How did the landscape of the Maya area

affect trade?

Objectives
 To appreciate the importance of trade in Maya culture.

 To explain how the Maya landscape shaped opportunities to trade.

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 What did the Maya trade?
Here is a list of some of the items the Maya traded.
Can you match each item to its use?
feathers Used as jewellery. More valuable than gold.
salt Used by important people to decorate clothes.
cacao Used to create chocolate drink.

obsidian Used to light fires.

flint Used to preserve meat and fish.
basalt Worn by priests and important people.

jade Used to make hunting and farming tools.

animal pelts Used to create hammers and axes.

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 Maya Area Landscapes
At the height of its power between AD250 and AD900, th

• The geography of the Maya area was hugely varied –

from tropical rainforests and volcanic mountains
to seafood-rich coasts and limestone flatlands.
and limestone flatlands.

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Maya Area Landscapes
Take a look at the photographs
from different regions of the Maya
area. Can you see how varied
they are?

Write words in the second column to

describe the landscape.
Maya Regions
The Maya area is usually divided into three regions with very
different landscapes:
Region 1: Northern Lowlands
The area of the Northern Lowlands
was flat with a hot and dry climate.

Coastal areas were rich in seafood,

shells and salt - but the land was
not good for farming or growing
crops. Inland areas did not have
many rivers or lakes and it did not
rain much.

As well as seafood, people in these

areas made the most of their natural
sources limestone and flint to use
in trading.
Region 2: Central Lowlands
The area of the Central Lowlands
(sometimes called Southern Lowlands)
was very different from its northern
counterpart! This was a region of
tropical rainforests – complete with
jaguars, deadly snakes, monkeys,
tropical birds, crocodiles and pumas!

This area was rich in goods to trade like

cacao, vanilla, tobacco and chilli
peppers as well as luxurious items like
cotton and a type of incense made
from tree resin, called copal.
Region 3: Southern Highlands
The region of the Southern Highlands
was a cool and fertile area of valleys and
volcanic mountains. The area can be
prone to earthquakes, mudslides and
volcanic eruptions.

Valuable stones and minerals can be

found in mountain caves and volcanoes,
like jade, basalt (volcanic rock) and
obsidian (volcanic glass), and there was
also a good trade in precious metals
like gold and luxurious feathers from
quetzal birds.
 Bartering
The Maya people did not use money to purchase
goods. They swapped them!

This process is called bartering – items that had a

similar value were swapped or traded. There were no
coins or currency.

Traders and merchants travelled across Maya territory

and beyond, buying and selling all sorts of things –
from essentials to luxury items.

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 Supply and Demand
Supply: the items that can be located near a particular
area, such as salt by the sea, jade in the mountains
and animal pelts in the rainforest.

Demand: the items wanted by a particular area that they

cannot get by themselves.

Merchants took a supply of items to the places where

there was a demand for it. If people wanted something,
they were willing to pay for it.
Commerce –
Modern commerce works in a similar way today. large scale buying
and selling

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Spot Check

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Source Time!
Take a look at the photographs on the next
slides, showing sources from the Maya
area. Because of trade, these objects could
be found anywhere across the Maya area –
but your job is to work out which area
each one is most likely to have originated
from.

Apply what you have learned today to

explain which of the three areas you think
each object material is most likely to
originate from and why.
Photograph 1: Jade Earrings
Photograph 1: Jade Earrings
Answer:
Photograph 2: Conch Shell Trumpet
Photograph 2: Conch Shell Trumpet
Answer:
Photograph 3: Limestone Rain God Head
Photograph 3: Limestone Rain God Head
Answer:
Photograph 4: Hot chocolate vessel showing jaguar image and
hieroglyphic writing about the rain season.
Photograph 4: Chocolate drink vessel with jaguar image and writing
about the topical rain season
Answer:
Complete Task 3 in your notebook.

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 GRADED HOMEWORK 2:

Feathers were important and valuable to the Maya. Feathers were one of
the most popular items that Maya merchants traded.

Find out the different types of bird that were the source of the feathers.

How did the Maya use the feathers?

Due-Monday, May 1st 2023

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Complete the missing information.