The Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization in the Southern Lowlands: A Symposium Summary

Statement
Author(s): Gordon R. Willey and Demitri B. Shimkin
Source: Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Spring, 1971), pp. 1-18
Published by: University of New Mexico
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 SOUTHWESTERNJOURNAL
OF ANTHROPOLOGY
VOLUME 27 * NUMBER 1 * SPRING * 1971

tdC dC d

The Collapse of ClassicMaya Civilization in the

Southern Lowlands: a Symposium SummaryStatement
GORDON R. WILLEY AND DEMITRI B. SHIMKIN

A review of evidence on the cultural, economic, and demographic collapses in the

Maya southern lowlands after 790 A.D. has led to new theories of the history and
causes of these events. Intense population growth, rising socio-political competition
between centers, sharpening class divisions, and nascent militarism generated difficult
problems for the conservative theocracies of the Maya polity. These problems were
intensified by military and economic pressures ultimately originating from the more
dynamic Mexican societies. Ensuing breakdowns in trade and agriculture led to an
intensifying cycle of disbalances and, finally, collapses. Maya recovery was later
inhibited by the rise of new competing centers with stronger resource bases than
those of the Maya southern lowlands.

EVER SINCE THE TRANSLATION of the Maya Long Count dates and
their correlation with the Christian calendar, archaeologists studying the
Maya have been aware that a radical change took place in Maya Lowland
culture several centuries before the Spanish Conquest. The writings on this
subject are extensive, but even a sampling will indicate the variety of
opinion that has been expressed as to the probable nature and causes of this
change (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937; Morley 1946; Meggers 1954; Jimenez
Moreno 1959; Thompson 1966, 1970; G. L. Cowgill 1964; Sabloff and Willey
1967; Erasmus 1968). In order to examine this question of the collapse more
thoroughly, a group of archaeologists and anthropologists organized and held
a symposium on the subject. This paper is a summary presentation of their
symposium deliberations and tentative conclusions.1 It is organized under six
1 The symposium was held under the aegis of the School of American Research, Santa
Fe, New Mexico, on October 19-24, 1970. The symposium was partially supported by a
grant from the National Science Foundation (GS-3182).Participants included: R. E. W.
Adams,E. W. AndrewsIV, W. R. Bullard, Jr., T. P. Culbert,J. A. Graham,Robert Rands,
1
2 SOUTHWESTERNJOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

sub-heads that approximate, in substance and in order, the nature and course
of the symposium discussions: 1) the problem; 2) the archaeological data
structure; 3) the Maya climax; 4) inferred internal stress factors; 5) the
collapse; and 6) the inhibition of recovery.
THE PROBLEM

Very briefly-and from the standpoint of archaeological description-the

drastic change in Maya Classic culture that has been referred to as the collapse
is seen in the cessation of elaborate architectural construction, monumental
art, and the carving and erecting of dated stelae. In addition, although this
was not altogether clear to the earlier workers in the field, most of the ancient
Maya cities or centers were abandoned at about the same time. These changes
in prehistoric Maya culture and society can be observed most strikingly in the
southern half of the Maya Lowlands-in what is the Guatemalan Peten,
adjacent Chiapas, Tabasco, and Campeche to the west, and British Honduras
and the edge of Honduras to the east. In the northern half of the lowlands-
in the Yucatan Peninsula-what appeared to be related changes in Maya
culture also occurred, although here, perhaps, the changes were less marked
than, and possibly not fully synchronous with, those of the south.2
The research problem is two-fold: to reconstruct the history of events
that are associated with the southern lowland Classic Maya cultural failure
and to explain the causes that brought it about.
In the last 20 years, much of Maya archaeological research has been
carried out with the question of the Maya civilizational collapse in mind; we
now know somewhat more about the circumstances of the cultural changes
in the Maya Lowlands than we did previously. The development of ceramic
sequences in a number of regions, their cross-dating, and their integration
with the Maya dated-monument calendar have provided us with better
chronological control than was available when the collapse phenomena were
first observed. Settlement pattern studies, which have embraced domestic
dwellings as well as ceremonial center constructions, have given us a more
J. A. Sabloff,W. T. Sanders,D. B. Shimkin,MalcolmWebb, and G. R. Willey. A monograph
on the results of the symposium,including backgrounddata papers by all participantsand
a lengthy summaryof the discussions,will be published by the School of AmericanResearch.
The present paper is a revised version of one presented at the annual meetings of the
American AnthropologicalAssociationin San Diego, California, in November 1970.
2 There is sharp differenceof opinion between Andrews(1965),who believes that the
Maya Late Classic(Tepeu) culture of the southern lowlands was extinct before the rise of
the Florescent(Puuc, Chenes, Rio Bec) cultures of the northern lowlands, and most other
Maya archaeologists,who feel that the southern Late Classic and the northern Florescent
were essentiallycontemporaneous.This complex question cannot be explored here but will
be treated in the longer monographicpresentationof the symposium proceedings.While
not immediatelygermane to the cultural collapse of the south, it has an obvious tangential
bearingupon it.
 CLASSICMAYA COLLAPSE:SYMPOSIUMSUMMARY 3

