Economy of the Maya civilization information

Economy is conventionally defined as a function for production and distribution of goods and services by multiple agents within a society and/or geographical place ^[1] An economy is hierarchical, made up of individuals that aggregate to make larger organizations such as governments and gives value to goods and services. The Maya economy had no universal form of trade exchange other than resources and services that could be provided among groups such as cacao beans and copper bells. Though there is limited archeological evidence to study the trade of perishable goods, it is noteworthy to explore the trade networks of artifacts and other luxury items that were likely transported together.

While subsistence agriculture played a central role in daily life, the Maya had a mechanism for economic exchange between settlements, which was capable of supporting specialists and a system of merchants through trade routes.^[2] Maya specialist Joanne Pillsbury states that "access to imported goods is perhaps the most recoverable aspect of prestige and leadership in ancient states."^[3] The power of Maya rulers not only depended on their ability to control resources, but also in managing the production and distribution of status goods as well as (non-local) commodities like salt.^[2] Furthermore, Maya laborers were subject to a labor tax to build palaces, temples and public works. A ruler successful in war was able to control more laborers and exact tribute on defeated enemies, further increasing their economic might.^[2]

Over the early Neoclassic era (2000 BC to 250 AD), the Maya civilization had spread throughout the Yucatan Peninsula and modern southern Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; and expanded throughout Central America in Guatemala, parts of Honduras, sections of El Salvador, and Belize. Large settlements across this region would use their most abundant resources to trade with other groups who did not have a lot of these resources. As part of the social economy, localized trade enabled comparative advantage to be utilised within communities that possessed products in abundance as they were able to exchange these with other communities to acquire what was unavailable locally.^[4] This framework was compounded to form a complex economy based on symbiotic relationships between communities and regions, wherein each relied on others to fill specific deficiencies in return for their specialized products, thus maximizing the overall production of the Maya kingdom.^[4] There for economic relationships began bilaterally between Maya groups, and from this trade, networks began to develop.

^ "economy | Definition of economy in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c J., Sharer, Robert (2009). Daily life in Maya civilization (2nd ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313351297. OCLC 290430059.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Pillsbury, Joanne (1996). "The Thorny Oyster and the Origins of Empire: Implications of Recently Uncovered Spondylus Imagery from Chan Chan, Peru". Latin American Antiquity. 7 (4): 313–340. doi:10.2307/972262. ISSN 1045-6635. JSTOR 972262. S2CID 164108466.
^ ^a ^b Richard J. Sharer with Loa P. Traxler (2006) The Ancient Maya, 6th Edition

[1] "economy | Definition of economy in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved 2018-08-23.

[:0-2] J., Sharer, Robert (2009). Daily life in Maya civilization (2nd ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313351297. OCLC 290430059.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[3] Pillsbury, Joanne (1996). "The Thorny Oyster and the Origins of Empire: Implications of Recently Uncovered Spondylus Imagery from Chan Chan, Peru". Latin American Antiquity. 7 (4): 313–340. doi:10.2307/972262. ISSN 1045-6635. JSTOR 972262. S2CID 164108466.

[:8-4] Richard J. Sharer with Loa P. Traxler (2006) The Ancient Maya, 6th Edition

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