Did the Mayans rise and fall with climate change?

LOS ANGELES

Argument has raged for decades over what doomed the ancient Mayan civilization and spurred its people to abandon their awe-inspiring temples and pyramids in the rain forests of Mexico and Central America. Warfare, disease, social unrest and over-farming have all been cited as potential factors in the decline of a culture that was scientifically and culturally advanced for 750 years.

A new study bolsters the theory that large-scale climate change was responsible for the society's demise -- and also argues that changes in global weather patterns also were responsible for their rapid rise.

Using data from a 13,500-year-old stalagmite taken from the floor of a recently discovered cave in Belize, scientists said they were able to assemble a precise record of rainfall for the region going back 2,000 years.

The ancient cave spire was created by rainwater as it leaked from the ceiling of Yok Balum cave and deposited dissolved minerals in a growing mass on its floor, drip by drip. By examining the ratio of atomic isotopes along the length of the stalagmite, researchers said they were able to determine when portions of it formed and how much rainwater fell during each six-month period.

What they discovered was a period of abundant rainfall during the early days of the civilization, followed eventually by drought. The results were published recently in the journal Science.

"Unusually high amounts of rainfall favored an increase in food production and an explosion in the population" beginning around 440 A.D., said study leader Douglas Kennett, an anthropologist at Penn State University. "This led to the proliferation of cities like Tikal, Copan and Caracol across the Maya lowlands."

Researchers said the severe drought that Maya experienced was akin to the one that devastated Mexico in the 16th century and brought crop failure, famine and death. Kennett said those same circumstances likely visited the Mayans during their classic period, which lasted from 250 A.D. to 1000 A.D. While the study adds valuable detail to the ancient climate record, other Maya researchers said it is unlikely to end debate on the issue.

Boston University archaeologist William Saturno said he remains unconvinced that climate change was the primary driver of the civilization's collapse.

The worst period of drought detailed in the report was in Belize and came 100 to 300 years after the time Mayans in that region stopped inscribing major monuments and essentially "went dark" as a culture, Saturno said.

He called it a mistake to believe that drought in one region area affected all areas of Mayan civilization, which also covered portions of what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Saturno said he believes the growing popularity of the climate change theory is based on worries about modern-day global warming. "Oftentimes we're looking at ancient societies as an analogue to our own," he said. "We want to drive home the point -- if we destroy the environment, we'll reach a point where we can't recover."