– Mayapan, the capital of culture and politics for the Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula, may have been undone by drought during the 13th and 14th century CE.
– Drought would have led to civil conflict, which would have caused political collapse and forced people to retreat to smaller settlement
– Civil conflict increased significantly and strife in the city was correlated with drought conditions between 1400 and 1450 CE
– The lack of water would have affected agricultural practices and trade routes, putting strain on the people of Mayapan
– Many of the remains in the final mass grave probably belonged to the family members of the heads of state, indicating a bloody end brought on by competing factions and social unrest
– Maya culture continued to thrive after Mayapan's fall due to a "resilient system of human-environmental adaptations"
– Archaeological and historical records are essential for studying correlations between social change and fluctuating climate conditions.