evidence of war

While widely accepted, this theory of the Mayan collapse still leaves a lingering question. Evidence shows that most ancient civilizations dealt successfully with drought at one time or another; so why weren’t the Maya able to cope? The answer, according to recent research, was war.

At the same time the drought was taking hold, it appears the Mayan city-states had their resources and attention focused on something else - fighting. In a way, some evidence of this has always existed in the form of smashed monuments and burned palaces found in the region. In the early 20th century, the Bolshevik Revolution in Russian inspired a theory that rapid Mayan collapse was the result of a popular peasant revolt, fueled by the lavish lifestyles and oppressive rule of the theocratic Mayan kings. Mayan revolutionaries, rejecting religions hocus-pocus from rulers who claimed to be able to bring rain for crops while stuffing their houses and tombs with expensive artwork and jewels, overthrew their priest-kings and, in the process, ruined everything. It wasn’t a bad theory, but it seems that the rulers, not the people, deserve most of the blame.
In the wake of new research, it appears that Mayan cities were locked in something similar to the Cold War, only hotter. Hieroglyphs in the area reveal that two metropolitan “super-powers,” Tikal and Calakmul, were bitter rivals for centuries. Skirmishes between the kings of each city grew increasingly violent, prompting both dynasties to build alliances with other cities via raids, conquest, and royal coups. But, as more and more cities got involved, the warfare spread.
In 2002, a few more clues came to light after archaeologists discovered a stunning new set of hieroglyphic texts carved into the steps of a palace staircase at Dos Pilas (uncovered thanks to an earthquake that hit the region the previous summer). The texts told the surprising story of renegade princes from Tikal, who tried to create an empire of their own by waging a full-force attack on their home city with the help of neighboring allies. Unfortunately, their timing was poor. The invasion occurred during the height of the drought, and the result was pure devastation. Pyramids and temples were torn apart to build fortifications, and what few trees were left in the razed rainforest were cut down to build fences. Eventually, farmers had to retreat to the fast-growing weeds. The war destroyed the cities, leaving behind ruins and refugees. The land could no longer support the population due to the drought, and the government was too weak to do anything about it due to the war. Rather than to remain in the cities and face death, the people scattered, and the jungle eventually reclaimed the land.