Classic Maya collapse
In archaeology, the classic Maya collapse is a model to describe the destabilization of Classic Maya civilization and the violent collapse and abandonment of many southern lowlands city-states between the 7th and 9th centuries CE. Modern scholars increasingly describe this period as a "rupture" or transformation rather than a true collapse, because a number of Maya cities survived even if they faced a period of instability. The Classic Period of Mesoamerican chronology is generally defined as the period from 250 to 900 CE, the last century of which is referred to as the Terminal Classic.