Unlike the Aztecs or the Inca, the Mayans were not a single, unified culture. Rather like Europe or ancient Greece, there were numerous polities¹ with complex relations and interactions between and among themselves. Borders moved over time and alliances were formed and broken, so it is difficult to give a comprehensive overview of their relationships and interactions.

At least that was what archaeologists thought up until the end of the 20th Century.

In August 2001, a tropical storm felled a tree growing on a carved ceremonial staircase at a ruined Mayan city called Dos Pilas ('Two Springs'), revealing a previously hidden set of glyphs. When translated by Federico Fahsen, these threw Mayan politics into an entirely new light. It appeared that Dos Pilas, and its ruler Balaj Chan K'awiil, were pawns in a struggle between two mighty Mayan superpowers; Tikal, the largest Mayan city of all time, and its upstart rival Calakmul.

Background and the Rise of Rivalry

Geographically, the two cities were surprisingly close: Calakmul was around 50 miles (80km) north of Tikal². By the time historical records at Calakmul began, shortly after 500 AD, Tikal was the most powerful of the Mayan cities, controlling large swathes of the fertile Peten lowlands. However, Calakmul was in rapid ascendance, bringing the two into inevitable conflict. For the most part, the two great cities employed vassal-states³ and allies to do their fighting for them.

The war would last for around 130 years. First blood went to Calakmul, with a series of alliances with other polities leaving Tikal surrounded by opponents until its eventual defeat by Caracol⁴. According to the inscriptions, and translating from the Mayan Calendar, this took place in 562 AD. Tikal recovered only slowly, growing its influence by founding new outposts in places such as Dos Pilas and fostering good relations with more distant cities such as Palenque.

Calakmul and Dos Pilas

Around 45 miles (75km) southwest of Tikal, Dos Pilas was founded in 629 AD as a 'predator state'; unable to sustain itself, it relied on conquest and tribute from its neighbours. Balaj Chan K'awiil was born in Tikal in 625 AD, brother to Tikal's ruler, and ascended to the throne of Dos Pilas at the age of four. He would rule for 60 turbulent years.

Calakmul invaded and captured Dos Pilas in 658 and Balaj Chan K'awiil, having initially fled, was forced to rule as their puppet. Under Calakmul's orders, he declared war on the city of his birth and successfully invaded it, capturing and sacrificing his own brother in 679 AD. 'Blood flowed,' read the glyphs, 'and skulls of the 13 peoples of the Tikal place were piled up.'

Other cities also changed their allegiances. Naachtun, mid way between Tikal and Calakmul, was initially allied to Calakmul but seems to have switched sides four times over the course of the war, possibly even having a ruler related to the Tikal royal family.

The Cold War Heats Up

Tikal's defeat was again only temporary. With its allies stretching south and west as far as Palenque (over 125 miles/200 km west), it was more than a match for Calakmul's more regional alliance, which included cities such as Caracol. Under its new lord, Jasaw Chan K'awiil, Tikal destroyed Calakmul in either 695 AD or 711 AD, and Naranjo, a former ally of Calakmul, defeated Caracol in 700 AD.

From there on, the war seems to have descended into chaos. Calakmul was rebuilt but had become effectively powerless. Its allied states continued to fight, apparently under the domination of a newly-powerful Dos Pilas. In 761, this loose alliance fell apart, and Dos Pilas was invaded by its former allies. It was never rebuilt.

Collapse

This kind of warfare must have been a huge drain on the resources of those involved, both winners and losers. From around 750 AD, a series of droughts began to hit the region, enduring for another 200 years with a peak around 800 AD. This was the most serious climatic change for 7,000 years⁵, and roughly 90% of the Peten lowland population disappeared. The combination of drought and warfare was too much for the Maya, and their civilisation collapsed, with virtually all the major population centres being abandoned. This marked the end of Classic Mayan civilisation.

A few Classic cities held on to greatness into the Post-Classic period. Cancuén, a relatively peaceful trading port southeast of Dos Pilas, went through a burst of greatness in the late 700s before falling violently in 800 AD. Uxmal, far to the north, first rose to prominence at around the same time. Tikal itself, however, was abandoned in 899 AD. Although Maya civilisation would rise again in the Post-Classic era, from around 1200 AD onwards, it never again reached the levels seen during the struggle between Tikal and Calakmul.