Der katastrophale Zusammenbruch der Maya zerstörte ein ganzes Netzwerk von Städten in Mesoamerika. Als das zentrale Tiefland von einer Dürre heimgesucht wurde, löste dies möglicherweise eine Reihe von Krisen aus: Kriege zwischen Städten um Ressourcen, der Zusammenbruch königlicher Dynastien, Massenmigrationen und Störungen der Handelsrouten

Between 750 and 900 CE, the population of the Maya lowlands in central America experienced a major demographic and political decline which, according to the scientific literature, coincided with repeated episodes of intense drought. 

For decades, scientists have believed the collapse of the Maya civilization was caused by the climate crisis of the time. However, analysis of sediment samples dating back 3,300 years partially challenges this widely accepted explanation.  

Université de Montréal geography professor Benjamin Gwinneth, an expert on environmental change and its effects on Maya civilization, has done extensive research at the Itzan site in modern-day Guatemala.

Using core samples of sediments taken from Laguna Itzan, a lake near the archeological site, he and his team are reconstructing the story of human activity and climatic conditions there. 

They have found no evidence of drought in the region. Yet the Maya population collapsed at the same time as in parts of Guatemala and Mexico that did experience drought. 

So what happened?

Gwinneth and his team focused on three geochemical indicators in the Itzan lakebed sediment: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which reveal the intensity of slash-and-burn fires; leaf waxes, which indicate vegetation type and precipitation levels; and fecal stanols, which can be used to estimate population density.

These indicators were used to simultaneously reconstruct the evolution of the population, agricultural practices and climate over time, from the first evidence of human activity around Laguna Itzan 4,000 years ago until the site was abandoned about 1,000 years ago.

“The data revealed that the first permanent settlements appeared 3,200 years ago,” said Gwinneth. “There were slash-and-burn fires and an increase in population. During the Preclassic period, between 3,500 and 2,000 years ago, the Maya used fire extensively. They practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, using fire to clear the forest and then growing crops on the fertile ashes.”

https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/7079/2025/