Mysterious Mayans
- The Mayans are mysterious because when the Europeans arrived off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula they found abandoned Mayan cities. The cities were beautiful and advanced with hieroglyphs, temples, and amazing artifacts.
- It is said that around the year 900AD, Mayan construction and writing had stopped. Cities were abondoned.
- What happened to the ancient Mayan cities is up for debate.
- The Mayan people, themselves, did not all disappear. They were still living in small villages throughout Mexico and Central America, but by the time the Spanish arrived, they had long forgotton their amazing past.
- Nobody knows the real reason that the Mayans abandoned their cities, but many historians and scientists have many theories. A few theories are explained below
- The environment had been so badly damaged through overuse or was not suitable for the amount of people in the Mayan cities.
- War between city-states
- Natural disasters. Drought is common in the area and makes for extremely difficult crop irrigation
- Foreign Invasion
- Revolution by the peasants
- Disease
What is your theory?
Image is from wikipedia