The theory that changes to climate (specifically
drought) may have caused, or been a significant factor, in the collapse
of Mayan civilization has been around a while. The Daily Mail reports on some new research into the matter:
According to findings published in the November issue of Science, anthropologists have found evidence to support the idea that radically altered weather patterns led to a long dry spell that triggered a decline in agricultural productivity eventually fueling social fragmentation and political collapse.
Rather than being man made, scientists attribute these alterations to the combined effects of El NiƱo events and changes in the northeast and southeast equatorial winds known as the intertropical convergence zone.
They pulled a 22 inch stalagmite from deep within the cave and using its chemical record to guide the way found that there were droughts lasting decades between the years 200 to 1100 B.C.
Those dates coincide with periods of upheaval and hardship in Mayan history.
. . . The worst drought from 1020 to 1100 B.C. coincides with the accepted end of Mayan culture itself.
Kennett added that the greatest periods of rainfall were in line with eras that Mayan culture thrived from 450 to 660 B.C. and the proliferation of their greatest cities.
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