Just saw this on TV tonight and it's a compelling question.

Compelling? A load of tosh if you ask me! (Ducks and waits for the disagree votes to stream in.)

I didn't see this on the TV (which programme was it on by the way), but what did the Mayans think would happen? Was one of their gods going to come back and eat the world (a snake god maybe)? Although I respect the amount of knowlege that ancients managed to gather without the tools that we have today, mythology is still just mythology and I can't believe that anyone would actually believe it.

I think it's because there are so many "families" with only one parent.