Ancient World Review

The Climate Catastrophe Of 535-536 AD

Video from 2017. Part Two here.

"The extreme weather events of 535–536 were the most severe and protracted short-term episodes of cooling in the Northern Hemisphere in the last 2000 years. The event is thought to have been caused by an extensive atmospheric dust veil, possibly resulting from a large volcanic eruption in the tropics [1], or debris from space impacting the Earth. Its effects were widespread, causing unseasonal weather, crop failures and famines worldwide." Source: Wikipedia.

[1] New research blames the catastrophe on a series of eruptions in the northern hemisphere. See note below.

According to the next documentary (2017?), the disaster was caused by a supervolcanic eruption in Central America.

Wherever it happened, the disaster had global effects:

"A mysterious fog plunged Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia into darkness, day and night—for 18 months. 'For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during the whole year,' wrote Byzantine historian Procopius. Temperatures in the summer of 536 fell 1.5°C to 2.5°C [~36 degrees Fahrenheit], initiating the coldest decade in the past 2300 years. Snow fell that summer in China; crops failed; people starved. The Irish chronicles record 'a failure of bread from the years 536–539.' Then, in 541, bubonic plague struck the Roman port of Pelusium, in Egypt. What came to be called the Plague of Justinian spread rapidly, wiping out one-third to one-half of the population of the eastern Roman Empire and hastening its collapse, [medieval historian Michael McCormick] says." Source: Science (Nov. 2018).

Note: According to this Science article, the most recent information I could find, the catastrophe was caused by a series of volcanic eruptions in Iceland rather than Central America:

"Historians have long known that the middle of the sixth century was a dark hour in what used to be called the Dark Ages, but the source of the mysterious clouds has long been a puzzle. Now, an ultraprecise analysis of ice from a Swiss glacier by a team led by McCormick and glaciologist Paul Mayewski at the Climate Change Institute of The University of Maine (UM) in Orono has fingered a culprit. At a workshop at Harvard this week, the team reported that a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in Iceland spewed ash across the Northern Hemisphere early in 536. Two other massive eruptions followed, in 540 and 547. The repeated blows, followed by plague, plunged Europe into economic stagnation that lasted until 640..."

The sources are kind of confusing, but it appears that multiple eruptions occurred around the same time in both the northern and southern hemispheres:

"Scientists had long suspected that the cause of all this misery might be a volcanic eruption, probably from Ilopango in El Salvador, which filled Earth's atmosphere with ash. But now researchers say there were two eruptions—one in 535 or 536 in the northern hemisphere and another in 539 or 540 in the tropics—that kept temperatures in the north cool until 550." Source: Smithsonian Magazine (2015).

As expected, the drastic change in climate had a major impact on civilizations around the world, but the extent of that impact is apparently still a matter of conjecture. For example, "[a] book written by David Keys speculates that the climate changes may have contributed to various developments, such as the emergence of the Plague of Justinian, the decline of the Avars, the migration of Mongolian tribes towards the West, the end of the Sassanid Empire, the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the rise of Islam, the expansion of Turkic tribes, and the fall of Teotihuacán." (Wikipedia)

Keys' ideas aren't widely accepted, according to Wikipedia, but a catastrophe like this would have had all sorts of effects, some of them more subtle than others. For example, the invasions of the Huns probably had more to do with the collapse of the Gupta Empire in India than any change in the weather, but a cooling trend in Asia could have been at least partially responsible for the migration of plague-carrying rats into the West.

One way or another, this kind of disaster could easily happen again. The planet is inherently unstable so the odds are that it will happen again. It's just a matter of time.

The El Ceibal Maya City In Guatemala

"Seibal known as El Ceibal in Spanish, is a Classic Period archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala. It was the largest city in the Pasión River region." Source: Ancient Mayan Ruins.

"... The site was occupied from the Preclassic Period through to the Terminal Classic, with a significant hiatus. The principal phase of occupation dates to the Late Preclassic (400 BC – AD 200), followed by a decline in the Early Classic (AD 200–600). Seibal experienced a significant recovery in the Terminal Classic immediately prior to its complete abandonment, reaching its second peak from about 830 to 890, with a population estimated at 8–10,000 people."

Video from 2015. Closed captions help with this one.

