Research Paper On Mayan Civilization

IntroductionThe Mayan Civilization is located in Mesoamerica. The Mayan Civilization was created in A.D. 250 and existed during the classic period, of A.D. 250 to 900 and still exists today. The Mayan was also known as the Classic Maya." The Mayan area was almost the whole of Mexico. It covered countries during the Classic Maya such as Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatan Peninsular states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatan. This was only the Southern part. It also covered today 's countries such as Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Western Honduras. The Mayan Civilization was the largest civilization in Mesoamerica. It had vast and many different landscapes. Landscapes from mountain regions such as the Sierra Madre, to the Semi-arid plains of Northern
Yucatan. The Maya area, which covers Southern and Northern Central of what is known today as Mexico, is divided into 3 zones which are: first, the Southern Maya highlands, second, the Southern, also known as Central, Maya lowlands, and third is the Northern Maya lowlands. The Mayan civilization was populated (densely), and its culture was dynamic, which had one of the most dynamic societies ever existed in the world. The Mayan culture had many different areas such as the Mayan art, literature, and mathematics. The Mayan civilization is similar to other Mesoamerican civilization, back then and today. Similarities like the land area and the cultures. The Mayan society and culture was just like the agriculture. The agriculture was, and is still sophisticated, and diverse. They have different methods of the production of food. Agriculture was what the Mayans depended on, because it helped with the vast population. This led to one of the theories if the collapse of the civilization. The Mayans had not disappeared, neither did the civilization decline. In this present time, there are still descendants of the Mayans back from the classic period. The Southern lowlands of the Mayan Civilization started declining between the 8th and the 9th century. Everything in the civilization all of a sudden stopped, and the people started deserting the land. The buildings and monuments that were under construction by the Mayan people were left unfinished. Even the forests and the jungles were deserted. Scientists have established that the reason the civilization collapsed was due to sickness, such as malaria, yellow fever, and hookworm. As the civilization fell, so did everything in it and around it. The collapse of the Mayan civilization affected Central America during that period in time. There have been many theories surrounding the collapse of the Mayan Civilization. Theories such as, the non-ecological theory, which states that the reason the Mayan Civilization collapsed was due to human causes; and the second theory which is the ecological theory, which states that the civilization collapsed due to natural causes. This paper seeks to explore these theories and analyze which is more valid and is the reason of why the Mayan Civilization collapsed.

The Ecological TheoryThere are two theories of why the Mayan Civilization collapsed. The first theory know as the ecological theory, that states that the civilization collapsed due to natural causes, such as environmental disaster, epidemic disease, and climate change. One example of an environmental disaster that scientists and researches are constantly repeating is the drought theory. What had caused the drought was the lack of agriculture. The agriculture had been very little, due to overpopulation of the civilization. It is also said that an intense 100 year drought upon the civilization had led to the decline of the Mayan Civilization, which was the reason that the Mayan civilization collapsed. Helen Sewell of the BBC news online science staff stated that scientists had researched, and had come to a conclusion that climate changes, such as the drought were largely to blame. She also stated that when the archaeologists were at the site searching, they found out that there had been fossils that had been swept by the river. That is to say that river overflows, but only overflow the land, when there 's a climate change. What this means is that what causes the overflow of rivers is the change of climate. This overflowing of rivers could have been due to the substantial rainfall that occurred at a certain period of time. But the scientists in Helen Sewell 's article also stated that drought there was a three to nine year drought that had caused it, and that it is a severe threat to humanity, and could change the whole climate. This kind of weather was the reason the civilization collapsed. Helen Sewell 's article was accurate, about how the Mayan civilization collapsed due to the fact that when researching and observing the actual Mayan site, and other sources, it is seen that the conclusion is the same. This is to say that the ecological theory of why the Mayan civilization collapses is extremely accurate. Another case that had caused the drought was lack of supplies. The agriculture was declining for a long time that the Mayans hadn 't the supplies, or efficiency to sustain the civilization, that droughts started occurring. This is the flip side, because it is first said that substantial rainfall had caused an earthquake, and then when the substantial rainfall started to decrease, that caused drought. This is not possible, due to the fact that there could be substantial rain one time, and then there would be drought another point in time. It had to be that substantial rain was falling at a certain period in time, and then there wasn 't any rain, which could have caused severe drought. This is biased because it was not stated that rainfall was one of the climate changes that caused the collapse of the Mayan civilization.

