Troubled Waters at Tikal: Evidence of Polluted Reservoirs at the Ancient Maya City

In summary, the data presented in this paper help to add rich detail about the final demise of Tikal, which was complex tapestry of interwoven calamities. Our results are complementary to hypotheses of climatic aridification and environmental degradation. Moreover, our findings provide a more nuanced look at synchronous events that likely occurred in association with other confounding events during the Late/Terminal Classic period, such as the blue-green algal blooms which may have been intensified by the droughts, and developments that occurred independently of the droughts but exacerbated their impact, such as the contamination by mercury and organic pollutants just prior to the abandonment of the city. What has been observed at Tikal is a deadly combination of factors that worked together during the Terminal Classic period to make a continued existence at the city unsustainable. The conditions described in this paper help to explain why Tikal was abandoned so suddenly and why the site was not re-occupied after the droughts of the 9th century came to an end.