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Mayan cities were inhabited by the ruling class. At the heart of the city lay the sacred precinct of temples where ceremonies were staged and great lords issued the edicts that regulated daily life. While the nobility resided in palaces, commoners lived in huts in the hinterland, tending their fields and rarely venturing into the city.
To surmount the difficult environmental conditions
– infertile soils and torrential summer rains, yet paradoxically no rivers – the Maya utilized a number of techniques which enabled them to increase crop yields. These included raised seed beds, called kaanche, use of household refuse as a fertilizer, terraces, irrigation and floating plots in marshy areas. They grew corn, chiles, beans, squash and tomatoes and tended fruit trees. Cotton and cacao were cultivated for trade. The Maya supplemented their diet with game, fish and plants they gathered in the forest. They also traded copal or incense. Bee keeping was important and the Maya exchanged honey and beeswax for other trade goods.
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© 2004 Editorial Veras. La guía Oficial del Caribe Mexicano.