By Belize Live News Staff: For decades, drought has been the go to explanation for why the great cities of the ancient Maya fell. But a study led by researchers including University of California Santa Barbara archaeologist Douglas Kennett suggests the story is far more complex.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research examined the Classic Maya Lowlands, a region that includes all of Belize, along with parts of Guatemala and Mexico.
The team found that Maya cities grew because of a combination of factors: periods of harsh climate, conflict between groups, and major investments in farming systems that made it more efficient to produce food together.
Those pressures made crowded, expensive city life worth it for farmers, even with the risks of disease, inequality and competition for land.
But the same model also helps explain why people left. According to the researchers, cities emptied when the costs of urban life outweighed the benefits. Land around the cities had been degraded, while improving climate made rural areas more livable, offering people more freedom and independence.
Kennett said the biggest surprise was that cities were abandoned during better climate conditions, not worse.
