Aztec And Mayan Civilizations

Throughout the humanities course, I have been intrigued by a vast amount of information on different cultures. However, there was a particular section that truly caught my attention, and has piqued an interest in me that has caused me to do my own research aside from this paper. The culture of the Mayas, and the Aztecs has been extremely fundamental in understanding my ancestry, being that I am Mexican American. I took an interest in their beautiful architecture, their ritualistic and sacrificial religious practices, as well as their history and how they began. Throughout this paper I will outline the similarities and differences of these two cultures, as well as articulate an understanding of the humanity disciplines outlined above.

A very long time ago, there were many ancient civilizations, three of them were called the Olmecs, Aztecs and Mayans. These were ancient civilizations that, throughout history, had many accomplishments. Focusing in on some of these achievements, a lot of the advancements made by these civilizations were in religion, economy, and technology.

They did not have a set military hierarchy, they just picked who they thought was best for the job at that time. Expansion was the cornerstone of the Aztec civilization, because their religion demanded that a large number of human sacrifices be made to the gods. To get these sacrifices the Aztec went to war with other tribes; in this way they captured more slaves for sacrifices and also more land to add to their empire. The Aztec was a strong civilization who had specialized war chiefs and an organized system for amassing large armies in a short time.

NO: George L. Cowgill, from "Teotihuacan, Internal Militaristic Competition, and the Fall of the Classic Maya," in Norman Hammond and Gordon R. Willey, eds., Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory

The Aztecs had one of the most successful and advanced empires of all time. They had a dwelling culture The Aztec civilization was located directly in the middle of two mountain ranges in the central valley of Mexico ( Platt 10). Although the Aztec empire eventually came to an end they were able to do well as an empire. Contributing factors that led to the rise of the empire was their political structure, social components, and religious traditions which they preformed earnestly.

Pre-Columbian Aztec Tribe was a very complex and hierarchical society that settled among the Aztecs of central Mexico in the times prior to the Spanish seize of Mexico. It was erected on the cultural bases of the bigger area of Mesoamerica. The culture was structured into self-governing city-states, called altepetls, which had smaller divisions. These city-states were further composed of one or more large kinship cluster (History.com). Nobles and commoners were the most fundamental social division in the Aztec empire. Noblemen were given more privileges that were not shared by the commoners most significantly the right to get protection from commoners on their land. The common individuals were exempted to own and cultivate land and to handle their possessions, while yet accomplishing the requirements of the lords and their calpulli, such as protection payment and military help. Nevertheless, at the same time were given some privileges equal to those of the lesser nobleness. During the rise of an Aztec empire, there were so many problems that the community experienced to conquer other lands and survive. This article illustrates some of the main problems that the Aztec tribe experienced. Among them are diseases, feeding a large population, ritual sacrifices, political problems through rivalry and prejudice and technological problems.

The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears, the author explains how many factors other than Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have many advantages over the Aztecs, but also they also exploited them and took advantage of the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory, is that the Spanish were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance, the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish with gifts and festivities, which showed the Spanish had total control of people. The Aztecs also held a ritual ceremony for the arrival of the “god” that included a human

Fall of Civilizations: Aztecs and Incas conquered by Spanish explorers and smallpox; Mayans had an unknown end

The Maya and Aztec civilizations are two vastly different civilizations, as is to expected, however, despite these differences, they do share a number of similarities.

The Aztecs were influenced by the Toltecs, their self-proclaimed ancestors, who were “a warlike people, no doubt conquering surrounding tribes and imposing tribute without any concern for integration into the Toltec political and religious culture”5. To justify their conquests, Itzcoatl, the third Aztec ruler, devised a new vision of the Aztec as the “chosen people” who were the “true heirs” to the Toltec. The Aztec rewrote history to link the Aztec to the Toltec and to show that the Aztec were the heirs, the direct descendents, of the Toltec nobility”7. The Aztecs were a war faring people who engaged in such to acquire territory, resources, quash rebellions, and to collect sacrificial victims to honour their gods. Warfare was a fundamental to the Aztec culture10; warriors were trained from youth, in special military compounds where children learnt to master weapons and tactics and were regaled

From 250 A.D. to the late 1500’s A.D., three civilizations, the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Incas controlled Central and South America. Their decline happened for many different reasons. The Spanish conquistadors was one of the most common and deadliest, due to their advanced weapons and diseases they brought. It seems that wherever the Spanish went, bad things always happened. Innocent people were killed for no reason, cities were massacred and civilizations were destroyed.

Located in what is known as Meso-America and over 1,000 miles from the equator, the Mayans inhabited what is known as a “seasonal tropical forest.” This area contained dry seasons,unpredictable rain, and low elevation in many places. The question Diamond tries to address and answer in this chapter is, just how did ”the New World 's most advanced Native American civilization before European arrival” come to an end if it was so successful? He uses his 5-Point Framework to try and answer this. To start the Mayans severely damaged their environment through deforestation, slash and burn farming, erosion, and exhausting the soil. The Maya experienced drought after drought combined with continues climate change which had a harsh effect on the beginnings of the Mayan collapse. The society as a whole was divided into smaller kingdoms that were constantly as war which led to increased food shortages as so much food was needed to feed the armies. They didn’t rely much on trade so relations with friendly neighbors didn’t contribute much to their fall. Another contributing factor was the population, it grew so quickly it essentially outgrew its resources. And lastly the fifth point in Diamonds framework, a society 's response to problems. Why did the leaders and kings notice these issues and attempt to solve them? Diamond explains simply that they were to

However, the story of the Aztec defeat and the successful resolution of the Spanish mission against incredible odds raises many questions. Regardless of more advanced technology and weapons, the Spanish force was vastly outnumbered and began a military campaign poorly supplied within an unknown territory against an unknown enemy. This paper explores the possibility that other key factors were at play, which provided the Spanish with a several of advantages and facilitated the successful resolution of their campaign. Furthermore, these factors allowed for an incredibly quick and effective subjugation of millions of people – considering that by comparison it took hundreds of years to expel the Muslim armies from southern Spain, a war ending in 1492 and in which many conquistadores fighting in the new world took part of. This paper will argue that internal religious quarrels, unsustainable tax obligations, and continuing military conflicts weakened the Aztec social fabric by increasing resentment among subjugated towns and cities and diminishing trust among Aztec citizens in their highly centralized government.

As population rose, the nobles of the independent city states both intermarried and made war on one another. Ultimately, the system of rule that had served the Maya for centuries had failed. Faced with famine, foreign invasion, chronic warfare, and perhaps disease, an era ended what is generally called the Classic Maya collapse.

Massive temples hidden in the jungles of the Yucatan, mysterious stone stelas, and cryptic calendars eluding to advanced knowledge of the stars and mathematics are just some of the artifacts originating from the “Classic Maya” period (200 CE-900 CE). However, these popular items should not be the only defining characteristics of a society that dominated the Mesoamerican region for nearly a millennia. Dynastic lines, similar to those found in European houses, were important elements during this period in places like Palenque, Tikal, and Calakmul. Additionally, the Maya experienced violent and consistent warfare between localized powers and the backbone of their society, agriculture, suffered through several multi-year droughts. These factors