Part 4/12:
It's crucial to contextualize the information sources used to examine this period. The Classic Maya period left a wealth of inscriptions documenting people and events. However, after 800 CE, both the quantity and quality of such records diminished sharply. Consequently, the post-collapse narrative relies increasingly on archaeological evidence, which often leads to a vaguer understanding of events than we may prefer.
The term "collapse" itself is contentious. Scholars like Arthur Demarest define the Maya collapse not simply as extinction but rather as the decline of complex systems of states and alliances that characterized the Maya lowlands, alongside the disintegration of royal culture and monumental construction.