The Ancient Civilizations of Central and South America
Central and South America was once home to some of the ancient world's
most magnificent and glorious civilizations. The Incas, Aztecs, and
Mayas were just three of these civilizations. These civilizations
ruled the area for many years, and flourished greatly in their own
different ways. They were the cause for much advancement in arts,
architecture, politics, religion, and society in the world. These
civilizations created pyramids, temples, and monuments in honor of
their gods and rulers. Their people proved to be intellectually
advanced, and they were able to successfully create calendars,
alphabets, and predict solar eclipses. They all developed differently
from each other but shared one thing in common, the fact that they
were all highly successful. It took a great many years to finally
bring an end to these civilizations. Many attacks and assaults from
the Spanish conquistadors, European diseases, and selfish kings to
finally bring an end to their influence on the world.
The Aztecs were the first major civilization to rule the area of
Central and South America. They are also sometimes known as the
Mexicas, but we refer to them the Aztecs. They might not have been a
huge empire when they began, and never really had the land area that
many empires of their time could boast, but nevertheless had a great
influence on Europe and Spain in particular. The Aztec Empire also
ranges to the Aztec Triple Alliance. The Aztec Triple Alliance was a
group of three tribes that were brought together for military
purposes. The Mexicas, Acolhuas, and Tepanecas made up this particular
allian...
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...on the region. Their cultures and civilizations are remembered by many
people even until now. These civilizations will always remain in my
mind as the greatest ever. I learned a lot from doing this research
report and I hope you learn just as much from reading it.
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[1] Ancient Kingdoms of the Sun pgs 59-63
[2] Encarta Encyclopedia Article (Aztecs)
[3] Collier's Encyclopedia Volume 3 pgs. 412-416 (Article: Aztecs)
[4] Collier's Encyclopedia Volume 12 pgs. 550-553(Article: Incas)
[5] Encarta Encyclopedia (Article: Inca Empire)
[6] Encarta Encyclopedia (Article: Machu Pichu)
[7] Encarta Encyclopedia (Article: Maya Civilization)
[8] Collier's Encyclopedia Volume 15 pgs. 577-584 (Article: Mayas)
[9] Website: Chichen Itza, Mexico
While the existence of conclusive data on how and when Mesoamerica was first populated is still wanting in substance, it is generally accepted that the first people to arrive in the New World did so around 18,000 years ago. Occasionally data will surface that suggests that pre-modern humans may have come to the Americas prior to 16,000 BCE, but these conclusions are largely speculative, or based on data that cannot be corroborated. It is unknown if the migration played out as a single event, or if it happened in a succession of waves. Regardless, there are a few prominent theories on how genetically modern humans were able to make the last great migration from the Old World into the Americas. In any case, despite our murky understanding of how humans arrived in Mesoamerica, it is clear that once there, human civilization and culture was not only able to subsist, but thrive under a set of conditions that were unique to the region.
Cultures had been flourishing thousands of years before the Europeans arrived to the New World. Great empires such as the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas inhabited the vast lands of Central and South America. These three major powers controlled the land before Columbus or Cortez were even born. Although the Pre-Columbian civilizations and the Europeans shared some similar ideas, life was very different in the New World compared with that of Middle Age Europe.
The Aztecs were isolated from the world until they fell to the Spanish which highlights that they didn’t have any of the inventions and innovations that the rest of the world experienced
The Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time. They dominated the valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aztecs were an advanced and successful civilization that built beautiful, sophisticated cities, temples, and pyramids. They also created a culture full of creativity with mythological and religious traditions. Aztecs lead a structured and evocative life that let their society to become a very superior civilization. The Aztec’s communication skills were very well developed for their time; through religious beliefs, government involvement, and family life they lived a full and productive life. Until in 1519 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, and defeated the Aztecs.
In the fertile valleys or high plateaus the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs built communities and villages practicing sedentary lifestyles. They had for the most part “permanent, intensive agriculture.” (Lane and Restall 2012) This allowed them to produce complex foods that benefitted the villages because it made them possible but it also resulted in social stratification. “Agricultural activities of the majority allowed a minority to live and work as artisans, merchants, warriors, nobles and royalty – permitting the development of writing, metallurgy, bureaucracy, and other features of high civilization.” More specifically, the Mayans were able to create the most complete of the three Mesoamerican writing systems, “one that was still used in the early sixteenth century.” (Lane and Restall 2012) They were also able to expand, but their expansion would also be their demise. Because they were so large -- filled with regional kingdoms and empires -- the Spanish were easily able to conquer
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This quote from Arthur C. Clarke nicely represents the admiration that studying the Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilizations can inspire. In the current age of technology it is very hard to imagine these ancient civilizations accomplishing their many deeds without any modern tools or computers. The Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilizations of Central and South America made major advancements in engineering, math, astronomy, writing agriculture, and trading.