realistic conception of prehistoric population sizes and their changes through

time and have indicated, within reasonable limits, the degree to which we
are talking about true abandonments of entire regions or, instead, only the
dwindling or cessation of monumental architectural activities. Some progress
has been made with ecological concerns as well. We have a clearer picture of
just what could have been grown and harvested in the rainforest jungles, and
under what conditions, than we did. Finally, archaeological research has
progressed rapidly in other parts of the Mesoamerican sphere, of which the
Maya Lowlands is and was an integral part; and this has resulted in a number
of insights that were impossible before for lack of more precise and systematic
archaeological knowledge.
Specifically, we must reject the ingenious iconoclastic view of Erasmus
(1968) that there was in fact no collapse of Maya civilization in the southern
lowlands but rather a mere re-orientation to a more secular, pragmatic, and
warlike society. Erasmus is correct in emphasizing that labor-saving architec-
tural techniques are signs of progress via more efficient use of resources rather
than of decay. He has also anticipated an emphasis in our findings that the
Maya must be considered not as isolates but within a larger Middle American
context. Nevertheless, these qualifications should not obscure the great pre-
ponderance of evidence for cultural, economic, and demographic collapses
in the Maya southern lowlands after A.D. 790.
There remain many shortcomings-in the data and, no doubt, in the way
the data have been put to use. These will be exposed in the following discus-
sion and need not be listed here. It goes without saying that all of us who are
represented by this summary preliminary presentation of the Santa Fe (School
of American Research) symposium on the Maya collapse are dedicated to
finding out whatever we can about the problem and, at least, are hopeful (al-
though in varying degrees) of determining process and cause, from the
archaeological evidence available to us, behind the events of the Maya Classic
collapse.
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
DATA STRUCTURE
The archaeological regions and sites with which we were particularly con-
cerned are: 1) those of the northeastern Peten, especially Uaxactun and
Tikal, where there has been intensive investigation and where there are long
archaeological sequences; 2) the Belize Valley of British Honduras, with
Barton Ramie and Benque Viejo; 3) the Pasion drainage, with Altar de
Sacrificios and Seibal; and 4) the western edges of the southern lowlands and
the sites of Piedras Negras, Palenque, and Trinidad. At its widest, the
chronological range with which we are concerned spans from about A.D.
600 until the Spanish Entradas of 1520-1540, in other words, the Late Classic
4 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

and Postclassic Periods. But within this we can narrow dates down consider-
ably more when we come to the events of the collapse. The beginning of the
cultural decline is first noticed at the Maya katun ending 9.18.0.0.0 (A.D.
790).3 In the terms of the ceramic chronologies this is in the latter half of the
Tepeu 2 sphere. By 10.0.0.0.0 (A.D. 830), which may be considered as the
beginning of Tepeu 3, there had been a notable decline in architectural and
sculptural activities in most of the southern lowland centers. The katun
ending 10.3.0.0.0 (A.D. 889) sees the last of dated monuments in the south;
and very shortly after this-certainly by 10.6.0.0.0 or about A.D. 950-the
Maya southern Classic centers were to all purposes abandoned. The Tepeu 3
ceramic sphere probably had died out before this; certainly it lasted no longer.
Subsequently, although this takes us beyond the essential events of the
collapse, the Postclassic occupation of the southern lowlands relates to other
pottery traditions. One of these is known as the Central Peten tradition (con-
sisting of the Augustine, Paxcaman, and Topoxte ceramic groups);4 the
other is that of the Fine Paste pottery wares and is best known from sites on
the Usumacinta-Pasion drainage in the western and southern Peten. These
pottery traditions-which are notably different from the old Classic ones-
characterized the Maya populations who continued to live in, or who moved
into, the southern lowlands after the events of the collapse. All our archaeo-
logical data indicate that these Postclassic populations were of notably
smaller size than those who had occupied the area prior to the collapse. One
of the few known clusterings of these late populations was around the Peten
lakes-including Lake Peten Itza and Lake Yaxha. All during the Early and
Middle Postclassic their style of life appears to have been that of simple
villagers. However, in the Late Postclassic, small ceremonial centers were built
on the lake islands in a kind of cultural "revival" which may relate to the
Late Postclassic cultures of the northern lowlands but which has little in
common with the old southern Classic culture.
THE MAYA CLIMAX

