Maya Civilization Collapse

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The example of societal collapse in which I will be making reference to throughout this essay is the Maya civilization. The Maya civilization is, “probably the best known of all early American civilizations.” (Fagan, 1995) It was at its strongest point between AD 300 AND 900. Around AD 900 was the time of its collapse. This civilization was developed in a densely, tropical forest on either highlands or lowlands. Today to visit a Mayan site, people would go to the modern Mexican state, capital city of Merida. This site was once home to the “New World's most advanced Native American civilization before European arrival.” (Diamond, 2009) Over the years there has been many predictions on what had caused the Maya civilization to collapse. At the moment the most recent cause that geographers and scientists have come up with is that climate change may have had a major impact on this collapse. It is said that the rainfall received during the creation of the civilization was a key factor in the continuity of life for the Mayans. This and the addition of societal factors such as religious beliefs, ethnicity and education all had an affect on their way of life, an effect on their societal well-being. Art and architecture that was formed by the Mayans is the foundation for the archaeologists work today. They look at these features and the ruins of the buildings created to depict the kind of lifestyle they lived. Looking at the art and architecture of a specific civilization or community of the past is just one way that can help to inform future adaptations. Another way in which the Europeans received knowledge on the collapse was that they sent out geographers and researchers not long after the collapse to gather as much data and information ...

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...eir homes) and erosion. In a cultural and political context there was a competition between kings and nobles as to who led the civilization through war and other events that required military forces.

Works Cited

Diamond, Jared M. (2005) "The Maya Collapses.” Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking, 157-77.

Fagan, Brian M. (2001) "Mesoamerican Civilizations." The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World: Unlocking the Secrets of past Civilizations. New York: Thames & Hudson, 491-509.

Lhote, H., Summers, R., Kirwan, L.P. and Watson, W. (1963) Vanished Civilizations. London: Thames and Hudson.

Mott, N. (2012) Why the Maya Fell: Climate Change, Conflict—And a Trip to the Beach? [online]
Available at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/121109-maya-civilization-climate-change-belize-science/ (Accessed: 28 October 2013)

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