Mesoamerican civilizations in general were quite complex and this includes their structured society. know the Mayan social organization and its class system. A very interesting topic about this advanced indigenous society!
Mayan social organization
Before the arrival of the Europeans, there were very important indigenous civilizations that had prospered and in many cases dominated part of Central America, one of these was the Mayan empire.
It is important to understand that the Mayans were not a single people, they were really groups of aboriginal people who lived in a series of independent city-states, shared a language and in many cases similar cultures. Each of these city-states was a kingdom and it was led by a king who held a lot of power.
Mayan society, like many others in the world, had a class system and in its case quite rigid in some aspects. The social class to which an individual belongs determined his rights and opportunities in life.
However, unlike many other cultures, this one had a certain degree of social mobility depending on the city, that is, there was an opportunity for a person to emerge and raise their class, whether in the political, economic or military area.
Remember that there was no single empire and that each city-state was governed by different authorities, therefore, the realities of citizenship could vary from one to another.
Mayan society was rigidly divided between nobles, commoners, serfs, and slaves. The noble class was complex, the status and occupation of the same was transmitted through family lines.
Nobles served as rulers, officials, tribute collectors, military leaders, high priests, administrators, cocoa plantation managers, and leaders of trading expeditions.
The nobles were educated, literate, frequently living in the central areas of the Mayan cities.
On the other hand, commoners worked as farmers, laborers, and servants, however, some made good fortunes through their work as craftsmen and merchants, allowing themselves upward mobility between the classes through military service.
However, the commoners, regardless of the fortune amassed, were prohibited from wearing the clothes and symbols of the nobility, they could not acquire or wear luxury and exotic items.
Furthermore, their residences were located outside the central area of towns and cities. When they were farmers, plots of land could be individual or communal.
Societies had a class made up of serfs and slaves. In the case of the serfs, they generally worked land that belonged to the ruler or the local leader of the city.
The slave trade in the Mayan social organization was common and quite active, since both the commoners and the elites were allowed to have slaves.
In many cases, individuals were enslaved as a form of punishment for certain crimes, for not paying their debts or for being prisoners of war, when they were not sacrificed in a ceremony.
Many became slaves, selling themselves or their relatives, due to their serious economic situation. In the case of slavery, it did not pass from father to son, but in the case of orphaned children who did not have relatives willing to take care of them, they became slaves and were often sacrificed during religious rituals.
According to the custom of these societies, slaves were sacrificed when their masters died, so the service would continue after death.
When a free person married a slave, whether male or female, he became the slave of his partner's owner.
Most relevant social classes
Having made a brief summary of the social organization of the Mayans, we present a more detailed description of the most relevant classes in the society of this Mesoamerican culture:
rulers
The ruling class, as in ancient Egypt, was distinguished and educated, a select group that dominated the reading and writing of this culture.
The Mayans were prolific builders of pyramids, a structure that very well describes the social organization of the Mayans and their class system. These being very similar to their way of organizing society, an upper part where the exclusive and reduced ruling class, the rulers, is.
This class could inherit the titles to their next generations and all were highly literate, a very important distinction for the time. The Mayans were the only ones who developed a written language.
Artistic expressions such as poetry are presumed to be important privileges of the ruling class, probably due to the importance of writing and its exclusiveness to the ruling classes.
At the top of the pyramid you found the leader of all the Mayan societies, the king who was the head of the Mayan government and an important figure also in the religious sphere, since he was considered a semi-divine figure by right, acting in turn as a priest. as well.
Priests
Following the king in importance was an elite class of priests, as religion was extremely important to the Mayans, who had a belief system that described innumerable cycles of existence and ceremonies, which is why the priests were quite busy.
These figures had the responsibility, for example, of determining the appropriate time to go to war, the time of the harvest, when to start the construction of a new pyramid, among other things.
The gods had the answers to everything and often kept the answers in the stars, therefore it was the priest's job to decipher them, which is why apart from the other disciplines mastered by this highly educated elite class, astronomy was an important and fundamental.
Nobility and war chiefs
After the priests, there was a varied noble class, which was responsible for serving the king, each according to their abilities and specialization.
Some were military leaders, others were tax collectors, law enforcers, court members, or even managed government-controlled agricultural production of products such as cocoa.
The nobles were in charge of the daily administration of this complex society and each had a very specific role within this system. On the other hand, the high military officials directed everything related to the defense and expansion of the kingdom.
Non-noble elites
Beneath the ruling class, there was another group in the Maya social organization that had a somewhat unique position.
They were not nobles, but they had wealth, privilege and power, a very comfortable middle class. It was not the largest group in society, but it did include a representative number of people, usually artisans, merchants, and mid-level bureaucrats who made daily life possible in these cities.
Many people in this important social class, but not linked to the nobility, were commoners who managed to improve their social status through military service or success as merchants or craftsmen.
With the development of cities and the growth of the population during the classical period, commerce was positioned as a very important activity, being so essential for this society, that they had a ruling god and protector of merchants, Ek Chuah.