The period immediately before the century of the collapse marks the
climax of Maya Lowland civilization. For most of the southern lowlands this
period can be narrowed to the earlier part of the Tepeu 2 horizon or from
about 9.14.0.0.0 (A.D. 711) to 9.18.0.0.0 (A.D. 790). Included in the horizon
would be Tepeu proper at Uaxactun and related phases at many other sites,
including the Tepejilote at Seibal, the Pasion at Altar de Sacrificios, the
3 Here and elsewhere, Maya Long Count dates are rendered in the 11.16.0.0.0 (GMT)
Correlation.
4 This Central Peten ceramic tradition is discussed by Bullard in his symposium data
paper. Similarly, other new data and new formulations to which we will refer have come
from the symposium background data papers. These will not be cited specifically.
 CLASSIC MAYA COLLAPSE: SYMPOSIUM SUMMARY 5

Chacalhaaz at Piedras Negras, Naab at Trinidad, and Early Spanish Lookout

and Benque Viejo IIIB in the Belize Valley. In other sites there are indica-
tions that this period of the climax or "peak" was of somewhat longer dura-
tion, beginning a century or so earlier, as at Palenque and Tikal (Haviland
1970). Everywhere, though, it was a Late Classic Period phenomenon of 100
to 200 years duration.
This climax of the Maya Classic is seen in a number of ways. Demograph-
ically, it marked a population peak in the south. More ceremonial centers
are known from this period than ever before. Virtually all of those which had
been occupied in Preclassic and Early Classic times were now built over;
and, in addition to these, many new centers were founded. House mound or
domestic dwelling surveys show Tepeu 2 as the peak period of construction
and occupation. Absolute population figures for the entire southern lowlands
or any sizable part of it must still be highly speculative. Such estimates have
been approached in two ways: through settlement studies and domestic struc-
ture counts and through computations on the carrying power of the available
agricultural land. The first approach offers a more promising beginning; but
we still do not have enough settlement samplings for large-scale population
reckonings. Some centers, such as Seibal, appear to have been supported by
sustaining area populations of as few as 3000 persons (Tourtellot 1970). In
contrast to this, the great center of Tikal is estimated to have drawn upon
the services of about 50,000 (Haviland 1969). Reckonings from agricultural
production estimates per unit of land are hampered because we cannot be
certain of the degree to which more intensive agricultural methods supple-
mented swidden farming of maize. Recent studies and observations suggest
that there were intensifying and supplementing techniques. Agricultural
terraces in some regions and reliance upon root crops and breadnut harvests
are possibilities; it is highly likely that all of these techniques were employed
in Late Classic times.
The Maya climax can also be measured in sheer architectural volume in
the ceremonial centers. Regional authorities state that the estimated differ-
ences in construction volume between the Tepeu 2 horizon (8th century
A.D.) and the Tepeu 3 horizon (9th century A.D.) range from an order of
10 to 1 to as much as 100 to 1. One of the few exceptions is Seibal, but it
presents a special case, to which we will return later. The authorities are
also agreed that the Tepeu 2 building volume was probably substantially
greater than that of the periods leading up to it, although here the contrast
was not so marked.
Art, ceremonialism, and calendrics also peak in Tepeu 2 times. There are
more dated monuments from the 8th century A.D. than from any time pre-
vious or later. There are more hieroglyphic inscriptions. There are more
6 SOUTHWESTERNJOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

temple and palace buildings, especially the latter. Even allowing for the
fact that the Tepeu 2 horizon constructions are the latest ones at most sites,
and that therefore they are more visible and more frequently hide or cover
earlier constructions and decorative adornments, it still seems reasonably
certain that the Tepeu 2 time horizon marks the major elaborations of
politico-religious buildings. The same florescence can be seen in Tepeu 2
polychrome pottery and in contemporaneous craft luxury goods of all kinds.
Finally, there are many indications, as these can be inferred from the
archaeological evidence, that Maya socio-political structure also attained its
most complex development in Tepeu 2 times. Maya society, from at least
Late Preclassic times forward, had been a ranked one. This is reflected in
burial differences and in artistic representations of elaborately costumed high
dignitaries interviewing petitioners or persons of lesser status, but as we move
to Late Classic times there are many clues to the rise of a truly stratified or
class society. The locations and accoutrements of burials provide one line of
evidence for this (Rathje 1970). Another is the proliferation of multi-roomed
palace-type buildings in the ceremonial centers (Adams 1956). Substantial
numbers of people of both sexes and all ages were now living in and being
buried in the ceremonial precincts. Moreover, the physical remains of these
ceremonial-center dwellers show a greater stature than those of fellow Maya
buried in the outlying domestic-quarter districts (Haviland 1967). Hiero-
glyphic inscriptions, insofar as they can be translated, tell us of royal lineages
(Proskouriakoff 1963, 1964). In sum, the interpretations lead easily to that of
an emerging hereditary aristocracy as the guiding force of Late Classic Maya
civilization.
Just how far along the road to the development of the "state" the Maya
had actually marched, in addition to the development of a class society, is
not yet clear from the archaeological record-or from the way different
authorities interpret it. There was some warfare or fighting, we know; but
there are no signs, other than the Piedras Negras lintel with its suggestions
of uniform and rank, of a professional military body or class like the Central
Mexican Eagle or Jaguar "Knights." Nor are there any sure signs of the
large open markets such as existed in Tenochtitlan and Teotihuacan. There
is evidence for trade, to be sure, but a redistributive system, controlled by
the aristocracy, seems a more likely mechanism for the circulation of trade
goods. There were obviously some craft specialists in Ancient Maya society,
but how many were full-time is uncertain. So far, even at Tikal, which was
the largest Classic center and the one most closely resembling an urban
metropolis that Maya civilization produced, there are only slight indications
of craft barrios (Haviland 1970), such as are reported for Teotihuacan and
Tenochtitlan. To sum up, Maya socio-political structure of Tepeu 2 times
 CLASSICMAYA COLLAPSE:SYMPOSIUMSUMMARY 7

