Abandoning the cities

This is another ‘controversial’ issue. There are several different ideas for what might have happened.

It’s very mysterious when an entire civilisation just stops practicing their religion and drifts away from the urban centres that have cost them so much effort to build and maintain.

There are many theories but the one that right now seems to have most support is that the ‘collapse’ came about because of droughts.

Around the 9th century, the climate in the region began to change. Scientists know that drastic climate change happened in the past even before there were any cars to blame it on.

Droughts, perhaps also combined with poor harvests to cause famine amongst the Maya. Maybe the temple-building made things worse. To make the cement for the limestone-built temples, the Maya would burn lots of trees. And without tree cover, topsoil can wash away.

When famine hit the Maya would have worked even harder to please their gods, asking them to bring good weather and crops. They might have sacrificed lots of people, maybe even started wars to get more sacrificial victims. But when this didn’t work, maybe they stopped believing in human sacrifice. And if you didn’t need to make sacrifices, why live in the city, giving up your sons and daughters to be killed on temples? Better to go into the forest, build a hut and start your own little farm.