"Can you stand the test of time?"

Source : http://videogam.in

 “Can your civilization stand the test of time” Will it crumble beneath your decisions or is it preordained by external processes, processes beyond the reach of human innovation and its societies. Those discussed throughout these series of blogs (Mayans, Akkadians, Egytians, African cultists) are all born out of necessity, occupying a particular niche within the environment often adopting revolutionary technologies to maintain its equilibrium with the environment (Butzer1980c; Weiss et al 1993; Linden 2006). The Mayans and Egyptians developed advanced reservoirs, irrigation and groundwater extraction techniques to provide its growing populous with water while the Akkadians developed store houses to store and control the release of grain. (Butzer 1980c; Weiss et al1993; Linden 2006)

Yet one must ask why is it necessary to go through the process of developing and integrating these processes if society is living in harmony with the environment. In fact it could be said that the environment is not in harmony with itself, constantly being shaped by external climatic conditions occurring on a scale far beyond that of a tiny civilization like the Mayans. Deep sea cores, stalagmite isotopes, lake concentrations and human records all indicate that during periods of immense environmental stress, societies buckled, causing the decentralization of power and eventual collapse of the social system (Coombs and Barber 2005). In some cases the social teachings of the civilizations may live on, e.g. the Mayans and the 2012 fiasco, in other cases the world becomes lost to all but those who lived it, everything depends on the environment in which the civilization had adapted to (Linden 2006). Those which were born out of a freak coincidence of opportunistic environmental conditions became vulnerable to when change occurred, so much so that societal order itself would begin to break down (Bard 1994). 

Is it climate that destroys civilizations or is it our response in coping to the climate which causes civil unrest, which drives the masses to seize power from the elites of the ancient world. Ramessess III managed to keep a divided civilization together, facing adversity through political enemies, foreign invasions, weak economy and poor agricultural yield (Butzer 1980c). Other kings feel like flies under the fury of the state of the state (Bard1994). Many kings identified themselves as the provider of food and water, the connection to the realm beyond which bless these lands, using lavish ceremonies to appease those which bring forth the rain and harvest, ceremonies which become the centre of social life within the civilization (Appelgate et al 2001;Lucero 2002, Linden 2006). Often than not when the rain did not fall the rulers became weak and masses broke out in confrontation, splitting into smaller and smaller basic societies (Lucero 2002, Linden 2006). Environmental change puts in motion the pressures of niche civilizations, those which have rapidly developed and adapted will scour the land around it and be at the mercy of drastic or slight change which may impact upon the environments carrying capacity (Marceau and Myers 2006). In the end we are still creatures of nature and respond to those changes in ways similar to other organisms, migrate or adapt (Splenger 1926). If one cannot migrate, and fails to keep adapting to the rapidly changing climate than obviously something is going to give.

It is in no doubt that climate played an important role in the birth of early civilizations, from the adoption of agriculture to the habitation of some of the most inhospitable places on Earth (Garcea 2004). Though in the end it is the society’s response to the pressures which determine survival or collapse.  You play with the hand you dealt and it’s up to your own decisions, or skills and information which determine whether you win or lose with a pair of 2’s. 

What I am trying to say is that climate drove culture to an apex of social complexity, though during its crash the populous still tried to adapt, still tried its ceremonies and offerings, though a point of instability would occur among the people where all the societal systems and complexities would fail and the nomadic normality will resume (deMenocal 2000 ). So in the face of future climate change, how will we adapt, how will we learn from the failures of civilizations past, will science be able to outstrip nature, or have we already passed the point of no return. Have we reached a point where a sudden shift will cause devastation among the people of the modern world, only nature knows the true answer.

The answer on how “we can stand the test of time”

The Mayan Empire: He is not Chac, he is a very naughty boy

I have to say, I think my last two posts have set me up nicely for the finale in my trilogy of the Ancient Mayans, and from the title, I bet you can see where I am going. The elite linking themselves with Chac, the god of rain, perceiving themselves as deities; the iconography of the pure water lilies and the access to the resource under pinning the entire basis of the civilization. Take that all away and all hell is going to break lose, which as explained in previous posts, can cause a breakdown in the social complexity of the system reverting the civilization back into smaller, more mobile groups (Coombs and Barber 2005). 

An image of an deity impersinator
Source: Wikipedia

In terms of the Mayans, if there was a pro-longed period, or several smaller but frequent arid events, this will cause the populous to call in to question whether these ‘conduits of the Gods’ actually have any power (Linden 2006). As soon as doubt surrounding the validity of the ruling elites creep in, it’s only a matter of time before the social system starts to collapse in on itself as resources become scarcer, as it undermines the power in which the elite had over the populous (Haug et al 2003). It is not only the access, but the quality of the resource which can erode the legitimacy of the elite (Lucero 2002). Since they integrated Water Lilies intensely into their iconography, once that environmental symbol is lost, again people will feel insecure, threatened and begin to question those associated to the plant (Lucero 2006).

As stated in several papers (e.g. Haug et al2003; Medina-Elizalde et al 2010) during this period there were many factors which could have attributed to the Ancient Mayans fall: Yellow fever caused by poor water quality, reduction in food production from reduced rainfall, social unrest caused by discovering the sham of the elites. All of these led to the breakdown of the political system, pushing people away from these centres of power under the ruler ship of the southern kings and deities. The only option left was to migrate north, to a more stable secure lifestyle not bounded by kings, but congregating in smaller community and local groups (Lucero 2002). 

So human factors in turn played a big role, maybe a significant one, but it is all trumped by one driver, the climate. As previously stated, it is hard to pin climate as the sole cause for the collapse, but in fact, when you look at all of the social causes you will find that they all link back to a drier, more arid climate. By itself it was not the cause, but it did set in motion the other causes, it is the main determinant. Without the arid conditions, it is unlikely that these human and health factors would materialize. Therefore, with a certain degree of confidence I would conclude that climatic change is an over aching driver, which led to the manifestation of the social and health issues which undermined and eventually caused the fall of the Ancient Mayan Empire

Civilization V losing screen... better luck next time