Drought May Have Ended Mayan Prosperity
February 20, 2011
A new study, which uses tree rings to study the climate record of pre-Hispanic Mexic, has identified four severe droughts in the region during the last 1,200 years. Scientists have suggested that some droughts may have coincided with major historical events. One example worth highlighting is the drought which lasted for 25 years around the year 900 – this is the same time that the Mayan culture ceased to flourish any more.
According to their analyses, one of the most severe periods of drought occurred between 897 and 922, the researchers reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, just as the Terminal Classic period came to an end. Another 19-year drought around 1150 coincided with the fall of the Toltec state, which was the dominant civilization of central Mexico at the time.
