Part 6/10:
An inspired breakthrough came in the 1980s when teenager David Stuart, fueled by a fascination with Mesoamerican ruins, deciphered the complex Maya glyphs. His findings revealed a system that combined logograms and syllabograms, piecing together narratives of kings, victories, and the civilization's interconnected past.
The Collapse of a Civilization
Archaeologists now began inspecting the glyphs discovered in ruins, hoping to unveil insights into the collapse of the mighty Maya civilization. Destructive patterns of warfare began to surface, as cities turned against one another, but these conflicts initially seemed to lead to assimilation rather than annihilation. The tipping point appeared to be more about systemic breakdown than a singular violent end.