Final answer:
The decline of the Maya civilization is often credited to environmental degradation, disease, warfare, and climate change. Scholars consider these factors to have collectively influenced the collapse of this sophisticated society with no single cause being solely responsible.
Step-by-step explanation:
Theories for the Decline of the Maya Civilization
The decline of the Maya civilization has been attributed to several complex factors. Scholars have proposed various theories, including environmental degradation, epidemic diseases, rampant warfare, and more. Four prominent theories are:
- Environmental Degradation: Deforestation and soil erosion due to intense agricultural practices led to insufficient crop yields.
- Epidemic Diseases: Diseases could have decimated the population, alongside contributing to social disruption.
- Warfare and Internal Conflicts: Increased competition for resources could have escalated into destructive warfare, thus destabilizing the region.
- Climate Change and Drought: Prolonged droughts could have affected the availability of water and the viability of agriculture.
These factors, possibly combined, may have led to the fragmentation of the once-cohesive Maya state system into smaller, village-based cultures before the arrival of the Spanish.