Mayans and Norse, Oh My!

So, I just finished reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann. I was intrigued, especially by how Mann describes the Mayan societies and their response to the climate changes that saw most of them collapse. The similarities between the Maya and the Greek City-states are really vivid-Kaan and Mutal as Athens and Sparta, providing one squints quite a bit-are really interesting. Also, I thought his take on how Chichen Itza and some of the other northern cities survived the drought-through trade-was especially enticing for alternate history buffs.

So, let's play magical POD-machine for a minute here. Let's suppose a bit of a double POD, around the same 9th-10th century time frame. Say the war between Kaan and Mutal is a little less apocalyptic, and the southern Mayan city-states survive a bit better in the drought period, through better maintence of their city infrastructure and less grandiose attempts at conquest. They're still weakened, but the Mayan collapse turns more into a sort of mini-Dark Age. Meanwhile, the northern cities, led by Chichen Itza, have another market to now expand their trade in-the southern Mayan territories. Perhaps seeking new goods and markets, they expand their maritime trade and exploration, with outposts in Cuba and maybe even up to Flordia. This might require a weakening of Teotihuacan, so the war doesn't heat up in the first place.

We take this mix and stir in the Norse expeditions to America. Say the first contact with the natives is a bit more succesful, and we have a small, but successful, Norse colony in North America by the time the passageway back to Europe is cut off. The Norse, after a certain point, would probably explore south, perhaps running into Mayan ships exploring north from a out port near Miami. Could we get a succesful, limited Colombian exchange in the 11th or 12th century that would give Central America a shot at competing when Europe comes knocking a few centuries later? I'm not neccesarily looking for superpowers, but a half dozen native kingdoms from Peru to New York could lead to a very interesting timeline. Plus, Norse!
 
The Norse expeditions alone would have made the biggest change, had they established colonies and opened the new world to Europe. One big difference is that Europe would be coming to America without gunpowder. Negotiations with the natives would have been a little different.
 
Cool, I was working on a Maya-TL that involved no collapse resulting in a modern Maya state. Anyways, about your summary of what happens to the Mayans at least, Chichen Itza would still have competition with the other northern cities. Chichen was ruled by the Itza people, a group of Mexicanized-Mayans who were hated by the Yucatecs for various reasons, installing tzompantli (skull-racks) perhaps being one. The Itza survived only through military might and trade with the Mexicans to the west mostly. Even then, by the time of the Spanish arrival they had been wiped out by their Yucatecan enemies. Also Teotihuacan was already fallen by your POD if I'm not mistaken.
 
Could something be done with a single climate POD?

Tweak the climate so that Greenland is a little colder and the Yucatan drought is not as bad as OTL. Erik the Red does not settle Greenland (because its covered in snow) but tries to settle Vineland. Natives there make things too difficult for him and his people, so they move on. But by this time the weather is bad enough that traveling back to Iceland is not an option so they explore down the Atlantic coast instead. They eventually come across the Maya, who are still around because the droughts weren't so bad.
 
I highly doubt the drought is to blame for the Collapse, even if a little bit. The wetter Southern Lowlands was where all the cities were abandoned, while the drier north actually prospered. The Collapse was certainly caused by a combination of things, drought being the least of all if anything. Better agricultural techniques is the most important probably. Soil erosion can be a pain.
 
Well, 1491 speculates that the drought *was* responsible, but only indirectly. The southern states were consumed by the Kaan/Mutal War and its aftermath, instead of keeping up their irrigation works and what have you. The North had no such problem and was able to weather the, well, lack of a storm, I suppose we could say.

As for Itza having serious rivals in the north-I'd hope so. The Greek analogy gets really strained at this point, but perhaps another one could work-Northern Italy in the early stages of the Rennisance. Itza could be the Venice in this scenario, competing with Florence and Genoa analogues.

A single climate POD could probably cover both changes. It'd have to be a minor enough one to still allow for Norse ships to make it to America, though-the Mayans are only part of the puzzle. Norse ironworking (especially), horses, and some of those nasty little European bugs are the other.
 
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