Demetrius Raines Strayer University World Cultures I Professor Peacock 5 November 2013 The Mayan civilization The ancient group of people called, Mayans were located in Mesoamerica. They were also known as the Classic Maya. They were believed to exist in the 8th and 9th century. Scholars state a theory surrounding their cause of disappearance. The Ecological theory is the main cause of the abrupt disappearance of the Mayan civilization. The ecological collapse theory states the main reason for the abrupt disappearance of the Mayan people pertains to natural causes such as droughts, climate change, and environmental change. Some scientist states that climate change was the main cause of their disappearance. Unusual shifts in atmospheric patterns took place throughout this time. Volcano eruptions could have been caused by the pattern change which may have destroyed civilization. There were long dry seasons that caused severe droughts each year. This caused a great effect on the Mayan vegetation and fertility. The Mayans hydrological engineering depended on seasonal rains to replenish their water supplies. This epidemic affected many people in the Mayan civilization. In conclusion, I believe this is plausible, because this can be related to modern society. Natural disasters such as, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, and rain storms has been known to destroy cities and take the lives of innocent people in this current day. It is evident that because of the ecological collapse the Mayan civilization could not survive.
References
Joel, P. (2006). Mayan Culture Past and Present. Book Links, 16(1), 59-63.
Gill, R. B. 2000. The Great Maya Droughts: water, life and death. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico