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https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/mercury-and-algal-blooms-poisoned-maya-reservoirs-at-tikal/
For centuries, Tikal was a bustling Maya city in what is now northern Guatemala. But by the late 800s CE, its plazas and temples stood silent, surrounded by mostly abandoned farms. A recent study suggests a possible explanation for its decline: mercury and toxic algal blooms poisoned the water sources that should have carried the city through dry seasons.
Tikal’s Maya rulers built the city’s reservoirs to store water from rain and runoff during the winter months. The pavement of the large plazas in the heart of the city tilted slightly, helping funnel rainwater into the reservoirs. Over the centuries, dust and litter settled into the bottom of the reservoirs, too, providing a record of what the environment around Tikal was like—and what was washing into the city’s water supply. University of Cincinnati biologist David Lentz and his colleagues sampled layers of sediment dating back to the mid-800s, and they found that two of Tikal’s central reservoirs would have been too polluted to drink from.
Journal Reference:
David L. Lentz, Trinity L. Hamilton, Nicholas P. Dunning, et al. Molecular genetic and geochemical assays reveal severe contamination of drinking water reservoirs at the ancient Maya city of Tikal [open], Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67044-z)
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 01 2020, @02:34AM (7 children)
There have been all sorts of fairy tales told, to explain why the Maya kinda faded away. Pollution? Sounds about right.
Of course, there have been traces of Maya found all over the southern US. They didn't all die off. I guess the smarter ones got the hell out of Dodge while the getting was good. Some of them were apparently ancestors to the more modern Seminole, and maybe some other tribes, like the Caddo.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 01 2020, @05:09AM
pelaná!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jelizondo on Wednesday July 01 2020, @06:09AM (3 children)
Anonymous knows some Mayan and you don't
LOL
Sorry pal, the Mayan never went North; they are still around in the Yucatan peninsula and parts of Guatemala. The difference is the cities were abandoned, but the people is still around and so is their language.
I studied some Mayan (University level) and I know you been insulted greatly. Do you?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 01 2020, @04:51PM (2 children)
Never went north, you say? Some archeologists would disagree with that idea.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/317377 [digitaljournal.com]
https://lostworlds.org/category/maya-in-america/ [lostworlds.org]
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/mayan-ruins-georgia-archeologist-objects-web-story-viral/story?id=15291662 [go.com]
http://survive2012.com/american-pyramids/ [survive2012.com]
Now, to be more clear, I'm not suggesting that the Maya moved north, en masse. But, it is pretty clear that the Maya had some influence in the Southern US, and that some Maya immigrated. Can't find the link right now, but one article suggests that SE United States would have been an inviting promised land for the losing side in a political power struggle.
I'll give you that the idea is controversial - but I really don't know why it should be. Didn't African people spread out through all of Asia and Europe, long before the time of the Maya? And, where did the Maya, Aztec, and Inca come from? Aren't we all from Africa, originally?
You might want to study a little more American pre-history, before you suggest that the Maya, and then the Azteca, never came into modern US of A.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday July 01 2020, @11:00PM
Goodness, that link to survive2012.com is mental.
It even has a page titled "Fractal time and the I Ching". I'm going to discount anything it has to say about the Maya as being conspiracy theory grade bullshit.
The ABC News link includes:
Weird, but OK, but oh dear:
Oh, right. Another conspiracy theory.
The Digital Journal link is the exact same conspiracy theory.
The lostworlds.org link is oddly the most convincing, but fails to prove the existence of Mayans in North America also.
It does have pictures of some pottery fragments found in Florida which might be Mayan. They might also be similar to Mayan designs, or the result of trade with Mayans, or something else entirely.
Your links don't show what you're claiming.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Thursday July 02 2020, @03:03AM
Only a couple paragraphs in it's clear this is a crank. An architect, on a clickbait site, argued that there were Mayan influences in the architecture in the southeast. Archaeologists, a bit better prepared to compare the two, concluded long ago that there were generically mesoamerican influences, that's not new. But specifically Mayan? No evidence is given for the assertion, and a couple centuries of scholars have considered, and rejected, the notion.
And then he wanders even further outside his area of expertise and starts making idiotic assertions about linguistics.
"He argues that the languages "of the Creek Indians contain many Mesoamerican words.""
Without arguing the meaning of "many" there are at least a few possible examples. However, note the keyword 'Mesoamerican.' Not 'Mayan.' The Mayan languages are quite distinct. The Mesoamerican influences in the American southeast are more likely Toltec or Arawakan or something of that nature than Mayan.
Anyway, it's just trash, reminiscent of so much 19th century speculation but with no evidence at all to back it up.
"https://lostworlds.org/category/maya-in-america/ "
C'mon man, at least read this stuff before you post it.
"Another Mayan Glyph at Crystal River Site in Florida" - the artifact in question has a layered cross on it, a common geometric shape found all around the world, all the way back to the paleolithic. It no more ties the Mayans to that site than the Solutreans.
This sort of stuff may be entertaining, but it's pure fiction.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday July 01 2020, @06:31AM (1 child)
Errr, what?
"They didn't all die off."
Certainly not, they're the majority in a lot of Mexico to this day.
"Some of them were apparently ancestors to the more modern Seminole"
Not likely.
"maybe some other tribes, like the Caddo."
Even less likely.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 01 2020, @04:52PM
Please scroll up, to see my response to AC. ;^) Yes, there is evidence that the Maya reached Georgia, and probably all of the old Louisiana Purchase territory.