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Many of the Maya peasants were farmers. Families
lived in thatched roofed houses - one family per house.
Farmers and their families ate very well on the
farms. Food included hot corn porridge for breakfast, and tortillas
filled with cooked vegetables for lunch and dinner.
Farmers worked very hard. The Mayas did not have
metal tools. Fathers and sons worked their land mostly by hand, helped a
little with stone axes. Even though their tools were very simple,
farmers grew so much food that they produced surplus crops.
Wives and daughters cooked and cleaned and sewed.
Girls babysat their youngest siblings. Women carried goods in baskets on
their heads from the fields and to market. Women helped in the fields as
necessary.

When the growing season ended, farmers worked
alongside slaves (captured people from other tribes) to build the
magnificent cities. They were the labor.
Slash
and Burn Farming
Food
& Maize
Mayas
for Kids
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