A Comparison of Historical Evidence for Droughts in the Pre-Columbian Maya Codices with Climatological Evidence for Droughts during the Early and Late Classic Periods

An examination of several historical texts in the Maya codices reveals that droughts were a significant concern to the pre-Columbian Maya that ultimately resulted in the collapse of their civilization. The effects of such droughts mentioned in those texts include damage to crops, famine, and wildfires. The dates assigned to five droughts in the codical texts agree with dates obtained from the analysis of lacustrine cores and stalagmites in caves by climatologists.