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BY <\/span>ANA GARC\u00cdA BARRIOS<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

PUBLISHED AUGUST 10, 2023 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

Maya civilization once stretched across a vast territory in Mesoamerica, in what is today southern Mexico and Central America. It was home to thriving cities and thousands of people, but over the course of two centuries, major cities would be emptied, with their grand temples abandoned and vivid artworks unfinished.Much like its ending, the exact beginning of\u00a0Maya culture<\/a>\u00a0has been difficult to pin down. Many scholars believe it first coalesced sometime between 7000 B.C. and 2000 B.C. after hunter-gatherers from South America moved into Mesoamerica and settled there. Sometime around 4000 B.C., cultivation of corn, their staple crop, exploded, allowing Maya culture to flourish and expand.<\/p>\n

THE MAYA WORLD<\/span><\/p>\n

At its height, during the Late Classic period (A.D. 600-900), Maya civilization formed a constellation of kingdoms and cities that stretched across the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America, almost 125,000 square miles. Scholars estimate that there were as many as 40 Maya cities controlled by powerful local rulers. The largest ones, like Tikal, had up to 50,000 residents, while the smaller cities\u2019 populations were closer to 5,000.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Interaction with the neighboring Olmec civilization is believed to have spurred advances in Maya architecture, resulting in the construction of huge ritual complexes surrounded by cities. Among the most important urban centers were Uxmal, Palenque, Chiche\u0301n Itza\u0301, Tikal, Copa\u0301n, and Calakmul. Built during the Classic period (A.D. 200-900), the Maya\u2019s soaring pyramid temples and grand buildings\u2014believed by some to be palaces\u2014were richly decorated with sacred art dedicated to the gods.<\/p>\n

Laser scans reveal Maya megalopolis beneath the jungle<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