Before the flourishing of the cities, many Mayans lived in very small villages, easy to maintain with the work of their inhabitants and to feed with what was produced in their own crops.
But with the growth of cities, the only way to meet the needs of the large population was to trade with other towns and cities.
In early times there was likely to be little difference between nobles and commoners, but with the development of the Mayan cities that changed.
As trade between cities grew and became more important, groups of people were formed to manage major construction projects in the cities and create the goods for trade, giving rise to non-noble elites.
The merchants of this elite used to practice both local trade, that is, in the same city-state, and global, with other kingdoms, the latter being reserved for those with greater wealth and power. Merchants offered two types of goods:
- Items for daily use: they included some products such as necessary salt and very important in hot climates to preserve food, clothing, tools and food.
- Luxury items: these include any type of object that was required by royalty and nobles, generally determined to show off their wealth and power, they could be from beautiful pieces of ceramics, jewelry, feathers, jade, gold, etc.
The Mayan artisans had a slightly easier life in the social organization of the Mayans, since they did not have the hard and physical work required of the commoners who worked on the farms. They were not considered a powerful elite, but they were not considered part of the commoners either.
However, their work was very similar to that of the lower class, with the big difference that instead of heading to the fields, they spent their days in their workshops creating beautiful items such as jewelry, textiles, pottery, cloaks, and feather headdresses. .
Although the textiles and featherwork skilfully created by Mayan artisans have deteriorated over time without leaving any trace, the stone carvings of ornaments and jewelry that prevail to this day make a bold and accurate statement about the skills of these artists.
Because children generally inherit their parents' jobs and trades in this culture, it was possible to see within Mayan communities, entire families of artisans involved in the same work.
Each member of the family playing a role in creating goods for the market or as tribute to the king, all living under one roof. Mayan families included not only mothers, fathers, and children, but also aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
Artisan families generally lived in larger houses than the commoner, the pattern of their daily life was very similar to that of farmers, they got up early to start a long day working on their craft.
Breakfast was generally the same as the farmer's breakfast, but wealthier craftsmen could even have a cup of hot chocolate, a drink usually of the nobility.
After breakfast, the work day officially began, be it carving a stela for the new temple complex, buying exotic feathers in the markets for the impressive headdresses, or heading to the personal or communal workshop to begin work on the jewelry or ceramic pieces. .
It is important to note that most of the products made by Mayan artisans were for the noble class and royalty, however, they could also offer their pieces and products in the market, for the benefit of the family.
Each craftsman had to pay his tribute to the king, in addition to the taxes to his community, with the rest of the income obtained they could make improvements to their homes, buy more and better food, better food and more beautiful and elegant clothes.
Lower classes
The majority of the Mayans lived in the lower classes, composed mainly of the so-called commoners, who were mainly dedicated to agriculture, being the mainstay of the Mayan civilization, since the food of the communities and trade depended on agriculture.
Once the cultivated land was harvested, the farmers temporarily worked on the construction of the great works, such as the pyramids and temples, emblems and the central point of their imposing cities. While other commoners choose to work as servants and porters for the noble classes, in the limestone quarries cutting rocks for the numerous construction projects, among other things.
The life of this social class was characterized by hard work. The Maya generally did not have metal tools, nor pack animals such as horses or oxen to help with the plough, so it fell to the farmers to work the soil primarily by hand.
Women in this social class had many jobs, wives and daughters cooked, cleaned and sewed. However, not everything was housework, many women carried goods in baskets on their heads from the fields to the markets and if necessary helped in the fields.
These families started the day very early, often having hot corn porridge for breakfast, seasoned with chili or honey.
Then the men and boys went to the fields or to the workplace at the time and the women worked in their homes, cooking, grinding corn, caring for the children, keeping the gardens in good condition, checking the beehives and many weaving cloth. to make clothes for the family and for sale in the market.
In the fields, the meal of the day used to be buns made of ground corn dough, stuffed with vegetables and meat. The main meal used to be at home after the work day, when the family was complete and gathered to eat, usually tortillas, accompanied with vegetables and if there was meat or fish. Then when it got dark everyone was ready to sleep, because another day of hard work awaited them at dawn.
However, the life of the commoners in the social organization of the Mayans, also had its moments of relaxation, in the religious festivals that took place at least once a month in the city, moments where everyone sang, danced, venerated their deities, shared delicious meals, had fun watching Pok-a-Tok games, and children ran around and shared toys.
Slaves
Slaves were the lowest class in the Mayan social organization, almost always orphans, prisoners of war, criminals, or children of slaves. Although they were not necessarily mistreated by their owners, they had no rights or privileges.
Basically, the only function of the slaves in society was to do all the manual work in the houses of noble families, take care of the children, clean, work in the fields and in the construction of the temples. They were also the most frequent victims of human sacrifice rituals.
We invite you to consult other interesting links on our blog: