ABSTRACT
Across the ages, the mightiest civilizations have collapsed, often because of political failure. This chapter reports on archeologists who warn against over-simplifying collapses. It explains plausible theories of collapse and then covers the Lowland Maya collapse as a specific case. In the field of anthropology, the fall of the classic Lowland Maya is a continuing mystery that has been examined through decades of vast research, and knowledge about the Lowland Maya continues to expand. There is wide agreement that the Lowland Maya decline was a combination of climatic stress, particularly drought, interacted with other environmental changes, including deforestation, and political conditions that led to social fragmentation and violent conflict. Dark Ages, similar to civilization collapses, are connected and caused by economic activity that pushes the ecological system into crisis, throwing the social system into crisis. Dark Ages are an example of a secular cycle. Dark Ages are long phases of economic regress, and potential phases of ecological regeneration.
