The Maya

Ancient Culture

The Maya peoples are native American peoples of southern Mexico and northern Central America who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage.

Different Peoples, one culture

The largest populations of contemporary Maya are in the Mexican states of  Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas as well as in large parts of Guatemala and several regions in Belize and Honduras. They are named after the Maya people that lives on the Yucatán peninsula.

Other politically important peoples are the Huastecs from the north of Veracruz; the Tzeltal from Tabasco and Chiapas; the Chol from Chiapas; the Quiché, Cakchiquel, Pokonchi and Pokomam from the highlands of Guatemala and the Chortí from eastern Guatemala and western Honduras. Except for the Huastecs, those peoples lived on connected territory.

They all belonged to a single culture which, in many respects, was part of the highest-developed civilizations of America.

Economy

The Mayan economy in pre-Columbian time was based on agriculture with maize as the main crop. Besides that, cotton, beans, pumpkin, manioc and cacao were grown as well. The technology for spinning, dyeing and weaving of cotton fabric was highly-developed. The Maya domesticated dog and turkey. Ceramics was so highly-developed as nowhere else in the  New World – except for Peru.

Cacao beans and copper bells were used as means of payment for the exchange of goods. Besides gold, silver, jade and colourful feathers, copper was also important for jewellery making. Tools made of metal were unknown.

Social structures

A typical Maya polity was a small hierarchical state headed by a hereditary ruler, who gave power to local chieftains who were responsible for the administration of their villages. It was one of their tasks to divide the land in common property among the families