Mayan Way of Life The Maya lived very simply. What they had in their houses was not much--usually a table, a few stools, firepit and sleeping mats. The house was often made of wood with a straw room. In front of the firepit there was a platform which was used for cooking.

The son worked in the fields with their father while the daughters worked around the house with the other women.

Food and Medicine The Mayas did not eat a lot of idfferent kinds of food. They ate what they grew such as maize, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, chilis. They also ate wild boars and deer meat which they hunted.

If you want to know more about what the Mayas ate here are two links from Rabbit on the Moon web site. The first descirbes Eating Chilis and the second is a rather surprising food of the ancient Mayas.

For medicine they used many herbs. They also believed that if they praised the gods, the gods would protect them from illness. Before the Spanish came, the Maya did not know about smallpox, measles and chicken pox so they had no cure when the Spanish introduced them to the New World. Many Maya died from these European diseases.