By: Sebastian Alvarez
The Mayan Collapse
The Mayans, a thriving settlement with massive pyramids and beautiful architecture. So
how did it fall? There is no concrete proof on why the Mayan civilization collapsed, but it is
believed that it fell due to drought, immense warfare, and environmental degradation. These 3
circumstances in succession are the major factors on why the mayan civilization collapsed.
Drought, it can be detrimental. Water is the basics of all life and there is nothing good
that can come out of a drought. The Mayans however, were in a drought for a very long time,
around 300 years. They had a 40 year drought from 820-860 AD, another in 930 AD, and a 100
year long drought from 1000-1100 AD. This is a civilization that praised rain and would sacrifice
someone at least once a day in a drought for some rain. If it were only the drought the Mayans
would’ve survived, but the immance warfare took a toll as well
Warfare is a terrible thing that occurs everywhere, but for the Mayans having immense
warfare and no water took a toll on their civilization. Many speculate that the amount of small
settlements around the Mayans were constantly attacking them due to the scarce amount of
resources. Then when the Spanish came in the 16th century and went town after town killing
everyone and taking everything they could, the Mayans knew they were in a bad position and
tried to do everything they could to hold off the Spanish, but unfortunately that wasn't enough
Environmental degradation can destroy a whole population in days, because without land
and water, you can't grow crops, get food, or even hunt. This is what finally started pushing the
Mayan civilizations over the edge, due to the lack of resources they had they started cutting
down all the trees around them for their town. They used so much lumber around their area that
they could barely grow crops, and for a civilization of 80,000 before the Spanish they could just
get by, but once the spanish came those numbers went up to 200,000. There was a serious
resource shortage for the Mayans and with a pending heavy attack from the Spanish, they knew
they were doomed.
This report only scratches the surface on what was speculated to have happened to the
Mayans, the 3 points I talked about, Drought, Warfare, and Environmental Degradation, these are
the 3 main points theorized because there is no concrete proof as to how the Mayan civilization
collapsed, and many believe that if they didnt come in succession, then the Mayans would still be
standing today