Maya's families

The typical Maya family (averaging five to seven members, archaeologists guess) probably arose before dawn to a breakfast of hot chocolate--or, if they weren't rich enough, a thick, hot corn drink called atole--and tortillas or tamales. The house was usually a one-room hut built of interwoven poles covered with dried mud. Meals of corn, squash and beans, supplemented with the occasional turkey or rabbit, were probably eaten on the run.

During the growing season, men would spend most of the day in the fields, while women usually stayed closer to home, weaving or sewing and preparing food. At the end of the day the family would reconvene at home, where the head of the household might perform a quick bloodletting, the central act of piety, accompanied by prayers and chanting to the ancestors. Days that were not devoted to agriculture might be spent building pyramids and temples. In exchange for their toil, the people expected to attend royal marriages and ceremonies marking important astrological and calendrical events. At these occasions the king might perform a bloodletting, sacrifice a captive or preside over a ball game--the losers to be beheaded, or sometimes tied in a ball and bounced down the stone steps of a pyramid. Like modern-day hot-dog vendors, craftsmen and farmers might show up for these games to set up stands and barter for pots, cacao and beads.

They lived in small villages consisting of household compounds occupied by extended families. Their thatched-roof houses were usually one-room huts with walls of interwoven wooden poles covered with dried mud. These huts were used primarily for sleeping; daily chores such as cooking took place outdoors in the central communal compound. The division of labour between men and women was clearly defined: the men looked after building huts and caring for the cornfields, and the women prepared food, made clothing, and tended to the family's domestic needs. These ancient farming methods and family traditions have persisted over the centuries and continue to be followed in many rural communities today