A king named Wat'ul Chatel (830 - ? AD) was the last known ruler of Seibal. According to Wikipedia, his "last monument was erected in 889. This stela is also the last dated monument raised at Seibal and by 900 the city was all but abandoned, the whole region had been engulfed by the Classic Maya collapse and trade no longer flowed along the Pasión [river]-Usumacinta [river] route. Most Classic Maya capitals had already been abandoned and whatever external support Seibal had received from its overlord had vanished. By 930 AD, the site was completely abandoned."

The Drought Theory Of The Collapse Of Classic Maya Civilization

Video from 2015. Ancient Apocalypse was a 2001 BBC documentary series.

Note: "Dick Gill [featured in the documentary] was a most unusual person to put forward a bold new theory explaining the collapse of Mayan civilisation. When he started his hunt for clues, he was actually a banker." Source: BBC (2011). Gill spend a considerable amount of time investigating his theory that a major drought led to the collapse and believed that he had found conclusive evidence that this is what had happened:

"The drought theory holds that rapid climate change in the form of severe drought brought about the Classic Maya collapse. According to the particular version put forward by Gill in The Great Maya Droughts ... '[Studies of] Yucatecan lake sediment cores ... provide unambiguous evidence for a severe 200-year drought from AD 800 to 1000 ... the most severe in the last 7,000 years ... precisely at the time of the Maya Collapse." (Wikipedia)

The drought theory seems to be widely accepted now. LIDAR scans support the theory, according to Wikipedia, and Gill's evidence is apparently pretty solid -- I haven't found any sources questioning the evidence itself. Still, it's possible that drought may not be enough to explain what actually happened.

"David Webster, a critic of [Gill's] megadrought theory, says that much of the evidence provided by Gill comes from the northern Yucatán and not the southern part of the peninsula, where Classic Maya civilization flourished. He also states that if water sources were to have dried up, then several city-states would have moved to other water sources. That Gill suggests that all water in the region would have dried up and destroyed Maya civilization is a stretch, according to Webster, although Webster does not have a precise competing theory explaining the Classic Maya Collapse." (Wikipedia)

Earthquakes may have played a big part in the collapse as well:

"A study published in Scientific Reports in 2016 showed that between 750 and 900 a cluster of four earthquakes affected the wet tropical mountains south of the Yucatán lowlands, which are not vulnerable to drought, and include such important cities as Quirigua and Copán. These earthquakes left detectable destruction in several Maya cities and led to the abandonment of Quirigua. The study hypothesizes that repeated destruction combined with declining trade with the Maya kingdoms of the Yucatán lowlands to propagate the collapse to the southern part of the Maya realm." (Wikipedia)

Related: Scientists Measure Severity Of Drought During The Maya Collapse

Archaeological Park & Ruins Of Quirigua

"Inhabited since the 2nd century A.D., Quirigua had become during the reign of Cauac Sky (723–84) the capital of an autonomous and prosperous state. The ruins of Quirigua contain some outstanding 8th-century monuments and an impressive series of carved stelae and sculpted calendars that constitute an essential source for the study of Mayan civilization." Source: UNESCO World Heritage List.

Note: Quirigua, like so many other Mayan cities, was abandoned during the possibly drought-related Classic Maya Collapse that occurred between the 8th and 9th centuries AD. The city may have collapsed due to a decline in trade and it also appears to have been damaged by earthquakes, but I'm not sure if the quakes happened during the period of the terminal decline in Mayan civilization:

"The local bedrock is a hard red sandstone, which the inhabitants used in the construction of monuments and architecture. This local sandstone is very strong and not prone to shearing or fracturing, allowing the sculptors at Quiriguá to erect the tallest freestanding stone monuments in the Americas. Quiriguá was built directly over the Motagua Fault and the city suffered damage in ancient times as a result of major earthquakes." (Wikipedia)

Hidden Maya Civilization Revealed Beneath Guatemala's Jungle Canopy

Video from Feb. 2018.

"More than 61,000 ancient Maya structures — from large pyramids to single houses — were lurking beneath the dense jungle canopy in Guatemala, revealing clues about the ancient culture's farming practices, infrastructure, politics and economy, a new aerial survey has revealed." Source: Live Science.

"... The aerial lidar survey covered 12 separate areas in Petén, Guatemala, and included both rural and urban Maya settlements. After analyzing the images — which included isolated houses, large palaces, ceremonial centers and pyramids — the researchers determined that up to 11 million people lived in the Maya lowlands during the late Classic period, from A.D. 650 to 800."

Note: This news was originally announced, I believe, in Feb. of this year (2018). The Live Science article excerpted here appeared on Sept. 28, 2018, so this is either old news or an update to the earlier stories.

