Why did mesoamerica fall

The ancient Maya , whose early settlements date back to about 2, B. As a civilization, they are recognized for their sophisticated calendar systems and hieroglyphic writing as well as their achievements in areas such as agriculture and architecture. Around A. However, by the end of the Classic Period, around A. Exactly why any of this transpired, though, is a mystery.

Scholars have suggested a number of potential reasons for the downfall of Maya civilization in the southern lowlands, including overpopulation, environmental degradation, warfare, shifting trade routes and extended drought. The cocoliztli epidemics occurred during the 16th century megadrought, when severe drought extended at times from central Mexico to the boreal forest of Canada, and from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast.

The collapse of the cultures of the Classic Period seems also to have occurred during a time of severe drought. Tree ring and lake sediment records indicate that some of the most severe and prolonged droughts to impact North America-Mesoamerica in the past years occurred between AD and , particularly during the 8th and 9th centuries, a period of time that coincides with the Terminal Classic Period.

Based on the similarities of the climatic severe drought and demographic massive population loss events in Mesoamerica during the sixteenth century, we propose that drought-associated epidemics of hemorrhagic fever may have contributed to the massive population loss during the Terminal Classic Period.

Instead, the ancient Maya civilization consisted of numerous small states, each centered around a city. While these city states shared similarities in culture and religion, they each had their own local leaders, some more powerful than others.

There was no single collapse for these polities; rather, a number of Maya cities rose and fell at different times, some within that to time period, and some afterward, according to scholars.

Maya states continued to exist even after the region was ravaged by war and disease brought about by the European conquests in Central America. A mix of political and environmental problems is usually blamed for the decline of Maya cities. Analysis of speleothems , or rock structures in caves such as stalactites and stalagmites, shows that "several severe — multi-year — droughts struck between [A. Related: Why does rain give off that fresh, earthy smell?