Economy Agriculture  Farmers paid tribute to the nobility in both goods and services. They gave up a portion of each crop or paid in produce like salt, cloth, fruit or domestic animals. In additional, they preformed physical labour in areas such as building, construction and repairing city buildings. Maize or corn was considered to be the most important crop within society. The Mayans considered it to be equivalent to a god. New cornfields or milpas were created from the dense jungle by slash-and-burn techniques. This technique consisted of farmers chopping down trees and then burning them to create space for future corn fields. The burning process fertilized the field by releasing nitrogen and potassium into the soil. These fields were only productive for a few seasons so farmers had to look for new areas to clear or leave the fields alone until they regained some nutrients. Each step in the agricultural process was regulated by the priests, who calculated the auspicious (lucky) dates for the various agricultural activities. Mayan farmers had no plights, draft animals or farm implements except for a simple dibbing stick, which was stick with a point hardened by fire. Squash was usually planted between the rows of corn since its broad leaves offered the young corn shoots protection from the sun. Other plants grown by the Maya were: beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, chilli peppers, avocados, tomatoes and fruit trees. Cotton and cacao were grown as cash crops and used for trading. Domestic animals like cows, pigs, goats, chickens and sheep were not present within their society, however they did raise turkeys, guinea pigs, ducks and edible dogs. Any surplus of farm produce was sold by the Mayan farmers at the city markets.
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Industry
The Mayans produced pottery
and jewellery for household use and trade. Artisans fashioned the jewellery
from jade, copper, gold and silver, although copper was scare and gold was used
chiefly for religious artifacts. Woven baskets and hampers were also important
domestic products as well as trade goods. By the classical period, specialized
occupational groups had appeared in the Mayan city-states. Members of these
groups formed guilds to protect and promote their interests.
Trade The Mayan economy depended a lot on trade. The Maya obtained a wide range of goods through trade, which lead to the evolution of specialized occupational groups. This also lead to the development of extensive trade routes throughout meso-America, some local and others were long distances. There were three important long- distance trade routes. The southern route linked central Mexico to Central America running along the Pacific coastal plain. The central route ran through the Peten area of Guatemala and the northern route followed the Yucatan coast. Trade had a major impact on the development of the Maya. The north-south trade routes helped to tie the Mayan area together. As well because of their position between Mexico and the remainder of Central America, and their wealth of jadeite, obsidian, salt and quetzal feathers, the Maya were able to develop a role of intermediary in the transfer of goods between the two areas. Trade allowed some Mayan centres like Tikal to acquire a great deal of power, prestige, and wealth because of geographical location allowed it to control important trade routes. Trade also allowed the Mayans to acquire luxuries from peoples or more remote cultures such as copper bells from central Mexico, gold dishes from Panama and pearls from Venezuela. Trade was usually conducted through bartering where goods were traded for goods. Sometimes cocoa beans were accepted as currency. Beans were scarce and spoiled quickly. For localized trade, goods were transported to their destination on the backs of slaves. In long-distance coastal trade canoes were used. |
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