Mayan Disappearance Essay
Research Paper: Why did the Maya disappear? The Maya people developed an advanced civilization that lasted from 300 to 900 CE. They built impressive pyramids, created a calendar that is still accurate today, and used learned astronomy (Ghose). After just six hundred years, the powerful empire that Maya had built up fell apart. The Maya people then abandoned their incredible civilization with no explanation (Hammond). The world was left confused and searched for answers to this mysterious disappearance. The Mayas abandoned their empire because they had a decline that was reinforced by a drought. The Maya kings began to lose battles and wars to invaders and, therefore, the Maya people lost resources as well as faith in their rulers (Video/Newitz).
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They had little contact with those in the Old World, and therefore all of the Maya advancements occurred without help from anyone outside pf their civilization (Hammond). The Maya did, however, utilize long-distance trade (Minster). The Maya, who were primarily farmers, practiced grotesque human and blood sacrifice (Wesney). Their empire was made of city-states that were led by well-revered rulers who commanded powerful armies (Minster). The rulers of these city-states participated in regular blood sacrifice, and their blood was said to hold the Maya Empire together. The Maya people created a calendar that is only differs from the calendar today by thirty-three seconds and were very advanced in astronomy (Video). They were polytheistic and built hundreds of pyramids for sacrifice to and worship of their many gods. Along with their large pyramids, the Maya built temples and made stone carvings (Minter). The largest Maya city was Takal, which was home to over one-hundred thousand people at its peak (Wesney). The Maya civilization began to decline around 800 CE, and they left their once-great empire in 900 CE and disappeared into the jungle, leaving behind no obvious reason as to why they did so (Ghose). The Maya were involved in many large wars throughout the existence of their civilization. During
They had little contact with those in the Old World, and therefore all of the Maya advancements occurred without help from anyone outside pf their civilization (Hammond). The Maya did, however, utilize long-distance trade (Minster). The Maya, who were primarily farmers, practiced grotesque human and blood sacrifice (Wesney). Their empire was made of city-states that were led by well-revered rulers who commanded powerful armies (Minster). The rulers of these city-states participated in regular blood sacrifice, and their blood was said to hold the Maya Empire together. The Maya people created a calendar that is only differs from the calendar today by thirty-three seconds and were very advanced in astronomy (Video). They were polytheistic and built hundreds of pyramids for sacrifice to and worship of their many gods. Along with their large pyramids, the Maya built temples and made stone carvings (Minter). The largest Maya city was Takal, which was home to over one-hundred thousand people at its peak (Wesney). The Maya civilization began to decline around 800 CE, and they left their once-great empire in 900 CE and disappeared into the jungle, leaving behind no obvious reason as to why they did so (Ghose). The Maya were involved in many large wars throughout the existence of their civilization. During