had moved fartheralong the way towarda state society than at any previous
point in its history.It still, however,had not advancedas far on this course
as someof its contemporariesin the Mesoamericanworld (Willey MS).

INFERREDINTERNALSTRESSFACTORS
As noted, we can date the decline of Maya Classic civilization of the
southernlowlands to the 9th centuryA.D., at the end of which period this
unique and spectacularway of life disappearedforever.The archaeological
recordalso showsus that this civilizationhad reachedits zenith-in the size
and complexity of its society and in its material creations-in the century
just prior to decline. If we assumethat it is at least a reasonablepossibility
that the nature and condition of Maya Lowland civilization in some way
contributedto its decline and collapse,we may then properlyask: what were
the internalstressfactorsoperatingwithin the societyduring its heyday?And
how might they have contributed to its downfall?
First, in the ecological-demographic realm, it is possible that the expan-
sion and intensification of agriculture, which necessarily supported the
population increasesof the Late ClassicPeriod,made the Mayamore vulner-
able to short-termagricultural disasters.If agricultural terracing, the ex-
ploitation of marginalagriculturallands such as savannasor bajos,the grow-
ing of root crops (Bronson 1966),and a partial dependencyupon breadnut
harvests(Puleston 1968)were all being carriedout to maintain the Tepeu
2 population levels-and if these variousfacets of agriculturewere carefully
scheduled to allow for maximum man-powerto be diverted to other, non-
agriculturalactivities-then farming or food-productionfailures, if only of
a short-termnature, could have brought about imbalancesand crises and
thus easily triggeredlong-termtrouble.
Second,extensive land clearanceand the more intensive agriculturaluse
of lands and bogs would have reducedanimal, fish,and mollusk populations
and, hence, the suppliesof animalprotein.In the areasof densestoccupation,
such as Tikal, even cookingfuel for the commonermight have becomescarce.
Pressureson the forestsand bogs, and denserand more stable human popula-
tions would have increasedthe hazardsof disease by way of insect vectors
shifting to new hosts. In particular,Chagas'diseaseis likely to have contrib-
uted heavily to infant mortalityand to adult debilitation (Gonzalez-Angulo
and Ryckman 1967; K6berle 1968). Periodic epidemics of jungle yellow
fever would have been increasing threats as forest clearance disturbed
monkey populations and other wild-animal reservoirsof this disease (Na-
tional ResearchCouncil 1962).
Moreover,new land clearanceand other attempts to expand marginal
food-producingresourceswould have decreasedoverall labor productivityin
8 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

