Echoes of resilience and collapse in the Maya world reveal how environment and choices shape civilizations.
Maya collapse coincided with rising rainfall variability, not drought alone, reshaping agricultural calendars and city lifespans.
Some southern Maya sites thrived during northern desertion, trading networks shifting from cenotes to riverine routes.
Remarkably, elite palaces outlasted commoner neighborhoods, suggesting political power persisted even as agrarian collapse unfolded.
Population estimates drop dramatically after 900 CE, yet urban abandonment happened centuries before complete regional collapse.
Maya collapse coincided with rising rainfall variability, not drought alone, reshaping agricultural calendars and city lifespans.
Some southern Maya sites thrived during northern desertion, trading networks shifting from cenotes to riverine routes.
Remarkably, elite palaces outlasted commoner neighborhoods, suggesting political power persisted even as agrarian collapse unfolded.
Population estimates drop dramatically after 900 CE, yet urban abandonment happened centuries before complete regional collapse.
