Avoiding the Fate of the Mayans

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The Maya civilization, at its peak, was one of the most densely populated and culturally dynamic societies in the world. But after flourishing for a thousand years, it abruptly disappeared. Thanks to Landsat satellite data and climate models, NASA archaeologist Tom Sever has gained insights into the event known as the Maya Collapse. His findings can inform our lives today. The presentation, the second in a series of five programs in 2008, is presented through a partnership between the Library's Science, Technology and Business Division and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The Maya civilization flourished in Mesoamerica , in the Peten Region of northern Guatemala. The civilization's demise, in the 8th and 9th centuries, is considered to be one of the worst demographic disasters in human history. Using satellite and airborne imagery, Sever has found evidence that widespread deforestation contributed to the extinction of the 1,000-year-old Maya civilization. Sever's story sheds light on the dynamics of human adaptation and effects upon tropical forest landscapes, and the role of natural and human-induced past and present changes to climate variability. Sever has studied the reasons the Maya were so successful in the first place. He believes that effective water management was the key. Excavations and satellite images reveal networks of canals that Sever suspects the Maya used to redirect and reuse rainwater. The subsequent increase in farming inevitably led to…

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Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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