Imagine walking back to town after a long vacation, after arriving and looking around one may find that no one is there and the place is completely abandoned. Thats a lot like what happened to the Mayans. The Mayans lived in Mesoamerica from 1800 B.C. to 900 A.D. The Mayan civilization reached its peak of power in the sixth century A.D. and had a peak population of two million. The Mayan are most known for disappearing in 900 A.D., a mystery still unknown. There are many theories around their disappearance that go from drought or famine to alien abductions. In this essay though, I will explain why warfare was the reason the Mayan disappeared and persuade you to accept it to.
The isn’t just one factor that played into the end of the Mayan empire, …show more content…
The magnificent buildings they built were made of limestone. To make one limestone block they had to burn around 20 trees. With almost no trees the Mayan were facing a huge problem. With the loss of almost all their trees they faced a 3-5 degree rise in temperature and a 20-30 percent decrease in rainfall, only making the drought worse. The Mayan use a slash-and-burn agriculture method, they would cut down many acres of trees for farming and then you burn the ground and let the ash’s nutrients sink into the soil. The Mayan however, did not let the land replenish very long or at all. They would strip the land bare by farming on it too long. The drought got worse and made it near impossible to grow enough food to feed the Mayan population. Another problem arose with the drought, there was not enough water stored for the dry season. Each Mayan city-state had to keep around 18 months worth of water for their reservoirs during the dry season. Without this water and the lack of food the Mayan were on a fast downfall to their death. It was hard to keep a starving and dehydrated populous happy and it ultimately led to the final stage in their downfall.
The isn’t just one factor that played into the end of the Mayan empire, …show more content…
The magnificent buildings they built were made of limestone. To make one limestone block they had to burn around 20 trees. With almost no trees the Mayan were facing a huge problem. With the loss of almost all their trees they faced a 3-5 degree rise in temperature and a 20-30 percent decrease in rainfall, only making the drought worse. The Mayan use a slash-and-burn agriculture method, they would cut down many acres of trees for farming and then you burn the ground and let the ash’s nutrients sink into the soil. The Mayan however, did not let the land replenish very long or at all. They would strip the land bare by farming on it too long. The drought got worse and made it near impossible to grow enough food to feed the Mayan population. Another problem arose with the drought, there was not enough water stored for the dry season. Each Mayan city-state had to keep around 18 months worth of water for their reservoirs during the dry season. Without this water and the lack of food the Mayan were on a fast downfall to their death. It was hard to keep a starving and dehydrated populous happy and it ultimately led to the final stage in their downfall.