Ancient Altar Reveals Mayan "Game Of Thrones" Dynasty

Video from Feb. 2018.

"A 1,500 year old Mayan altar discovered in a small archeological site in northern Guatemala is drawing comparisons to popular fantasy drama television series 'Game of Thrones' [1] for its descriptions of the Kaanul [the 'Maya Snake Kings'] dynasty's political strategies aimed at bringing entire cities under its control." Source: AFP.

"The altar, carved out of limestone and weighing around one ton was found at the La Corona archeological site in the jungle region close to the borders with Mexico and Belize, Tomas Barrientos, co-director of excavations and investigations at the site told journalists."

Next video shows excavation work at the La Corona site in 2012.

Related: The La Corona Archaeological Project.

[1] Screw Game of Thrones. These constant Game of Thrones references are just lazy reporting. Every time archaeologists find evidence that some ancient civilization engaged in dynasty building and political infighting -- and who didn't? -- the hacks in the media always compare it to Game of Thrones:

"The Maya Snake Kings tried to take over a city! It was just like Game of Thrones! The Byzantines schemed against each other! It was just like Game of Thrones!"

I'm waiting for one of these slackjawed reporters to say that the Wars of the Roses was just like Game of Thrones, a story inspired by the Wars of the Roses.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones has taken a nosedive straight into the crapper. Now that George R.R. Martin is no longer involved in the production, the great geniuses David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have turned the series into a joke. Season 7 was so bad that I probably won't even bother to watch the final episodes.

So shut up about Game of Thrones already.

Scientists Measure Severity Of Drought During The Maya Collapse

Video from 2015.

"'The role of climate change in the collapse of Classic Maya civilisation is somewhat controversial, partly because previous records are limited to qualitative reconstructions, for example whether conditions were wetter or drier,' said Nick Evans, a PhD student in Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences and the paper's first author. 'Our study represents a substantial advance as it provides statistically robust estimates of rainfall and humidity levels during the Maya downfall.'" Source: Archaeology News Network.

Note: Researchers found that "annual precipitation decreased between 41% and 54% during the period of the Maya civilisation's collapse, with periods of up to 70% rainfall reduction during peak drought conditions, and that relative humidity declined by 2% to 7% compared to today."

No one really knows what happened to the Classic Mayan civilization. A number of theories have been proposed, but the drought theory is one of the more plausible. According to Wikipedia, "[c]limatic factors were first implicated in the collapse as early as 1931 by Mayanists Thomas Gann and J. E. S. Thompson. In The Great Maya Droughts, Richardson Gill gathers and analyzes an array of climatic, historical, hydrologic, tree ring, volcanic, geologic, lake bed, and archeological research, and demonstrates that a prolonged series of droughts probably caused the Classic Maya collapse. The drought theory provides a comprehensive explanation, because non-environmental and cultural factors (excessive warfare, foreign invasion, peasant revolt, less trade, etc.) can all be explained by the effects of prolonged drought on Classic Maya civilization."

Treasure Of Mayan Cave Paintings Discovered In Mexico

"Deep in the jungle, archaeologist Sergio Grosjean Abimerhi and his team discovered what could be the most important Mayan cave paintings on the Yucatan Peninsula." Source: Archaeology News Network.

"...'These are not the only cave paintings in the Yucatan, but they’re the most important because they have so many elements: birds, mammals, a cross, geometric figures, human forms including a warrior, as well as hands both negative and positive,' Grosjean, head of the Mexican Institute of Ecology, Science and Culture, told EFE [the Spanish international news agency]."

Note: The Ancient Architects channel describes these as "pre-Mayan" cave paintings while the Archaeology News Network calls them "Mayan." My guess is that they are a mixture of both.

Mexico Earthquake Reveals Ancient Temple

"A devastating earthquake that struck central Mexico last September gave way to a fascinating discovery: remnants of a rain god temple within an Aztec pyramid." Source: Archaeology News Network.

"The temple, dedicated to a deity called Tlaloc and located within the Teopanzolco pyramid in Cuernavaca, Morelos state, belonged to the region's Tlahuica culture."

Drugs In Early Americas Included Magic Mushrooms And Toad Skins

"From hallucinogenic mushrooms and cacti to alcohol-infused enemas and psychoactive dried toad skins, the array of consciousness-altering substances that people in the early Americas used was wider than thought, a new report suggests." Source: Live Science.