Page:Mexican Archæology.djvu/360

298 can be understood better from the illustrations than from any lengthy description.

Agriculture was very important among the Maya, as may be judged from the study of their religion. Maize and cacao constituted the most important of the crops, but beans, yams and other food-plants were also grown. Co-operative labour was employed in the preparation of the fields, for weeding and for sowing, and the burnt weeds were the only manure. Sowing took place at the commencement of the rainy season; the sowers were furnished with a bag containing the grain and a pointed stick with which they made holes in the ground for the reception of the seed. The right-hand figure in the upper portion of Fig. 59 is probably engaged in this occupation. The crop was stored in specially constructed granaries. Maize was set to steep over night in water mixed with lime, and was then pounded on stones and made up into cakes, which lasted a long time and were soaked in water before a meal when they became hard. Various kinds of bread were made, most of which were eaten hot, as they were indigestible when cold. Maize-meal was mixed with water.to make a beverage, for water was not usually drunk plain; a drink was also prepared from the roast grain pounded and mixed with cacao and pepper. Much chocolate, prepared as described on p. 155, was consumed, and mead was prepared from honey to which an infusion of a certain root was added. For grinding maize a flat stone, called in Mexico metatl, was used together with an elongated stone rubber, circular or square in section, and often with a marked flattening on the side which was most constantly in use. At the present day the rubbers used in Mexico and in northern Guatemala are heavy, and the ends project beyond the edges of the metatl, so that they can be grasped by the user; in Peten, Alta Vera Paz and south-eastern Guatemala, they are lighter, and shorter than the breadth of the