The importance of maize in Mayan culture

Like all of the people of Mesoamerica, the Mayan people have at the center of their world, of their vision of the world in its terrestrial and cosmic aspects, the cultivation of maize.

Mayan culture has always relied upon the development of a maize-based agriculture and to this day maize remains the economic and social base of the culture.  The success of the maize crop was so essential to physical and financial well-being that it permeated many Mayan myths, symbols, and ritual.

Within the Mayan religious traditions, corn occupies an outstanding position. Besides representing the basic staple food, corn is scared to the Mayan culture since it is believed that the gods is used it as the main substance to create the first human being.

The Maize god also plays a very important role in the world’s creation and in sustaining life; thus, maize production h splayed a central role in the development of the Mayan civilization in different ways. For Mayan creation myths explain how the world and the people in it could be annihilated on a divine whim, and it was the duty of the people to please the gods so fully that the world would not be destroyed again.

The gods would suitably reward victims of sacrifice with an exalted place in the heavens.
The importance of maize in Mayan culture

Inca society and corn

Corn was one of the most important foods in Inca society.  They worshipped the goddess Mother Corn. When a new land was conquered, one of the first things the Inca did was to prepare the soil for corn crops.

The Inca of Peru had a well-developed system around corn which included ceremonies for planting and harvest.   At planting they asked the sun to protect the corn from excessive heat, and offered a drink made from maize onto the rivers to ask for water for their fields.

Chicha and alcoholic beverage made from fermented corn, played an central role in the ceremonial and social life of Andean peoples before contact with the Old World. It is a type of beer drunk mostly by Inca rulers and nobles after battle victories and during ceremonies.

They threw corn into the river they were about to cross, or fish in, to propitiate its god.

Corn was a currency with each kernel being a coin. In a transaction, the buyer placed a fistful of kernels on a table. If the seller deemed the number of kernels insufficient, she said nothing but instead stared at the kernels.
Inca society and corn