People

Today, there are many people living in the Copán Valley. They grow corn, like the ancient Maya did before them. These modern farmers can provide clues to how ancient Maya farmers used the land. There are now about 25,000 people living in the Copán Valley, about the same number that lived there before Copán collapsed.

Modern farmers

When you talk to a modern farmer cultivating fields in the Copán Valley, he reports that he is getting less and less corn from his fields. Each year, the crop is getting smaller. Other farmers report the same thing. They also report that the land is being cultivated every year, with no time for the land to rest. This resting time is called a fallow period. In order to feed the large population in the valley, farmers are growing crops on their land every year, but getting less and less corn from their farming.