Why was farming so important to the Maya?

Farming was an important part of Maya life and provided a healthy diet, which included maize, beans and squash.

Maya farmers used calendars to help plant and harvest food successfully, which also helped the Maya to trade and grow a strong economy.

Farming was really important to the Maya. Most people grew their own crops in small fields.

Farmers grew many kinds of crops at the same time, such as maize, beans and squash. If farmers grew more than they could eat, they traded the leftovers in markets.

Archaeologists have found the remains of a Maya market at Chunchucmil, in modern day Mexico. It was a huge trade centre in the heart of Mesoamerica.

Food such as chillies and tomatoes was gathered from the forest or grown in gardens.

The Maya made a lot of cotton, which was spun, dyed and woven into textiles. Cotton seeds were ground to make cooking oil.

Cocoa and vanilla were also produced. Cocoa was made into chocolate drinks for the royal family.

The Maya were so successful at farming was because they studied the stars and the weather. This meant they were able to create very detailed calendars which told them what time of year to plant crops and when they should harvest them.

Maya calendars were more accurate than the European calendars at that time.

Raised field

The Maya used this method to farm areas of land that otherwise would have been too wet to use. Small canals were created by digging out soil from beneath the water and piling up to create small islands.

Maya farmers could then grow crops on these islands while they harvested the fish that swam in the canals.

Raised fields connected by canals can be seen today on aerial photographs.

Terrace farming

This is where walls are built to make small flat fields one on top of the other. It was useful for increasing the amount of farmland in mountain areas. Most terraces were small, but in some parts of the Maya lowlands, they dramatically transformed entire regions!

Shifting cultivation

Also known as ‘swidden’ or ‘slash and burn’ this is when rainforest areas are chopped down and burnt. The ash is good for the soil, so it was perfect for growing crops. Within a few years, the nutrients would be used up and the farmers would move their farms to other areas so that their old farms had time to recover. This would allow the forest to regrow so it could be used again for farming in the future.

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.

• What could archaeologists learn about Maya society from the discovery of the large Maya market ruins at Chunchucmil?

• Now you know the Maya used calendars to help grow their crops, how does it compare to how people use calendars today?

• The Maya would chop down and burn certain areas of forest every few years. Why is this significant for our understanding of the Maya?

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

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