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: 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.