Maya Suburbia? New Theory Added to Great Mystery

Ancient Mayas may not have simply vanished from their homeland more than 1,000 years ago, in one of the great mysteries of history, Belize’s Archeology Commissioner Hariot Topsey said.

Instead, he theorizes, Classic-Era Mayas may have become some of the Western Hemisphere’s earliest suburbanites, leaving their clusters of temples, pyramids and ball courts for outlying areas.

Mayan culture stretched from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico southward through Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador to Copan in Honduras.

For decades, scientists have been baffled about what happened to the Mayas about the year AD 900, at the close of the 600-year Classic Era. About the only universal agreement among scientists is that it happened. Although many theories exist, none is conclusive.

Artifacts Are Key

“My hypothesis is that they did not abandon the sites and leave the region,” Topsey said in an interview. “They left the sites to get closer to the rivers and water.”

He hopes to develop his theory further from artifacts found in Belize, where 600 Maya sites dot a country that is just 174 miles wide and 68 miles long. He estimates that an equal number of sites await discovery beneath the green jungle canopy covering much of the country.

Topsey agrees with the accepted theory that major construction ended with the Classic Era, typified by the flourishing society that built the pyramids and temples around giant courtyards and plazas.

But, he said, “That does not mean the sites were abandoned at those times.”

Stayed Near Old Homes

Instead, he said, Mayas likely moved to get closer to a water supply but often remained within sight of their old homes. He believes that they returned to the temples and pyramids for religious and ceremonial occasions but did not add any new construction.

“It would be hard to convince me that a population that has been living in a region for 2,000 years would suddenly just pick up and leave,” Topsey said.

He maintains that his theory is supported in part by discoveries at Lamanai, an ancient site in northern Belize where construction stopped in the Classic Era while the site continued to be used into the post-Classic Era.

Lamanai, which means “submerged crocodile” in Mayan, is unique because its occupation dates from the pre-Classic Era until residents were driven out by the Spanish in the 1500s, making it one of the areas of longest continued occupation.

Spanish Documents

Additionally, Topsey said, Spanish documents from the 1500s mention a number of Mayan sites, all near waterways and away from the temples.

“This means there was a gradual evolution from the Classic sites,” Topsey said.

He admitted that if his theory is correct, it still may not explain what happened elsewhere to the Mayas.

“Now we are beginning to realize that Belize was not a backwater but in the forefront of Maya development,” he said. “It has it own roots and not in isolation as once thought.”

History Rewritten

Already the story of the Maya has been rewritten in part because of discoveries made in Belize.

At the Cuello site near Orange Walk in northern Belize, evidence has pushed back the pre-Classic Era by 1,000 years to 2500 BC. It is generally accepted that the Cuello people were culturally Maya and are regarded as the earliest direct ancestors of the Classic Maya.

“There has been pottery found sufficiently well-made to assume there was a culture even before that time,” Topsey said. “We also have to assume they were elsewhere in areas of influence. But so far the only evidence has been here.”

By the year AD 900, the Maya were organized into city-states that in some cases were bound by alliances brought about by marriages, conquest or threat by a common enemy. They were ruled by priests and divided into a caste system that included rulers, merchants, craftsmen and slaves.

Various Theories

Some scientists believe that the population outgrew the land’s ability to provide food or that the water supply ran out. Some believe that the sites were overgrown by jungles the Mayas could not control with their crude tools.