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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 Uaxactùn,
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.
Continued: People of the Rainforest
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