·      Climate change

·      Hostilities among Mayas themselves

·      Political/ Cultural factors 

The Mayan Empire is generally divided into 3 main regions which differ according to climatic and geological criteria. Firstly, the Pacific coast, which is a region of humid plains with fertile land, a warm climate and abundant rainfall, all of which favours the development of agriculture and fishing. Then there are the Highlands which are at an altitude of more than 800 meters with many volcanoes and a strong seismic activity, as the region is a meeting zone between 2 tectonic plates. The climate is temperate and the soil is suitable for cultivation because it is rich in phosphorus, which is a natural fertilizer. Finally, the last region is the Lowlands, which includes dense tropical forests in the South and bush in the North. The diversity of plant and animal species is important. But in general, the climate remains tropical. 

Mayan culture thus experienced a strong boom during the preclassical period (-600 to 300 AD). It corresponde to period of extension and cohesion: the small clans met, traded and ally. This is when started the typical Mayan architecture, such as the Teotihuacan site in Mexico.

This phenomenon reached its peak during the classical period, between 300 and 900 AD. This era represented the heyday of the Mayan civilization: a prosperous time during which the economy was highly developed and the cultural flourishing was strong, thanks to the spread of writing, the creation of the mayan calendar and beliefs. The territory had never been so extensive. This is the period of the so-called "Mayan Empire".

From 900 AD, took place the period of the decline of the Mayan civilization. For several reasons, this society collapsed in the height of its golden age. The construction of monumental places stopped, particularly in the south of the territory, as well as a massive depopulation took place in the largest cities. The fall gradually extended until the arrival of Spanish settlers in the 15th century, which marked the end of this civilization.

The social structure was complex and based on a division by activity sector. The elite was divided between the nobility and the clergy. The people were the bulk of the population and divided into peasants and servants. There are also slaves. The elite and the people did not, however, form separate categories because they were linked by kinship or alliance. Only the nobility and the clergy lived within the city, which corresponded to a full-fledged religious center. Individual dwellings were scattered in the suburbs.

It was a hereditary monarchical system with patrilineal descent, which means that social status came from the father. They were thus mainly kings and not queens. These concentrated all the military, religious and civil powers and delegated their autority over the village communities to local chiefs (batabs), from the nobility.

The great religiosity of the Mayans explains the importance of the role of the clergy. Priests (ah kin) also succeeded one another from father to son and their knowledge (which was very extensive) was only transmitted within the family. Among the priests stand out the chilam, specially charged to receive the messages of the gods and to pronounce the prophecies.

At the bottom of the ladder was the people, who was responsible for providing food and clothing, as well as the main work for public works. Finally, the slaves were a class apart. They were mainly prisoners of war or delinquents.

To meet their food needs, the Mayans practiced agriculture. In particular, they had managed to develop a very efficient irrigation system. It involved diverting nearby waterways and creating tanks. This water was distributed through terraces of natural fields stepped around a hill. The cultivable land was divided into plots, each of them could be cultivated for three years. It was then set aside for five years to let the vegetation grow again. Before being cultivated, each plot was burned before the rainy season to let the ashes enter the soil and act as fertilizer. The lands that were going to be cultivated were blessed with invocations and incenses at their four corners. This whole process was called "agriculture on Milpa".

Hunting allowed the Mayans to supplement their diet. They used blowguns to kill birds (partridges or quail) and javelins for larger game (monkeys, deer, armadillos, tapirs). Snares were used to trap animals overnight. Fishing was also practiced, with nets or hook lines. There were also turkey and dog farms.

Pyramids are the most famous visual elements of the Mayan culture, and the majority of the temples are step pyramids surmounted by a sanctuary and sculpted or painted in bright colours. The Maya would have built their temples vertically to get closer to the gods but also served to glorify the ancient kings. In addition to the pyramids, the Maya erected stelae, which are standing and carved stones that were used to commemorate past events. 

As far as mathematics is concerned, the Maya developed a system of numbers based on 20. The 1 is represented by a dot and the 5 by a horizontal bar. For numbers above 20, there is a box reserved for the number of tens and another box for the number of units. 

They also practiced certain sports such as the ball game also called Pok-ta-Pok. It's a field bounded by two terraces with sloping walls. In the center and on each of the 2 sides were large rings through which the rubber ball (the Kik) had to pass. We played in teams from 1 to 12 players and had to send the ball back into the rings with a part of the body that differed from region to region, without letting the ball fall back. 

-       There’s a rainy season from May to October

-       And a dry season from January to April
Mayas' diet was 70% corn based, therefore they relied on their harvests to live. (Mayas also ate meat but the quantity of meat available was low, so it was mainly a luxury for the elite). Mayas who lived in the north of the peninsula were agriculturally less productive than those who were in the south. They had to face multiple crop failures due to the dryer weather. However, the wet southern peninsula had severe water problems, which is an ironic paradox, but it is because of the elevation surfaces that increases from north to south it was easier for the Mayas in the north to reach water at deep sinkholes called cenotes.

Mayas however were great craftsmen and environmental sculptors so population in the south created their own cisterns and reservoirs by excavating or modifying natural depressions in order to collect and store the rainwater.
Mayas used a slash-and-burn agriculture system; therefore, they would use massive deforestation in order to have more space for their crops. Nonetheless, this caused a decrease on the usable farmland by the time of their collapse. And consequently, they didn’t have enough food to nourish all the population.
All the new systems and canals they made and the huge cleaning tracts of forest might have worsened the impact of natural climate change.

Mayas had to live through multiple droughts. Normally, they would just move to other areas that weren’t affected by the drought but by the time of their collapse, all the lands were fully occupied, and they didn’t have anywhere else to go. Kings and nobles failed to recognize their problems because they were focused on short-term concerns such as enriching themselves, war, competition between each other, etc.

Long before the resources problems, the Mayan kingdoms were regularly at war with each other.

These wars were very violent, but, unlike the conquistadors, their aim was not to kill people, but to overthrow a leader, capture humans for sacrifices or later to expand their territories for agricultural purposes.

When food stocks shrank, the Maya sought to expand their farmland. The conquest of these lands increased rivalries among the mayan kingdoms.

Wars started to increase and so have the number of prisoners. The Mayas believed that human sacrifices to the god of rain chaak or the god of agriculture would increase the harvest.

Here's a video that explains the most important wars between the cities Tikal and Calakmuk.

The link with nature was very strong. For the Maya, humans were created in clay and wood with a drop of blood from the gods. These are the threads of corn. The animals of the forest are very important and have several meanings: the jaguar is the most respected animal and is the lord of the Earth while the harpy eagle is the lord of the sky. They also have a particular link with hunting animals such as peccaries, wild pigs, fish... and are very present in Mayan art such as the bat representing the night or the snake linking the living and the spirits.