How have other people interpreted the evidence?

Why did Copán collapse? (7719 responses)

7 % War with neighboring peoples brought on political problems and malnutrition.
80 % Overpopulation and overfarming brought on malnutrition and disease.
11 % A natural disaster caused the area to become uninhabitable because of erosion and crop shortages.

Was the end a gradual decline or a rapid fall? (7675 responses)

35 % Rapid
64 % Gradual

Read why people came to these conclusions.

What do the experts think?

Archaeologists William Sanders and David Webster and their team have studied Copán for nearly two decades, starting in 1980. With their colleagues, they have uncovered a great deal of evidence about what happened at Copán, including the obsidian dates, the pollen sample, the erosion debris, and the modern-day farming practices.

Based on the evidence found at Copán, this team of archaeologists concluded that overpopulation was a major contributor to collapse. A very large number of people lived in the Copán Valley, and so more and more of the land was farmed, just as it is today. This caused environmental stresses, such as erosion and crop shortages. These in turn caused malnutrition and disease, which were clear from the anemia shown in the skulls—even the skulls of the noble classes.

From the obsidian dates and the pollen sample, the archaeologists concluded that the end of Copán was gradual, at least in the countryside. Though no monuments were built after A.D. 822, the population in the valley did not drop off seriously until about A.D. 950-1000. Significant farming continued in the area until A.D. 1200-1250. After 1200-1250, the Copán Valley returned to forest, this previous center of Maya life abandoned by all but a few remaining farmers.

This activity is based on the work of archaeologists William Sanders, David Webster, Bill Fash, Ann Freter, David Rue, Stephen Whittington, Rebecca Storey, and others who studied the Copán Valley for a ten-year period starting in 1980. For more information on their findings, watch Program 8 from Out of the Past, "Collapse."