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Maya Empire for Kids
Farmers - Daily Life

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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Clip Art Credit: Phillip Martin
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