Maya historians have generally settled on a combination of three main factors which could have caused the Maya collapse: warfare between city-states, overpopulation, and drought. The factors were not always contemporary or found all together in a single city.
Scholars have suggested several potential reasons for the downfall of the Maya civilization in the southern lowlands, including overpopulation, environmental degradation, warfare, shifting trade routes, and extended drought. A complex combination of factors was likely behind the collapse.