agriculture at a time of sustained and probably growing demand for man-

power for ceremonial construction, transportation, and social control.
Third, there was undoubtedly considerable competition between cere-
monial centers. Overt signs of it are seen in pictures of captives, who are
obviously other Maya, not foreigners. This competition is probably to be seen
more covertly in the magnificence of the centers themselves. They represent
great numbers of man-hours of skilled craftsmanship and, on the highest
social level, of priestly-aristocratic scholarship. In efforts to outdo each other,
to draw more wealth and prestige to themselves, to bring more worshippers
and taxpayers into their particular orbits, the priest-leaders of these Maya
"cities" must have diverted all possible labor and capital to their aggrandize-
ment. New emerging centers and ruling lineages needed particularly to con-
solidate their statuses through ceremonial splendor. And this competition,
too, would have involved more mundane and crucial matters such as food-
stuffs, a point at which this stress relates to the previous one.
A fourth stress factor has often been mentioned as one which might have
led to a "peasant revolt" or perhaps a "peasant collapse." This was the fruit
of the growing gulf, the increasing social distance between the aristocratic
leadership and the sustaining farming populations. We have discussed this
in our observations about Maya socio-political structure and the transforma-
tion from a ranked, and probably kin-based, society to a class-structured one
(Rathje 1970). Such a process need not have led to a "peasant revolt" to have
had deleterious effects on the Maya system. A growing upper class (Haviland
1966), together with its various retainers, would have increased the economic
strain on the society (Willey et al. 1965:580-581), particularly in conjunction
with both the first and second stress factors. The skeletal evidence to date,
although still sparse, indicates that by Late Classic times the skeletons of
commoners were appreciably smaller and less robust than those of the elite
(Haviland 1967).5 A concurrent increase in maternal and infant mortality
from disease and malnutrition is also probable (Saul MS). In some areas, in
fact, it is possible that by the end of the Classic period the numbers of com-
moners were being maintained only by recruitment and capture from other
sites. Yet the upper class continued to grow and to expand its demands for
luxury and funerary splendor. This required the allocation of considerable
5 Haviland writes more recently (personal communication, 8 January 1971) that revised
Tikal stature data now indicate the situation to have been much the same for both Early
and Late Classic. That is, the physical anthropological evidence for an aristocracy-peasant
split suggests that this came about at the close of the Late Preclassic rather than later. It
should also be noted here that in his most recent interpretation of all Tikal data Haviland
finds fewer differences between Early and Late Classic conditions than did the members of
the symposium in their interpretations of the southern Maya lowlands as a whole.
 CLASSICMAYA COLLAPSE:SYMPOSIUMSUMMARY 9

resources for the conduct of long distance trade and the production of fine
manufactures for export. This leads us to our fifth stress factor.
Long-distance trade was probably always of importance to the Lowland
Maya. In fact, it may well be that the demand for obsidian and salt and, in
some places, for suitable stone for metates and manos was the lever that
started the Maya on the way toward the organization of a complex society
(Rathje 1969). Trading expeditions had to be organized. Entrepreneurs in
trade were thus able to elevate themselves to positions of power by their con-
trol and distribution of trade goods. Later, with the rise of chiefdoms, luxury
products were imported as status symbols, and this trade flourished and in-
creased with the consolidation of social classes. Trade fed into and was an
important part of the Maya cultural system. It demanded time, wealth, and
administrators or managerial personnel. It was both a benefit and a source
of hazards.
Foreign trade put Lowland Maya society into juxtaposition with the
more dynamic and aggressive societies then emerging in Mexico. Better craft
organization and, often, access to superior resources made these societies
formidable competitors. Their representatives were shrewd professional mer-
chants, probably often backed up by military force and eager to profit from
Maya wealth and disunity.
This takes us to the threshhold of the collapse.

THE COLLAPSE

Up to this point in our deliberations, the symposium group had displayed

an amazing concord of opinion. Arguments on the archaeological structure
of events for the southern lowlands were minor and easily reconciled. The
9.18.0.0.0 to 10.3.0.0.0 bracketing of the swift decline of the civilization is as
solid as is the joint opinion on the mounting Maya climax of the preceding
century. The slowdown and stoppage of Maya ceremonial center architecture
and great art, the abandonment or partial abandonment of these centers, and
the population decline and evacuation of village and hamlet settlements were
also agreed upon. Nor was there any real disagreement about the probable
stress factors operating within the Maya Late Classic system. But when we
came to the actual events of the collapse or, more properly, the mechanisms
and causes of these events, we hit some rough ground. Without reporting in
detail on the division in this preliminary summary, let us say that some of
us were "internally" oriented while others were "externally" oriented. After
a few hours of argument two areas of agreement in this field of debate did
emerge. One was that we must admit that Maya society and culture-and its
eventual fate-cannot be properly understood except in the larger context of
10 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Precolumbian Mesoamerica. The other was that the Maya collapse was a
complex phenomenon combining a variety of internal and external events,
still imperfectly understood, into an intensifying disaster.
To place the Maya in Mesoamerican-wide perspective, let us start by
noting that Maya beginnings were intimately involved with other Late Pre-
classic cultures of southern Mexico-Guatemala. Then, in its Early Classic
Period, the Maya culture had important contacts with Central Mexican
Teotihuacan. Finally, we know that the eventual history of the Postclassic
Maya was bound up with Central Mexican cultures. Now, this last does not
mean that the southern Lowland Maya were brought down by invaders from
some other part of Mesoamerica-especially Mexican or Mexican-influenced
groups.6 But there was agreement that the Lowland Maya were very much a
part of a larger diffusion sphere, that there had been an intensification of
regional inter-influencing toward the end of the Late Classic Period, and,
further, that the kind of culture which the Lowland Maya possessed at that
time would have been particularly vulnerable to the main currents of influ-
ence running through Mesoamerica in the 8th and 9th centuries A.D.
For Maya Classic society, let us remember, was the old kind of Meso-
american society, the kind that was born with the Olmec. We could call it a
"high chiefdom," based on sanctified rank, on hereditary leadership, and on
the beginnings of an upper-class bureaucracy (Fried 1960, 1967; Sanders and
Price 1968). The remainder of the society was largely that of a peasant class,
with only an emerging group of specialists and retainers. Hierarchies of cere-
monial centers and their sustaining areas developed and were to a degree
consolidated by warfare and perhaps the control of resources such as ob-
sidian. Yet the society was neither fully stratified nor authoritatively admin-
istered. Within each area, treasure items such as polychrome pottery long
continued to flow to all social levels; distinct strata and taxation without fair
returns emerge only in Late Classic times. The competitions of the elite were
long moderated and regulated by participation in common esoteric knowl-
edge, by ceremonial visits, and by dynastic inter-marriage and alliances.
This kind of society began to be replaced toward the end of the Pre-
classic Period, at Teotihuacan and probably at places like Monte Alban
and Kaminaljuyu. In the Maya Lowlands this old form of society persisted
later than it did in most other parts of the Mesoamerican area; but in so doing
it came into contact with the new society, the state structure of the Central
Mexican highlands. These contacts first came from Teotihuacan back in
Early Classic times. They definitely involved trade, and in some places, as at
6 The Sabloff and Willey (1967) formulation sought to emphasize the evidence for
external invasions. These authors now view the postulated invasions as parts of a wide
historicaland developmental(or evolutionary)perspective.
 CLASSICMAYA COLLAPSE:SYMPOSIUMSUMMARY 11

