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How are the Mayan Houses in Yucatan made?

- June 12, 2023

The ancestral Mayan house is “an essential part of the culture and a reflection of the daily life that takes place in that community”

The traditional Mayan house, cataloged among specialists as vernacular architecture, its feeling towards these spaces creates, between housing and human beings, such a close relationship that even for some people their “souls” are combined.

Although many social factors threaten the existence of this type of house, one of those sides is that of public policy that can consider it as a sign of “poverty”.

The traditional house or the xa’anil naj, is made up of plant materials (huano or palm, wood and vines) has played an important role in the life of the Mayan peoples, since it shows a set of knowledge with which they identify themselves.

Its cultural value, like architecture, carries a lot of knowledge that has been inherited from generation to generation through orality and practice in its construction.

The main function is and has been home; Nowadays it has undergone modifications due to the presence of new non-natural materials in its structure, but, without a doubt, the most serious affectation consists of its replacement by the western block or wall house.

The xa’anil naj, or traditional Mayan house, also sometimes referred to as maya: naj, is a dynamic space where moral values are transmitted and instilled.

Although it is scarce today, the xa’anil naj is considered in the Mayan community as an inheritance from the nojoch máakes, that is, from the Mayan grandparents or ancestors.

How are the Mayan Houses made?

These Mayan architectural works are oval houses, built with wood, stone and palm of huano. Inside there is a division with fabric curtains. The cool hammocks for sleeping during the day are hung on the wall.

The kitchen is located at the back of the houses, it has a stove, a bench (it is a circular table) and a bench.

We definitely would not be talking about a Mayan house if there is not a comal (round piece of sheet metal or clay where handmade tortillas are cooked).

The walls of the Mayan houses are made with sticks of bajarete wood covered with mud (a mixture made of red earth, grass and water). They are roofed with two waters with palm leaves of huano. They lack windows and have a front and a back door. They are thermal: in hot weather they are cool and in cold weather, warm.

What are the Mayan houses called?

The traditional house or called in Maya as the xa’anil naj (huano house), is made up of plant materials (huano or palm, wood, and vines) and has played an important role in the life of the Mayan peoples, since in it breaks down a body of knowledge with which they identify.

How is a Mayan house built?

The construction of the Mayan house is eco-friendly and has not only botanical knowledge, but also forestry. As we told you, soft and flexible woods are used for the arches, palm trees and grass. The vines or lianas are used to tie the entire structure of the house, this house does not need to use a single nail, screw or cement. It is completely made of plant materials.

The land and stone of the region is used to make the masonry. The living spaces are designed so that the houses are strategically located according to the passage of the sun. In some cases, two or three houses are built one behind the other depending on the size of the families.

Where and how did the Mayans live?

The Mayans occupied a large proportion of the surface within Mesoamerica. There are archaeological remains in the states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Chiapas and Tabasco in Mexico. Also, in the Central American countries of Guatemala and Belize and in some areas of Honduras and El Salvador.

What were the Mayan customs?

As the Mayan civilization propagated a culture based on astronomical and scientific development, then many of the customs were ceremonies, art, architecture, developments in agriculture, fishing and mathematics.

What did the Mayans eat?

The Mayans fed with products from agriculture such as corn, considered a sacred plant since they believed that men were created from yellow and white corn, ramón seeds, used to prepare tortillas, sweet breads, or thick oatmeal, tamales, pumpkin, beans, among others.

Where do the Mayans live today?

Currently, most of the Maya indigenous live in the Yucatan Peninsula, speak the peninsular Mayan language, and unlike what happens in other parts of the country, many Mayan terms in Campeche and Yucatan have leaked into the Spanish spoken by the population in general.

Without a doubt, most of these houses have great meaning, not only Mayan, but also personal since many of the great people now spent their entire childhood in these Mayan houses.

We are sure that if these Mayan houses could talk, they could tell endless anecdotes, happy or sad stories, important moments that have happened in them.

Source: Top Yucatan

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