Orders at the Flower Market

Year Photographed: 1993

Origin: Guatemala

Native Language: Quiche Mayan

Ancient markets differed very little from modern markets. However, Ancient Maya, Inca, and Aztec markets featured a wide variety of colored feathers. The jungles of Peten were rich in colorful birds, and the Quiche Mayans of the Guatemalan highlands maintained aviaries where birds were breed for their plumage. Green colored feathers, which came from the Quetzal bird, were reserved for the rulers. Feathers were used to make headdresses, capes, fans, shields, and for embroidery. Bat feathers were used extensively by the Ancient Incas to make some of the finest textiles.