Cocoa In The Maya And Aztec Cultures

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.

After Columbus’s voyage to the Americas in 1492, he took back to Spain to present the King and Queen not just riches, but also new products that weren’t available in Europe. He took back to Spain the practice of drinking chocolate mixed with heavy spices. For nearly 100 years after the Spaniards were introduced to chocolatl, the coveted drink of the New World inhabitants, they kept the secret of its production to themselves. In the same years as Shakespeare wrote his final plays, the missionary and theologian José de Acosta wrote about cocoa from Lima, Peru, saying, “It is so much esteemed among the Indians that it is one of the richest and the greatest traffickes of New Spain” (Liu; Pelletier, CDA’s World History Wiki). After a century, Spain lost its monopoly on the European chocolate market. By the mid-1600s, the drink made from the little brown beans had gained widespread popularity in France. In Europe, chocolate (as a drink) gained popularity as the production of the beans became more popular. More of the lower and middle class were able to afford it, and it was considered a great treat to have. In terms of economic impact, the cacao had been a boon for the

The Aztec and Maya were both American Indian people. The Aztec were ruled by a mighty empire in Mexico during the 1400's and early 1500's. The Maya however, developed a magnificent civilization in Central America and Southern Mexico. Both civilizations contributed a great deal to the modern world and invented items that are still used today.

a. The cultivation of maize, introduced heavily by sophisticated civilizations such as the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs, helped to feed large population sizes, thus facilitating the spread of its cultivation across North America. By 2000 BCE, Pueblo peoples, due to the new cultivation of maize, developed irrigation systems. By 1000 CE, maize reached to modern-day SE America, which influenced Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee peoples by growing and feeding their populations.

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.

The Aztecs were a civilization of brave and strong warriors. They ruled their empire in 1350 to 1519. Tenochtitlan was the capital of their empire. Two things the Aztecs were known for were human sacrifice and agriculture. However historians should emphazise agriculture.""I think historians should emphasize Aztec agriculture because of these three reasons. One reason is their farming method called chinampas. According to Document B it states that when the Aztecs used the method of chinampas they did not get cut short of food. Second reason historians should emphasize mor aztec agriculture is because they created many popular Mexican foods of today. According to Document C it states that they created tortillas and popcorn. Laslty Aztecs agriculture

Mesoamerica is full of rich culture. Expeditions have revealed monuments of valiant, female sultan erected for display and iconography feminine in appearance. Women have played a prominent role in defining cultures; such is the case for Maya, Inca, and Aztec societies.

The Aztecs are really interesting people that were alive back from 1400 - 1600 AD. They lived very different than us, because we don’t no human sacrifices because we don’t believe in any of the gods (due to science)This paper will show how the Aztecs lived, including their empire, Government and Agriculture.

The Aztecs lived in what is now Mexico city. This region is located in Northwest Mexico. The Aztecs lived near The Great Lake and near mountains. The weather was always hot, humid and 80 or above degrees.

The economic systems of early American societies were very similar. One of these societies, the Mayans, lived in southern Mexico and northern Central America from the 3rd to the 10th century CE, and they relied on the trade of goods such as obsidian and crops such as cacao beans. Another American civilization was the Aztec civilization. They were located in the Valley of Mexico around the 13th to 16th century CE, and they used slash-and-burn farming to plant crops to trade. The Inca Empire existed from the 13th to the 16th century CE along the Pacific coast of South America near the Andes Mountains. The Inca used terrace farming and irrigation to grow crops such as corn. The economies of these early American civilizations were heavily

The Maya Civilization originated in the Yucatán region during the Preclassic Period at around 2000 BC. There is some argument as to when the Preclassic Period began for the Maya. It 's argued to have began as late as 2600 BC, while there 's claim that it 's earlier because there are permanent Maya settlements along the Pacific coast that date to 1800 BC. A difference of eight hundred years, depending on region.

“When we die, truly we die not, because we will live, we will rise,we will continue living, we will awaken this will make us happy” (Nezahualcoyotl). It all began in 1519, when the Aztecs and the Spaniards crossed paths which ended in catastrophe. The Aztecs had a peculiar religion that would worship gods and sacrifice animals and humans in favor for their gods. The Spaniards, the ones who ended up destroying one of the strongest civilizations at that time, arrived, changing the manner of Central America. The advent of the Spaniards in Central America negatively affected the indigenous people of the area.

Research has proved that humans have been consuming cocoa for over 2600 years from once upon a time being used as currency to becoming serious pirate loot to being the key ingredient along with sugar in producing chocolate today.

Sugar as a sweetener came to the fore in connection with these other exotic imports – tea, coffee, and chocolate – of which one, tea, became and has since remained the most important nonalcoholic beverages in the United Kingdom.

The word “cacao” and the first data concerning these valuable beans were derived by Europeans who came to the new World from the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula who made chocolate drinks to their nobility and presented them in beautiful vessels to their rulers. These people were probably the first in human history to turn cacao beans into chocolate. However, the word “cacao” is believed to be much older and originate from “kakwa”, the word of the Olmecs, the earliest of civilizations that existed in the Americas (Coe et al., 457). The old inhabitants of South America realizing the delicious qualities of the cacao fruit tree domesticated it and later spread it from the northwestern part of the Amazon basin along the trade routes. The key event was the invention of converting cacao tree seeds into chocolate that is believed to have taken place around 1800 BC. Maya also benefited from getting cacao as a