2005-2-8
Paul Thompson
VOICE ONE:
I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.
Scientists are using the most modern space satellites to solve one
of the great mysteries of the ancient world.
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| The ruins of Tikal, one of the great Mayan cities. (All Pictures - NASA) |
Our report today begins more than
one thousand years ago. Travel with us back in time to learn about
the Mayan civilization. Our trip begins in the year eight hundred
twenty-five. We are in an area near the border between modern Mexico
and Guatemala.
VOICE ONE:
We are in the Mayan city of Tikal. The city has huge buildings
made of stone. The morning sun makes the smooth, white stone shine
brightly. One of the huge buildings is used for religious
ceremonies. It is the temple to the Rain God Chac (chalk). The Rain
God demands human blood or he will withhold the rain needed to grow
crops. The Mayans kill captured enemies at the top of Chac's temple
to please this fierce god.
Mayan scientists use another huge building to study the stars.
They use this building and similar ones in other cities to make the
Mayan calendar. This calendar correctly shows the seasons and the
number of days in the year. Farmers use this calendar to plant crops
during the best season for growing. Religious leaders use the
calendar to help decide when to hold religious ceremonies.
VOICE TWO:
Thousands of people are in Tikal. Many farmers have come to the
city to sell their crops. Many workers make pots or clothing. Others
make buildings of stone.
Religious leaders are walking toward a temple. A member of the
Mayan royal family is being carried in a large chair. He is followed
by large groups of fierce Mayan soldiers. They wear bird feathers
and animal skins. They carry dangerous weapons.
The city of Tikal is large. Its center is surrounded by many
thousands of homes. The city stretches for several kilometers in
many directions. The Mayan people who built Tikal had a very
successful civilization.
The people do not know that their civilization will disappear
very soon. The people will be gone. The soldiers with their fierce
weapons will be gone. The royal family will be gone.
Nothing will remain but the huge stone buildings. In time, thick
jungle will cover them, and they will become homes for birds and
monkeys. The huge city will be empty.
VOICE ONE:
Many years before European explorers arrived in the western
hemisphere, the Maya lived in the area that is now southern Mexico,
Guatemala and Belize. Explorers have discovered many of the great
cities the Maya left behind. Tikal is one of the largest and most
beautiful. But there are many others.
Within these cities, scientists found evidence of a complex
written language, advanced mathematics, astronomy and beautiful
works of art. But they could never find good evidence about what
happened to the Mayan civilization.
What forced these people to leave their homes and their beautiful
cities? Could it have been wars? A lack of food? Disease? Recently,
part of the answer to this question has come from satellites in
orbit around the Earth.
VOICE TWO:
NASA scientists Tom Sever (SEE-ver) and Dan Irwin are experts in
the history of the Maya. Mister Sever and Mister Irwin have been
working to understand the history of the Maya and their natural
environment. They believe that history may hold important lessons
for people living in the same areas today.
Mister Sever, Mister Irwin and other scientists hope to help
governments and people in the areas continue to live there. The
scientists hope that by learning from the Maya, people today will
not make the mistakes that caused the Mayan civilization to fail.
VOICE ONE:
Mister Sever has found that by the year nine hundred fifty the
huge Mayan population was gone. He believes as many as ninety to
ninety-five percent of the Maya population died. The archeologist is
using NASA satellites and weather information to study the soil in
the area and the ancient Mayan cities for evidence.
He is trying to solve the mystery by studying pollen -- extremely
small particles produced by seed plants. He says soil from deep in
the earth shows no evidence of any pollen from trees during the time
just before the Mayan civilization ended. He says this is one piece
of evidence to show why the Maya failed.
He says soil experts found only pollen from weeds and other small
plants. Mister Sever says the Maya had always cut down huge amounts
of forest. They used the wood for building. They burned it to cook
food. They also burned large amounts of wood in extremely hot fires
to work with a kind of stone. They used the stone to make floors. In
time, the trees disappeared.
VOICE TWO:
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| Destruction of forests can be seen from Space. |
The loss of many trees led to loss
of soil. Fertile topsoil washed into areas that had once been lakes.
Evidence shows that the loss of trees may also have caused an
increase in the area's temperature. The increase in heat caused
water to disappear. Warmer temperatures also dried out the land.
Rising temperatures also may have caused changes in rainfall. These
actions all caused a decrease in the crops the Maya could harvest. A
loss of food may have led to wars among the Mayan groups.
VOICE ONE:
The ancient city of Tikal is near an area of wetlands. About
forty percent of the land used by the Maya were wetlands. Mayan
cities were built on or very near these wetlands.
Rain soaks the soil in these wetlands during the rainy season
now, much as it did during the Mayan period. This land was extremely
important to their environment and survival. The Maya learned to
save huge amounts of water to be used during the growing season.
Modern satellite photographs shows evidence that the Maya built a
series of small waterways called canals. Mister Sever believes they
may have done so to control, save and reuse rainwater so they could
grow crops during the dry season.
VOICE TWO:
Archeologist Tom Sever says experts used to argue about what
caused the Maya to fail. Was it wars, lack of food, disease or
political problems? He says scientists now think that all of these
things led to failure. But these problems were all the result of a
severe lack of water. A natural period of less rain and the cutting
of trees reduced their water supply.
Trees began to grow again after the failure of the Mayan
civilization. The trees and the jungle covered their huge ancient
cities.
VOICE ONE:
Tom Sever studies the ancient Maya. What he has learned has
caused great concern about what could happen to the population now
living in the same area. This area includes southern Mexico,
northern Guatemala and Belize. Farming in these areas is done by a
method called slash and burn. Farmers cut down trees or burn them
and then plant crops.
The soil is very rich for the first year of planting. But the
soil becomes less rich during the second year then becomes poor the
next year. Farmers then move deeper into the forest and again cut
down or burn the trees to make room for planting new crops. Mister
Sever says modern equipment has made it much easier to cut down
trees more quickly.
VOICE TWO:
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| Severe deforestation on the Mexican side of the border with Guatemala. |
Mister Sever has used satellites
to show how slash and burn farming is affecting the Earth. For
example, satellite images show part of the border between Guatemala
and Mexico. Most political borders are invisible in satellite
images. But these photographs show a sharp line between areas of
rain forest and farmed areas. The rainforest still exists in
Guatemala. But it stops at the Mexican border where the trees have
been cut down for farming.
Mister Sever says the governments of the nations involved must
take steps to protect the environment or they will suffer problems
in the future. He and other scientists are now working with the
Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture to find areas in the ancient
Mayan wetlands with good soil.
They also are considering planting test crops in those areas.
They hope to bring water to the crops using the same method the Maya
did – by building canals. Mister Sever says learning from the Maya
is extremely important for the future of this area of the world. He
says modern farmers should use those methods that worked well for
the Maya and not make the same mistakes that caused the failure of
their civilization.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by
Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS
in VOA Special English.