Semi-cc: Rome in Central America?

Looks like another narrative to fragment and retell ...

CSM 4/29/04:

"Clues to Mayans' 'fall of Rome'"

Excerpt:

"A team of archaeologists from the United States and Guatemala says it has 
uncovered a Mayan altar stone whose intricate carvings record a treaty and a 
similarly sporty signing ceremony.

Unearthed at the site of the ancient city-state Cancuén in Guatemala, the find 
is one of two newly discovered monuments that researchers say are revealing the 
extent of Cancuén's power and reach at a critical time in Mayan history. They 
add to a growing body of evidence that suggests the Central American 
civilization fell, not because of environmental factors, as some experts 
believe, but for a complex set of economic and political reasons.

'It's like the fall of Rome,' says Arthur Demarest, a Vanderbilt University 
archaeologist and one of two scientists heading the project."

Text:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0429/p16s02-woam.html

JMM / LMC