Women in Maya society

Ancient Maya women had an important role in society: beyond propagating the culture through bearing and raising children, Maya women participated in economic, governmental, and farming activities. The lives of women in ancient Mesoamerica are not well documented: "Of the three elite founding area tombs discovered to date within the Copan Acropolis, two contain the remains of women, and yet there is not a single reference to a woman in either known contemporary texts or later retrospective accounts of Early Classic events and personages at Copan," writes a scholar.^[1]

Women play a significant role in rituals, cooking food for consumption and sacrifice. Whether women participated in said rituals is unknown. Women also worked on all of the textiles, an essential resource, and product for Maya society.

The status of women in Maya society can be inferred from their burials and textual and monumental history. Maya societies include Toniná, a city that developed a matrilineal system of hereditary descent after the reign and death of the powerful leader, Lady Kʼawil. She had assumed the mantle of power after the failure of the two male leaders.^[2] Lady Kʼawil's reign is documented in murals that depict her seated on a throne with captives at her feet.

^ Bell, E. E. “Engendering a Dynasty: A Royal Woman in the Margarita Tomb, Copan,” In Ancient Maya Women, ed. Traci Ardren. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2002
^ Ayala Falcon, M. “Lady Kʼawil, Goddess O, and Maya Warfare," In Ancient Maya Women, ed. Traci Ardren. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2002

[bell2002-1] Bell, E. E. “Engendering a Dynasty: A Royal Woman in the Margarita Tomb, Copan,” In Ancient Maya Women, ed. Traci Ardren. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2002

[ayalafalcon2002-2] Ayala Falcon, M. “Lady Kʼawil, Goddess O, and Maya Warfare," In Ancient Maya Women, ed. Traci Ardren. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2002

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