Another sub-factor theory that was said that caused the collapse of the Mayan Civilization was the spread of epidemic diseases. As stated in the previous paragraph was that epidemic diseases spread throughout the land. "Diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and hookworm, were cited as another reason of the exodus."(Gallenkamp p. 139). What may have caused the epidemic spread of disease was the agriculture. The agriculture played a major role in the collapse of the Mayan civilization. In the beginning of the Mayan civilization, the agriculture was vast and diverse and the Mayans had their ways of the food production, and that was what they had been depending on for their survival. So when the drought had occurred, there had not been enough food production, so that was what had caused the epidemic. For example, in Africa, there 's no water, no food in certain parts of the country that it is causing drought, and starvation, and causing the spread of disease. This goes back to the drought statement, when it occurred for three to nine years. In connection, the drought had a lot to do with the spread of the epidemic diseases. If the drought had nothing to do with the spread of the epidemic diseases, then how did the spread of epidemic disease occur upon the Mayan civilization? Another thing that could have caused the epidemic was the rainfall, and the forests, because the forests produce chemicals, and when it rains, there 's acid in the rain. So since the forest isn 't such a good place for a civilization to stay in, there are many chances that you would get a sickness, and it could spread around. But at the same time, it is possible to find a cure for an epidemic disease in the forest, but it would be difficult. The third one, which is in correlation with the epidemic, or even in the same category as the epidemic is the imbalance of the sex ratio. In this case, what caused the birth rate is that there had been lots babies being born, in the Mayan Civilization, the males are the most important, and if a lady gives birth to a male, the male would stay alive, because it could fen for the family, and bring honor to the family. On the flip side, if a lady gives birth to a female, there would be no use to the female, because a female cannot bring honor to the family, and what they do would have been to kill the female. In contrast is the morality rate. One thing that could cause the morality rate to rise was the climate changes, which also caused the agriculture to decline, and the collapse of the Mayan civilization. The drought was the main one that caused the morality rate to increase. Since the agriculture was in decline and there was drought, there was not anything the Mayans could have done, so the morality rate increased dramatically. The ecological theory has evidence and was evidence that the scientists were leaning on. They found evidence of why the climatic change had attributed to the collapse of the collapse of the Mayan Civilization. But the changes in the environment caused were why the Mayan Civilization collapsed.

The Non-Ecological TheoryThe second theory is the Non-Ecological theory which states that the reason the Mayan civilization collapsed was due to Human causes. Human causes such as: foreign invasion, peasant revolt, and collapse of the key trade routes. First sub-factor theory is the peasant revolt. It is known to scientist when they researched that the main problem was war and civil life. "The Mayan people were weary of the yoke of the priesthood, with their interminable demands for building and ceremonies, revolted." (Gallenkamp p. 142). The priests of the Mayan civilization would make the peasants work extremely hard, make them do things such as tend the fields of the wealthy nobles of the civilization. they were made to work like slaves. to make things worse, the priests would manipulate the peasants with their psychological tricks. This is wrong because what the priests did was not right. They are using the peasants to their advantage, which was why the peasants revolted and caused the collapse of the civilization. For centuries, the peasants were slaves to the priests, and could not do anything about it. In the beginning of the Mayan civilization, when the agriculture was vast, that was during the slave treatment, the peasants out cried for rebellion against the priest arose. Things like this, easily lead to revolts. This is to show that the Mayans were having problems with the government, the leader of the civilization. There had been a complication. The Mayan life in the beginning of their civilization, when it was first created, their life was in order, was going good, and then all of a sudden, there was something wrong with the line up, the government, and the Mayan people, the peasants, and raged out in war. It is also stated that on page 142 that the scientists found evidence, at Piedras Negras, which is at the ceremonial furnishings, were intentionally damaged, the monuments mutilated, and its ceremonial center abandoned.

These ties to the other sub-factor, under non-ecological theory of foreign invasion.
The ironic thing is that other civilizations near the Mayan Civilization, fell victim to the same thing, and around the same time. An example is the Teotihuacán civilization, which was once the most powerful city in Mexico was burned and deserted after 650 A.D. Another example is the Oaxaca, the great Zapotec, the center of Monte Albán was overturned in 900 A.D., about the exact the same time the Mayan civilization collapsed. This is to say that foreign invasion played a major key role in the reason the Mayan civilization collapsed. Other foreign countries were interested in the Mayan culture. The Mayan culture was a major influence. Some of the things that influenced other countries are the Mayan art, literature, calendrics, astronomy, since the Mayans had knowledge about these things. It is said that the Mayan people came up with their own form of art, literature,
etc.

