Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Maya life and society
For some three thousand years before the arrival of the Spanish, Maya
civilization dominated Central America, with a complex and sophisticated
culture. While remains of the great Maya centres, which tower above the
forest roof, are testament to the scale and sophistication of Maya civilization,
they offer little insight into daily life. Archeologists have instead turned to
the residential groups that surround each site, littered with the remains of
household utensils, pottery, bones and farming tools. These wattle-and-
daub structures were each home to a single family, within a larger group
housing the extended family who farmed and hunted together and
specialized in some trade or craft. Dependent on agriculture, they farmed
maize, beans, cacao, squash, chillies and fruit trees in raised and irrigated
fields, while wild fruits were also harvested from the forest. Much of the land
was communally owned and groups of around twenty men worked in the
fields together. The early practice of slash-and-burn was soon replaced by
more intensive farming methods to meet the needs of a growing population.
Sophisticated processes of terracing, drainage and irrigation improved soil
fertility, with each large city - today hemmed in by forest - once surrounded
by open fields, canals and residential compounds. Most people would have
bought some of their food in markets, though all households had a kitchen
garden where they grew herbs and fruit.
The main sites represent larger versions of the basic residential groups, housing the
most powerful families and their assorted retainers. They took on larger political,
religious and administrative roles, becoming extensive cities. Members of royal families
and nobility were accompanied by bureaucrats, merchants, warriors, architects and
assorted craftsmen - an emerging middle class . The hierarchy was controlled by a series
of hereditary positions, with a king (occasionally a queen) at its head, who also
occupied the role of religious leader. At certain times in the calendar kings (and
probably other members of the ruling class) communicated with gods and illustrious
ancestors by performing ritual blood-letting upon themselves, as well as the sacrifice of
important captives kept alive for these ceremonial celebrations.
THE MAYA DIET
Maize has always been the basis of the Maya diet , in ancient times as much as it is today. It
was made into saka , a corn-meal gruel, which was eaten with chilli as the first meal of the day.
Labourers ate a mixture of corn dough and water, and we know that tamales were a popular
speciality. The main meal, eaten in the evenings, was similarly maize-based, probably including
vegetables, and occasionally meat. As a supplement, deer, peccary, wild turkey, duck, pigeon
and quail were all hunted with bows and arrows or blowguns. The Maya also made use of
dogs, both for hunting and eating. Fish were eaten too, as the remains of fish hooks and nets
have been found, and those living on the coast probably traded dried fish far inland. As well as
food, the forest provided firewood, and cotton was cultivated to be dyed with natural colours
and then spun for cloth.
 
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search