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Crops planted . Among the several studies of Maya gardening practices, a common observation is 

 that the Maya plant a wide variety of crops. Redfield and Villa Rojas (1962), for example, reported 

 that gardeners in Chan Kom mainly planted com, but also cultivated beans, squash, jicamas, sweet 

 potatoes, and chile, for a total of six crops. Villa Rojas (1987) indicated that gardeners at Senor 

 planted 11 types of crops in their fields, and that com, beans, and squash were most frequently 

 cultivated. Murphy (1990) reported nine crops at Senor in a later study; again, com, beans, and 

 squash were most frequently planted. 



The number of types of crops planted by gardeners at X-Hazil Sur was greater than reported for 

 other Maya gardeners. In 1989, gardeners at X-Hazil Sur reported planting 16 types of crops, while in 

 1990, 13 types were reported. Cora (99% of gardens in 1989 and 100% in 1990), kidney beans (48% 

 and 75%), and squash (63% and 84%), as reported for other Maya gardens and by Noguez-Galvez 

 (1991) in a separate study at X-Hazil Sur, were still the most frequently planted crops. 



The additional crops in gardens planted at X-Hazil Sur probably do not represent an expansion of 

 the Maya diet because these crops traditionally have been cultivated by the Maya elsewhere in the 

 Yucatan Peninsula (Nations and Nigh, 1980; Smith and Cameron, 1977). Rather, the appearance of 

 additional crops in gardens probably represents an improvement in reporting practices by researchers. 

 Previously, certain crops that were planted in small quantities or that required special attention were 

 cultivated only in special plots called pet hot (G6mez-Pompa et al., 1987) and ka'anche (Barrera, 1980; 

 Vargas Rivero, 1983). These specialized studies may have overlooked the fact that gardeners planted 

 these crops in their regular gardens, too. 



While 16 types of crops were available to gardeners at X-Hazil Sur, not all gardeners planted all 

 of these potential crops in their gardens every growing season. The average number of crops per 

 garden was 5.9 in 1989 and 3.9 in 1990, but up to 11 crops were planted in a single garden. This 

 suggests that gardens can be extremely diverse with respect to crops. These averages and ranges were 

 substantially higher than reported elsewhere for Maya gardeners in the Yucatan Peninsula. In the only 

 other study where specific crops were indicated for individual gardens, Redfield and Villa Rojas (1962) 