"There has been rumor that there were a series of events, that caused the Mayan civilization to collapse.
There has been historical evidence about the Spanish conquest. The collapse, and been mentioned in some Spanish chronicles. In the last years of the remains of the Mayan civilization, the Mayan king, had found capital after the abandonment of Chichen Itza." (Gallenkamp on page 179). Hunac Ceel, a ruling lord, had established a dictatorship which had brought most of Yucatan under his jurisdiction. Yucatan was a city in the Mayan Civilization. It had been one of the remaining cities in the Mayan civilization after the collapse. This city was governed for almost 200 years by one of the most influential centers in the peninsular, which are: Mayapan, Chichen Itza, and Uxmal. There had been conflict between the three. But during this time, when the Spanish had arrived to Yucatan, and found out that there were still habitats from the other Mayan cities were there, the Spanish purposely brought diseases, such as malaria, and yellow fever, which caused the habitats to evacuate. After this incident, the habitats that chose to stay were influenced by the Spanish. This influence gave the Spanish an advantage over the Mayans, which caused the Mayans their civilization. This also brought many changes upon the civilization. The Spanish conquest, led to the imposition of Catholicism, and several establishment of European forms of organization, especially politically. The Spanish had
tried this imposition, but it was effective enough. The Mayan people still stuck to their old and original ways, and did not want to adapt to another system, neither did they want a new system. So the Spanish, known as the Spaniards, had to find another way in order for the Mayans to adapt, and adjust to the new system, which was the European system. So the Spanish had two things done. The two things were: one. Eliminate the entire old and original Mayan system, or two, they incorporated some new systems into the old and original Mayan ways. This led to the Mayan population to be undifferentiated masses of Mayan rural peasants. To make things worse, the Spanish had decided to permanently settle in the Yucatan, one of the remaining of the Mayan cities.The Spanish American Colonies were interested in the Mayan civilization due to the lack of wealth, minerals, and the population was unbelievably low. There were barely any Mayan people, the original settlers left. Due to the drought, it was very hard to grow crops after the Spaniards, The Spanish American Colonies, had invaded the Mayan civilization, took over it, and settled there. The Spaniards were collecting taxes. This is to show that the Spaniards had built a church, since they had incorporated Catholicism into the Mayan culture. This non-ecological theory doesn 't seem to have enough evidence to back it up. It is just what scientists think may have happened, due to the kind of things they found. This theory is biased due to the fact that this theory had many sides to it. first, it was stated that the collapse of the trade route was to blame. Well, there is no record to back up the fact that trade routes were one of the causes the Mayan civilization collapsed. The invasion of the Spaniards, The Spanish American Colonies, was one of the three reasons the Mayan civilization collapsed.

Why the Mayan Civilization collapse?There are many reasons the Mayan Civilization collapsed. It is the combination of both the ecological and the non ecological. But the one that weighs more is the ecological theory. The ecological theory is more reasonable, and less bias. The Mayan civilization was undergoing some major problems, most especially with the environment. The Mayan civilization collapsed was due to some environmental problems, because of the sudden climate change. With the climate, anything could happen. But what really happened was that the weather must have taken a toll for the worst. During the period of 250 to 600 A.D., the climate had been good, the air was good, and bring forth good weather. As centuries went by, the weather started to change, and the weather had brought forth drought. What had caused the drought was the sudden change in climate; also, the air was getting dry. What also causes drought is the lack of rain. If it hasn 't been raining for about 3 to 4 months, then, the air starts to get dry, and that easily causes drought. The Mayan civilization had experienced drought for about 100 to about 200 years. The Mayan civilization was in famine. There was no way of producing crops, and the crops were what hey relied on the most. The agriculture in the Mayan civilization was very important. The Mayan people themselves created their agriculture, they grew their own crops and the agriculture was the center of their civilization. The Mayans also depended on the weather. For example, if there wasn 't any good weather, the people wouldn 't have known what to do. What happened was that the drought had caused the agriculture a major flaw. They couldn 't predict the weather. So what happened was that the Mayan people had to either, find a way to grow their crops in a situation like this, or leave their civilization, and go settle on another one, in order to survive. So the Mayans must have evacuated their natural civilization, to go find a better one. Because back then, the Mayan civilization had different minor civilizations, that made up one big Mayan civilization. The drought which caused the decline in the Mayan agriculture also caused the population to decrease. If the agriculture was in decline, the population would have decreased, due to the fact that there would have been no food to feed the people, and the people would be dying out of starve, and thirst, and there also would have been a decrease in the population. Also, the economy was in decline that they had to evacuate the civilization due to the drought that occurred for about 200 years.

