According to Graham Hancock, The Mayans believed we are living under what's called "The Fifth Sun" - after four prior and aborted attempts at creation. In each successive story, the creator became angry with the direction the creation was going, and destroyed civilization. The passage following actually refers to the Aztecs, but the Aztecs inherited the truest form (in the world today) of Mayan culture (according to most anthropologists).
From the book :
"First Sun, Matlactli Atl: duration 4008 years. Those who lived then ate water maize called atzitzintli. In this age lived the giants... The First Sun was destroyed by water in the sign of Matlactli Atl (Ten Water). It was called Apachiohualiztli (flood, deluge), the art of sorcery of the permanent rain. Men were turned into fish. Some say that only one couple escaped, protected by an old tree living near water. Others say that there were seven couples who hid in a cave until the flood was over and the waters had gone down. They repopulated the earth and were worshipped as gods in their nations...
Second Sun, Ehecoatl: duration 4010 years. Those who lived then ate wild fruit known as acotzintli. This Sun was destroyed by Ehecoatl (Winder Serpent) and men were turned into monkeys... One man and one woman, standing on a rack, were saved from destruction...
Third Sun, Tleyquiyahuillo: duration 4081 years. Men, the descendants of the couple who were saved from the Second Sun, ate a fruit called tzincoacoc. This Third Sun was destroyed by fire...
Fourth Sun, Tzontlilic: duration 5026 years... Men died of starvation after a deluge of blood and fire..."
Further on ...
"The symbol of the Fifth Sun, our current epoch, is the face Tonatiuh, the sun god himself. His tongue, fittingly depicted as an obsidian knife, juts out hungrily, signalling his need for the nourishment of human blood and hearts. His features are wrinkled to indicate his advanced age and he appears within the symbol of Ollin which signifies Movement.
Why is the Fifth Sun known as 'The Sun Movement'? Because, 'the elders say: in it there will be a movement of the earth and from this we shall all perish.' "
Unapologetically apocalyptic, to be sure - and the Mayans differed from the Aztecs in that they had a precise and projected date for the end of the world (which we are all undoubtedly familiar with) - estimated December 23rd, 2012. The Aztecs were fans of human sacrifice- believing they were staving off the inevitable by appeasing the sun god who would visit destruction upon the earth. The Mayans, I believe, were also under this impression, until the appearance of 'The Virachocha People', who instructed in the arts of science, agriculture, and architecture. They also taught that the gods would accept sacrifices of fruits and flowers, and that blood was unnecessary.
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