How do the modern Mayans of the Yucatan peninsula clean their pots and pans? What clothes do Mayan women wear? Do Mayan children play the same kinds of games American children do?

Young students in North Carolina can now have an answer to such questions by using one of our newly created Maya Culture Boxes. The Outreach office of the Carolina and Duke Consortium has created these boxes and to teach children all about Mayan culture with a hands-on approach.

The boxes make learning about the culture of the Mayan people both interesting and fun.

The Maya Culture Boxes is available on a lending system from the Outreach office at UNC Chapel Hill. Each box contains sixteen items collected from various trips to the Yucatan that are used commonly in everyday Mayan life, along with brief descriptions about the use or meaning of each item.

There are also colorful pictures of Mayan children and places of the Yucatan, maps and calendars, and two books that fully detail the way of life for these people. There are also examples of pre-Colombian books and artifacts. Students are encouraged to guess what each item may represent and to compare Mayan culture to their own cultures.

Objects in Maya Culture Box

1. Wooden spoon often used for stirring in Mayan kitchens.

2. Ball of natural hone quén (en-a-ken') fibers. Henequén plants are found throughout the Yucatan and their fibers can be made into rope, twine, bags, and hammocks.

3. Doll dressed in the typical style of a Mayan Mestiza woman. People of the Yucatan with both Indian and European ancestors are called mestizos (mess-tees-ohs).

4. A huipil (ee-peel'). It can take weeks to stitch the colorful designs on these handmade dresses. By looking at the designs on her dress, you can tell which area of the peninsula a woman comes from. Sometimes the designs have religious or even magical meaning.

5. A miniature version of the Mayan hammock. Almost all Mayan people sleep in hammocks at night or for a rest during the daytime.

6. A miniature version of the pyramid of El Castillo at Chichon ltza, which was one of the most important religious, political and cultural centers of the Mayan people in ancient times.

7. Top that many Mayan children play with.

8. A miniature shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, representative of the religious shrines found in Mayan homes today.

9. Copal rocks used for incense in Mayan religious ceremonies, particularly in the celebration of the Day of the Dead.

10. Escoba used in kitchen to clean pots and pans. These bundles of natural fibers are still used all over Mexico today.

11. A miniature version of a moral (more-al'). Farmers use these straw sacks to sow their grains in the field.

12. Jun p'iit Maaya: A Little Bit of Maya produced by the Consortium for Latin American Studies at UNC-CH and Duke, an introduction to the Mayan language.

13. Five postcards and five pictures of Mayan life.

14.  Mayan Calendar Map-Guide in English

15. Mayan Communities Map-Guide in English

16.  Mayan Gods Map-Guide in English

Books in Mayan Culture Box

1. Rain Player by David Wisniewski

(English, 32 pages)

The Maya civilization is the setting of a young boy who in order to bring rain his village must beat Chac, the god of rain, in an ancient game, pok-a-tok, to save his people from drought.

2. Na'at le ba'ala paalen: "Advina esta cosa ninio" Advinanzas mayas yucatecas

(Maya, Spanish, English, and French, 48 pages)

This book includes typical Maya riddles that people of all ages love. Riddles are a pastime not only for youth, but for adults as well, that are often used ritually in agricultural ceremonies. This book presents eighteen Maya riddles translated into five different languages.

3. Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya: Children's Guide

(English, 25 pages)

An interesting and child-friendly guide through the Ancient Maya exhibits in Washington and San Francisco. This short book is full of information from the exhibits as well as other activities and facts like how to read the Mayan number system and a few activities to practice it.

4. The Maya: Facts - Stories - Activities by Robert Nicholson

(English, 32 pages)

In this book, the daily life and activities of the Maya are illustrated through beautiful watercolor paintings and pictures of actual artifacts. Nicholson covers everything from Mayan farming practices, their levels of society, their method of dress, and their family styles. The book ends with a mayan story on how the rabbit and deer came to have such short tails.

5.  Dioses Mayas - Mayan Gods

A fold out book on mate paper which is a facsimile of the ancient books written by the Maya before the conquest