RAINFOREST
The ancient Maya lived deep within the tropical rainforest, which was a source of food, medicine and building materials. The forest also shaped Maya identity.
Villages grew into large cities, each with a royal palace at its heart. The Maya built artificial lakes to collect water. They also built sanitation systems. With this infrastructure, combined with household gardens that produced food inside the cities, as many as 100,000 people could live in one place.
Think of a major city and imagine all the things its citizens require. Every day they need food, water and shelter – and these things take work to maintain. Nobles and members of the rising middle class managed this work; traders, artisans and warriors helped and prospered. As populations grew, so did the cities. The Maya needed more and more land to supply people’s needs. They expanded their cities into the wild, building further and further into the surrounding rainforests.
RAINFOREST
The ancient Maya lived deep within the tropical rainforest, which was a source of food, medicine and building materials. The forest also shaped Maya identity.
Villages grew into large cities, each with a royal palace at its heart. The Maya built artificial lakes to collect water. They also built sanitation systems. With this infrastructure, combined with household gardens that produced food inside the cities, as many as 100,000 people could live in one place.
RAINFOREST
Villages grew into large cities, each with a royal palace at its heart. The Maya built artificial lakes to collect water. They also built sanitation systems. With this infrastructure, combined with household gardens that produced food inside the cities, as many as 100,000 people could live in one place.
Think of a major city and imagine all the things its citizens require. Every day they need food, water and shelter – and these things take work to maintain. Nobles and members of the rising middle class managed this work; traders, artisans and warriors helped and prospered. As populations grew, so did the cities. The Maya needed more and more land to supply people’s needs. They expanded their cities into the wild, building further and further into the surrounding rainforests.
RAINFOREST
The ancient Maya lived deep within the tropical rainforest, which was a source of food, medicine and building materials. The forest also shaped Maya identity.
Villages grew into large cities, each with a royal palace at its heart. The Maya built artificial lakes to collect water. They also built sanitation systems. With this infrastructure, combined with household gardens that produced food inside the cities, as many as 100,000 people could live in one place.
Think of a major city and imagine all the things its citizens require. Every day they need food, water and shelter – and these things take work to maintain. Nobles and members of the rising middle class managed this work; traders, artisans and warriors helped and prospered. As populations grew, so did the cities. The Maya needed more and more land to supply people’s needs. They expanded their cities into the wild, building further and further into the surrounding rainforests.
RAINFOREST
The ancient Maya lived deep within the tropical rainforest, which was a source of food, medicine and building materials. The forest also shaped Maya identity.
Villages grew into large cities, each with a royal palace at its heart. The Maya built artificial lakes to collect water. They also built sanitation systems. With this infrastructure, combined with household gardens that produced food inside the cities, as many as 100,000 people could live in one place.
RAINFOREST
The ancient Maya lived deep within the tropical rainforest, which was a source of food, medicine and building materials. The forest also shaped Maya identity.
Villages grew into large cities, each with a royal palace at its heart. The Maya built artificial lakes to collect water. They also built sanitation systems. With this infrastructure, combined with household gardens that produced food inside the cities, as many as 100,000 people could live in one place.
Think of a major city and imagine all the things its citizens require. Every day they need food, water and shelter – and these things take work to maintain. Nobles and members of the rising middle class managed this work; traders, artisans and warriors helped and prospered. As populations grew, so did the cities. The Maya needed more and more land to supply people’s needs. They expanded their cities into the wild, building further and further into the surrounding rainforests.
