(Phys.org)—The ancient Maya city of Tikal may have used intensive agricultural practices to maintain its large population, according to a study by David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati and colleagues. While these practices enabled sustainable population growth for some time, they may eventually have exacerbated a drought that caused the abandonment of the city. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The city of Tikal, located in what is now Guatemala, was once a major Maya population center and political center. During the Late Classic Period, which lasted from A.D. 600 to A.D. 850, the city displayed unprecedented achievements in architecture, art and astronomy. By the middle of the ninth century, however, its inhabitants had abandoned it, constructing its last dated monument in A.D. 869.