Tikal, these contactsinfluencedthe high ceremoniallife of the Maya.Thus,

it seems quite probable that Lowland Maya economics and politics under-
went some changes as the result of these Early ClassicPeriod relationships
with CentralMexico. This suppositionis reinforcedby the fact that it is in
the Late Classic,following the Teotihuacancontacts,that we see the changes
indicative of a developing class structure.These changeswere obviously re-
lated to population growth in the lowlands, but they also could have been
responsiveadaptationsto Mayan participationin the wider Mesoamerican
economicand politicalscene.
After the disappearanceof Teotihuacan influence there are no signs of
comparableMexicanimpingementson the MayaLowlandrealm for at least
200 years.There are, to be sure,some evidencesof Mexicancontacts.Tlalocs
are a minor but widespreadmotif in Late Classic Maya sculpture and also
occuron Late Classicpottery (Smith 1955:72).There are also other elements
in the art of some of the westernlowland centers(Proskouriakoff1950, 1951)
which reflectcontactswith cultures to the north and east. But in all of these
instancesthe foreign elementshave been thoroughlyintegratedwith those of
the residentMaya.For the mostpart, the Mayaof Tepeu 1 and 2 timesappear
culturally quite self-contained,although there were trade contacts for raw
materials with outside areas. This brings us to the brink of the collapse.
As we have noted, the cultural decline leading to the collapse started in
the latter part of the Tepeu 2 horizon (ca. A.D. 790), just 20 years after the
peak of big building constructionand stelae dedication had been reached
throughoutthe Mayasouthernlowlands.This decline is seen in a numberof
ways.The earliesteffectiveabandonmentsof big ceremonialcenters,such as
PiedrasNegras and Palenque, come at this time. In other sites where stelae
continued to be carvedand erectedthere are lossesof lunar informationand
full calendrical terminology in the dates and inscriptions of this katun
ending. The iconographyof the remainingmonumentsstresseswar and po-
litical ceremonialismto a high degree.A ceramicregionalismsets in, indicat-
ing a breakdownin inter-site trade in fine polychromesand also a general
decay of ceramic decoration. The Piedras Negras and Palenque abandon-
ments are either coincidentwith the appearanceof a new pottery tradition-
that of Fine Graywares-at those sites or occurjust before the appearanceof
these wares. A little later, at the Maya date of 10.0.0.0.0(A.D. 830), Fine
Orangeof the Balancan("Z")and Altar ("Y")groupsappearas intrusivesin
the west, at Palenque,and on up the Usumacinta-Pasiondrainageat Altar de
Sacrificiosand Seibal. They appear in the contexts of local Classic Maya
ceramictraditions;they are clearlyexotics in these Pasion site contexts;and
it seemslikely that these Fine Pastewareswere made in the Chiapas-Tabasco
lowlands.
12 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

