Societal collapse is the fall of a complex human society. The archaeological and historical record shows many instances of societal collapse. These events have traditionally been explained by a combination of social, political, and economic factors. Such a disintegration may be relatively abrupt, as in the case of Maya civilization, or gradual, as in the case of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Many “superpowers” have risen and fallen over time: Romans, Greeks, Assyrians, Babylonians, and many more. The ancient Egyptian empire suffered a fall of epic proportions after the 25th Dynasty. Why did they and other empires fall? From the collapse of ancient Rome to the fall of the Mayan empire, evidence from archaeology suggests that five factors have almost invariably been involved in the loss of civilizations: uncontrollable population movements; new epidemic diseases; failing states leading to increased warfare; collapse of trade routes leading to famine; and climate change. Hundreds of years ago in what is now modern Honduras, Copán was a thriving civilization, a center of the cultural life of the Maya. Tens of thousands of people made their home in the Copán Valley. Yet despite its importance, Copán went into decline. Across the vast territory of the ancient Maya, other important sites were sharing a similar fate. Classic Maya civilization was collapsing.
Why did these great civilizations fall? The history of humankind has been marked by patterns of growth and decline. Some declines have been gradual, occurring over centuries. Others have been rapid, occurring over the course of a few years. War, drought, natural disaster, disease, overpopulation, economic disruption: any of these or a combination of these events can bring about the collapse of a civilization. Internal causes (such as political struggles or over farming) can combine with external causes (such as war or natural disaster) to bring about a collapse. What does this mean for modern civilizations? What can we learn from the past? How could something so great all but vanish?
Assignment
Why do Civilizations Collapse? Write a post in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations. This post should answer and discuss the question given: “Why do Civilizations Collapse?” What is your position and view on the question. It is an accumulation of factors, both internal and external? In addition, how is this applicable in contemporary thought or society. Discuss its relevance to today’s society and ‘Are we at the beginning of the end of Western civilization?” Think about what we apply the term ‘collapse’ to – what exactly was it that collapsed? Very often, it’s suggested that civilizations collapse, but is that quite right. Is it wrong to say that their ‘civilization’ collapsed? If we think of Egyptian or Greek or Roman ‘civilization’, did they collapse or transformed as circumstances and values changed.
The post Societal collapse is the fall of a complex human society. The archaeological and appeared first on Homeworkassisters.
