The Classic Maya Collapse: A Review of Evidence and Interpretations Page: 53
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CHAPTER III
INTERNAL CAUSES OF COLLAPSE: THE SWIDDEN CONTROVERSY
The health of a society depends upon the health of its
individual members. Far more important than disease to the
health and stability of the Maya was the nature and quality
of its food supply. This, understandably leads to difficul-
ties among Mayanists, who in dealing with subsistence must
take into account numerous variables, including diverse geo-
graphic areas conducive to different subsistence patterns
and technologies, the questions of soil fertility and poten-
tial for sustaining a large population within each area, the
role of climate and its possible beneficial or detrimental
effects on crops, and a multitude of peripheral questions
which remain debatable, even including doubts about foods
utilized by the ancient Maya. As set forth by Jeremy Sabloff
in The Classic Maya Collapse, this internal hypothesis may be
termed "the natural/limited-ecological-potential" problem.1
Though Sabloff includes the role of climatic change in his
mention of "natural/catastrophic" hypotheses, for purposes
of this study, climatic change will be viewed chiefly in
terms of its possible effects on Maya ecology. Pressures
1. Jeremy A. Sabloff, "Major Themes in the Past Hypotheses
of the Maya Collapse," in The Classic Maya Collapse, ed.
T. Patrick Culbert (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press, 1973), p. 37.53
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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/m1/57/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .