Mayan agriculture

Mayan agriculture refers to the type of agriculture that was practiced during the historical phase that gives it its name. So, on this was based the prominent economic model of this civilization for centuries. It was also the main activity for most of its citizens.

Within their culture, Mayan agriculture constituted a fundamental pillar in their economy. In that sense, it was established as the main activity of said civilization prior to the discovery of America in the 15th century. And it is that, we must know that the Mayans dominated the agrarian field, achieving the development of remarkable cultivation models in pre-Columbian times.

Mainly, the Mayans based their agriculture on the exploitation of cornfields. This fact translated into a periodic need to change the location of the Mayan peoples.

In other words, they encompassed certain expansions of corn-growing land. Land that had previously been cut down and burned, in order to use the ashes as fertilizer for the land.

The predominant importance of Mayan agriculture

The predominant crop for most of its pre-Columbian historical period was corn.

Along with other activities such as hunting and fruit-type gathering, it was the most common way of life for the Mayan citizen.

The agricultural domain responded to the infrastructural management that this town had. Since they developed engineering models capable of storing and distributing significant amounts of water. This was especially the case at high altitudes and on large farms.

At the same time, an incipient type of trade, with goods derived from agricultural production, became a model of interrelation between different towns.

It also meant the possibility of accessing other types of cultivation.

Main characteristics of Mayan agriculture

The agricultural production of the Mayan civilization had a series of characteristic features to highlight:

• Despite the significant predominance of corn, agricultural production also included other resources such as cocoa, beans and other types of beans, tobacco or cotton.
• Over the centuries they managed to reach a high level of technological sophistication and in terms of infrastructure. An example of this are the water deposits in elevated areas or in the subsoil.
• Advances in tissue treatment instruments, or the treatment of precious metals, facilitated such technical development.
• However, the technical use of iron or copper was not common. Work tools created from wood or stone had a greater role.
• The most widespread production methodology among the Mayans was based on cutting and burning of cornfields. In this way, they discovered that the crops grew in better conditions and made it possible to establish planting shifts between different places.
• The milpas system required movement between different zones. Always attending to the cultivation cycles of the land, which is why the displacement of the villages from time to time was common.

The arrival of European colonizers brought with it a new form of cultivation, as well as repopulation, with new animal and plant species.

In the same way, it supposed the adoption of new cultivation modalities that, progressively, were replacing the traditional Mayan model. An example of this would be the extensive use of machinery composed of iron and copper, or the use of animals for cultivation work.