1. Theories About the Decline of Mayan Civilization

2. Peasant Revolts: Tired of being exploited by the ruling class, commoners may have stopped ________________, forcing cities to be abandoned.
Drought: Caused crop failure, famine, disease and death; skeletons from this period show evidence of _________________________
Overpopulation: Mayans may no longer have been able to grow enough food to feed everyone; population _______________________ to find food
Invasions: During the 800s, __________________ invaded, influencing Mayan culture and contributing to decline
Warfare: Inter-city-state wars grew increasingly violent and less ritualistic; wars fought to expand territory & __________________________ may have been abandoned as others rose to dominate a region
peasant revolts: Without peasants in outlying areas growing food for the populations of the cities, large cities could not be sustained; newly emerging evidence of a Maya middle class undercuts this theory a bit as there may have been a fairer distribution of wealth
drought: evidence of malnutrition includes skeletal signs of scurvy and rickets; large numbers of deaths could have caused decline
overpopulation: abandoned cities in order to find food or population decline after deaths due to starvation/malnutrition led to cities being abandoned
warfare: early on the goal of war was to capture opposing leaders who would be sacrificed to the gods and fighting ended once a leader was caught
MAY HAVE BEEN A COMBINATION OF FACTORS AS WITH THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE