According to a new study, the Maya civilization may have had access to about 500 drought-resistant food plants.
We still do not know the secret behind the sudden decline of the Maya civilization. Scientists have long suspected that drought pushed people to starvation.
The Maya civilization faced starvation due to its reliance on drought-sensitive crops such as corn, beans and squash.
Introduction:
Maya are an indigenous people of Mexico and Central America who are native to Mexico south through modern Yucatán, Quintana, Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.
The Maya civilization originated in the Yucatan Peninsula. It is known for its vast architecture, advanced understanding of mathematics and astronomy.
The rise of the Maya began around AD 250 and is known to archaeologists as the Classic Period of Maya culture, which lasted until about 900 AD. At its peak, the Maya civilization consisted of more than 40 cities, each with a population of between 5,000 and 50,000.
But then suddenly between 800 and 950 AD many southern cities were abandoned. This period has been called the decline of the Classic Maya civilizations which confuses modern scientists.
Special features: The Hindu Analysis
1500 BC The Maya civilization settled in villages and developed an agriculture based on the cultivation of corn, beans, squash. Cassava (Sweet Manioc) was also grown here till 600 AD.
They began to build ceremonial centers and by about 200 AD these had grown into cities with temples, pyramids, palaces, ball courts and plazas.
The people of the ancient Maya civilization excavated stone (usually limestone) for construction in large quantities, which they cut using hard stones such as ‘chert’.
They mainly engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture or shifting agriculture, but they used advanced techniques in the fields of irrigation and mountain agriculture. They also developed a system of hieroglyphic writing and highly sophisticated calendars and astronomical systems.
The Maya people made paper from the inner bark of wild fig trees and wrote their hieroglyphs on books made from this paper. Those books are called ‘codex’.
The people of the Maya civilization also developed an elaborate and beautiful tradition of sculpture and carving.
The main sources of information about the early Maya civilization are architectural works and stone inscriptions and carvings.
Other ancient civilizations: The Hindu Analysis
Incan Civilization – Ecuador, Peru and Chile
Aztec Civilization – Mexico
Roman Civilization- Rome
Persian Civilization- Iran
Ancient Greek Civilization – Greece
Chinese Civilization- China
Ancient Egyptian Civilization – Egypt
Indus Valley Civilization – from Pakistan to North-East Afghanistan and North-West India
Mesopotamian Civilization – Iraq, Syria and Turkey
In this article we mention all information about Maya civilization Today Current Affairs.
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