TROPICAL RAINFORESTS: Human Inhabitants
Lessons from the Mayas
The great Maya civilization of southern Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala reached its golden age around A.D. 250. The civilization flourished for more than 600 years, producing impressive architecture, painting, and pottery, and making advancements in mathematics and astronomy. Giant metropolises, like Tikal, Piedras Negras, and Uaxact�n, were built and vast areas of forest were cleared. Then, inexplicably, the Maya civilization declined. The civilization fell 67 percent between 830-930 A.D. from a peak population density of 2,600 people per square mile in cities, and 520-1,300 people per square mile in rural areas. Archaeologists have spent decades trying to unlock the downfall of the civilization, and today many believe that the Mayas' exploitation of their environment may have played a major role. As they cut their forests, soil erosion destroyed their agriculture. They hunted their game, until it was too scarce to support the rapidly increasing population. The Mayas reached a point when they could no longer feed their population and the civilization declined. Reduced food availability would result in migration away from urban centers and possibly a collapse in civil order.Today, almost 1,100 years later, we are facing many of the same problems as the Mayas: forest loss, soil erosion, overconsumption, declining freshwater supplies, and overpopulation. It's to be hoped that our civilization can learn from the downfall of the Mayas and work to develop a more sustainable society.
|
Suggested reading
|
Continued: People of the Rainforest
Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]
Other resources
Contact me if you have suggestions on other rainforest-related environmental sites and resources for this country.