The Mayan civilization was one of the most advanced in antiquity, as shown by the many archaeological treasures that have survived to this day. However, the high temperatures caused them serious problems, to the point of They were the main cause of the war conflicts that occurred towards the end of its existence.
This is stated by a team of archaeologists and statisticians from Simon Fraser University in Canada, who have published their research in the journal 'Quaternary Science Reviews'. Will the same future await us?
The researchers studied events that occurred between AD 363 and AD 888. C., which is the period where Mayan architecture lived its peak while the number of war conflicts increased, in order to determine what role climate change could play in increasing wars in the future.
Thus, through a statistical model, They were able to verify that the rains did not influence the violence, but the increase in temperatures made them become more violent. The co-author of studyMark Collard explained that "many studies state that people are more aggressive in hot conditions." However, he added that in the Mayans the most relevant factor was related to the effect that high temperatures have on the cultivation of corn.
Corn was very important to them, so much so that the prestige of the leaders depended, not only on their success in battles, but also on whether they managed to grow this grain well enough so that the entire population could be fed. When there were droughts and heat waves, the harvests were significantly reduced, so that they chose to participate in more military conflicts.
Although it is difficult to know if global warming will indeed bring more wars, it is something that we should not rule out. Some say that the next war there will be that of water; Not surprisingly, more and more people are living here and there are fewer and fewer resources at our disposal.