Reflection Of Maya And Aztec Civilization

​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 Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilizations each contributed major accomplishments to the world today. These accomplishments established them as advanced societies during their time. The Incans built a large road system, devised a complex irrigation system and developed their own language. The Mayans constructed the largest structure known until modern times, made drastic accomplishments in mathematics, studied astronomy and formed a calendar. The Aztecs built well-organized cities and developed a writing system based on pictures.

In history we the people have found to realize that the Maya, Aztec, and Inca culture was one of the most incredible findings of their accomplishments. The Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations were really smart in topics of engineering, writing, agriculture and astronomy. Also all three had their beliefs, and good with agriculture. All three cultures used great technologies in their agriculture like slash and burn, terrace farming. They all hunted for religion, they had a huge belief with the people spread throughout each region. They all had a lot of interest in the use of chocolate in the region, and cultivation. They all were pretty much the same just different beliefs.

The Maya were a people from Middle America, which includes modern Guatemala, Southern Mexico, and Northern Belize (Editors). The Maya civilization was considered to be “one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica,” (Maya). “The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making, and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork,” (Maya). They also gave mankind the modern calendar (Jarus, Maya). The Mayans were a very advanced people, but one of the most important things in the Mayan culture was their religion/god worshipping rituals.

The Aztec and Mayan civilizations were two important, early civilizations that settled in Mesoamerica. The Mayan and Aztecs were two civilizations that lived in two different time periods, but they shared many physical and mental characteristics of one another. The Aztec and Mayan civilizations were different but they were more similar. The Aztecs and Mayans were more similar in their location, religion, writing system, government, social structure, gender roles, technology, and sporting activities.

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 Maya has a rich culture, tradition and life styles such as lifeways through costumes, rituals, diet, handicrafts, language, housing, or other features that would attract tourist. It is estimated that between 35 and 40 percent of tourism today is represented by cultural tourism or heritage tourism. However, in some places such as Roaten Island on Honduras and would use that tourism as an advantage and would create fake Maya artifacts and invent an idealized Maya past for the island.

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 mayans, aztecs, and the incas were all advanced for their time. The mayans had a math system. The aztecs took over the highest cities in the area. And the incas had control of 1,250 miles of the western coast of south america.

During that time as previous, pre-European civilizations in the Americas, the Aztec and Inca empires were separate and distinct civilizations. Both civilizations were without question very advanced and had their own complex but very well-organized society. Polytheism (who beliefs in multiple gods) dominated both empires. They worshiped idols extensively and interestingly, the Sun God held the high place in both societies. However, both civilizations shared some similarities, there were remarkable differences between the two empires. These contrasts and similarities can be seen in

The Mayan Civilization at its height was one of the greatest civilization to ever reign on the planet. Their advances in astronomy and mathematics well in advance has helped present civilizations to prosper. But one of the great questions is what happened to the Mayans? Why did they collapse? What caused them to collapse? It is a question that had gone unanswered for decades until some of the worlds great historians and scientist finally concluded to three reasons why the Mayan Civilization collapsed. The Mayans Collapse was fast and occurred due to Deforestation and Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Internal and Exterior Rivalry.

Many decades ago, northern Central America and southern Mexico cultures developed complex political and social ranks. Researchers today know this region as Mesoamerica, known for its rich soil, abundant amount of rainfall, and agriculture. (Judge & Langdon, 2012) The Mesoamericans, Aztec and Mayan tribes, developed into complex civilizations for multiple reasons. These societies were advanced and complex for their time in areas, such as architecture, agriculture, militarism, and education. Each had unique religion and political systems as well. The rise and fall of both were due to several factors.

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.