Watching some National Geographic TV programs this evening about the lost civilization of the Maya, and how much the use of LIDAR is revealing as it allows archeologists to peel back the jungle and reveal the ruins hidden for centuries: Vast hitherto unknown cities. Population estimates ratcheted up from 1 million to 11 times that. Incredible cultural riches being uncovered.
And gone now, swallowed by the jungle. An ancient, highly advanced civilization that flourished for what’s believed to be thousands of years, yet collapsed sometime between 800 and 1000 AD. The currently accepted theory is that they were victims of an ecological catastrophe, a prolonged mega-drought brought about by climate change. While some Mayan groups remained as organized societies until the conquistadors arrived and wreaked their own form of havoc, and Mayan descendants still live in Central America, the classic Mayan civilization was destroyed by climate change effects they could not overcome.
They were but one great civilization that flourished for a time in this planet’s history, then died out and vanished, almost forgotten now, dwindled away to legend or even mere dust.
Have you been to any of the ruins? I’ve been to Palenque and Chichen Itza and it’s amazing what they were able to build without pack animals or the wheel. To think that there are many other cities and ruins that are just as big still beneath the jungle is incredible.
I’ve been to Chichen Itza as well as Uxmal (if you have to pick one, pick Uxmal) and read quite a bit about the latter history of Mexico during the Spanish invasion. Very fascinating history.
One of my favorite books on the subject is Conquistador, by Buddy Levy. Highly recommended.
The archaeologists who explore these ruins are a hardy bunch. Even with LIDAR, they still have to ground-verify what they’ve seen, which usually means a two month slog through some truly rugged country to get there, and dealing with heat, bugs, boot-snagging vines, muck, rivers, hills, etc. while toting all their supplies on their backs. Then comes the painfully slow work of exposing the overgrown ruins to the light of day.
I’ve never been there, but just seeing them on TV is mindblowing for sure. LIDAR has opened up amazing new/old worlds in the jungle, as has satellite imagery. One pioneer in that is Sarah Parcak.
A hardy bunch indeed! I’ve watched a lot of Albert Lin’s programs on National Geographic following archeologists into various wildnernesses to explore sites located via LIDAR and satellite imagery, and it’s just as back-breaking and nasty out there as you can imagine.
Yeah, my wife and I visited Chichen Itza when you could still scale the steps. There was a handy rope down the middle if you wanted to have something to hold onto, but most people took your approach.
AIUI the downfall of the Maya was caused by a combination of factors: political fighting and wars, superstitions, mis-management and fractured organization of resources (food), overpopulation, and drought. Once one of the dominos teetered, the rest started falling. While the civilization was advanced for it’s time, it was unable to work it’s way out of the downward cycle. I think the Maya came after the Olmec, and the Aztec came after the Maya - so each succeeding civilization built upon the former, probably taking things that worked well and advancing it forward - and also apparently moving to a new location. So, it’s not all doom and gloom - had the Aztec not succumbed to new world diseases brought by the conquistadors, who knows what they may have done - perhaps discover Europe?
Sorry to nitpick, but I don’t think it was quite as linear as this. The Maya continued to exist well into the time of the Aztec, and were still around when the Spanish arrived.
“Although Maya society had collapsed in the southern lowlands by 900 CE, cities in the northern lowlands (present-day Yucatan Peninsula) rose to prominence. New cities were also established in the highlands (present-day Guatemala). The civilization continued to exist in the region until the Spanish Conquest around 1540 CE.”
No, not a nitpick - I think that is correct. I should have worded it differently - not that each civilization had an end-point and ceased to exist, but more that one was in decline while the other rose to prominence in the region. The Maya are still present today, IIRC.
Yes, the Maya are still around, a point that our guide made strongly when we visited Tulum. I’ve also been to Uxmal, Chichen Itza and Teotihuacan, where I tried to climb the Pyramid of the Sun and gave up after 10 steps or so–it was just too steep.
Uxmal has the best pyramids, but Tulum has a wonderful location by the ocean.
I know that Teotihuacan isn’t Maya, but apparently there were influences: “The nature of political and cultural interactions between Teotihuacan and the centers of the Maya region (as well as elsewhere in Mesoamerica) has been a long-standing and significant area for debate. Substantial exchange and interaction occurred over the centuries from the Terminal Preclassic to the Mid-Classic period. “Teotihuacan-inspired ideologies” and motifs persisted at Maya centers into the Late Classic, long after Teotihuacan itself had declined. . . .It is believed that Teotihuacan had a major influence on the Preclassic and Classic Maya.” Teotihuacan - Wikipedia
By combing through previously commissioned lidar studies, Auld-Thomas located a survey created to measure and monitor carbon in forests in Mexico. By analyzing 50 square miles (129 square kilometers) in east-central Campeche, Mexico, that had never been searched for Maya structures before, Auld-Thomas and his colleagues found hidden imprints of a Maya city tucked within modern farms and highways.