Maya And Olmec Art: Article Analysis

​Many of the cultures that we have today have evolved from past events. Such as language it was something that became known throughout the years. Some of the languages that came from that were English, Spanish, German, and Latin to name a few. These languages were derived more past civilizations. One important civilization that is known for having great success is the Mayan civilization. The Mayan civilization is known for many things like they fully developed written language, art, architecture, math and some other factors. Historians have said that they don’t know an exact date of when this civilization rose up but they do mention that it flourished for about 2000 years. Although staring in 250 AD it is said that it was the start of their high point and it continued until the arrival of the Spanish in 1524. The Maya area covers southern Mexico and northwestern Central America. According to Sharer the area is divided into three regions: the Pacific coastal plain to the south, the highlands in the center, and the lowlands to the north. Even though these three regions were under the same civilization they all practiced different religious rituals. Religion plays a big role in every civilization. Some civilizations tend to praise more than one god and they always mention that what they have is thanks to their god. When they see things going wrong they often say that their god is punishing them because they did something that the god/s did not like. This tends to be the same

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.

The Olmec religion was very influential on areas like the Mesoamerican, both in the mythological world and social development. For a lot of reasons, the Olmec culture is the mother of all Mesoamerican cultures. There is no direct proof of the Olmec religion, unlike the Aztecs or the Mayans. Archeologists used techniques to find out how the Olmec religion worked by comparing it with pre-Columbian cultures that were documented better. When the Archaeologist 's were using their techniques, they assumed the religion of the Olmecs was consistent and unbroken to the present Mesoamerican religions. Researchers were able to find a number of gods that had the features of many animals. The shamans, priests and rulers did all of the activities that were associated with the Olmec religion. Rulers were considered the relatives of supernatural beings and of the Olmec gods. Archaeologist 's also say that there is evidence of the existence of shamans in their culture. Specific details in the Olmec religion were not always found by the researchers. At first, historians thought that the Olmec religion was based around a Jaguar god. Joralemon Peter David

     Power and transformation were also evident themes in Olmec art. “Particularly the power gained through the transformation of an individual into a supernatural alter ego, a ‘co-essence’ known to Mesoamericanist scholars as a nagual” (Evans 2004:144). Nagual’s had the ability to exist and move in between the spiritual world and the normal everyday world. Proof of the Olmec’s beliefs in the nagual’s abilities, is seen in their architecture, sculptures, and art. Sculptures showed what were assumed to be powerful men morphing into jaguars. The assumption that these men were powerful is made

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

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.

The Maya of Mesoamerica, along with the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru, made up the high civilizations of the American Indians at the time of the Spanish conquest. Both the Aztecs and the Incas were late civilizations, between 1300-1533 AD, but the Maya of the Yucatan and Guatemala exhibited a cultural continuity spanning more than 2,000 years, 1000 BC-AD 1542. Many aspects of this culture continue yet today. The Ancient Maya in their time had actually refined writing.

                The Olmec culture is found through Mexico City. The spread of their religion influenced a lot of what their art that was found. Symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes. Were found Chiapas were the civilizations was formed around 1500 BCE. During this period the first true Mesoamerican writing and language were developed right after the Mayan civilization was formed the Olmec had a huge influence in them. Writing they had a lot of adventures epic poems about the gods that were from religion that were the explanation of the nature they saw, the stars they saw. All the natural situation that happened they wrote it down creating poem influenced by their religion there's different kinds of gods.

To put the obvious aside, one way the Maya and Aztec civilizations are different lies in the political environment of both civilizations; the civilization of the Maya consisted of city-states ruled by an individual leader who was usually male, while the Aztec civilization were city-states and conquered territories ruled by one leader. However, it is within this difference that a similarity between the two lies. While the political environments of both civilizations are indeed different, there is a similar element contained within the two. Both the Maya and the Aztec were influenced by the Olmec civilization through trade-this includes not only artistically and religiously, but also politically; in the pyramid temples of the Olmec, special ball courts for a game involving a rubber ball and great skill were used for religious and political reasons, these ball courts, or at least ones similar to that of the Olmec, were also found in the pyramid temples of the Maya and the Aztec and are believed to have been used for similar purposes.

Olmec made mounds out of soil that replicated mountains and volcanoes. They would also paint on cave walls, carved out sculptures in the material called jade. These jade sculptures where used for ceremonial purposes. These Olmec didn’t use jade for carving utensils, instead they used stone to make drills to use for carvings. This region also made pyramids that are aligned with the north and south axis. These people were also known to paint human and animal figures and postures in many

Some Olmec figures even show scarification marks. These scarification marks clearly indicate Western African influence in prehistoric Mesoamerica since ritual scarification is still practiced there to this

The ancient Maya were a group of American Indian peoples who lived in Southern Mexico. Their descendants, the modern Maya,live in the same regions today.

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

All remnants of the distant past are romantic, but ancient Maya civilization has a special fascination. It is a "lost" civilization, whose secrets lie deep in the mysterious tropical forest. The style of Maya architecture and sculpture seems alien and bizarre.

Mayan culture existed a thousand years ago, in what is now part of Central America. Its ruins were almost entirely abandoned by 600 A.D, and were not rediscovered until the early 1500’s, by Spanish settlers. Mayan architecture astounded the early conquistadors, and continues to be of great interest to modern archeologists as well. These scientists have labeled a certain period of Mayan architectural history as the “Classic” period.