After A.D. 830 we move into the Tepeu 3 horizon, which brought the
acceleration of the Maya Classic decline. During this period Fine Orange
wares are found farther to the east, as at Uaxactun and Tikal. At the latter
site they are a part of the Eznab complex. By this time, however, Tikal had
been declining culturally for at least 60 to 80 years; and it was to die almost
completely in another 20 to 40 years.
The picture then, as succinctly as we can sum it up, shows a first cessation
of Maya ceremonial center activity on the western edge of the southern low-
lands. This begins as early as A.D. 790 and progresses rapidly in the west over
the next 40 years. The first signs of decline-as evidenced in major site aban-
donment, reduction in glyphic and calendric information in inscriptions, and
artistic and craft reduction-seem to be more or less simultaneous with the
appearance of the first Fine Paste wares in the west.7 However, farther to the
east and south the cultural decline in the ceremonial centers was already well
in progress by some 40 to 80 years before the Fine Paste wares occur. When
they do appear, the decline usually continues or possibly accelerates.
How do we interpret all this? Does the collapse occur first and thereby
allow the admission of the foreigner? Is the collapse a direct and simple result
of invasion? Or does foreign pressure on the western frontier exacerbate
stresses within Maya society, setting in motion a rapid decline, during which
time foreign elements move more deeply into the southern lowlands proper?
There was symposium debate on this point, as may be imagined. Clearly,
there is no ready solution, and we can only hope that our deliberations up to
this juncture provide an understanding of the available data and suggest
courses for future research to the imaginative. The hypothesis favored by the
symposium group at the present time is based upon the latter of the above
alternatives. This is the proposition which holds that Classic Maya exposure
to, contacts with, and pressures from non-Classic Maya groups at its western
frontier set in motion a series of events that resulted in the collapse and
eventual extinction of the old Maya way of life.
Particularly telling for this hypothesis are the west-to-east sequence of the
collapse, the advent of cultural changes and declines in the central area prior
to massive declines in population, the general absence of evidence of massive
destruction or other evidences of violent conquest, and the signs of late and
pitiful attempts (as in the Eznab phase at Tikal) to reinstitute customs of
stelae dedication and old elite burial practices. All of these manifestations
speak against theories of large-scale military conquests or of violent and
general "peasant revolts." Nor do they fit well with the idea of a major agri-
7 Palenque is something of an exception to this statement in that some Fine Paste
wares (although not Fine Orange) occur well prior to the cessation of ceremonial center
activity.
 CLASSICMAYA COLLAPSE:SYMPOSIUMSUMMARY 13

cultural failure which, it seems more likely, would have begun in the drier
eastern regions than in the west. They are, however, consistent with the dis-
ruptions that a delicately balanced socio-economic system might undergo
from small bands of intruders expert in violence yet ignorant of management
or indigenous values. Even small numbers of such intruders could easily in-
tensify conflicts within Maya society which hitherto had been self-limiting.
The ensuing breakdowns in trade and agricultural activity would lead to
population movements promoting the spread of disease, local overloading of
agricultural resources, and hunger. Such disturbances if continued through a
century of decline would be sufficient to deplete heavily both the labor force
and the reservoirs of skilled economic leaders, even without catastrophic
droughts, hurricanes, or wars.
Three mechanisms may well have been important. One would have been
the cumulative effect of disbalances. Thus, excessive infant mortality and
female infanticide would have delayed consequences in later manpower
shortages under circumstances requiring much effort for the rehabilitation of
neglected fields, pathways, waterworks, and other productive capital. Another
is that Maya responses to calamity may often have been maladaptive, such as
those aimed at greater ceremonial splendor or more raids for sacrificial vic-
tims to appease the gods. The third is that, under conditions of acute man-
power shortage, the competition-including feuds and warfare (Vayda 1961)-
for secondary milpa (needing less work to clear than primary forest) would
have become ever more severe. As a result, social units and trade would be
fragmented, while losses in fighting would intensify the labor shortage and
the competition for easily worked land even more.
Any outside intruders need not have been limited to a single expedition
or occasion. Actually, the Fine Paste ware influxes are multiple. The first Fine
Grays found at Piedras Negras are not the same as the later Fine Oranges and
Fine Grays of the Usumacinta-Pasion sites, and at Altar de Sacrificios there
are indications of at least two waves of foreign Fine Paste Wares. If these mul-
tiple ceramic phenomena can be correlated with foreign invaders, then we
would expect continued and increased disorganization that would have ac-
celerated the breakdown.

THE INHIBITION OF RECOVERY

To understand fully the nature of the collapse of Classic Maya culture
and population, some consideration must be given to the failure of recovery
in the centuries following. The Maya had had a previous setback, as indicated
by the hiatus in stelae dedication following 9.5.0.0.0 (A.D. 534); yet they
arose from this to the heights of the Late Classic. But after 10.3.0.0.0 (A.D.
889) they made no significant comeback in the southern lowlands. It is true
14 SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

