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LATE CLASSIC MAYA COLLAPSE

A. Seibal
    1. heavy presence of Fine Orange/Fine Gray pottery
    2. most impressive buildings date to Terminal Classic
    3. several stelae dating from 10.1.0.0.0 to 10.3.0.0.0 (849-889
       a) portraiture style suggests Chontal-Putun influence
 B. Chronology
    1. 9.18.0.0.0 - 10.3.0.0.0 (AD 790-889)
    2. major construction virtually ceased after 9.19.0.0.0 (810)
       a) last date at Yaxchilan between AD 810-840
       b) Bonampak AD 800
       c) Copan shortly after AD 800
       d) possible reoccupation of Palenque
 C. Events
    1. slowdown in construction and erection of monuments
    2. lack of hieroglyphic texts
    3. long-distance trade contacts ended
 D. Characteristics
    1. "collapse" may be a poor term
    2. failure more complete in core than in periphery
       a) decline most profound at Tikal
          1) population at Tikal only one-tenth of pre-AD 800 size
          2) populations appear to continue in vicinity of Late
             Peten-Itza
       b) increase of activity in northern Lowlands
    3. population centeres abandoned
 E. Reasons
    1. internal factors
       a) natural disasters
          1) earthquakes
             a> evidence at Xunantunich and Quirigua
          2) hurricanes
          3) epidemics
             a> yellow fever
                1> presence in monkeys suggests it may be indigenous
             b> skeletal evidence from Tikal and Altar suggest nutritional
                decline
          4) ecological disasters
             a> decline in soil fertility
             b> silting up of bajos
             c> over exploitation
                1> failure of swidden agriculture
                2> failure of productivity of grasslands
          5) social disasters
             a> popular revolt
                1> suggested by Thompson
                2> evidence and Piedras Negras of broken thrones
                3> increased differences between elite and non-elite classes
             b> rupture in trade
                1> rise of trading centers on peripheries led to collapse of
                   core
             c> competition from Mexican states
                1> traditional ruling elite could not or would not improve
                   competitive efficiency
             d> notions of cyclical history
                1> fatalistic associations with Katun 11 Ahau
                2> may have been exacerbated by distance between social classes
             e> civil warfare
                1> attempts by one center at consolidation
                2> most scholars interpret depictions as small-scale warfare
                   and capture
    2. external factors
       a) foreign invasion
          1) iconographic evidence from Seibal
             a> identified as Putun Maya
                1> people from Gulf Coast
                2> rose to great power in Postclassic period
                3> may have become mercantile center with Altar
                   a: eventually abandoned
          2) lack of evidence elsewhere
             a> suggests invasion may have been more of an effect than cause
                of collapse
          3) shift in pottery inventory at Altar
             a> appearance of Fine Orange ceramics
       b) change in trade patterns
          1) Late Classic Maya may have been isolated
          2) Putun Maya were seacoast traders
          3) demise of Tikal canoe routes so busy in Early Classic
             a> superceded by ocean-going routes around Yucatan
          4) withdrawal of Teotihuacan interaction may have caused Middle
             Classic hiatus

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