The ancient Aztecs, who most likely originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica at approximately the beginning of the 13th century. For a long time, the nomads wandered the land of Mexica, countlessly resettling into new areas in a constant search for land that was fertile and that they could call their own. Before the founding of their capital city of Tenochtitlan in 1325, the Aztecs had to work for various cities and small empires that were more powerful than them in order to gain military experience and come out as the dominant force in central Mexico. Through developing an intricate social, political, religious and commercial organization, it was by the 15th century that the empire brought many of the region’s city-states under their control.
The Spanish and Aztecs were both, very powerful and rich empires. They both were immensely successful. The Aztecs, originally known as the Mexica, was a group of people who lived in Tenochtitlan, now know as Mexico City. They believed that the gods controlled the world, and that they worshipped them by sacrificing. If the gods were not fed blood, the believed that the world would end. The Aztecs became one of the greatest cities in the world. On the other hand, the Spanish lived in the west of Europe, converting people to Catholicism. The Spanish wanted to explore, to conquer and by doing that, they could get rich. They were both powerful in their own areas. The Spanish soon were exploring and came across the Aztecs. The Spanish were seeking
The Maya and Aztec civilizations were both indigenous people that flourished in Mesoamerica during different periods of time. Maya 's classic period is dated from 250 to 900 AD, which was considered to be the peak of their civilization. They covered much of the Yucatan Peninsula and were centered in what is now known as Guatemala. The Aztecs dominated from 1325 AD to 1521 AD, in what is now modern day Mexico. Although they shared cultural similarities such as their social structure, they also had their differences in military and religious rituals.
The Olmec, Mayan, and the Aztec Indians were very advanced civilizations for the 14th, 15th, and 16th century. They would used different kinds of resources found around them to create the technology they used to survive. For example the Olmec and the Mayans used cotton to create all kinds of garments, the Mayans also created a number system and their weapons and armor to go to war, the Aztecs adopted an education on how to hunt, how to fight, jewel cutting, metal polishing, song composition, science of the heavens, planing trees and flowers, cooking, cleaning, and many other things. Many cultures were influenced by these three civilizations as they had spread across the world and still use many of their techniques in our everyday lives.
Before Europeans discovered Latin America, there were some civilizations that already lived and died on that land. The first known civilization sometimes referred to as the “mother culture” or the Olmec lived throughout Mexico for about 1,700 years and vanished in 300 B.C. The three civilizations that thrived after the Olmec before the Europeans arrived throughout Mexico and Latin America were the Maya, the Aztec, and the Inca. Life in Latin America prior to the European contact insinuated a paradox because they had an organized leadership and were spiritual, yet they caused mayhem through violence and war. Being as methodical as they were, having an organized leadership kept peace in the city states but didn’t keep peace throughout the other city-states. The rulers were power-hungry and wanted to conquer many city-states to create an empire which caused war. Also, these civilizations were very spiritual throughout their common day lives, but believed in some gods from the underworld that wanted blood through human sacrifice. This was a very violent way of worshiping their gods that they embraced it.
When the Spanish began to arrive in Mexico and in Central America in the early 15th century, one of the many civilizations they found was the Maya. The Maya, building upon the Olmec culture, were located in present-day Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, southern Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Even though they had many similarities, the Maya were separated by language differences. Because of that they were organized into city-states. Since there wasn’t a single city-state powerful enough to impose a political structure, the period from 200 A.D. to the arrival of the Spanish was characterized by the struggle of rival kingdoms for dominance.
The Rise and fall of the Aztec Empire is possibly the most important area of study in the modern world. Of all of the nomadic tribes who migrated into Mexico, the Aztecs were one of the last. At first driven away by established tribes, the Aztecs slowly began to develop an empire of immense wealth and power by the late fifteenth century. Due in large part to the accomplishments of their ruler Itzcoatl, the empire expanded to include millions of people from a number of different tribes, including the Cempoala, who would later aid the Spanish in defeating the Aztecs. Because of the "melting pot" within the empire, the Aztecs had a very diverse culture. However, this immense Aztec Empire would soon be brought to its knees by the doings of one man and his army.
The three main Indian empires in Mesoamerica were the Olmec, Mayan, and Aztec. These intriguing cultures had three very different religions and origins, but there were some similarities. In all three cases, they built their cities mainly as religious centers, and had some similar forms of worship. All of their societies revolved around their separate religions.
Mayan, Inca, and Aztec Civilizations. The Mayan, Inca, and Aztec civilizations each originated in Latin America. The Mayans lived in southern and central Mexico, other Mayans lived in Central America in the present day countries of Belize, Guatemala, and ancient Honduras. The Incas lived along the long coastal strip, and in the high peaks and deep fertile valleys of the Andes Mountains, and along the edges of the tropical forest to the east; this would be the country of Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina in present days.