"The ancient Mayan civilization collapsed due to a century-long drought," - that's what new research suggests. According to a study by archaeologists at Rice University, sediments found in the Belize Blue Hole near the center of Lighthouse Reef show that extreme drought may be the leading cause of the civilization's collapse.
The director of the Institute of Archaeology, Dr. John Morris told us via phone that this development complements the research he and his team are conducting in the Caves here in Belize and that this theory is only one of many.
Dr. John Morris
"There are many theories that explain the collapse of the ancient Maya civilization and one of them is that of environmental degradation or in some sense severe dry period of drought that affected the Maya quite considerably. It's one of several theories and one that has been examined quite recently in detail. The evidence that we are acquiring comes from core deposits that we retrieve from lagoons and lakes and also from tests done on stalagmites in caves and primarily because what those show is that running through test 
on the stalagmites, it shows that a severe dry period took place sometime around that same period between 700 and 900 AD and the evidence is remarkable because those caves for example the one in the blue hole and also when you look at the coring done at Lake Peten in Tikal, it shows also too that there was significant dry periods."
According to Morris the period of drought is recorded to have occurred between 700 and 900 AD.
Researchers found that during this period, there were only one or two tropical cyclones every two decades, as opposed to the usual five or six.
Environmental conditions and weather patterns are also being studied based on this evidence to validate the drought theory.
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