ABSTRACT
The potential utility of 'lessons from the past' for understanding the rising number of serious problems facing the world in the twenty-first century has captured popular attention in recent years. The demise of Classic Maya civilization in the Southern Lowlands has, through the years, captured the imagination of both archaeologists and the general public alike, in part because it happened when Maya civilization was seemingly at its height. The areas of sustainability, warfare, urbanism, and ethnic identity, similar lessons can be drawn through time and space in the ancient and more recent historical world. The analogy to modern environmental problems is made clear, as is the warning that current practices and decisions may be leading the world today along similar destructive paths. These books have been extremely popular and have clearly struck a favorable chord among the public, although archaeologists might question a variety of Diamond's particular assertions.
