Between 800 and 1000 CE, the great cities of the southern Maya lowlands began to unravel. Populations declined, monuments stopped being built, and political power shifted north. The decline of the Classic Maya remains one of archaeology’s greatest mysteries and for decades scholars have debated why this collapse happened, pointing to everything from warfare to shifting alliances.
But new chemical evidence from a Mexican stalagmite adds weight to one theory: climate stress. The evidence shows that repeated wet-season droughts, including one lasting 13 years, lined up with political upheaval, suggesting that severe and prolonged shortages of rain played a decisive role in reshaping Maya civilization.
Environmental change has often shaped history, and this new study shows how stalagmites preserve evidence with striking precision and reveal events from thousands of years ago. Intrigued? Click through this gallery to explore the findings.