Intensive agriculture may have exacerbated drought in ancient Maya city
Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - 11:00
in Earth & Climate
(Phys.org)—The ancient Maya city of Tikal may have used intensive agricultural practices to maintain its large population, according to a study by David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati and colleagues. While these practices enabled sustainable population growth for some time, they may eventually have exacerbated a drought that caused the abandonment of the city. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.