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Moderated by : Andy B , TimPrevett , coldrum , Klingon , MickM , TheCaptain , bat400 , davidmorgan , Runemage , SolarMegalith , sem
The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map : Index >>
Stones Forum >> Late Maya elite gorged on game; flaunted furs
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Late Maya elite gorged on game; flaunted furs |
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1349
from South Central Indiana, US
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|  Posted 31-12-2007 at 04:50
Originally submitted by coldrum ---
Ancient Maya rulers devastated big game in Central America and Mexico by bingeing on deer meat and flaunting jaguar fur in an early example of poor resource management, new research shows.
The Maya built soaring pyramids and elaborate palaces in Central America and southern Mexico before mysteriously abandoning their cities around 900 A.D.
A population explosion in the elite class just as the Mayan culture began to decline increased the demand for big game meat, especially white-tailed deer seen as a status symbol for nobles, said Kitty Emery, a curator at Florida Museum of Natural History.
"The elite class was growing disproportionately and they had to prove their power by acquiring more high status food," Emery said.
"They are making more demands on the environment and just like in the modern world there are limited resources," said Emery, whose study appeared in the October 31 issue of the Journal for Nature Conservation.
Scholars have blamed the Classical Mayan Culture demise on everything from disease to over-farming, incessant warfare or climate change that led to prolonged drought.
Massive deforestation caused by the Maya building great cities and ceremonial complexes as well as a two-century drought shrank the habitat for animals like deer, jaguars and wild boars, said Emery.
For more, see Reuters.
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davidmorgan
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Messages: 1620
from The New Forest
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| Posted 31-12-2007 at 10:38
I think I saw a white-tailed deer at Xel-Ha...
[ This message was edited by: davidmorgan on 2008-04-22 22:19 ]
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