Archaeological evidence shows Maya cities such as Copán faced severe environmental stress. Drought was a major pressure across the Maya region, while the claim that deforestation caused Copán’s collapse remains disputed. A 2010 PNAS study concluded that Copán cannot be used to demonstrate deforestation as an important cause of its collapse. Although Maya forest clearing had lasting effects on soils and watersheds, that evidence does not establish it as the trigger for urban abandonment. Claims about paint contamination at Tikal and Calakmul, universally non-potable water and simultaneous abandonment of cities after crop failures lack support in the available archaeological literature.
Drought Pressured Maya Cities; Copán Deforestation Claim Disputed
HondurasGeneral
Key facts
- Archaeological evidence shows Maya cities faced substantial environmental stress, with drought a major contributor to regional decline.
- A 2010 PNAS study disputed the claim that deforestation caused Copán’s collapse and concluded that Copán cannot demonstrate deforestation as an important collapse factor.
- Maya deforestation had lasting effects on soils and watersheds, but this does not establish it as the cause of Maya urban collapse.
- Available archaeological literature does not support claims that paint pigments at Tikal and Calakmul poisoned water supplies.
- The evidence does not show that water became non-potable or that entire cities were abandoned simultaneously after crops failed.
Sources
The Archaeology of Copán, Hondurasjstor.org
by D Webster · 1999 · Cited by 56 — Copan, a major Classic Maya center in western Honduras, has been the focus of archaeological investigation for over a century. An intense period of research.
Social organization and the Classic Maya collapse of Copancambridge.org
by TK Manahan · 2004 · Cited by 49 — This article examines the effects of the Classic Maya collapse of Copan, Honduras on its constituent social units in an effort to ascertain the flexibility and ...
Evidence disputing deforestation as the cause for the collapse ...pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
by CL McNeil · 2009 · Cited by 143 — Archaeologists have proposed diverse hypotheses to explain the collapse of the southern Maya lowland cities between the 8th and 10th centuries AD.
Postclassic Maya population recovery and rural resilience ...sciencedirect.com
by MA Masson · 2024 · Cited by 5 — This article addresses Postclassic Maya population recovery in the aftermath of the collapse of Terminal Classic period political centers by 1100 CE in ...
When archaeologists explored the collapse of the Maya ...gauthmath.com
Option A: no evidence linking the collapse of the city to environmental degradation. This is incorrect because archaeological studies have indeed found evidence ...
(PDF) Evidence disputing deforestation as the cause for ...researchgate.net
Evidence disputing deforestation as the cause for the collapse of the ancient Maya polity of Copan, Honduras. National Academy of Sciences.
Evidence disputing deforestation as the cause for ... - PNASpnas.org
by CL McNeil · 2010 · Cited by 151 — Copan cannot be used as a case study to demonstrate that deforestation was an important factor in the collapse of the ancient Maya cities.
Deforestation, agroforestry, and sustainable land ...sciencedirect.com
by CL McNeil · 2012 · Cited by 70 — At Copan, scholars claim to have demonstrated that the Maya failed to sustainably manage their forests in the face of rising populations, and that they ...
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