Decline Of The Mayan Civilization

The Mayan civilization was one of the most advanced Mesoamerican civilizations. This civilization lasted for approximately 3,000 years and inhabited a vast region that is now modern day Guatemala and the Yucatan peninsula. Their flowering culture left many interesting innovations in which they describe a view of the future, our present. Their civilization seemed to grow more over the time until it suddenly started to vanish. There are many conclusions as to why the civilization eventually came to an end. However, environmental issues were undoubtedly one of the reasons why this civilization suffered an instant decline. The early Mayan civilization began around 1800 B.C. This world historic civilization is known for its skills in pottery, the …show more content…
This drought lead the Mayans to have a shortage in food in all aspects. The fauna was dying off and their crops were not growing as well. The arable land and the resources of water became extremely scare. Although it is believed that every city inhabited by the Mayans suffered drought, Mark Cartwright brings to light on his article that most cities suffered severe drought however, some rivers never dried off completely. For example, the city-state of Tikal had arable land blessed with fertile soil and the presence of Lake Petén. Lake Petén is one of the rivers that appears to not have suffered from a lack of water. Moreover, even if the entire civilization was not suffering from drought, they were all affected by it. The scarcity of water lead everyone to move towards the rivers and caused others to experience the drought. That could have eventually created chaos that turned into fights of survival among the Mayans from different …show more content…
The author, James L. Brewbaker, deciphers this on his article. He believes that a crop failure of maize, a maize mosaic virus, may have attributed to the downfall of the Mayans. Brewbaker defines maize mosaic virus as, “ […] a devastating virus disease transmitted by the corn plant- hopper, Peregrinus maidis, an insect restricted to tropic lowlands.” It is believed that a virus was developed on the maize that some of the Mayans cultivated as a source of food. The Mayans did not have the adequate tools to find a cure to the virus that caused many deaths after being transmitted through the consumption of maize. Although the decline of the Mayans remains a mystery, there is enough evidence that leads many to believe that there were environmental components that took the Mayan civilization to a decline. This great civilization came upon a decline due to the high numbers of the growing population, which brought a scarcity of food and over cultivation of the lands, a severe drought that could last for years and create a scarcity of water and growth of food, and the widespread of diseases among the