storage and preservation: further reading order to carry water from streams to homes They built large pots with tight-fitting lids that could hold grain and protect it from insects, rodents, and moisture They constructed large water pots with glazed interiors that would not leak They also invented pots to store seeds for planting, using different designs to identify different types of seeds The Maya of the southern Yucatán peninsula in Mexico stored water in reservoirs in the ground They dug holes in the ground and then plastered the bottoms to prevent water from running out the porous limestone bottoms These reservoirs could hold enough water to last about 18 months with no rain See also agriculture; architecture; borders and frontiers; building techniques and materials; ceramics 1071 and pottery; climate and geography; crafts; death and burial practices; economy; family; food and diet; gender structures and roles; health and disease; hunting, fishing, and gathering; inventions; mining, quarrying, and salt making; nomadic and pastoral societies; religion and cosmology; settlement patterns; towns and villages; trade and exchange FURTHER READING Daphne L Derven, “Preserving.” In Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, ed Solomon H Katz (New York: Scribner, 2003) Salima Ikram, Choice Cuts: Meat Production in Ancient Egypt (Louvain, Belgium: Departement Oosterse Studies, 1995) Hilary Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink (Princes Risborough, U.K.: Shire Publications, 1995)