Power struggles<\/h2>\n
Scholars have determined that the Maya did not rule as a unified empire. Rather, this was a shared society. Power struggles did occur, but they were fought by rival city-states or local\u00a0ajaws<\/i>, or rulers. Cancu\u0301n (in modern Mexico) was one such prosperous Maya enclave. It occupied a strategic position on the region\u2019s trade routes and was linked politically with the powerful Maya city of Calakmul. Numerous inscriptions have been found on monuments, but none date to later than the year 800.<\/p>\n
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POWERFUL RULERS <\/span>A panel carved in A.D. 795 shows the ajaw of Cancue\u0301n, Tajal Chan Ahk, together with a lower-ranking noble and a priest.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Archaeological evidence indicates that in this year, the city suffered a violent attack. The royal family and other members of the nobility were murdered, and their bodies dumped, complete with their emblems of power and jadeite jewelry, into three makeshift burial spaces. In the largest one, archaeologists have unearthed 38 bodies with signs of brutal trauma.<\/p>\n
Who was the Red Queen, the mystery woman in the Maya tomb?<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
Such violence was not unusual in the region, but this incident stands out as part of a larger pattern. In the first decades of the ninth century, a political and social crisis affected almost all Maya cities. By the end of the Classic period, Maya sculptors had stopped carving monuments, scribes had ceased recording their rulers\u2019 deeds, and workers had halted construction on palaces and temples. Cities were abandoned. What became known as the Maya collapse was just beginning.<\/p>\n
The collapse\u2014a decline that spread from city to city\u2014lasted more than a hundred years. It began in the region known as Petexbatu\u0301n and crossed the lands near the Usumacinta River.<\/p>\n
As cities fell like dominoes, the jungle began to claw back land from the Maya civilization. Plant roots and tendrils curled through palaces, temples, and squares.<\/p>\n
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LEFT: ALL THAT REMAINS
\n<\/span>The great pyramid of Calakmul, in the Mexican state of Campeche, peeks out from the lush vegetation growing around it. The city went into decline in the early ninth century. No inscriptions dated to later than 909 have been found.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n<\/span><\/span>RIGHT: MAYA PYRAMID
\n<\/span>This pyramid was erected in 734 in the Great Plaza of Tikal to house the remains of ruler Jasaw Chan K\u2019awiil I. Like other Maya cities, Tikal was abandoned around the year 900<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Seeking clues<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n
Hidden in the jungle, the remains of Maya architecture provide intriguing insights into the speed of the collapse. One of the last buildings erected in the city of Bonampak, in the Usumacinta River region, features vivid murals showing a victorious battle fought by the ajaw in the year 791, as well as a spectacular royal ceremony.<\/p>\n
But the full artwork is unfinished. Incomplete sketches are visible on the walls, as if artists had put down their tools and walked away in the middle of their work.<\/p>\n
An equally dramatic example was found in Yaxchila\u0301n, a city close to Bonampak. In 800, the king erected an imposing building and lavishly decorated it with sculpture. The building\u2019s lintels, stelae, and stairs were intricately carved with royal scenes and texts. Just eight years later, the work would be abandoned. The last text found on the site was written in the year 808.<\/p>\n
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The murals of Bonampak<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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At the start of the ninth century, builders began work on a magnificent temple in the city of Aguateca (in modern Guatemala). But in 810, construction stopped suddenly, leaving the temple half-finished. The stelae that had been smoothed ready for carving were never adorned. There\u2019s evidence to show that palisades and defensive fortifications were built, suggesting that the people of Aguateca perceived an external threat. A few years later, the city was deserted. Whatever struck these cities hit them quickly.<\/p>\n
The Maya collapse has been studied by countless scholars, who have developed fascinating theories to solve the mystery of the collapse. Many agree that there was no single cause but rather a complex combination of factors that led to the fall of Maya society.<\/p>\n
Stresses and strains<\/h2>\n
There are many collapse hypotheses, and most draw on several common factors. One is that overpopulation in Maya cities helped trigger this crisis by overstraining local resources. At the beginning of the ninth century, Maya civilization reached the peak of its demographic curve. Tikal, in present-day Guatemala, was the most populous of all the Maya cities and had grown to around 50,000 inhabitants. Some scholars believe that local agriculture, even if expanded, would struggle to support the population. In terms of demography, it\u2019s not clear how the populations redistributed themselves after abandoning the cities.<\/p>\n
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MAYA DIGNITARIES<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n
A strong contender is that drought led to the collapse. Recent studies on the Mesoamerican paleoclimate suggest that around the ninth century, a prolonged water shortage occurred in some regions of the Maya lowlands, leading to crop losses and localized famines. Food shortages challenged the Maya leaders\u2019 control of the region. Perhaps people fled to search for more fertile lands, or maybe they rebelled against their ajaws.<\/p>\n
Another factor that undoubtedly contributed to the Maya collapse was armed conflict stemming from power struggles. Fighting blocked roads and trade routes, so that goods could not be moved around quickly, leading to shortages, economic collapse, and mass population migrations. In the ninth century, there was an increase in the number of texts that allude to warfare between cities. Various carved panels show ajaws holding enemies captive. The names of these defeated rulers are carved on their legs and tunics.<\/p>\n
Who were the Snake Kings, the Maya’s most powerful alliance?<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
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FATE OF THE DEFEATED<\/span><\/p>\n
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Known as stela 12, the stone on the left and a drawing of the carving on the right, a monolith from the Classic Maya period depicts the humiliation of captives after a battle fought between the city of Piedras Negras (in modern Guatemala) and the city of Pomona\u0301 in spring 792. The victorious ruler of Piedras Negras, K\u2019inich Yat Ahk II, sits high above his defeated prisoners. His nobles wear headdresses and are richly adorned with jewelry. At the ajaw\u2019s feet kneels a captured sajal (noble or governor). Other prisoners appear bound and stripped of their clothes and adornments. The figures are identified; their names are written in glyphs behind them. Some are secondary sajals from Pomona\u0301 and are shown in a position of respect toward the captor, with their right hand on the left shoulder. The style of the stela seems to fit the artistic canons of Pomona\u0301. It may be that it was made by artisans of that city who were captured in the same battle and forced to make this monument. Conflict between Maya city-states increased around the time of the collapse. Piedras Negras might have won the day in 792, but it would be defeated by Yaxchila\u0301n. By 930, Piedras Negras was abandoned.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Political unrest<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n
Even more of an enigma is the fact that a century and a half later, Maya cities in the northern areas of the Yucatan Peninsula experienced a collapse that seemed to mirror the first. The city of Uxmal, for example, during the 10th century had become the main center of power in the Puuc region. An enormous palace served as both a royal residence and the place where the nobility would hold councils. There was also a ball court, along with a ceremonial complex called the Nunnery Quadrangle. The reliefs, paintings, and inscriptions from this period evoke scenes of war, with warriors decked out in full battle regalia and prisoners being sacrificed.<\/p>\n
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SPLENDOR OF UXMAL
\n<\/span>The ancient ruins in Uxmal, which thrived between the sixth and tenth centuries, are among the finest examples of Maya architecture. The Governor\u2019s Palace was erected during the tenth century. It stands on a huge rectangular platform more than 200 yards long, which is accessed by a 26-step staircase.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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But then Uxmal faced a dramatic decline in the 11th century. Construction ons everal monumental works was never completed. The immediate cause of this crisis appears to have been the expansion of the neighboring city of Chiche\u0301n Itza\u0301. In parallel, the eastern region of Puuc became increasingly depopulated until it was totally abandoned by the beginning of the 11th century.<\/p>\n
Researchers have tried to look beyond simplistic catastrophizing to the myriad complexities and regional idiosyncrasies that might explain the collapse of the Maya civilization. This collapse meant the end of a political and economic system and the abandonment of cities across the southern lowlands. The cities of the northern lowlands also were abandoned 150 years later.<\/p>\n
The Maya civilization never recovered, at least in the form it had once known. However, the descendants of Maya nobles, priests, warriors, and farmers today inhabit the same lands as their ancestors and perpetuate their culture in the still spoken Indigenous languages and in religious rituals. Ancestral farming practices have not been forgotten, nor have traditional styles of clothes and jewelry. Although the Maya collapse seemed to spell the end for the Maya civilization, in fact, Maya culture continues to thrive.<\/p>\n
This Maya king transformed Palenque into a glorious center of power<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
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THE END OF AGUATECA<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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THE END OF AGUATECA<\/span><\/p>\n
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An illustration of Aguateca as it may have appeared in the eighth century<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The twin cities of Dos Pilas and Aguateca stood on a high plateau above Lake Petexbatu\u0301n (modern Pete\u0301n, Guatamala). To augment their natural defenses, the cities were fortified to prevent enemy attacks. Stockades protected the temples, palaces, fields, and even the water supply. Despite these precautions, Aguateca was attacked in 790, the date on its last known stela.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What really caused the collapse of the Maya civilization? Power struggles? Drought? Overpopulation? Whatever happened to the Maya remains a mystery\u2014with clues hidden in the jungle. TEMPLE IN TIKAL Above the thick tree roots of the Pete\u0301n jungle rises Temple … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Ncip-52P","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19395"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19398,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19395\/revisions\/19398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

THE END OF AGUATECA<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n