Olmec Vs Teotihuacan Culture Analysis

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

Starting the comparisons of Teotihuacan and Chaco Canyon, we can say that both being an important civilization centers in their respective region, with Teotihuacan being the major center in Mesoamerica, while the Chaco Canyon was the major center of the Ancestral Puebloan civilization. Another common factor were that they both shared the fact the sites were considered holy areas, which were considered important enough to warrant pilgrimages. Both had religious practices preformed in the centers with rituals in Teotihuacan being performed at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, while in the Chaco Canyon religious ceremonies were conducted at one of the 32 kivas located within the great houses. Then finally, both sites were later abandon by

     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

The Olmec’s lived along muddy riverbanks and the Gulf of Mexico around 1500 B.C. Rigorous agricultural practices characterized the Olmec civilization, enabling them to provide food and resources for their families and generate income by selling their food to others around them. They also used the land to their advantage, using the mud to create elaborate earthen pyramids. Along with the cultivation of land, trade contributed to the success of the Olmec’s. They had many widespread trade routes extending into the surrounding areas. Their trade routes further helped to expand agriculture and grow the economy within this society due to the selling of agricultural products along these routes. To grow spiritually, the Olmec’s created religious rituals and a system of hieroglyphics that allowed the peoples to communicate effectively while also uniting the Olmec people as a whole. The Olmec’s’ use of their surrounding geography, combined with the economic growth brought about from extended trade routes and the societal unity brought about from the implementation of religious rituals allowed the Olmec’s to thrive during their time.

Mesoamerica have been connected the North and South America culturally and geographically throughout the history. Mesoamerican culture and aspects heavily influenced southwestern United States, being the frontier borderline between North America and Mesoamerica. It is very important to study the relationship between the Mesoamerica and American Southwest because American Southwest contains various elements of Mesoamerican culture and this provides fundamental information about human behaviors, history, interactions, and tradition in America. Our group has selected Agriculture, Architecture, Religion, and Trade as our categories to analyze the relationship between American southwest and Mesoamerica. Fair trade, we will focus on scarlet macaws and how it got traded from Mesoamerica in the American southwest and its significance. For architecture, we will compare the ball courts of Hohokam and that of Mesoamerica. Significance of ball courts and how it got introduced into the American southwest from Mesoamerica will be discussed as well. Religion will be analyzed by focusing on the cosmological beliefs of both groups and the similarities and differences between Mesoamerican cosmology and American southwest cosmology.

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 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.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles offers a surface level depiction of Mesoamerican civilization and culture. It excludes essential information and instead gives a shallow representation that offers implications of a barbaric civilization.

Artifacts serve as a road map of the past, subsequently they offer data and a detailed accounts of important historical elements. Civilizations leave behind different kinds of evidence proving their existence and such evidence lead historians to the Olmec civilization. They suddenly appeared upon the world stage and successfully existed for hundreds of years, moreover this was confirmed with the discovery of ancient artifacts and it was later discovered to be the first civilization in the Americas. The Olmecs have impacted the Americas with their artistic innovations and these innovations can be observed in their architectural structures, writings, and stone monuments.

The Olmec are believed to be the first great Mesoamerican civilization. The city known as San Lorenzo existed around 1200BC and declined in 400 B.C. It is considered to be the first major city in ancient Mexico.

Even though Teotihuacan has made such a lasting impact on all those who marvel at its grandeur and scale over the past two thousand years, this site in still far from understood. There are many mysteries surrounding this area even after decades of excavations and research. Archaeologists and anthropologists alike struggle to gain a clearer picture of this great Mesoamerican city, although continuing work at the site has provided a wealth of information about the region, occupants, and lifestyles of those who were touched by it.

Etruscan culture was developed in Italy after about 800 BC. Etruscan culture was flourished in three confederacies of cities including Etruria, the Po Valley with the eastern Alps, and of Latium and Campania (Padgett, 2016). Etruscan had business dealings with Archaic Greece. Therefore, Etruscan art was influenced deeply by Archaic Greece, especially Etruscan art and architecture. Etruscan religion is very mysterious, and they emphasized the power of nature. They believe that people can be revived after death. Therefore, their design of cremation and burial are very similar to the real life.

My two Native American groups are the Incas and the Mayans. My three topics that will be discussed about the Incas and the Mayans are architecture, religion, and writing systems. There are three specific Native American groups, the Mayans, the Incas, and the Aztecs. However, this essay zooms into 2 main groups, the Mayans and the Incas. The Mayans lived in what it now known as southern Mexico and Northern Central America. The Incas lived in the Andes Mountains in Southern America. They lived in places like Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. These 2 groups had unique writing systems, architecture, and religion. Did you know that the Inca did successful skull surgeries? Also, the Mayans named their babies after the day they were born.

The Mayans were a civilization in Central America. Mayans started out with small villages but over time would start developing larger cities. Most Mayan city-states include at least one plaza, a ball court, and one temple. The Mayans were very sophisticated people. And you used picture like symbols for communicating. The Mayans main activity was farming. So, on a normal day you will find lots of people working on the fields farming. But, the Mayan culture started to slowly die, and eventually it completely disappeared. Mayan astronomers studied the moon, earth, & sun and then came up with a 365 day calendar which we use today on Earth. They invented chocolate, herbal medicine, & basketball.