🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Some Maya reservoirs were lined with clay and plaster to prevent water loss.
Tikal, one of the great Maya cities, flourished between 200 and 900 CE in present-day Guatemala. It housed tens of thousands amid dense rainforest. The Maya engineered reservoirs to capture seasonal rainfall. But deforestation to build temples and clear farmland altered the local microclimate. Pollen records show significant forest loss before the collapse. Combined with prolonged droughts, water storage became insufficient. Agricultural yields plummeted. Political authority eroded as scarcity intensified. By the 9th century, Tikal was largely abandoned.
💥 Impact (click to read)
The tragedy of Tikal lies in its feedback loop. Cutting forests increased erosion and reduced rainfall retention. This amplified drought conditions. Reservoirs filled with sediment and became less effective. The city’s grandeur required constant resource extraction. When environmental balance tipped, urban density became a liability. Elite monuments could not conjure rain. The jungle slowly reclaimed the skyline.
Tikal’s story reframes the Maya collapse as environmental and political complexity rather than sudden disappearance. It also highlights early anthropogenic impact on ecosystems. The city’s growth altered its own survival conditions. Once authority weakened, smaller communities dispersed. Civilization continued, but the mega-city experiment faltered. The ruins now rise from forest that once struggled to survive human expansion.
Source
National Geographic research on Maya drought and deforestation
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