Trade in Maya civilization facts for kids

The ancient Maya people were very skilled at trading goods. They exchanged many items like fish, squash, yams, corn, honey, beans, and turkey. They also traded valuable materials such as limestone, marble, jade, wood, copper, and gold.

The Maya also made and traded things like paper, books, furniture, jewelry, clothes, carvings, toys, and weapons. They had many experts who sold their skills, including mathematicians, farming helpers, artists, architects, astronomers, and writers. Some rich traders even sold weapons and gold.

Special artists and craftspeople made luxury items and special tools, often for the rulers. The Maya also traded over long distances for important daily needs like salt, potatoes, and stone. Different areas of the Maya kingdom often specialized in making certain goods based on what resources they had nearby. This helped them produce and share items very quickly.

How the Maya Traded Goods

The Maya economy had different levels of people. Many skilled workers and artists made everyday items and special goods. Above them were merchant governors. These leaders helped manage the economy by understanding what different regions needed.

Even higher up were highly skilled experts like artists, mathematicians, architects, and astronomers. They sold their unique services and created fancy items. At the very top were the rulers and their advisors. They managed trade with other kingdoms, kept regions stable, and approved big building projects.

For a long time, people thought the Maya trade system was very simple. But new research shows it was much more complex. Maya cities were busy and had marketplaces where many goods, including obsidian, were traded. We know this from old paintings in places like Calakmul, which show specialists near what looks like a market. The Yucatec Maya language even has words for "market" and "where one buys and sells."

Trade routes connected different parts of the Maya world. For example, at Coba, marketplaces were found in two large public squares. These areas had special buildings for market stalls and signs of traded food items.

Maya Money and Trade Growth

The Maya used different ways to pay for things. For large amounts of food, they often traded items directly, which is called barter. For everyday purchases, especially in later times, they used cacao beans. For more expensive items, gold, jade, and copper were used. However, these items were not "money" in the way we think of it today, as their value could change in different cities.

Because many trade resources and local traders were available, small towns didn't always need to trade over long distances. Even most farming families, who grew their own food, still needed to trade for things like pottery, tools, salt, and fish (if they lived far from the coast).

As cities like Tikal and El Mirador grew and craftspeople became more specialized, the need for trade increased. Tikal, for example, had a huge population of 60,000 to 120,000 people. This meant it needed food and other goods from up to 100 kilometers away! This large-scale trade helped rulers gain more power over their lands and people.

Trade also helped smaller cities along the trade routes grow. This led to steady growth across the Post-Classic period. Evidence from recent discoveries shows that trade was very common. Scientists have used modern tests to confirm that goods like hard stones were moved over very long distances, even without animals to carry them or wheeled carts. They also traded items from honey to quetzal feathers.

The Maya were so good at trading that they built a lifestyle based on it throughout Mesoamerica. Some historians believe this skill even helped them avoid being conquered by the powerful Aztec empire. The Aztecs valued the Maya for their trading abilities and didn't feel the need to take over their lands.

What the Maya Traded

Raw obsidian and obsidian blades were important trade goods for the Maya.

As trade grew, so did the demand for many goods. Many items were made in large workshops and then transported, mostly by sea, because roads were not very good for heavy cargo. These goods included fine pottery, stone tools, paper, jade, pyrite, quetzal feathers, cocoa beans, obsidian, copper, and bronze.

Most ordinary people used basic goods like stone tools, salt, cacao beans, fish, and manufactured items like books and pottery. But the upper class and rulers used more valuable items like gold, jade, copper, and obsidian to show off their power and wealth.

Salt: A Super Important Item

Salt was perhaps the most important trade item. It was vital for the Maya diet and for keeping food from spoiling. By covering meat with salt, the Maya could dry it out so it would last longer.

Most salt was made near the oceans by drying out large areas of seawater. Once dry, the salt could be collected and moved across the empire. The Yucatán region was the biggest producer of salt in Mesoamerica. Its people were so good at collecting sea salt that they controlled the entire salt industry for a time.

