Trade was vital to the Maya, a seafaring people whose eastern coastal trading network alone had 3000 miles of regular canoe routes – from Tampico in northeastern Mexico to Margarita Island, 15 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

Maya dugouts, even those as large as 80 feet long and 8 feet wide, were carved from a single tree trunk, usually cedar. These ocean-going dugout canoes were propelled by slave paddlers and were able to carry 25 to 40 people along with several tons of goods.

Trade goods, which were moved and traded around the Maya empire, consisted mainly of foods such as fish, squash, yams, corn, honey, beans, turkey, vegetables, salt, cacao; raw materials such as limestone, marble, flint, chert, obsidian, jade, coloured shells, cotton, feather, wood, copper, and gold; and manufactured goods such as paper, books, furniture, jewellery, clothing, carvings, toys, weapons, and luxury goods.