that the area was not entirely abandoned and some Postclassic centers were
established, especially in those territories peripheral to the old northeastern
Peten heartland. With reference to these, it is probably significant that some
of these Postclassic centers were on the northwestern frontier, as at Potonchan
and Itzamkanac (Thompson 1967). This is Chontal Maya country, and the
Chontal were strongly influenced by the Central Mexicans and their ruling
families intermarried with them.
Other Postclassic Maya centers were established on the east coast of the
Yucatan Peninsula, around Chetumal, and in the southeast near the mouth
of the Chamalecon River. Even in the central Peten we know of two small
Postclassic centers, Topoxte and Tayasal. The former, which is better known
archaeologically (Bullard 1970), seems to be allied in its architectural styles to
Yucatan rather than to be a continuation of the old local Classic traditions.
Both its ceramics and those of the Tayasal are of the new Central Peten tradi-
tion. The latter site is assumed to have been a settlement of the Itza after
their flight from northern Yucatan. According to the early Spanish accounts
(Thompson 1967), Tayasal and the Lake Peten Itza were important politically
and militarily, at least on a small local scale. They also controlled local trade,
but they no longer participated in the long-distance trading networks.
This change of trade patterns may be a key to the failure of recovery in
the southern lowlands. As we have already argued, long-distance trade would
have been a sphere of natural conflict between the Classic Mayans and their
Mexican or Mexicanized (Chontal) rivals on their northwestern border. Once
control of this trade had been wrested from the Classic Maya by these rivals,
it would have been extremely difficult to regain, especially in the wake of the
disorders and disruptions that we have postulated. The new centers of power
would have held the trade, and they would have been the ones which attracted
the merchants, craftsmen, and population support to the continued disad-
vantage of older Peten centers. Some of these new centers-those of modest
size-were in the Chontal country; others, larger and more important, were
probably in Yucatan; but still others, those which held the ultimate power
on the Mesoamerican scene, were distant from the Maya Lowlands altogether.
In effect, these lowlands, and especially their southern regions, had been by-
passed during the progress of Mesoamerican civilization, for they lacked the
resources necessary in the formation of a state of the new type.
With reference to Postclassic population numbers, we have noted that
there are indications that at some sites reduced populations lived in or near
major ceremonial centers after the collapse; however, they remained only
until about the mid-lOth century A.D. This seems to have been the case at
Tikal, Altar de Sacrificios, and Seibal-three southern lowland centers where
extensive house mound surveys have been carried out. It is also true that there
 CLASSICMAYA COLLAPSE:SYMPOSIUMSUMMARY 15

was a Postclassic house mound occupation at Barton Ramie, on the Belize

River in British Honduras (Willey et al. 1965). This occupancy is referred to
as the New Town phase. It appears to post-date the abandonment of the
nearest major ceremonial center, that at Benque Viejo or Xunantunich, but
the principal question concerning the New Town occupation is just how
long it lasted. We have been uncertain of this, but Bullard's recent definition
of the Central Peten ceramic tradition has helped in this regard. New Town
pottery belongs to this tradition, and the great bulk of it belongs to the
earliest ceramic group within the tradition, the Augustine. The somewhat
later, probably Middle Postclassic, pottery group of the tradition, the Pax-
caman, is present at Barton Ramie but is restricted to a very few house
mounds and probably is to be attributed to occasional later re-occupation
of house sites by relatively small numbers of people. In sum, from what we
know now-admittedly, the data are still few and more are needed-there was
a truly massive population loss in the Maya southern lowlands, and this
occurred not long after the close of the Classic Period and was not followed
by a substantial recovery.
In final summary, we believe that the problem of the Maya collapse in-
volves a major cultural, social, and demographic failure. This failure oc-
curred in what are designated as the southern lowlands over a period lasting
something over a century-from A.D. 790 to A.D. 950. Afterwards, there was
no recovery to any manifestations resembling the old levels or old standards
in cultural, socio-political, or demographic dimensions. We think that the
problem of this collapse must be viewed systemically, with an eye to the
interactions of natural environmental, ecological, demographic, economic,
social, and political factors. In our further opinion, ecology and demography
provide critically important limits and sources of stress, but they do not
appear to have been immediately determinative. More pertinent in this re-
gard are the capacities and interactions of different socio-political systems, as
they can be reconstructed in their immediate operations in the Maya Low-
lands, and also as they can be seen in the broader developmental spectrum
of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations. Obviously, much work remains to be
done to test these views-in the quantification of prehistoric population data
and agricultural output, in the search for evidences of disease and malnutri-
tion, in clues to migrations, in a better understanding of the workings of
social and political systems, and, very basically, in the finer determination of
chronologies and inter-site relationships that make up the skeletal structure
of archaeology. The development of reliable data on climatic fluctuations in
the Maya Lowlands is an urgent need. Comparative studies, particularly on
the rise and decline of Angkor (Hall 1968), promise insights which may be of
value to cultural anthropology generally.
16 SOUTHWESTERNJOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

For these reasons, it is hoped that the present summary yields a useful
model of current understanding and a working basis for future research.

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