09 History

W1: Today, we’ll talk about the collapse of the Mayan civilization in Central America. The . . . um . . . the Mayans were able to flourish during the years that Europe was going through the Dark Ages. While the disappearance of the Mayan civilization remains a mystery, there are many theories behind the cause of their collapse. One convincing theory suggests that the Mayan people were victims of climate change. Yes, believe it or not, climate change. A series of droughts that could’ve lasted over a period of 150 years may have destroyed this great civilization.

M: So the Mayans weren’t conquered by Spanish invaders? 

W1: Well, there were some Mayans around at the time of the Spanish invasion. So they did have an impact on the Mayans that were left. But their civilization had already fallen by then. I believe it was the serious lack of rainfall that was the main reason for the civilization’s

collapse.
W2: How do we know that there were droughts? Didn’t this

happen hundreds of years ago?
W1: That’s a good question. It’s interesting, but ocean

researchers have actually made some amazing discoveries that prove these droughts occurred. They’ve used new technology to analyze segments of the ocean floors off the coast of northern Venezuela. These cores have layers of dark and light sediment that show the annual wet and dry seasons. So within these layers, scientists can determine the amount of yearly rainfall from hundreds of years ago. Within the dry period, there were three major droughts where there was virtually no rainfall for a total of 18 years. That’s incredible! The dates of these extreme droughts correspond with the three phases of collapse of the Mayan society.

M: I understand that water is necessary to survival, but I don’t understand how a drought could destroy such an important civilization. Couldn’t they use their resources to hire people to find alternative water sources?

W1: Well, this lack of rainfall is significant because the Mayans were largely an agricultural society whose economy depended on the production of corn. Without rainfall, the crops would’ve perished. Their major food and economic source would have eventually disappeared. That’s why I think it’s the major theory behind their disappearance.