The Mayan civilization, located in Central America, was an advanced, agricultural society that dominated for around 1200 years. The earliest civilizations date back to 1800 BC, while their civilizations peaked around sixth century AD. The early Maya were agricultural, growing, maize, beans, and squash. At their peak, they excelled in agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, mathematics, and architecture. The Maya focused on improving ways of health or medicine, and also focused on religion and complex rituals. One of the most interesting aspects of the Maya was their sudden disappearance. Unlike most societies, the millions of people living in Mayan civilizations suddenly disappeared without any evidence of what happened. There are
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The sediments also show ancient layers of eroded soil, which contributes to evidence of deforestation. The droughts hit especially hard in cities such as Tikal. The people of Tikal were dependent on rain for drinking water and to grow their crops. Some Mayan cities, including Tikal, were known to use water storages that could hold up to two millions gallons at one time. This shows how major a drought would have been to send these people into decline. However, some river-port cities could have survived the water-shortage.
Because the Maya were an agricultural society, this drought and other factors would cause crops to fail. In this time with such a high population, the drought would have been catastrophic. The traditional elite also relied on crops (a crop surplus) for trade. This trade shifted from overland routes to oceanic routes that moved around the perimeter of the Mayan peninsula. The elite used this to build wealth and power. When crops failed they were stripped of much of their power. The lower ranked Maya had to find a way to escape starvation by possibly abandoning the …show more content…
The Maya were thought to have been a peaceful society until recent discoveries in deciphered stone carvings. These carvings show that the Maya frequently had civil wars among themselves. Some Mayan city-states such as Dos Pilas, Tikal, Copan, and Quiriua often went to war with each other. These cities would revolt against the capital, and attempts by would-be kings to takeover the throne. Because these events in kings and nobles they were described on monuments. Another cause of warfare between Mayan people would involve commoners over land. Overpopulation became a major issue, so land became scare. However, these events would not be important enough to document, even though they more than likely occurred more
The sediments also show ancient layers of eroded soil, which contributes to evidence of deforestation. The droughts hit especially hard in cities such as Tikal. The people of Tikal were dependent on rain for drinking water and to grow their crops. Some Mayan cities, including Tikal, were known to use water storages that could hold up to two millions gallons at one time. This shows how major a drought would have been to send these people into decline. However, some river-port cities could have survived the water-shortage.
Because the Maya were an agricultural society, this drought and other factors would cause crops to fail. In this time with such a high population, the drought would have been catastrophic. The traditional elite also relied on crops (a crop surplus) for trade. This trade shifted from overland routes to oceanic routes that moved around the perimeter of the Mayan peninsula. The elite used this to build wealth and power. When crops failed they were stripped of much of their power. The lower ranked Maya had to find a way to escape starvation by possibly abandoning the …show more content…
The Maya were thought to have been a peaceful society until recent discoveries in deciphered stone carvings. These carvings show that the Maya frequently had civil wars among themselves. Some Mayan city-states such as Dos Pilas, Tikal, Copan, and Quiriua often went to war with each other. These cities would revolt against the capital, and attempts by would-be kings to takeover the throne. Because these events in kings and nobles they were described on monuments. Another cause of warfare between Mayan people would involve commoners over land. Overpopulation became a major issue, so land became scare. However, these events would not be important enough to document, even though they more than likely occurred more