What Triggered The Collapse of The Ancient Maya? A New Study Reads Like a Warning

Mayapan, the capital of culture and politics for the Maya people of the Yucatn Peninsula in the 13th and 14th centuryCE, may have been undone by a lack of water, according to researchers.

According to the researchers, civil conflict would have arisen due to the lack of water.

Smaller and safer settlements would have been the preferred choice for people.

As well as giving us a useful insight into the history of this ancient people, the new study is a warning about how shifts in climate can put pressures on even the most well-established and prosperous civilization.

According to multiple data sources, civil conflict increased in the city between 1400 and 1450CE, and generalized linear modeling suggests that the conflict was caused by the lack of water.

The Maya political and economic structures lasted until European contact in the early 16th centuryCE, despite the fact that they were affected by a long dry spell.

Population change, contemporary diet, and climate conditions are covered in a lot of historical records by the team.

There was a new analysis of human remains for signs of trauma.

There were correlations between increased rainfall and an increase in population in the area. The abandonment of Mayapan is most likely due to the long dry spell of 1400-1450CE.

The people of Mayapan would have been affected by the lack of water. People died or were dispersed as the situation got more dangerous due to the lack of food.

Many of the remains in the final mass grave are believed to be those of the family members of the Cocoms, the heads of state.

"Our findings support Mayapan's storied institutional collapse between 1441 and 1461CE, a consequence of civil conflict driven by political rivalry and ambition, which was embedded in the social memory of Yucatecan peoples," wrote the researchers.

When considering why a historical population acted in the way that it did, there are so many factors to consider.

The Maya culture continued to thrive after the fall of Mayapan due to the movement of people to other parts of the Yucatn Peninsula.

The researchers say that adaptation can only get you so far. The world is once again facing up to a climate crisis.

Archaeology and historical records can be used to examine past societal effects of climate crises.

The Maya region has a wealth of archaeological, historical, and climate records that can be used to study correlations between social change and climate.

The research has appeared in a journal.