A Concise History Of Mesoamerica And The Ancient Maya Part 5

WHY DID THE MAYA DEVELOP CIVILISATION?

Theories As To Why The Maya Developed High Civilization

What is most incredible about the ancient Maya is the fact that they did not evolve in isolation as a civilization. There were other cultures next to them and around them. None developed such high civilization as the Maya. This certainly was an incredible accomplishment.

Olmec Basalt Head

There are 2 interesting ideas that we do not agree with in as far as what points to why the Maya developed such high culture. The first is the Hyper Diffusionist Theory. This theory suggests that an external culture came into America and helps develop the Maya, such as the Phoenicians and/or the Egyptians. The second is Local Diffusion. This suggests that there was a mother culture in America (Cultura Madre), such as the Olmec, Zapotec or Teotihuacan cultures, from which the ancient Maya developed.

Monte Alban, The Zapotec Culture

We believe that the ancient Maya developed their culture based on a combination of diverse factors or several things made them develop their culture the way they did.

The great scholar and Maya scholar Dr. Robert Sharer suggests three important factors as to why this culture stood out in the American mainland. They are listed below:

• Ecological adaptations – Mesoamerica is such an ecologically  diverse area of the world that there was enough resources to fire up a fantastic economy. For example, salt and cotton in the Yucatan; granite on the Maya Mountains and Jade in the Motagua River Valley of Guatemala.
• There was unity of the elite subculture: The Maya elite shared requirements – they encouraged interaction and trade and they adopted all innovations learned through trade.

With the rise of the population, first simplistic management arose then more sophisticated government became the way of life.

The Chiquibul Maya Forest (Ambergris Today)

With all this organization, amazingly, the ancient Maya achieved a few amazing scientific achievements such as: mathematics, astronomy, writing, monumental architecture, long distance trade, art, non-monumental architecture, a complex social and political system and an incredible religion and world-view system.

What was certain was that the Maya shared temporal and spatial diversity. They spoke many different languages and as mentioned before, the elite were unified.

They also shared a network where much interaction occurred. They were certainly not isolated and they were always at a juncture with other Mesoamerican regions.

Later in the history, certainly from the 500’s AD there is evidence of conflicts between big and small cities. But for sure, by 800AD it would seem that the entire Maya area of Mesoamerica was either at war or at least planning to go to war. The competition for resources and economic control certainly was one of the major ‘dominoes’ that toppled the entire civilization.

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