Ancient Aztec Art

The Aztec military was centered around organization, but no one really knows exactly how they were organized; it has been discussed in history but never agreed upon. The ranks of the military were very similar to many militaries around the world; including a general, officers, doctors, etc. However, the social rank the people held had little correlation to their position in the military, but rather had more to do with their work ethic and strength. This was also true the other way around, such that, the individual's ranking in the army did not contribute to where they stood on the social hierarchy when they returned from war. Though this held true, the military was primarily made up of commoners, so there was little distinction between social

This explains why there are sculptured scenes of people emerging from caves. This cosmogony does not pertain only to the Olmec but also to Teotihuacan and “later pan-Mesoamerican” (Diehli, 134). But it is not limited to just caves scholars have suggested that pyramids and mountains are symbols associated with birth, origins, and celestial realms. In Teotihuacan we see caves, pyramids, and mountains all of which have a kind of god or goddess illustrating birth and origins. Another similarity found between the Olmec and Teotihuacan were the rituals although each had a distinct form of religion there were noticeable rituals that were common between the two. Two common rituals found between the two were sacrifices and bloodletting. Reilly explains that blood “was a magical substance opening the portal between the natural and supernatural cosmic

Aztec and African are two distinctive cultures with many differences. The two cultures are on different continents that are far away from each other, and there is a wide difference between the two cultures. The beliefs and practices of the people are different in both of these cultures. However, as the world becomes more global, and as people become more exposed to different cultures, the differences between them seem to be narrowing. There are several similarities and differences between Aztec and African, specifically, dance, food and the education system. We live in a world with numerous countries and diversities. Each culture has its own appeal and positives and often times comparing the similarities and differences between these cultures based on a variety of aspects like topography, culture, language, economy, government dynamics. In this essay, I am going to compare the Aztec that are located in Central Mexico and the African culture that is located in all of Africa are two cultures that are studied by many anthropologists.

What does Aztec culture mean for Mexican people? The Aztec culture was the beginning of the Mexican culture along with other Indian territories in Mexico. The Aztecs were known because they ruled and most of the southern part of Mexico for a long period of time, but like everyone knows everything has to come to an end. Even though Aztec society is gone, their society levels, religion, and architecture can still be seen and analyzed today.

Art was used by the Aztecs upper class to set them apart from the lower class. They adorned themselves with feathers, jewelry and fancy clothes. The rich also owned paintings, statues and music to honor and praise their gods. Most of the lower class, however, could make art but only to sell to the rich. The Aztec empire had an appreciation and fascination with birds, bugs and animals. These animals were praised and admired and as a result, they were popular subjects in the Aztec art. Aztecs believed that their gods took the forms of animals. Paintings of them were always brightly colored. The Emperor received art as tribute. The Aztecs considered art as a tool to reinforce their dominance.

The large Olmec heads distinctive artistic creations. They were all sculpted from basalt rock and it is believed that they were made to resemble rulers. They built these large human heads to showcase the wealth and beauty that lay within the ceremonial

The Aztecs lived on North America in Mexico. They lived on islands and their capital was called Techoctilian which meant “Place of the Prickly Pear”. Their capital stood where Mexico City currently is. Their empire stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and from modern day Guatemala to the Basin. As of today the spot where they built their capital is no longer an island. The land was very swampy so it was bad for farming and it wasn’t fertile. It was also surrounded by mountains and they didn’t get materials like stone and wood to build their houses and such.

and he states that some scientists believe it is the oldest accepted example of writing in the New World. Whitaker, however, does not say who the scientists are so one cannot determine if they are credible to come to this statement. Whitaker also goes on to say that the tablet contains 62 symbols in 28 shapes that are arranged in horizontal patterns. Whitaker says that they used writing to document important information. However, he does not state what the images mean or their significance, so one cannot determine what is being said on the Cascajal Block. In the article, Justeson and Kaufman not only describe how they analyzed the writings, but they also describe what is written in these scripts. For example, “The Stela depicts an epi-Olmec warrior-king. Its text, as we read it, provides a lengthy description of his right to kingship through several years of warfare and ritual activity” (Justeson & Kaufman, p. 1703). The article shows adequate evidence to how they came to this conclusion by using “clues to word meaning, from calendrical constraints and from comparison with similar Mayan signs, that enabled us to correlate spelled-out words with reconstructed proto-Zoquean and proto-Mixe-Zoquean vocabulary” (Justeson & Kaufman, p. 1703). Whitaker, on the other hand, does not support his statement with this kind of evidence to support his

Art style is from Olmec culture which classified to Early Preclassic period. The modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco on the Golf Coast of Mexico were Olmec culture existed around 1500B.C.E to 400B.C.E. Young male stone statue has similarities to Olmec culture’s stone statues. For example, Young male stone statue feature is similar to Colossal head #1 (1200B.C.E-800B.C.E.) from San Lorenzo, one of famous stone statue which is excavated as Olmec culture’s stone statues. Round face and cheek, big eyes, nose, and downturned lip are placed in close to center like infant face, and almond shape eye are characteristics that seen in both male stone statues. Another stone statue Prince (c.800B.C) sculpture Cruz del Milagro from Olmec culture has

What Mayan writing seems to represent is a sacred language used only by the elite, initiated, and known only by them. The language of the Mayan was identical with that of the Yucatan Indians, given the fact that writing was identical. The Maya kept records on large stone monuments called stelae. They used the Steele to record important dates and to take note of great events in the lives of their rulers.(Price 91)They also used the stelae to recount the positions of the “heavenly bodies”_ particularly the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter.(Miller)

Mayans created the only true writing system native to americans, it was highly sophisticated, and only member of the higher class could really read it. The Mayans had developed a complicated system of writing that involved phonetic or syllabic symbols and pictographs. The writing was incorporated among architecture written on buildings, stones,wood, etc. Mayans had four Codices; the Dresden, Paris, Madrid, and The Grolier. These were inscribed in fig tree bark which were folded and bound with deer hide and wood.

American Indians is a native American inhabitants of North America. Paleo-Indians are the person who originally entered America and settled and they mainly lived in Mexico and South America. The three important things we need to know about American Indians prior to European invasion are the culture of Maya, Aztec, and the Anasazi.

The Olmec’s heads have caught the attention of others since their discovery. As you can see, the sculpture is very detailed and has advanced

The Mayan writing system was used to write down significant dates of historic king 's’ birth, deaths, and even enemy captures (Encyclopedia Britannica). Many scholars believed that the sole purpose for Mayan hieroglyphs was to record major events of royal families and their reign. Along with complex writing system, the Mayan civilization created a numerical system for astronomical and divinatory purposes. The Maya had used their writing and numerical system to create calendars and almanacs. Another characteristic of the Mayan writing system is the publication of their own books. The Maya had wrote on fig-bark paper and it was folded like a brochure pamphlet their covers were bonded together from jaguar skin (Encyclopedia Britannica). The surviving codices played a major part for the writing Mayan writing system to be deciphered.

The existence of animals in art and architecture has been evident, cultures use animals as representations of gods or embodiments of moral teachings, regardless animals have been portrayed in art since the beginning of time. Some of the oldest paintings ever were of migratory animals that the people of the area relied on; they were a constant presence so the people thought to paint and revere them. Consequently people wanted to hear tales and depictions of what the animals looked like, so from cave to cave different people would paint and make their own interpretation of the animals of the area. Why is this so important? It is important because even at our most primal level one thing was significant