Another reason why the Mayan civilization collapsed is the spread of epidemic diseases. There are two sides to this. The non-ecological side, which is about how the Spanish conquistadors came and spread the epidemic among the Mayan civilization; and the other side, is the ecological about how the weather caused the spread of the epidemic diseases. On the ecological side, the spread of the epidemic disease ties in with the drought situation. The kinds of epidemic diseases that had been spread amongst the Mayans were malaria, hookworm, etc. The reason this spread was due to the agriculture. Like what has been stated in the previous paragraph, the drought caused the decline of the agriculture, and the decline of the agriculture was the reason the Mayan civilization collapsed. In this case, the lack of agriculture caused the spread of the epidemic diseases. The drought had a major after-math effect, which is the spread of epidemic diseases, and the decline in the agriculture. With the decline of the agriculture, there would be no way the Mayans would stay healthy. With the lack of agriculture, there had been sickness amongst the Mayan people, and the diseases was bound to have spread around, causing the decline in the population, like it was stated in the previous paragraph. This all ties back to the climate change and how just a little climate change can change, and cause a whole civilization to collapse into bits and pieces, and there being nothing left of the civilization, but unfinished buildings and monuments. Well the other side to this is the non-ecological side. This states that the invasion of the Spanish conquistadors caused the collapse, but most especially the diseases the Spanish had brought upon the Mayan civilization. The Spanish conquistadors upon the invasion of the Mayan civilization brought with them everything possible, which includes the epidemic diseases. In addition to the new world order, for the Mayan civilization, the Spanish conquistadors had brought an epidemic with them. This also ties back to imperialism, which was when the Europeans had invaded the African colonies, and imperialized them, they brought with them sicknesses, and diseases. Before the invasion of the Europeans, the African countries were healthy, and there had been no diseases that we common amongst them, and the only time they could get these kind of diseases would be the because of the bad weather. This is just like what had happened to the Mayan civilization. Before the Spanish conquistadors had invaded the Mayan civilization, the Mayan civilization had been experiencing famine, due to the drought that was occurring over the civilization, there had been sicknesses spread amongst the people, but it wasn 't as bad as what the Spanish had brought upon the civilization. This made things worse for the Mayan civilization. This all ties in with how the whether climate, most especially the drought, had a major effect on the agriculture and the people. This the reason that seems more reasonable, and less bias of why the Mayan civilization collapse, because everything ties in together with the climate change, and how the climate changed a major effect of the reason why the Mayan civilization collapsed.

ConclusionIn all, these are the reasons why the Mayan civilization collapsed. The non-ecological theory, and the ecological theory, both defend their sides. The ecological theory seems to be the more reasonable one, because that was the only way the Mayan civilization collapsed, and it did not seem bias. When scientists, and historians, researched the reason the Mayan civilization collapsed, they had evidence to back it up. The climate change in a civilization has a major effect on the civilization and how the civilization would turn out. Also, the Mayan civilization could not have collapsed easily if the Spanish conquistadors had come to invade. A civilization like the Mayan civilization, living amongst them in the wild could not easily bend to the rules of the Spanish conquistadors. The only way the Mayan civilization would have given up to the Spanish conquistadors easily was if the Spanish conquistadors had a better plan and knew the Mayan people 's weaknesses. For example, in Mel Gibson 's Apocalypto, it 's just like the Mayan civilization, when people from other countries came to their territory and they defended their land and their people, even if meant giving their lives for their land and their people. Well, that was how the Mayan civilization was. It was impossible to just come upon one of the greatest civilization of human kind, and try and take over it, and turn it into the countries in Africa that were imperialized by the Europeans. This theory seemed to bias, due to the fact that scientists didn 't have any proof to back the theory up. Second, which is the ecological theory seems more reasonable due to the fact that scientist have proof, when they went to the actual Mayan site, and found evidence. The climate change is the main reason why the Mayan civilization collapsed and nothing else. When scientists were researching, they found lots of evidence, and backed up the ecological theory. In conclusion the non-ecological theory and the ecological theory was why the Mayan civilization collapsed.

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