[Aztlan] Maya alcoholic maize wine

[Nick Hopkins]

In response to birdjaguar7 at yahoo.com RE the maize drink, the modern  
Maya of the Chiapas highlands (e.g., Tzotzils, Tzeltals) make a  
fermented maize drink called chicha (a Spanish word which elsewhere  
refers to drinks made from other stuff), which I would imagine is the  
same as the preconquest fermented beverage.  Tzotzil yakil vo',  
Tzeltal yakal ja', etc., are based on a root yak meaning intoxicating/ 
intoxicated, cf. Chol yäk, drunk.  The alcoholic content is about  
that of beer, and this beverage is/was sold and consumed in village  
markets on market days and on the occasion of public festivities.   
The beverage referred to by John Montgomery, sa'  (Spanish pozol), is  
the beverage taken to the fields by agricultural workers, and is not  
usually fermented (in my experience), although it is sometimes  
consumed in a sour stage that is on its way to fermentation (pozol  
agrio), just like 'ul (atole) may be slightly fermented.  A chart of  
the stages of production of these two beverages (and several dozen  
other maize preparations) can be constructed from the data in Berlin,  
Breedlove and Raven's Principles of Tzeltal Plant Taxonomy.

Nick Hopkins