Climate change helps explain demise of the Maya

By: Katie Mantell

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Climate change helps explain demise of the Maya</h1>
<h4>By: Katie Mantell</h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p>A long period of dry climate, punctuated by three intense droughts, probably played a major role in the collapse of the Mayan civilisation more than 1000 years ago, according to a new study.<BR><BR>A group of Swiss and US researchers studied titanium levels — a reflection of the amount of rainfall each year — in sediment from the Cariaco Basin off northern Venezuela. They identified three drought periods, each lasting a decade or less, that occurred around AD 810, 860, and 910, which correspond to the three phases of Mayan collapse suggested by archaeological evidence. <BR><BR>Living in a seasonal desert and depending on an inconsistent rainfall cycle, the Maya developed a variety of reservoirs, canals, and other systems for collecting and storing rainwater. The three droughts may be what “pushed Mayan society over the edge”, the researchers write in this week’s <em>Science</em>.<BR><BR><a  href="/sci.cfm?redir=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/299/5613/1731?ijkey=mzsV9fC18P1bI&keytype=ref&siteid=sci" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to research paper in <em>Science</em></A><BR><BR>© SciDev.Net 2003</p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/climate-change-helps-explain-demise-of-the-maya/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/climate-change-helps-explain-demise-of-the-maya/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

A long period of dry climate, punctuated by three intense droughts, probably played a major role in the collapse of the Mayan civilisation more than 1000 years ago, according to a new study.

A group of Swiss and US researchers studied titanium levels — a reflection of the amount of rainfall each year — in sediment from the Cariaco Basin off northern Venezuela. They identified three drought periods, each lasting a decade or less, that occurred around AD 810, 860, and 910, which correspond to the three phases of Mayan collapse suggested by archaeological evidence.

Living in a seasonal desert and depending on an inconsistent rainfall cycle, the Maya developed a variety of reservoirs, canals, and other systems for collecting and storing rainwater. The three droughts may be what “pushed Mayan society over the edge”, the researchers write in this week’s Science.

Link to research paper in Science

© SciDev.Net 2003