Why was farming important to the Maya?
Farming was an important part of Maya life.
They grew foods such as maize, beans and squash. This gave the Maya people a healthy diet.
Maya farmers used calendars to help plant and harvest food successfully. This also helped the Maya to trade and become wealthy.
Important words for the Maya civilisation
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| Archaeologist | A person who digs up and uncovers artefacts to help understand the past. |
| Cocoa bean | The seed of the cacao (cocoa) tree. It is used to make chocolate. |
| Crop | A plant that is grown as food. |
| Squash | A type of vegetable that grows on a vine. |
| Textile | Material made from cloth or fibres weaved together. |
| Trade | The buying and selling of goods. |
Watch: Maya farming techniques
Jade Skirt: Us Maya have really healthy diets. As well as the maize, beans and squash we grow to eat, we also produce cotton to make cloth and flowers for decoration.
We hunt deer, fish and birds and collect fruits from the forest.
But we make sure we don’t take too much, as we don’t want to upset the spirit guardians of each species.
Maize is our most important food, long ago the gods made our bodies out of it.
We are really good at farming because our calendars are so good.
They tell us when to plant our crops, and when to harvest them. When it will rain, and when it will be dry.
Time to take our maize to the market.
They sell and trade lots of things here. Juicy tomatoes.
[CRASH]
Spicy chillies.
[CRASH]
Chocolate drinks. Yum.
[TURKEY GOBBLES]
And noisy turkeys.
[BARK]
[TURKEY GOBBLES]
[CRASH]
What food did Maya farmers make?
Farming was really important to the Maya.
Most people grew their own crops in small fields.
Farmers grew many kinds of crops at the same time, such as maize, beans and squash.
If farmers grew more than they could eat, they traded the leftovers in markets.
Food such as chillies and tomatoes was gathered from the forest or grown in gardens.
The Maya made a lot of cotton, which was spun, dyed and woven into textiles. Cotton seeds were ground to make cooking oil.
Cocoa and vanilla were also produced. Cocoa was made into chocolate drinks for the royal family.
Why did they do so well?
The Maya were so successful at farming because they studied the stars and the weather.
This meant they were able to create very detailed calendars which told them what time of year to plant crops and when they should harvest them.
Maya calendars were more accurate than the European calendars at that time.
Think like a historian
Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.
The Maya used calendars to help them farm. What does this tell you about the Maya?
Do you think that everyone in Maya society ate the same food? Why might some people have eaten different foods from others?
What can the discovery of the Maya market in Chunchucmil tell archaeologists about the Maya?
Did you think that the Maya must have known a lot about the seasons, the stars and the weather to create a calendar to help decide when to plant and harvest their food? Maybe you thought it helped them to be so successful at farming that they were able to grow lots of food. This meant they had enough to eat and also trade at the market.
Perhaps you thought that not everyone ate the same food in Maya society. Maybe you thought that important people, like the royal family, could enjoy special foods and drinks, while most ordinary people ate simpler meals. This shows that people’s lives, including what they ate, could be very different depending on their jobs and wealth.
Maybe you thought it helps archaeologists understand more about Maya society. It shows that the Maya had somewhere to buy and sell things such as the food they had grown. You may have thought that it helps archaeologists understand that the Maya had many different types of jobs. Some Maya people may have been farmers, but others may have been traders.
Quiz – Maya farming
Let's find out what you know about ancient Maya farming techniques in this quiz.
Grown-ups corner
Are you a parent, carer or teacher?
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