What were Maya homes like?

The Maya people lived in different types of homes:

• Ordinary people lived in one room homes. They were built on the ground and made of wood.

• Nobles lived in large houses built of stone in the ceremonial centre of the Maya cities.

In Maya cities people didn't just build homes; they built large amounts of:

• temples
• palaces
• causeways (raised roads)
• schools
• marketplaces

The royals and nobles lived in homes in the ceremonial centre of a city and the ordinary people lived further out.

The temples and palaces were mainly made of stone.

Ordinary people’s huts were made using wood for beams and poles, and thatch for roofs. They were covered with adobe, which was mud strengthened straw.

The Maya did not use the wheel to help build homes. They moved stone on logs or with pulleys.

Ordinary Maya homes were not built on platforms like the city temples and palaces but on ground level.

They were built in an oval shape, usually from wooden poles with clay and mud (wattle and daub). Stone walls were rarely used in ordinary homes but was used for important buildings.

Each home had:

• a roof made from thatch or plants to keep out rain and snow
• one room, sometimes with a wall to divide it

Everyone in the home would sleep next to each other in the back part. Beds were built with rods, made from young trees, with a mat placed on top of them.

There might have been a hearth, a fireplace used for cooking, and every house had pottery which could be used for everyday tasks

When family members died they were often buried underneath or near the house.

The Maya were skilled people who built strong buildings.

They used special building materials, like quicklime, which hardened and made the building stronger.

The buildings were so strong, that they could withstand earthquakes without being destroyed.

This meant that Maya buildings lasted for a long time, they didn't disappear completely and their ruins were discovered by archaeologists.

Scientists and archaeologists studied these ruins to understand how the Maya built their cities.

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.

• In the video, Jade talks about her home and her family. How is your life similar or different to hers?

• Maya nobles and royals lived in the centre, but the ordinary people lived further away from it. What does this tell you about the different people in Maya times?

• The Maya didn’t use the wheel but still built large palaces. What does this tell you about the Maya and how they worked?

Let's find out what you know about ancient Maya homes in this quiz.

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