Collapse of the Petén lake region (830s)

Timeline

1. 830Yaxha · Petén DepartmentCities around Yaxha, Tikal, and along the lakes successively stopped recording royal activity; the system of warfare and alliances among city-states collapsed, and the region lost its capacity for political integration.
2. 830–840Petén agricultural terrace zone · Petén lake regionTerraces, reservoirs, and canal systems around the lakes silted up and failed due to interrupted maintenance; agricultural output declined, and archaeological pollen and sediment evidence shows drastic changes in land-use patterns, supporting the hypothesis of population decline.
3. 840–850Petén lake region · Petén lake regionArchaeology of settlement areas shows population plummeting within decades; survivors dispersed northward to the Yucatán Peninsula, to Belize, and to the highlands, as the lake region turned from dense settlement into sparsely jungle-covered ruins.