I keep seeing articles say the Maya collapse was sudden, but a dig report from Caracol shows a 150-year decline

I was reading the final site report from the Caracol project in Belize, and they detail how population and building work slowly dropped for over a century before the big cities were empty. It makes me think the 'mysterious collapse' idea is more for headlines than facts. Does anyone know of other sites with similar long-term decline data?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisa_bennett1mo ago

Yeah that part about the 150 year decline really got me. I always pictured it as everyone just left one day. But a slow drop in building and people over that long makes way more sense. It wasn't a mystery, it was a slow fade. I need to find that Caracol report.

patel.leo1mo ago

Got a link to that report?

alice1211mo ago

Right? That slow fade idea hits different. I totally get why @lisa_bennett wants to find that report now.