ABSTRACT
Much of the recent discourse surrounding the collapse of archaic states is centered on the impacts of ecocide or climate change. Driven by natural scientists and increasingly sophisticated data generation and analysis methods, such environmentally based approaches to collapse have tended to gloss over the myriad cultural factors also involved in such severe transformations, thus inhibiting our ability to fully grasp the complexities of the collapse process in the various case studies currently under archaeological scrutiny. This chapter underscores the importance of including considerations of both religion and ritual in our interpretations of political collapse, using insights from the rise and fall of Bagan, Myanmar’s “classical-period” capital. The focus of the discussion will be on the roles that Buddhist merit-making played in Bagan’s development and denouement, with specific attention paid to the various ecological, economic, social, and political entanglements that resulted from ideologically charged, ritually enacted donations to temples and monasteries.
