▶ Your Answer :
The
reading passage and the lecture are both about the demise of the Maya Empire.
The author of the reading believes that there are mainly 3 strong reasons why
the Maya Empire collapsed, whereas the lecturer casts doubts on the author’s
opinions.
First of
all, according to the reading, the revolution like a peasant revolt could cause
the end of Mayan history, because peasants were exploited to perform hard and demanding
work like construction of the massive buildings. Damaged temples and thrones
around the time of the declination of the Maya are good examples of a violent
riot by peasants. The lecturer, however, suggests that there is no clear
evidence of the revolution in the Maya, though the writing system of the Maya
was developed well. He also points out that the Maya was decentralized, which
means each region was governed by separate government, the revolt in one region
was not able to be spread to other regions.
Secondly,
the author states that the devastation of Teotihuacan, a trade hub of the Maya
might brought the demise. The economy of the whole country fell down, and
people had to move to other areas to live, because the main urban center was
destructed. The lecturer, on the other hand, argues that the historical record
of Teotihuacan does not match with the author’s claim. According to the record,
Teotihuacan was devastated in the 6th century, which was 100 years
before the collapse of the Maya.
Lastly,
the author mentions that the epidemic diseases like yellow fever and malaria led
the end of the Maya. Due to the dense population and tropical climate, the
parasites were easily developed, which causes disease. The lecturer refutes
this by explaining that the diseases such as yellow fever and malaria was
brought to the Central America by Spanish invaders way before the Maya collapsed.
Therefore, the epidemic does not prove the collapse of the Maya. |