Mayans And Anasazi Similarities

Long ago, a mysterious people populated the American Southwest. Hundreds of miles south, another mysterious civilization thrived deep in overgrown jungles. Soon after a few generations, both tribes disappeared without warning. The Mayans and Anasazis lived in completely different areas. Far out in the arid dusty American desert, the ruins of the Anasazi rise from the landscape. Whereas, the Mayans lived in the Yucatan area of Mexico. When people visit, they will find buildings that have crumpled to the ground with dirt and treasures waiting to be discovered. The Mayans and Anasazi had some aspects that were different and some aspects that were the same such as class structure, trade, environment, mystery of disappearance and belief system.

At the top of the Mayan pyramid was the “king or the highest priest” (Choun). This ruler was similar to the Emperor at the top of the line for the Anasazi. A little lower on the class structure lay the Mayan council.The Mayan council usually contained the rest of the royal family members. Like our class structure today, the Anasazi had governors, too. Finally, at the bottom of the Anasazi structure were the common people or the curacas. The Mayans had nobles, who are “usually the friends of the king” (Choun), while the Anasazi really did not order people towards the royal family. The last two parts of the class structure for the Mayans were the common people, first the “merchants and artist” (Choun), then“ the base were farmers, other workers, and enslaved people. Most enslaved people were captured from other Indian groups” (Latin America and Canada

One of the theories for the Mayans collapse is that there was “a change in the climate which quickly transitioned into a drought with water shortages”(Choun). After that the Mayans no longer were able “to produce enough food for the city and fought over the resources” (Choun). Whereas, the Anasazi had a completely different story. Some archaeologists say that a group of people called the Cataclysmic “ forced the Anasazi out of their cliff dwelling, and to migrate south or east” (Theories of Why They Vanished). Another possibility for the Anasazi is that the population grew too large, so there was not enough food for the society and people migrated elsewhere. But according to archeologists, the area they lived in had “severe droughts” (Chaco Canyon), which probably means that it had to be something else that caused this disappearance. After living in the desert for years, the Anasazi most likely adapted to this weather when outside or planting food for their village. Some say that the Anasazi were thought to be “cannibalistic people”(Theories of Why They Vanished). Both societies could have perished in the same way, possibly from drought and farming. In the end, it is possible these civilizations’ belief systems may have failed