Warfare-focused Mayan cities like La Milpa lacked heavy fortifications
Evidence
The Mayan city is called La Milpa (I wasn’t the first to discover it), and, two years after I wandered through its plazas, formal excavations began. It now appears that La Milpa was inhabited from 400 BCE to 850 CE, peaking with a population of roughly seventeen thousand. The city perched atop a steep-sided escarpment so that, like Lachish, it sat above the surrounding plain. Aside from its location, however, La Milpa wasn’t very heavily protected. Even the much larger, neighboring city of Tikal was protected only by a deep ditch and low wall. These two cities reflect the pinnacle of one of the world’s most impressive ancient civilizations, a people whose society revolved around warfare. Why weren’t they better defended? — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 510
Categorization
- QUESTION: A warrior society with weak defenses is deeply counterintuitive — the puzzle the chapter resolves via siege-weapon absence.
- XREF: connects to: Terrain and logistics prevented Mesoamerican empires from developing siege weapons — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 511