Mayan maize god statue. Figure of the Mayan maize goddess Chicomecoatl with a basket of maize (corn) on her back. Maize was an important staple food of the Mayan civilisation and Chicomecoatl (meaning 'seven snakes') was therefore a very important deity in Mayan culture. The Mayan civilisation developed around 1800BC and ended with the arrival of the Spanish in the 14th Century AD. Photographed at the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.