in the disappearance of the Mayan civilization as we once knew it. Since the surface water was drying up it made resources threatened and survival a struggle for all. Having basic living supplies became uncommon. The continuously worsening drought created enemies between foes and stronger rivalry between cities just to have food and water to live. A catalyst for both the fading food supply and the warfare was the drought. The Mayans basically killed themselves off by acting with natural instinct survival skills from the effects of the drought. The Mayans lived a life of survival of the fittest.

4
4
References – I have 3 total references 1. Coe, M. D. (2005). The Maya (7th ed.). London and New York: Thames and Hudson. 2. Fash, W. (1991). Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copán and the Ancient Maya. London: Thames and Hudson. 3. Sayre, H. M. (2012). The Humanities: Culture, continuity and change, Volume 1. (2nd ed.). (2011 Custom Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

References: – I have 3 total references 1. Coe, M. D. (2005). The Maya (7th ed.). London and New York: Thames and Hudson. 2. Fash, W. (1991). Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copán and the Ancient Maya. London: Thames and Hudson. 3. Sayre, H. M. (2012). The Humanities: Culture, continuity and change, Volume 1. (2nd ed.). (2011 Custom Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Inga Clendinnen book, Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570 is centered on the Spanish incursion of the Yucatan Peninsula, affects on Mayan civilization, and the Spanish struggles in controlling these people. In the beginning, Clendinnen focus here attention on the initial attempts and then eventual success of the Spaniards to solidify themselves within the Yucatan Peninsula. She goes into a detailed backdrop of why many Spaniards were financially forced to look for new lands and peoples to conquer, how they came into the Yucatan, and then eventually their initial disappointment and failure. However, the Mayan victory was short lived as strict determination and new idea's to make profit off resources in this region aside from gold pushed the Spaniards to a point of no return within the Yucatan Peninsula and the eventual Mayan defeat. Secondly, Clendinnen touches on the changing ways of life amongst the native societies due to their new Spanish masters. She focuses more on Mayan changes and the forced acculturation to the Spanish ways of life. Furthermore, she comments on Spanish struggles to utilize commercial opportunities due to the poor agricultural, unsuitable grazing land, lack of labor, and the eventual collapse of the encomienda system. Lastly, Clendinnen touches on the divine front, mentioning the friars initially trying to psychologically discern Mayan behavior and sequences to pinpoint the reasoning's behind Mayan beliefs. Then using what they infer as ammunition toward their constant struggle to convert the native peoples to Christianity and squash any sources of idolatry or anything representing the native religion.…

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    66. Comparative Analysis: Compare the development of Axum and Meroe in northeastern Africa with the development of the Maya and of Teotihuacan in Mesoamerica.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ant 101 Final

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Additional readings: Zaro and Houk (2012). The growth and decline of the ancient Maya city of La Milpa, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 23:143-159.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the oldest civilizations of Mesoamerica, the Mayan civilization, which is located in modern-day Guatemala, lasted for approximately 3000 years, spanning from 2000 B.C. to the mid-1500s. Many historians split up the civilization’s history into 3 different periods: Pre-Classic, Classic, and Post-Classic. The Classic Period was the height of Mayan culture, in which many of the major cities were built.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I initially started off with only internet research on the different civilizations I could do, homing the precise topic down to the Maya. Once I’d done this, I abandoned the use of internet resources and borrowed books from the city library. Books are a much more reliable source of information in comparison to internet websites and they provided me with much valued information. I used the books ‘The Fall of the Ancient Maya’ by David Webster, ‘The Ancient Maya’ by Barbara L. Beck, ‘Colliers Encyclopedia’, ‘The Mayan Prophecies’ by Adrian G. Gilbert and Maurice M. Cottereli and ‘Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes’ by Carl Waldman. From these, I took the liberty of photocopying pages of information relevant to my research. I also happened to find two documentaries which I borrowed also. These were ‘Dawn of the Maya’ from the National Geographic and ‘Mystery of the Maya’ from the IMAX theatre in Sydney. From these, I took extensive notes and found my first theory on why the ancient Maya civilization may have collapsed from archaeologist, Richard Hanson. This discovery actually cemented my topic question for me – I was definitely going to follow this path of research once I’d found this.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    An entire prehistoric group of people can disappear due to numerous reasons, it can be due to natural disasters, climate change, decrease in water and food, war, and diseases in which that time there were many people with immune systems that couldn’t handle the sickness. One small kind of factious disease can wipe out an entire population I not treated or have the right kind of medications and treatments. For example the black plague wiped out one-third of Europe’s people in the 14th century.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Medina-Elizalde, M. & Rohling, E. J. (2012). Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization Related to Modest Reduction in Precipitation.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ap World History Essay

