Friday, November 9, 2012
WASHINGTON -- The Classic Maya culture thrived in rainy times and then collapsed in turmoil as the weather turned to drought, according to new research to be published Friday in journal Science.
An international project has created a precisely-dated record of rainfall from cave deposits in the Classic Maya region, and compared it to a 'war index' of hostile events recorded on stone monuments. The research has enabled the team to create a unique historical timeline linking climate and culture in unprecedented detail.
The war index is based on how often certain keywords occurred in Mayan inscriptions on carved stone monuments, and the researchers were able to chart how increases in war and unrest were associated with periods of drought.
The new datasets provide a unique insight into how a civilization prospered and developed, expanding into large cities, during a period of favorable climate and then collapsed following climate change between AD 660 and 1100.
Maya rulers commissioned monuments to record events and the research team found the frequency of texts carved on stone monuments pointing to status rivalry, war and strategic alliances increased significantly between AD 660 and 900, during the drying trend.
The role of climate change in the fall of the classic Maya civilization had previously been suggested, but remained controversial due to dating uncertainties in previous climate records.
The research team reconstructed rainfall for the last 2000 years using the chemistry of stalagmites from Yok Balum cave in Belize. The cave is located 1.5 kilometers from the Classic Period Maya site of Uxbenka and is close to other major Maya centers, all influenced by the same climate systems.
Then, because the Mayans recorded political events and their dates meticulously on carved stone monuments, the team was able to compare its climate reconstruction with the changing frequency of warfare. (PNA/Xinhua)
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