Soru

Passage A
For decades, archaeologists debated the causes of the Classic Maya collapse, traditionally attributing it to endogenous factors such as endemic warfare or peasant revolt. However, recent advances in paleoclimatology have shifted the consensus, highlighting exogenous environmental triggers. High-resolution climate proxy records, derived from lake sediments and stalagmites in the Yucatán Peninsula, reveal that the region experienced a series of exceptionally severe, multi-decade droughts culminating in the ninth and tenth centuries. These mega-droughts coincided temporally with the widespread abandonment of southern lowland cities. The primary catalyst for the collapse, therefore, appears to be environmental. The Maya agricultural system, heavily dependent on seasonal rainfall and engineered reservoirs, lacked the resilience to withstand prolonged moisture deficits. As agricultural yields plummeted, the ensuing famine likely exacerbated existing social tensions, leading to a breakdown of central authority. While societal factors undoubtedly played a secondary role in the timing and localized nature of specific abandonments, the overarching driver of the regional collapse was a climatic anomaly that fundamentally undermined the subsistence base of Maya civilization.

Passage B
The recent focus on paleoclimatic data has provided valuable context for the Classic Maya collapse, effectively silencing older theories of isolated political failure. Yet, framing the collapse as a direct consequence of severe drought risks falling into the trap of environmental determinism. Many ancient societies survived similar climatic fluctuations; why did the Classic Maya not? The answer lies in the structural rigidity of Late Classic Maya society. By the eighth century, the Maya lowlands were densely populated, pushing agricultural carrying capacity to its absolute limits. Concurrently, the elite class had proliferated, increasing the demand for luxury goods and monumental construction. This resulted in intense, hyper-competitive rivalries between city-states, draining resources away from infrastructure maintenance. When the ninth-century droughts struck, the Maya political economy was already stretched to a breaking point. The elite response to crisis—typically involving intensified ritual activity and warfare to secure captives—proved maladaptive, accelerating societal dissolution. Thus, while climatic stress provided the immediate shock, the fundamental cause of the collapse was internal sociopolitical fragility that stripped the society of its adaptive capacity.

Question:
Match each statement of purpose or main argument to the passage or passages to which it most accurately applies.