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Why did the Mayan civilization disappear?

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Why did the Maya disappear is a question that has baffled historians for years. Because the Maya disappeared long ago no one will ever know for sure what happened to them. Many theories exist but none are definitely true. In the PostClassic period the Maya abandoned many of the cities in the south such as Palenque and Tikal and they migrated northward to settle Uxmal. Then Uxmal was abandoned and Chitchen Itza was settled and ultimately conquered by the people of Mayapan. Mayapan ultimately fell to the Spaniards who tried to convert the people to Christianity and forced many to become slaves. Never-the-less the pattern existed that the cities would be settled and ultimately abandoned. Some of the theories are that over population may have caused people to move because there was not be enough food for everyone. The Maya were a farming people and the farmland would not be fertilized like today. The farmland may have not produced as well and caused a famine and thus forced the Mayans to move to more fertile lands. Some historians have also said that droughts may have caused the people to move-since they would have to find land with more water to drink and farm with. Other people have suggested reasons such as climatic changes, earth quakes, and sickness or epidemics. One other big reason may have been warfare from neighboring cities or invaders from other countries. No one will ever know for sure why the Mayans abandoned their cities, but we do know that the ruins are in the jungles with the buildings standing. And the Mayans may have moved for any number of combinations of the reasons listed above. The Mayans were a wonderful civilization and it is horrible that they collapsed. Because the Mayans fell apart so many years ago, no one will ever know why they disappeared. It is mystery that we will never know how to solve. or you can go the site www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm – 70k –... Show More
The Maya peoples never disappeared, neither at the time of the Classic period decline nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Maya remain in contemporary Mesoamerican societies, and maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs, combined with more recent practices such as the almost total adoption of Roman Catholicism. The Maya and their descendants form sizeable populations throughout the region formerly occupied by the states of the ancient civilization. Many different Mayan languages continue to be spoken as the primary language. A Maya Kek’chi’ play, the Rabinal Achí, from Rabinal, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, was declared Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of the Humanity, by the UNESCO.Hope this helps,pal.Cheers.... Show More
This Site Might Help You. RE:Why did the Mayan civilization disappear?... Show More
https://shorturl.im/iTSb9Well, alright. to answer your question, here is a few. Buddhism (a lot of people say that it is a religion, but it isn’t really), Ussr was considered atheistic,The Pirahan and pygmies, and then finally north Korea. Now, onto your paragraph. i respectfully disagree. we don’t know how it would go really and some of the civilizations I’ve listed are pretty screwed up on their own, nothing to do with religion. It might be really great. I would like to see how it goes. the reality is religion is a really great thing, it gives people hope and reason, but people became obsessed and hateful, they got rid of humans rights and hurt hundreds. we still fight about religion. I don’t think we can really get rid of religion, and i don’t think we can get rid of atheism. everyone has their own view of the world. To try to take religion from people would be pretty awful. I think we’re fine as is, we all have out own views and freedoms. we shouldn’t just make a whole civilization based off religion, because every time that has happened in history something went wrong. We just need balance. I respect your view though. hope you are having a great day. 🙂... Show More
♠ all first civilizations appeared due to discovery how to grow a cereal; they are Sumerians, Egypt, China and Mayas too. Now one part of human resources were busy with producing food, another part occurred to be idle. Now the idle part of young people could start doing anything else than agriculture. Thus appeared arts, sciences, crafts, church, construction, army and government to regulate the whole life of society. ♣ Sumerian and Egypt civilizations existed for thousands years, China civilization still exists, Mayan civilization had a short age. Why? Mayan civilization had no big river on its territory like other civilizations. In this situation the fertility of tilted soil cannot be reimbursed yearly like in Egypt, and Mayan agriculture had to be extensive.♦ when initial fertility of all suitable fields came to an end and amount of food abruptly decreased the Mayans could not maintain their civilization. They made a decision to destroy it by themselves; this saved them as ethnicity.... Show More
One of the wild theories about the collapse of the Mayan culture is that they began the practice of castrating their young boys as some kind of rite and so reduced their numbers as the older generation passed away.... Show More
Why is your question under Botany? The Mayan civilisation declined in the 10th century, and much was destroyed after the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. The modern Maya, numbering c4 million live in the same area of s Mexico and n Central America and speak a variety of languages related to that of their ancestors.... Show More
They didn’t disappear. There are millions of Maya still alive in Guatemala and Mexico. They left their cities because of drought and warfare–hundreds of years before the Spanish came.... Show More

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