It's thought that the city of Tikal, with about 45,000 people, used around 131 tons of salt every year! Salt was also used in rituals and for medicine, especially during childbirth and after someone died. Maya warriors even wore armor made of cotton jackets packed with rock salt, much like modern protective vests.

Salt was obtained from different places, including the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and inland salt springs like Salinas de los Nueve Cerros in Guatemala. This inland site produced a lot of black salt. The salt was often made into blocks using special clay pots that were used only once.

Chocolate: A Special Drink

Chocolate was used throughout the Maya region to make sauces and drinks. It was mostly grown in the lowlands and then transported to the highlands. Chocolate has a long history in Mesoamerica, always linked to long-distance trade and luxury.

The Maya shared their knowledge of cacao through stories, carvings, pottery, and colorful books called codices. These documents praised cacao and showed its use in daily life and special ceremonies, long before Europeans arrived.

Art and Furniture

Ceramics and furniture were made in special workshops and then traded. The work of certain artists or workshops was highly desired by the wealthy Maya. These artists were often supported by rich patrons.

Fancy art goods like jade carvings, paintings, ornate furniture, and metal ornaments were also traded among the elite classes. These items were strong symbols of power and wealth. The ceramics included plates, vases, and drinking cups, often painted red with gold and black designs.

Jade and Obsidian: Precious Stones

Rare stones like jade and pyrite were very important to the Maya elite. These stones were hard to get, so owning them helped rulers show their high status. Many of these stones came from the highlands of Guatemala. As long-distance trade grew, more of these precious stones could be moved to the lowland cities.

The main route for jade was the Motagua river and a newly found land route in the Sierra de las Minas. From there, it was sent throughout the Maya area and beyond, using canoes on Caribbean routes and the Pasión River route. A valuable trade item often becomes more valuable the farther it travels from its source.

The fact that Cancuén seemed to thrive for hundreds of years without war, and that trade was more important than religion, challenges the idea that Maya rulers' power came mostly from religion and warfare.

Obsidian, a sharp volcanic glass, was also very important. It was transported from quarries like El Chayal, San Martín Jilotepeque, and Ixtepeque. It traveled by river and then by sea to major Maya centers. In places like El Baúl Cotzumalguapa, large workshops made obsidian tools like blades and spear points. These tools were used for cutting, hunting, and daily household tasks.

Trade over water, which became more common as the Classic period ended and the Postclassic began, allowed even more long-distance trade. This meant these valuable goods could reach all parts of the Maya region.

Obsidian Trade Through Time

Obsidian was traded for thousands of years by the Maya.

• Early Trade (Preclassic Period): From about 2000 BC to 250 AD, large pieces of obsidian were brought from highland Guatemala. Different trade networks existed, bringing obsidian to various lowland Maya sites. This shows that the Maya had wide-reaching trade connections even very early on.
• Later Trade (Classic Period): From 250 AD to 900 AD, the Maya became very skilled at making long, sharp blades from obsidian. These blades were found everywhere. Most obsidian came from the Ixtepeque source, used for everyday tools. However, green obsidian from Central Mexico was found in elite homes, showing trade links with cities like Teotihuacan. Maya cities were highly connected, with marketplaces for many goods, including obsidian. Tikal was a major hub for obsidian trade, especially from El Chayal.
• Coastal Trade (Post-Classic Period): After 900 AD, with the decline of inland Maya cities, obsidian trade largely moved to the coast. Cities like Chichen Itza and Cozumel became important trading centers. While the overall trade networks were weaker at first, they later reformed, focusing on coastal routes. Very little new Central Mexican obsidian was used; much of it was recycled from earlier times. Coastal sites like Wild Cane Cay in Belize became key ports for obsidian trade.

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  Raw obsidian and obsidian blades were important trade goods for the Maya.