why were the Mayan civilizations abandoned?

Question

we watched a video about the yucatan [of mexico] and guatemala, and for our video reflection we have to write about why we think the Mayan civilazations were abandoned? please write something that makes it look like a 12 or 13 wrote it. thanks!

Answer 1

The Mayan Civilization resided in parts of Southern Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula) and Central America (ex. Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras). The Geographic features were unlimited including mountains, volcanoes, jungles, coastal plains, and swampy lands.

Some of the typical physical characterstics of the Mayan were short in height from 4 ft. 8 in. to 5 ft. 2 in., straight black hair, painted bodies, tattoos, and flat foreheads. The time periods that they existed are Pre-Classic B.C.2500 to A.D.250 Classic, A.D.250 to A.D.900, and Post-Classic A.D.900 to A.D.1500

They worshipped many different gods representing nature and daily life. There was a variety of religious festival and celebrations including humans and animals. The ruler was the high priest or the living god. The priests had knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. They believed the gods created humans from corn. Once a ruler died, they believed that the ruler would become a god. That's why the pyramids were built over sacred remains of rulers.

The Mayan writing, mathematics, and astrology were very advanced. They used pictures to represent ideas, their alphabet was made of pictures not letters. Their mathematics were more advanced than the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Mayan civilization loved to study the movement of the sun, moon, stars, and planets. There were many observatories built. The Mayan had two calendars one was the Sacred calendar which consisted of 260 days and the Earthly calendar which consisted of 365 days.

The Early Maya were hunters and gatherers. They also used the slash and burn method which means they cut down trees, dried, and then burned them which made ashes which will fertilize the soil. The major food sources were maize, beans, chili, squash, tomatoes, avocado, pumpkin, and cacao. They also had fruit orchards and vegetable gardens. The Mayan agriculture could be considered the demise of the Mayan culture.

The most famous ruins of the Mayan cities are Tikal, the largest city, over 100,000 people with eight pyramids, Copan, the second largest city which still has a ballcourt, Chitchen Itza , which has an observatory tower and the "Well of Human Sacrifice". The cities included a ceremonial center, tall pyramids, large open plazas, and don't forget the palaces. The ruler and priests lived in the center, upper and middle class houses surrounded the center, and the peasants lived in huts on the outer edge of the city. They built raised roads otherwise known as causeways. The buildings were made of stone and cement.

Around 850 A.D. The Mayan suddenly and mysteriously abandoned their cities. There are many theories on this subject. The cause could have been from disease, natural disaster, deforestation, or even revolt.

atp

Answer 2

The Maya peoples never disappeared, neither at the time of the Classic period decline nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Maya remain in contemporary Mesoamerican societies, and maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs, combined with more recent practices such as the almost total adoption of Roman Catholicism. The Maya and their descendants form sizeable populations throughout the region formerly occupied by the states of the ancient civilization. Many different Mayan languages continue to be spoken as the primary language. A Maya Kek'chi' play, the Rabinal Achí, from Rabinal, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, was declared Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of the Humanity, by the UNESCO. Hope this helps,pal.Cheers.

Answer 3

Mayan cities, like all other cities, cannot feed themselves. They have to rely on nearby farmers. As the city population grows, the farmers exhaust their soil. A couple of years of light rainfall and the cities are dead meat. It happens everywhere.

People have been building cities for 25,000 years, but the oldest city in the world is currently Damascus, Syria (6000 years old, more or less). Those 2 simple facts tell the story.

Mayan cities were abandoned, but Mayan civilization lives on in the highlands of Guatemala, among other places.

Answer 4

The Mayans were Raided by the Aztecs whom were more stronger and had a govt and army

Answer 5

No, my dear, you need to write it yourself. But it's not an impossible task. Do some on-line research into the question if you weren't paying attention during the video, or didn't understand it. Write your reflection on the computer first and use spell-check on it and use your own good mind.

Answer 6

Orray i'll help you.

Nobody really knows for sure, but the mos probable reasons were, that their lands didn't produce enough food, and civil wars.Revolts led by peasants. Also they were starting to get harrased by their neighbouring tribes. Also they started to migrate to other places.

I know it isn't much but like i told you nobody really knows for sure.