The Classic Maya Collapse: A Review of Evidence and Interpretations Page: 126
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126
Robert Rands explored the theme of Maya warfare in his
doctoral dissertation through examination of late Classic
art. Though he came to no definite conclusions about warfare
he voiced doubts about the traditional view, that the Maya
ceremonial centers were too poorly defended to with-
stand attack and the dispersed population too vulner-
able. If warfare is visualized with the technological
limitations presumably present at that time, however,
the form taken by the centers appears to provide ade-
quate protection. In the absence of mechanically
propelled missiles such as the arrow and atlatl darts,
the steep-sided platforms which form the base of plazas
and buildings afford promising possibilities for defense.58
Others agree that defensive technologies were necessary,
and this view was substantiated by a discovery by Dennis
Puleston and Donald Callender, Jr. While mapping structures
at Tikal, they found "a 9 1/2 km. long defensive earthworks.
The earthworks lie directly between Tikal and the nearest
large site, Uaxactun."59 This, they argue, indicates a need
for protection--not necessarily from outside invasion, but
from their Maya neighbors. Such a view is reinforced by exca-
vations undertaken at Becan, Campeche, in 1970. Here, in 1934,
Karl Ruppert and John Denison discovered what they considered
defensive fortifications. Most fellow archaeologists smugly
dismissed such an untraditional view, since everyone knew the
Maya were pacific until the late Classic influx of Central
58. Robert L. Rands, "Some Evidences of Warfare in Classic
Maya Art." (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1952), p. 165.
59. Dennis E. Puleston and Donald W. Callender, Jr., "Defen-
sive Earthworks at Tikal," Expedition,,vol. 9, no. 3 (1967),
40.
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Wood, Jeffrey Clark. The Classic Maya Collapse: A Review of Evidence and Interpretations, thesis, December 1977; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504349/m1/130/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .