What Caused the Disappearance of the Mayan Civilization...

It is still a great mystery how the Mayan civilization disappeared. This complex society reached its zenith around approximately 750 AD. However, within the next two hundred years, this civilization which was epic in its time collapsed and disappeared leaving minimal traces and even more scanty detail about what could have caused this disappearance. This knowledge gap has led to a lot of debate among scholars over the various possible reasons behind what seems to us to be the abandonment and desertion of these sites. Some of these explanations are suppositions made without convincing proof. It has been understood widely that the collapse of Late Classic Maya civilization involved more than the disintegration of political structure and that†¦show more content†¦The response of climate to any single forcing factor may not have been the same throughout the Mayan region, so it cannot be singlehandedly a strong contributing factor, but seen as a secondary reason behind the total collapse. (Hodell, Curtis amp; Brenner, 1995: 393-394). This theory however manifests a strong reasoning as it provides evidence of climatic changes owing to deforestation or natural climate in the Mayan region for agricultural disaster. Savannas in some localities show possible remnants of an invasion of grass throughout the whole region as a result of excessive shortening of the swidden cycle in response to population pressure, leading to this agricultural disaster because grasslands could not be cultivated with aboriginal equipment (Cowgill, 1964: 152). This is ironic because the Mayans practised sophisticated agricultural methods, but their agricultural tools were not as sophisticated in order to go hand in hand with the practises. This can also be understood as a demographic constraint because the elite class and artisans thrived on the cultivation by peasants and possibly did not have the sufficient knowledge on what kind of tools to make. This is an important factor to unders tand because the peasants had no access to education of any sort and they did not buildShow MoreRelatedThe Origins Of The Ancient Civilization1308 Words   |  6 Pagesdisappearing? That is what happened to the Mayans. In a time span of only one hundred years, the whole Maya population was wiped out. There are several theories about the cause of their decline. Due to their disappearance the great Mayan inventions were lost in time until modern day anthropologists discovered that they made their own calendar and language along with many other things. What anthropologists do know for sure is that the Mayans were an ancient Mesoamerican civilization dating back to 250Read MoreCollapse Of The Mayan Civilization1024 Words   |  5 PagesCollapse of the Mayan Civilization There were multiple reasons for the collapse of the Mayan civilization. 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