Ancient Maya: DAILY LIFE

Life in the Maya civilization was focused on work, family, and religion. People farmed the land
and worshipped their gods at temples. The Maya made crafts and artwork. Some Maya were
able to read and write. Maya society was strictly divided between the elite and the ordinary
people, or commoners. The daily life of a Maya depended on their level of social class. There
were several classes in Maya society including common people, nobles, priests, or people who
were enslaved.

COMMON MAYA
Most Maya commoners were farmers. Other commoners were architects,
stonecutters, and carpenters. They worked the fields raising maize, beans, and
other crops. The men also hunted for meat. Most women worked at home
preparing meals and weaving clothing. Women sometimes helped in the fields
too. Commoner children did not attend school but learned skills from their
families. Common people dressed simply. They were not allowed to wear fancy
clothing and jewelry like the elite, even if they could afford them. Men covered
themselves with loincloths, while women wore simple woven dresses or
skirts. Most Maya families lived in one-room houses and slept on reed mats
at night.

MIDDLE CLASS
There was a small middle class of merchants and government officials. Members of the
middle class could earn great wealth, but they could never join the elite, who inherited their
status from their parents.
NOBLES
Nobles lived very different lives from the common Maya. Each city-state had both nobles and a
king. The king lived a life of privilege but had many responsibilities to organize his people. Nobles
wore jewelry made from jade, a stone. Many also had tattoos that showed animals or gods.
Sons of nobles went to school, where they were taught by priests. They studied
math, science, writing, and other subjects. Some nobles learned to read and write
too. Some noble girls also learned to read and write.

PRIESTS
Another powerful class in Maya society was priests Nobles ruled, while
priests made decisions. They chose when farmers would plant and
harvest their crops. Priests selected when people should be
sacrificed to their gods. They climbed the stairs of pyramid temples
to perform ceremonies and sacrifices. Priests were also
astronomers who tracked the movements of the planets and
stars.
©Teaching to the Middle

THE ENSLAVED
The Maya sometimes captured enemies in battle and enslaved them. People who were
caught stealing also were enslaved, meaning they worked for no pay. Many were sacrificed to
the Maya gods.
MARRIAGE
Young people went through rituals in which they were recognized as adults before they could
marry. Marriages were arranged, but couples could get divorced and remarry. Young couples
lived in the wife’s family compound at first. They built a home on the husband’s family land
after a few years. Sons inherited from their fathers, while daughters did not inherit anything.

COMMUNICATION
The Maya spoke different languages in the different areas. They were related, but speakers of
different Mayan languages could not understand each other. Maya city-states frequently
communicated with one another. A system of roads connected their cities. Over twenty
different Mayan languages are still spoken today. The Maya had a form of writing made up of
1,000 glyphs and combined hieroglyphics. The pictures included people, animals, and gods. Each
picture stood for a sound. The pictures were combined to make words and sentences.
The Maya wrote on stone and an early form of paper. A type of folding book
called a codex recorded the history, religion, and culture of the Maya.

RELIGION
Religion was very important to the Maya. They worshipped
many different nature gods such as the sun, rain, and corn. The Maya
believed these gods controlled natural events like the weather, harvests,
and earthquakes. The Maya believed they needed to keep the gods happy.
They built huge temples shaped like pyramids to the gods. The Maya gave offerings, such as
food, drink, and animals, to the gods. Blood was the most important offering given to the gods.
Humans were sacrificed to keep the gods happy. The Maya offered sacrifices to their gods on
the altar at the top of temples.
CALENDAR
The Maya created complex calendars used for farming, religion, and other important events. The
Maya calendar had two main parts: the Tzolk’in and the Haab’. The Tzolk’in calendar was a 260-
day sacred cycle made up of 13 months of 20 days. Each day had its own name. It tracked
important ceremonies and astronomical events. The Haab’ was the 365-day cycle based on the
solar year. It had 18 months and 20 days. And was used to track harvest dates and seasons.
The Maya knew the solar year was not exact, so they added five extra days called the Wayeb.
The Tzolk’in and Haab’ cycles overlapped. It took 52 years for them to begin again at the same
starting point, known as the Calendar Round. The Long Count is a separate system used to
measure lengths of time that are longer than 52 years. It measures time in five cycles from a
starting date of August 11, 3114 BCE. That is the day the Maya believed the world was created.
DIET
The people of Mesoamerica learned to grow maize, or corn, between 3000 and 2000 BCE. The
Maya depended on corn, the most important food eaten by them. It was made into tortillas,
dumplings, and a porridge called atole. The elite mixed atole with a chocolate. Commoners
added chili peppers, pumpkin seeds, honey, and herbs to their atole. A corn drink called chicha
was also made by the Maya. The Maya also ate squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, nuts,
©Teaching to the Middle

fruits, beans, peppers, and avocadoes. Depending on where the Maya lived, the
ate venison (deer), turkey, and shellfish. Maya chocolate did not have sugar or
milk added to it. Cacao beans were toasted and then ground to make a hot drink.
Cacao beans were a chief crop or the Maya. They were used for trade and
were very valuable.
Name _____________________________________________

Ancient Maya: DAILY LIFE

IDENTIFY: Use the word bank to identify each description.
priests farmer nature jade
blood corn codex calendars
1. Folding book that recorded the history, religion,
and culture of the Maya.

2. Most commoners had this job

3. The most important offering given to gods

4. Stone often used in Maya jewelry

5. The Maya used a few complex ones to keep track

of time

6. Decided when farmers would plant and harvest

7. The Maya depended on this crop

8. The Maya believed the gods controlled this

SHORT ANSWER: Answer the question.

9. Name a fact about the Maya that surprised you.

©Teaching to the Middle
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Choose the best answer.

10. Which of the following was NOT a role that priests had?
A. Teach noble children.
B. Decide when farmers would plant and harvest their crops.
C. Track astronomical movements.
D. Rule the Maya people.

11. What was the main reason the Maya sacrificed humans?
A. To keep the gods happy.
B. To get rid of their enemies.
C. To punish criminals.
D. To reduce the population.

12. Which is true about the Maya calendars?

A. The tzolk’in calendar lasted thousands of years.
B. The calendars only marked religious events.
C. They were complex and tracked farming, religion, and other events.
D. There was only one Maya calendar used.

13. Which is true about Maya communication?

A. All Maya spoke the same exact language.
B. The Maya did not have a written language.
C. Mayan languages are no longer spoken today.
D. Maya hieroglyphics stood for a sound.

14. How did the author mostly organize the passage?

A. She compared and contrasted the Maya with the Aztec.
B. She described different characteristics of Maya daily life.
C. She described problems the Maya had and told how they sold them.
D. She described the main events in the history of the Maya civilization.

15. What was the author’s main purpose in writing this passage?
A. To persuade the reader to learn more about the Maya.
B. To inform the reader about the daily life of Maya.
C. To explain how the Maya treated their kings.
©Teaching to the Middle

D. To entertain the reader with an interesting story about the Maya.

 Ancient Maya: DAILY LIFE
Life in the Maya civilization was focused on work, family, and religion. People farmed the land
and worshipped their gods at temples. The Maya made crafts and artwork. Some Maya were
able to read and write. Maya society was strictly divided between the elite and the ordinary
people, or commoners. The daily life of a Maya depended on their level of social class. There
were several classes in Maya society including common people, nobles, priests, or people who
were enslaved.

COMMON MAYA
Most Maya commoners were farmers. Other commoners were architects,
stonecutters, and carpenters. They worked the fields raising maize, beans, and
other crops. The men also hunted for meat. Most women worked at home
preparing meals and weaving clothing. Women sometimes helped in the fields
too. Commoner children did not attend school but learned skills from their
families. Common people dressed simply. They were not allowed to wear fancy
clothing and jewelry like the elite, even if they could afford them. Men covered
themselves with loincloths, while women wore simple woven dresses or
skirts. Most Maya families lived in one-room houses and slept on reed mats
at night.

MIDDLE CLASS
There was a small middle class of merchants and government officials. Members of the
middle class could earn great wealth, but they could never join the elite, who inherited their
status from their parents.
NOBLES
Nobles lived very different lives from the common Maya. Each city-state had both nobles and a
king. The king lived a life of privilege but had many responsibilities to organize his people. Nobles
wore jewelry made from jade, a stone. Many also had tattoos that showed animals or gods.
Sons of nobles went to school, where they were taught by priests. They studied math, science,
writing, and other subjects. Some nobles learned to read and write too. Some noble girls also
learned to read and write.

PRIESTS
Another powerful class in Maya society was priests Nobles ruled, while
priests made decisions. They chose when farmers would plant and
harvest their crops. Priests selected when people should be
sacrificed to their gods. They climbed the stairs of pyramid temples
to perform ceremonies and sacrifices. Priests were also
astronomers who tracked the movements of the planets and
stars.
©Teaching to the Middle

THE ENSLAVED
The Maya sometimes captured enemies in battle and enslaved them. People who were
caught stealing also were enslaved, meaning they worked for no pay. Many were sacrificed to
the Maya gods.
MARRIAGE
Young people went through rituals in which they were recognized as adults before they could
marry. Marriages were arranged, but couples could get divorced and remarry. Young couples
lived in the wife’s family compound at first. They built a home on the husband’s family land
after a few years. Sons inherited from their fathers, while daughters did not inherit anything.

COMMUNICATION
The Maya spoke different languages in the different areas. They were related, but speakers of
different Mayan languages could not understand each other. Maya city-states frequently
communicated with one another. A system of roads connected their cities. Over twenty
different Mayan languages are still spoken today. The Maya had a form of writing made up of
1,000 glyphs and combined hieroglyphics. The pictures included people, animals, and gods. Each
picture stood for a sound. The pictures were combined to make words and sentences.
The Maya wrote on stone and an early form of paper. A type of folding book
called a codex recorded the history, religion, and culture of the Maya.

RELIGION
Religion was very important to the Maya. They worshipped
many different nature gods such as the sun, rain, and corn. The Maya
believed these gods controlled natural events like the weather, harvests,
and earthquakes. The Maya believed they needed to keep the gods happy.
They built huge temples shaped like pyramids to the gods. The Maya gave offerings, such as
food, drink, and animals, to the gods. Blood was the most important offering given to the gods.
Humans were sacrificed to keep the gods happy. The Maya offered sacrifices to their gods on
the altar at the top of temples.
CALENDAR
The Maya created complex calendars used for farming, religion, and other important events. The
Maya calendar had two main parts: the Tzolk’in and the Haab’. The Tzolk’in calendar was a 260-
day sacred cycle made up of 13 months of 20 days. Each day had its own name. It tracked
important ceremonies and astronomical events. The Haab’ was the 365-day cycle based on the
solar year. It had 18 months and 20 days. And was used to track harvest dates and seasons.
The Maya knew the solar year was not exact, so they added five extra days called the Wayeb.
The Tzolk’in and Haab’ cycles overlapped. It took 52 years for them to begin again at the same
starting point, known as the Calendar Round. The Long Count is a separate system used to
measure lengths of time that are longer than 52 years. It measures time in five cycles from a
starting date of August 11, 3114 BCE. That is the day the Maya believed the world was created.
DIET
The people of Mesoamerica learned to grow maize, or corn, between 3000 and 2000 BCE. The
Maya depended on corn, the most important food eaten by them. It was made into tortillas,
dumplings, and a porridge called atole. The elite mixed atole with a chocolate. Commoners
added chili peppers, pumpkin seeds, honey, and herbs to their atole. A corn drink called chicha
was also made by the Maya. The Maya also ate squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, nuts,
©Teaching to the Middle

fruits, beans, peppers, and avocadoes. Depending on where the Maya lived, the
ate venison (deer), turkey, and shellfish. Maya chocolate did not have sugar or
milk added to it. Cacao beans were toasted and then ground to make a hot drink.
Cacao beans were a chief crop or the Maya. They were used for trade and
were very valuable.
Name _____________________________________________

Ancient Maya: DAILY LIFE

IDENTIFY: Use the word bank to identify each description.
priests farmer nature jade
blood corn codex calendars
1. Folding book that recorded the history, religion,
and culture of the Maya.

2. Most commoners had this job

3. The most important offering given to gods

4. Stone often used in Maya jewelry

5. The Maya used a few complex ones to keep track

of time

6. Decided when farmers would plant and harvest

7. The Maya depended on this crop

8. The Maya believed the gods controlled this

SHORT ANSWER: Answer the question.

9. Name a fact about the Maya that surprised you.

©Teaching to the Middle
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Choose the best answer.

10. Which of the following was NOT a role that priests had?
A. Teach noble children.
B. Decide when farmers would plant and harvest their crops.
C. Track astronomical movements.
D. Rule the Maya people.

11. What was the main reason the Maya sacrificed humans?
A. To keep the gods happy.
B. To get rid of their enemies.
C. To punish criminals.
D. To reduce the population.

12. Which is true about the Maya calendars?

A. The tzolk’in calendar lasted thousands of years.
B. The calendars only marked religious events.
C. They were complex and tracked farming, religion, and other events.
D. There was only one Maya calendar used.

13. Which is true about Maya communication?

A. All Maya spoke the same exact language.
B. The Maya did not have a written language.
C. Mayan languages are no longer spoken today.
D. Maya hieroglyphics stood for a sound.

14. How did the author mostly organize the passage?

A. She compared and contrasted the Maya with the Aztec.
B. She described different characteristics of Maya daily life.
C. She described problems the Maya had and told how they sold them.
D. She described the main events in the history of the Maya civilization.

15. What was the author’s main purpose in writing this passage?
A. To persuade the reader to learn more about the Maya.
B. To inform the reader about the daily life of Maya.
C. To explain how the Maya treated their kings.
©Teaching to the Middle

D. To entertain the reader with an interesting story about the Maya.

Name ____KEY_________________________________________

Ancient Maya: DAILY LIFE

IDENTIFY: Use the word bank to identify each description.
priests farmer nature jade
blood corn codex calendars
1. Folding book that recorded the history, religion,
codex and culture of the Maya.

farmers 2. Most commoners had this job

blood 3. The most important offering given to gods

jade 4. Stone often used in Maya jewelry

5. The Maya used a few complex ones to keep track

calendars of time

priests 6. Decided when farmers would plant and harvest

corn 7. The Maya depended on this crop

nature 8. The Maya believed the gods controlled this

SHORT ANSWER: Answer the question.

9. Name a fact about the Maya that surprised you.

©Teaching to the Middle

ANSWERS WILL VARY

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Choose the best answer.

10. Which of the following was NOT a role that priests had?
A. Teach noble children.
B. Decide when farmers would plant and harvest their crops.
C. Track astronomical movements.
D. Rule the Maya people.

11. What was the main reason the Maya sacrificed humans?
A. To keep the gods happy.
B. To get rid of their enemies.
C. To punish criminals.
D. To reduce the population.

12. Which is true about the Maya calendars?

A. The tzolk’in calendar lasted thousands of years.
B. The calendars only marked religious events.
C. They were complex and tracked farming, religion, and other events.
D. There was only one Maya calendar used.

13. Which is true about Maya communication?

A. All Maya spoke the same exact language.
B. The Maya did not have a written language.
C. Mayan languages are no longer spoken today.
D. Maya hieroglyphics stood for a sound.

14. How did the author mostly organize the passage?

A. She compared and contrasted the Maya with the Aztec.
B. She described different characteristics of Maya daily life.
C. She described problems the Maya had and told how they sold them.
D. She described the main events in the history of the Maya civilization.

15. What was the author’s main purpose in writing this passage?
A. To persuade the reader to learn more about the Maya.
B. To inform the reader about the daily life of Maya.
C. To explain how the Maya treated their kings.
©Teaching to the Middle

D. To entertain the reader with an interesting story about the Maya.

 THANKS!
©Teaching to the Middle

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