Maya and WRB Soil Classification in Yucatan, Mexico: Differences and Similarities

Table 5

Types of rock and their characteristics according to the farmers of Hocabá, Yucatán, México.

Maya name	Spanish name*	Use	Characteristics
Saktunich o Sascab	Creta	To build roads	It converts in powder and absorbs much water
Xuxtunich	Roca desgranable	Like sandpaper to cleaning animals, to complete albarradas**	It breaks easily even by hand or when it is burned and absorbs water
Toktunich	Roca fracturable	To build albarradas	Very hard, when it is buried is not broken only turns black and does not absorb water
Sakalbox	Roca soluble	To make hand grinders and albarradas	It is the hardest one and does not absorb water
Haysaltunich	Laja	Pib ***, to complete albarradas	Does not absorb water

∗Only laja is a common name among farmers, the other 4 names were derived from observations of their properties; **Albarrada is a wall made of rocks; ***Pib means cooking in pits.