New Book Explores the Resilience of the Ancient Maya

(Carson, CA) Throughout human history, civilizations have had to adapt to ever-shifting environments in order to survive—whether sudden, catastrophic climate events, or gradual changes that span centuries. These human-environmental relationships are at the center of The Maya and Climate Change (Oxford University Press, Nov. 2022), a new book by California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) Assistant Professor of Anthropology Ken Seligson. 

Since 2010, Seligson has worked on archaeological excavations and mapping in the northern Maya lowlands of Yucatán, Mexico. He wanted to write a book shifting the focus away from the oft-cited “collapse” of the Classic Maya civilization, and instead toward their centuries of socioecological resilience and adaptation.  

“I understand why people are fascinated by collapse, but it’s a disservice and misleading to just focus on the end of the Classic Period,” Seligson said. “The main point of the book was to reach a broader audience and promote the 700 years of human-environment relationships that allowed the Maya to flourish.”  

The Classic Maya period, from 200-950 AD, was a period marked by sustained population growth. The Maya’s innovative use and management of natural resources—particularly of water—helped to support burgeoning, sophisticated cities with thousands of inhabitants.  

“They had elaborate, complex mechanisms for maintaining water systems,” Seligson said. “They funneled rain into reservoirs, mimicked natural biosystems with plants, and used sand and other minerals to filter the water.”  

However, from the late 700s to early 800s AD, climate destabilization began to occur, with increased drying periods and geographical pockets of megadroughts. Though the Maya used mitigating measures to try to preserve more rainfall, many resorted to migration in pursuit of water. 

Other destabilizers including warfare, political jockeying, and civil unrest marked 750-950 AD, known as the Terminal Classic Period. Seligson referred to the period as one of breakdown and transformation, rather than collapse.  

“People ask me what happened to the Maya, as if they disappeared—they didn’t,” Seligson said. “There are still more than 7 million Maya people thriving today, it’s just a different sociopolitical system. Like with every civilization around the world, everything is cyclical and nothing lasts forever.” 

Seligson also acknowledged that multiple parallels can be drawn between the Terminal Classic Period and the present day, and said he hopes humans can learn the importance of “being willing to adapt.”  

“We have to find ways to make the new reality work,” he said.

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