Editing Tikal (section)

===Terminal Classic===

By the 9th century, the crisis of the [[Classic Maya collapse]] was sweeping across the region, with populations plummeting and city after city falling into silence.<ref>Martin & Grube 2000, pp.52-3.</ref> Increasingly [[endemic warfare]] in the Maya region caused Tikal's supporting population to heavily concentrate close to the city itself, accelerating the use of [[Intensive farming|intensive agriculture]] and the corresponding [[Environmental degradation|environmental decline]].<ref>Webster 2002, p.340.</ref> Construction continued at the beginning of the century, with the erection of Temple 3, the last of the city's major [[pyramid]]s, and the erection of monuments to mark the 19th [[Kʼatun]] in 810.<ref name=mg52>Martin & Grube 2000, p.52.</ref> The beginning of the 10th [[Baktun|Bakʼtun]] in 830 passed uncelebrated, and marks the beginning of a 60-year hiatus, probably resulting from the collapse of central control in the city.<ref name=mg53>Martin & Grube 2000, p.53.</ref> During this hiatus, satellite sites traditionally under Tikal's control began to erect their own monuments featuring local rulers and using the Mutal emblem glyph, with Tikal apparently lacking the authority or the power to crush these bids for independence.<ref name=w263/> In 849, Jewel Kʼawiil is mentioned on a stela at [[Seibal]] as visiting that city as the Divine Lord of Tikal but he is not recorded elsewhere and Tikal's once-great power was little more than a memory. The sites of [[Ixlu]] and [[Jimbal]] had by now inherited the once exclusive Mutal [[Maya script#Emblem glyphs|emblem glyph]].<ref name=mg53/>

As Tikal and its hinterland reached peak population, the area suffered deforestation, soil erosion and nutrient loss followed by a rapid decline in population levels. Recent analysis also indicates that the city's freshwater sources became highly contaminated with [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[phosphate]] and [[cyanobacteria]] leading to the accumulation of toxins.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-07-03|title=The Mayan city of Tikal succumbed to 'water pollution'|url=https://www.sustainability-times.com/environmental-protection/the-mayan-city-of-tikal-succumbed-to-water-pollution-experts-say/|access-date=2020-07-03|website=Sustainability Times|language=en-GB}}</ref> Tikal and its immediate surroundings seem to have lost most of their population between 830 and 950 and central authority seems to have collapsed rapidly.<ref name="w264">Webster 2002, p.264.</ref> There is not much evidence from Tikal that the city was directly affected by the endemic warfare that afflicted parts of the Maya region during the Terminal Classic, although an influx of refugees from the [[Petexbatún]] region may have exacerbated problems resulting from the already stretched environmental resources.<ref name="w273">Webster 2002, p.273.</ref>

[[File:Tikal12.jpg|thumb|left|The site core seen from the south, with Temple I at center, the North Acropolis to the left and Central Acropolis to the right]]
In the latter half of the 9th century, there was an attempt to revive royal power at the much-diminished city of Tikal, as evidenced by a stela erected in the Great Plaza by Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil II in 869. This was the last monument erected at Tikal before the city finally fell into silence. The former satellites of Tikal, such as Jimbal and Uaxactun, did not last much longer, erecting their final monuments in 889. By the end of the 9th century the vast majority of Tikal's population had deserted the city, its royal palaces were occupied by [[Squatting|squatters]] and simple [[thatching|thatched]] dwellings were being erected in the city's ceremonial plazas. The squatters blocked some doorways in the rooms they reoccupied in the monumental structures of the site and left rubbish that included a mixture of domestic refuse and non-utilitarian items such as musical instruments. These inhabitants reused the earlier monuments for their own ritual activities, far removed from those of the royal dynasty that had erected them. Some monuments were vandalized and some were moved to new locations. Before its final abandonment all respect for the old rulers had disappeared, with the tombs of the North Acropolis being explored for [[Jade use in Mesoamerica|jade]] and the easier-to-find tombs were looted. After 950, Tikal was all but deserted, although a remnant population may have survived in perishable huts interspersed among the ruins. Even these final inhabitants abandoned the city in the 10th or 11th centuries and the rainforest claimed the ruins for the next thousand years. Some of Tikal's population may have migrated to the [[Peten Lakes]] region, which remained heavily populated in spite of a plunge in population levels in the first half of the 9th century.<ref name=w264/><ref name=mg53/><ref name=w273/>

The most likely cause of collapse at Tikal is overpopulation and agrarian failure. The fall of Tikal was a blow to the heart of Classic [[Maya civilization]], the city having been at the forefront of courtly life, [[Maya art|art]] and architecture for over a thousand years, with an ancient ruling dynasty.<ref>Webster 2002, p.274.</ref> However, new research regarding paleoenvironmental proxies from the Tikal reservoir system suggests that a meteorological drought may have led to the abandonment of Tikal,<ref>Tamberino 2013, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377866689</ref> fouling some reservoirs near the temple and palace with [[algae bloom]]s, while other reservoirs remained drinkable. Buildings were painted with [[Mercury (element)|mercury]]-bearing [[cinnabar]], which were washed off by rain and polluted some reservoirs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lentz |first1=David L. |last2=Hamilton |first2=Trinity L. |last3=Dunning |first3=Nicholas P. |last4=Scarborough |first4=Vernon L. |last5=Luxton |first5=Todd P. |last6=Vonderheide |first6=Anne |last7=Tepe |first7=Eric J. |last8=Perfetta |first8=Cory J. |last9=Brunemann |first9=James |last10=Grazioso |first10=Liwy |last11=Valdez |first11=Fred |last12=Tankersley |first12=Kenneth B. |last13=Weiss |first13=Alison A. |title=Molecular genetic and geochemical assays reveal severe contamination of drinking water reservoirs at the ancient Maya city of Tikal |journal=Scientific Reports |date=25 June 2020 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=10316 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-67044-z|pmid=32587274 |pmc=7316703 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1010316L |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Michael |title=Ancient Maya reservoirs contained toxic pollution: study |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-06-ancient-maya-reservoirs-toxic-pollution.html |website=phys.org |language=en |date=25 June 2020}}</ref> 
Works of Kohler and colleagues<ref>Kohler et al. (2017) Greater post-Neolithic wealth disparities in Eurasia than in North America and Mesoamerica. Nature (551) : 619–622 (30 November 2017) https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature24646</ref> showed that this city reached an unsustainable level of inequalities at the end.{{clarify|date=January 2018}}