Temple of Kukulcán, located in Chichén Itzá – a Mayan archaeological city, in the Yucatán
The idea that the Mayan civilization “collapsed” is wrong. This guarantees a new investigation into the people who mysteriously disappeared, as told in the history books. But is it really gone?
The Mayans are known to have lived between 200 and 900 AD, building large urban centers such as Chichén Itzá and Mayapan.
According to the history books, although the Maya “recovered” during the Postclassic period, from 900 AD until the arrival of Spanish colonizers around 1540, they supposedly never reached their former strength, remember .
However, new research into the northern part of the Yucatán peninsula tells a different narrative: the population that lived in rural areas around large cities did not change for centuries.
“Definitely, the idea of the collapse of the Maya in the post-classic era is much debated,” he says Pedro Delgado Kuarchaeologist at the Autonomous University of Yucatán, in Mexico.
In fact, researchers now believe that the most “reborn from the ashes” after the fall.
After the fall of Chichén Itzá in 1050 AD, drought hit the Yucatán region hard. But when the rain returnedby 1180 AD, Mayapan had become an impressive city.
In addition to great pyramidslike the Temple of Kukulkan, the urban area was surrounded by an 8 km long wall that could barely contain the urban population — some neighborhoods went beyond protectionit says Marilyn Massonarchaeologist at the State University of New York.
“You’ll hear that the Mayan civilization ended in 1000 AD. But it didn’t,” says Masson. “The Postclassic period is a success story of resilience and recovery in the north to the late Maya state“, explain the authors of the article published this month in Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.
The researchers used the “light detection and ranging” technique, better known as lidara technology for remote sensing that can see through dense jungle and reveal the location of ancient towns and cities to obtain conclusions.
Although the population of the urban centers of Chichén Itzá and Mayapan has changed greatly over time, the rural population which provided the resources to feed the capitals of the empire hasn’t changed much between these times.
When city-states fell, much of the institutional knowledge of these places would have been preserved as they fell. administrators moved to surrounding rural areassuggests Masson. “Everything that people say ended with the collapse of the Mayans, you see reborn in postclassic Mayan society“.
Mayapan’s coalition government did not last long. Between 1441 and 1461, the Xiu clan revolted and killed many of the Cocom family members, who controlled the city. However, when this political dynasty fell, people turned to rural areas.
“We were able to prove that many cultural aspects have not changed even today — they remain the same”, says researcher Pedro Delgado. “I’m proud to be Mayan and to work with the remains of what our ancestors did.”