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Heirs of the Olmecs: the Maya 1) The Maya lived in the highlands of Guatemala a. Besides maize, they also cultivated cotton and cacao b. Tikal was the most important Maya political center, 300900 C.E. c. Maya warfare: warriors had prestige; captives were slaves or victims d. Chichén Itzá, power by the 9th century; loose empire in Yucatan e. Maya decline began in 800 C.E.; many Mayans deserted their cities C. Maya Society and Religion 1) Maya society was hierarchical a. Kings, priests, and hereditary nobility at the top b. Merchants were from the ruling class; they served also as ambassadors c. Professional architects and artisans were important d. Peasants and slaves were majority of population 2) The Maya calendar had both solar and ritual years interwoven 3) Maya writing was ideographic and syllabic; only four books survive 4) Religious thought a. Popol Vuh, a Maya creation myth, taught that gods created humans out of maize and water b. Gods maintained agricultural cycles in exchange for honors and sacrifices c. Bloodletting rituals honored gods for rains 5) The Maya ball game: sporting, gambling, and religious…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The climate in the lowlands that the Mayas resided in were known to be unstable. Rainfall quantities could have varied, allowing droughts to be common, and making rains violent when occurring. In pollen records from Yucatán, there was an indication of a dryness between 750 and 850 B.C.E. It is also possible that many of these environmental problems were the effects of deforestation and environmental changes. A drought such as indicated, would have been catastrophically to the Mayas, who had never faced such a problem…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Most of the history of the Mayan speaks to how it took approximately 20 trees to melt one square meter of lime plaster in order to construct their extravagant temples, reservoirs, and monuments (2009). The loss of trees caused a 3-5 degree rise in temperature while dropping the climate’s rainfall amount by 20-30%. The Mayans stripped their land of trees at such a fast rate the land could not replenish the trees and other vegetation quick enough to preserve the land in which the Mayans needed to survive. The drought from the lack of rainfall made it difficult for the Mayans to reserve water during the dryer seasons and with the lack of water, there was little chance of being able to grow food on the desecrated land. While there is no soul reason for the sudden disappearance of the Mayan people, NASA funded researcher believe the greatest contributor in the extinction of the Mayan was because they stripped their natural habitat and…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Humanities

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages

    While reading article one, No name and was provided, They stated, “ Many theories attempt to explain why Maya civilization collapsed, which include disease, war, drought, and economic turmoil.” No one could explain any of these theories. Evidence tried supporting that disease could have been an effect to the collapse of the civilization, but, “did not appear in skeletons and burial patterns, and there are no known New New World epidemic diseases.” The article goes on to talk about droughts having a major effect to the fall of the mayan empire, by saying, “droughts have been blamed for the maya collapse sediments and pollen evidence has been utilized to reconstruct an extensive dry spell and subsequent food stresses, which may have led to social unrest and abandonment of cities.” With out the rain or any type of water keeping the plants moist, the plants would not grow, Mayans relied on their plants for food to eat. This caused them to leave and their empire coming to a fall. Although the end of the article states, “There is no single explanation of the…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mayan Civilization

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages

    deterioration was found in more than one area shows a pattern that spread all across the maya…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    We can only guess their downfall from the numerous deductions made by researchers and archaeologists devoted to the matter. What they all agree upon is that the Maya and their way of life is virtually a complete mystery to our modern way of thinking. How did this advanced society disappear without leaving any solid evidence of their downfall? Is this a sign of a sudden collapse from a cataclysm or, abandonment as the result of political turmoil?…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bibliography: Cecil, J. (2011, Feb. 17). The fall of the Mayan Civilization. Retrieved from BBC: History. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/maya_01.shtml…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    movie reviews

    • 677 Words
    • 2 Pages

    on Mayan culture and shows a once advanced society in the throes of disorganization and fall.…

    • 677 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays