Economy and Trade of the Ancient Maya: Impact of Trade on the Economy

Possibilities for how trade impacted the Maya economy

     Archaeologists give three possibilities as to why trade occurred the way it did in the Ancient Maya world and by doing so help give understanding of the Ancient Maya economy. The first possibility is that there were tradesmen who walked routes and sold to the people of the city-states they passed. They could have also possibly set up in a marketplace type of environment as well as via a "coastal route." According to archaeologists this suggest a "more decentralized economy" in which people of different city-states choose how to interact with each other instead of being directed by centralized leadership.
    The second possibility is that a ruler of a specific geographic area would have control over the import and distribution of many, to all, of the goods and services available for trade. This suggests a more centralized economy where interaction between city states, at least for trade purposes, was more a planned activity than one of happenstance. 
      The other option that is presented is that goods and services passed from city-state to city-state through individual trading. (McKillop 2004) However, more research still needs to be conducted in order to find out how this trade network actually occurred.
     Archaeologists do hypothesize that this intricate trade network that the Ancient Maya developed may have been a major factor in the rise and fall of the civilization. For instance, the salt trade is believed to have contributed to the dense population and "development of large cities in the northern plains of the Yucatan." The impact of the salt trade was directly related to the "centralization of wealth and power" that came with having "control of the Yucatan salt sources and coastal trade networks."
      It is also believed that trade could have played a role in the collapse of the Ancient Maya. Archaeologist, Dr. Feinman, suggests that when trade routes switched from inland and coastal routes to mainly coastal routes that the people of the inland city-states were cut off from resources they needed to survive. How this cut off occurred Dr. Feinman isn't sure of but thinks that conflicts between city-states may have made trade to the inland impossible. (Golitko 2012) This would have also damaged the Maya economy to a point where it may not have been able to recover.                                                                                                                                                 Conclusion
     Trade in the Ancient Maya world was very important to their economy and to the individual people who relied on trade for the resources they needed to have a successful everyday life. Trade had a major impact on religious activities, diet and interaction between Maya city-states and likely contributed to the Maya rising to the great civilization of the Classic period as well as contributing to its decline.

For more information on the Ancient Maya please visit the blogs below:

Ancient Maya Writing by Sarah Allaun
Ancient Maya Ritual and Statecraft by Taylor Sulouff
Maya Technology Involving Cosmology and Lunar Cycles by Juan Pomales
Maya Mythology in the El Mirador Basin by Elizabeth Peabody


Sources:
Golitko, M., Meierhoff, J., Feinman, G. M., & Williams, P. (2012). Complexities of collapse: the evidence of Maya obsidian as revealed by social network graphical analysis.(Method)(Report). Antiquity, (332), 507-523.

McKillop, H. (2004). The ancient Maya : New perspectives. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, c2004.

Figure Sources:
Figure 2: Golitko, M., Meierhoff, J., Feinman, G. M., & Williams, P. (2012). Complexities of collapse: the evidence of Maya obsidian as revealed by social network graphical analysis.(Method)(Report). Antiquity, (332), 512.

Economy and trade of the Ancient Maya: Perishable trade

Figure 1: Location of Salt sources within the Maya region

Perishable Trade

Salt Trade
     In reference to the salt trade of the Ancient Maya not much is known. Considering that salt is a perishable resource there is little to no evidence of it in the archaeological record. Most of the research that has been conducted on perishable trade items such as salt have come from ethnographic research as well as Isotopic analysis (Thornton 2011). 
     Even though the archaeological evidence does not provide much information about the trade of salt within the Maya region, salt is a necessary commodity for human beings, and so it can be inferred that it was indeed traded during the time of the Ancient Maya (McKillop 2002). Without any environmental factors influencing a persons body, a human body needs between "1 to 2 grams" of salt everyday to survive. Throw in environmental factors of a temperate climate and that jumps to "4 to 6 grams" every day and "8 to 10 grams" if a person is working in a tropical climate, like the Ancient Maya would have been. Based on these numbers the quantity of salt that the Maya would have had to obtain each year would be extreme. 
     Salt sources have been found along the Pacific coast of the Maya region, along with sites in the Maya highlands and the North Yucatan coast. The city-states located in any of those geographic areas would have zero difficulty obtaining salt. However, the Maya lowlands were a different story. The Maya lowlands did not have any nearby, large quantity, resources of salt in which to supply their estimated five million population. If a person in the Maya lowlands needed to intake 8 to 10 grams a day then the estimated salt consumption would be 40 tons a day and almost 15,000 tons a year. The only salt source which produces this large of a quantity of salt is the North Yucatan coast which in 1603 was recorded to have produced 17,300 tons. Even though archaeologists cannot be sure of the salt production during the time of the Ancient Maya it is hypothesized that this is the only source that could have handled that large of a distribution every year. Figure 10 shows salt sources throughout the Maya region. Note the distance that would have needed to be traveled frequently in order to supply the Maya lowlands with almost 15,000 tons of salt each year. Hence, it is supposed that the salt trade was one of the most important perishable trade items of the Ancient Maya. (Andrew 1979)

Sources:
Andrew, Anthony. (1979) Salt and the Maya: Major Prehispanic Trading Spheres. Interdisplinary Approaches to Maya studies: Margins and Centers of the Classic Maya. Vancouver, Canada:1-14 (arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/110245/1/azu_gn1_a785_n1_1_17_w.pdf)

McKillop, H. (2002) Salt: White Gold of the Ancient Maya. Salt as a Maya Trade Good (1). University Press of Florida.

Thornton, Erin (2011) Reconstructing ancient Maya animal trade through strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 38, Issue 12, Pages 3254-3263, ISSN 0305-4403, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.06.035.

Figure Sources:

Figure 1: Andrew, Anthony. (1979) Salt and the Maya: Major Prehispanic Trading Spheres. Interdisplinary Approaches to Maya studies: Margins and Centers of the Classic Maya. Vancouver, Canada: 5 (arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/110245/1/azu_gn1_a785_n1_1_17_w.pdf)

Economy and trade of the Ancient Maya: Luxury Trade

Luxury Trade

Obsidian Trade

Figure 1: Example of an obsidian blade

     Obsidian is a naturally forming glass that is created when "viscous lava" cools rapidly (Encyclopedia Britannica). It is known to be the sharpest glass and was once used in eye surgery for its precision cuts. In the case of the Maya, archaeologist have found obsidian artifacts such as knives, blades, spearheads as well as some ornamental pieces. Obsidian cores and flakes, results of working the obsidian, have also been discovered. (Walker 2013) 



     How did individual Maya sites come into possession of such a scarce resource? This scarcity is one of the most important pieces of knowledge that should be considered when analyzing the trade of obsidian from one Maya city-state to another. Specifically, the fact that during the time of the Classic Maya there were only two primary distribution sites of obsidian. There were others in the vicinity but the majority of the artifacts found originate from two sites located in the Northern highlands of Guatemala at El Chayal and Ixtepeque. 


     The first archaeologist to present a theory on obsidian trade was Norman Hammond in 1972. (McKillop 2004) Hammond theorized that given the locations of El Chayal and Ixtepeque, along with the analysis of obsidian samples from around twenty three Classic Maya lowland sites, that the obsidian from El Chayal was traded inland by canoe, via river, as well as over land. In the case of Ixtepeque he theorized that the obsidian was transported again by canoe, specifically along the Montagua River,which then continued the trade up the coast of Belize,  and further up along the Yucatan coast.(Healy 1984) The largest quantity of obsidian artifacts during the Classic time period have been found in the Maya lowlands.

Figure 3: Examples of possible Maya trade routes

     Since 1972, more studies have been 
conducted which have led archaeologists to a different understanding of obsidian trade routes. With the assignment of obsidian artifacts to their appropriate source, as well as the dating of these artifacts, it has been brought to attention that it is not the location of the source that matters. Rather, the deciding factor is likely how and where it was traded and even more so the time period. An important revelation from dating obsidian artifacts is that El Chayal and Ixtepeque were influential sites at different time periods. Even though both sites were being used at corresponding times, El Chayal was the premier site during the Classic time period and Ixtepeque during the Postclassic. With artifacts continually being found, it is now believed that obsidian from both sites were traded via land and along the coast. (McKillop 2004)



Location of obsidian artifacts

      Obsidian artifacts have been found all the way from their source in the Guatemalan highlands at sites from Kaminaljuyu, to Quingua, to Tikal, and then all along the coast of Belize to sites like Wild Cane Cay and Altun Ha. Cuello and Cahel Pech were among the first sites to trade in obsidian.
(McKillop 2004)
Trade routes of other Maya luxury items
      Other luxury items of the Maya are believed to have followed many of the same trade routes as the obsidian examples listed above and shown in Figure 3. If you would like additional information regarding luxury items that were traded among  the Maya please click on the links below:
Jade the Mayan Treasure
Ancient Maya Economy and Trade
A Guide to Ancient Maya Ruins
Feathers, Ceramics and More


Sources:
Encyclopedia Britannica. Obsidian.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/424074/obsidian

Healy,Paul F., H. McKillop and B. Walsh. Analysis of obsidian from Moho Cay, Belize: new evidence on classic Maya trade routes. (1984). Science, 225(4660), 414.

McKillop, H. (2004). The ancient Maya : new perspectives / Heather McKillop. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, c2004.

Walker, J. Archaeology of Complex societies. (2013)

Figure Sources:
Figure 1: http://print.alvarezphotography.com/media/1873d1f4-3a35-11e2-a257-d91dd206b669-obsidian-blade
Figure 2: Golitko, M., Meierhoff, J., Feinman, G. M., & Williams, P. (2012). Complexities of collapse: the evidence of Maya obsidian as revealed by social network graphical analysis.(Method)(Report). Antiquity, (332), 512.
Figure 3:http://utajanuary2011mesoamerica.blogspot.com/2011/04/maya-economics-jessica-cansler.html

Economy and trade of the Ancient Maya: Overview

History

Figure 1: Map of Maya Empire

     The Ancient Maya civilization, located in Mesoamerica, was a complex society that existed between 2000 B.C.E. to around 1500 C.E. The oldest site dating to around 2600 B.C.E. at Cuello, Belize. However, it wasn't until around 1000 B.C.E. that the Maya civilization began it's transition from smaller communities to complex city-states. Archaeologists agree that even though the transition can be seen in the archaeological record that the first city-state did not come into fruition until Kaminaljuyu, present day Guatemala, in 1500 B.C.E. From this point, the soon to be Maya dominated region, spread to encompass all of Belize, Guatemala, parts of Honduras and El Salvador as well as the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Broken down into the Maya highlands and lowlands the geographic regions that the Maya inhabited were highly variant contributing to a unique cultural identity. A major contributing factor to this unique culture, as well as economic identity, was trade. Trade significantly increased, especially in luxury items, around the Middle Preclassic and reached its peak during the Classic period. Long distance trade consisted of  luxury items for the elite as well as perishable food or animal skins etc. Short distance trade also occurred. (McKillop 2004) 

Time Periods
     Civilizations in Mesoamerica, such as the Ancient Maya are split into different time periods known as the Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic. Each period is then broken into smaller periods of time. The Preclassic period is the time frame between 2000 B.C.E. and 200 C.E. Within the Preclassic, the Early Preclassic is between 2000 B.C.E. and 1000 B.C.E., the Middle Preclassic is between 950 B.C.E. and 400 B.C.E, and the Late Preclassic is 400 B.C.E. through 200 C.E. (Fagan and Scarre 2008). The Preclassic is often associated with the transition from the Maya people living in small agricultural communities in the Early Preclassic to the development of complex city-states, including elaborate architecture such as pyramids and long distance trade, during the Middle and Late Preclassic period (McKillop 2004). 

         The Classic period is also broken into three subdivisions. The Early Classic which ranges from 200 C.E. to 600 C.E., the Late Classic which is the time period between 600 C.E. and 900 C.E., and the Terminal Classic period which is from 800 C.E. to 1000 C.E. The Classic period is seen as the peak of Ancient Maya civilization. (Fagan and Scarre 2008) This time period is focused on the beginning and the end of the creation of stone monuments known as stelae. The earliest of these stelae was found at Tikal at the beginning of the Classic period and the most recent stelae created was at the end of the Classic period. These stelae documented, with hieroglyphs, the life story of elite rulers including "birth, marriage, accession to throne, battles won, and death." The Early and Late Classic is also the time period most noted for elaborate plasters, buildings, crafts, and large population growth, while the Terminal Classic is seen as a period of decline for the Ancient Maya. (McKillop 2004)

Figure 2: Example of a stelae found at Calakmul

       The Postclassic period is only divided into two subdivisions, the Early Postclassic and the Late Postclassic. The Early Postclassic is the time frame from 900 C.E. to 1200 C.E. while the Late Postclassic is from 1200 C.E. to 1500 C.E. (Fagan and Scarre 2008). This period of time is when many of the the prominent Classic sites were abandoned. There is no consensus as to why this occurred but some theories are overpopulation, decline in trade, as well as environmental factors. (McKillop 2004)

What is trade?

"Trade is the exchange of goods and services for other goods and services." Trade can be local or long-distance depending on what goods or services people of a particular area want or need. Trade can be fueled by necessity or by social status. (Andrews 2008)

What was traded?
The Maya people participated in both local and long distance trade. Archaeologists have found evidence of luxury trade items such as jade, ceramics, basalt and obsidian as well as perisherable trade items like cacao, salt, cotton, feathers, animal skins, as well as honey (Smith 2010 and Fagan & Scarre 2008)

Sources:
Andrews, Carolyn. (2008) What is trade?. Crabtree Publishing Company: 1-2

Smith, Michael E. (2010) Trading Patterns, Ancient American. The Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (2): 1-6

Fagan, B., and C. Scarre. (2008) Ancient Civilizations: 399, 417-429.

McKillop, H. (2004). The ancient Maya : New perspectives. Santa Barbara, California: 7-13 

Figure Sources:
Figure 1: Map of Ancient Maya Empire http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/mayas.htm

Figure 2: Stelae 51 from Calakmul http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/maya-stelae-1.htm

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