What Happened to the Mayan's - Essay Example

Mysterious Disappearance of Mayan Civilization MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF MAYAN CIVILIZATION Mayans are the indigenous Mesoamerica settlers. Mayans got believed to be the first culture in the world to use an entirely developed written language. Also, they got credited to be the first innovators in architecture, astronomy, complex mathematics and art. Maya got unified by a mutual language and religious system. Mayan also shared political system, although each kingdom had its own ruler (Childress, 1992).

The Maya did live in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and parts of Mexico. Maya greatest old settlements and sites get located at Copan, Bonampak, Yackchilan, Calakmul, Tikal and Piedras Negras. Maya civilization reached its civilization peak around 750 A.D. After two hundred years, Maya civilization disappeared and collapsed in a mysterious manner. Several theories got made to explain the collapsing of the civilization. Some people believed that the ritual warfare between the Mayans and their neighbors caused their downfall (Childress, 1992).

The Mayans flee their homes for survival due to lack of food and the raging war. This also led to another theory of corrupted and faulty officials in their system of power. Others believed that the downfall was as a result of deterioration of their agricultural system. The mystery gets well elaborated by this theory. Mayans relied heavily on agricultural activities. They believed that their ever increasing population resulted to high demand of food and shelter. The worn out soil was not able to support the demanding population.

Hence, people got forced to leave their homes in pursuit of greener pasture. Apart from soil deterioration, the region experienced a massive drought (Scholl, 2009). A direct proof of showing that Maya areas experienced a massive drought during the ninth century got discovered at Yucatan region in Mexico. A team of researchers from the University of Florida conducted research at Lake Chichancanab and found reliable evidence to proof Gill’s theory. The scientists got concerned in past climates, and carried their research by extracting mud from the bed of the lake.

Shells and seeds got removed from the mud and taken to laboratory for further analysis (Scholl, 2009). The findings in the laboratory indicated that Maya experienced a massive drought during the ninth century. Hence, it provided the much needed evidence in Gill’s theory of drought in Maya.ReferenceChildress, D. H. (1992). Lost Cities of North & Central America. Kempton, Illinois: Adventures Unlimited Press. Scholl, E. (2009). The Mayan Civilization. Hockessin, Delaware: MITCHELL LANE PUBL Incorporated.