1. Disappearance of the Mayans

3. History mysteries

4. What happened to the Maya?
The fall of the Maya is one of history’s greatest mysteries. One of the mightiest civilizations in the ancient Americas simply fell into ruin in a very short time. There are many theories as to what happened to the Maya, but little agreement amongst historians.

5. Theory ONE - Warfare
The Maya fought over land, resources, and religious reasons within their City-States. War brings with it economic disaster that could have caused a domino effect across Maya cities.

6. Theory TWO - Famine/Drought
Many historians believe that part of why the Mayan civilization fell apart was that they could not grow enough food to feed their growing population.

7. Theory Three - Deforestation & Climate Change
A severe drought, along with widespread logging, appears to have triggered the mysterious Mayan demise

8. Theory Four - Aliens
Some say that the Mayans’ huge temples were in fact some sort of ancient landing pads for spaceships, or a way of communicating with beings on other planets.
For believers, this explains how the Mayans had such advanced knowledge for their time. Was extra terrestrial intelligence the reason for their advanced farming techniques? And why did they appear to have such in-depth understanding of the solar system, including planets yet to be ‘discovered?’

9. Theory Five - natural disaster
Was it an earthquake? A volcano? A disease?
READ and ANNOTATE the article “Cause of the 100-year Maya ‘Dark Age’ has been a mystery — until now”

11. Exit Ticket
What do YOU think happened to the Mayans? In 3 brief sentences, explain your theory.