Teotihuacan City

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

As part of our human nature, we have always been skeptical about how things work. We can trace this all the way back to sites such as Chaco Canyon,Chichen Itza, and Tenochtitlan where they studied astronomy, mathematics, and architecture. As you can see in the picture humans are very diverse and have different interests which are also, shown in sites such as in Tenochtitlan where they were interested in art and architecture. They also, combined both of these interest to construct structures like pyramids where many drawings were carved into the walls. Although there can be differences, there can also be similarities such as in sites like Chaco Canyon and Chichen Itza where they both share an interest in astronomy. Their interest in astronomy

In the most basic sense, the increasing size and grandeur of the temple reflected the growing power of the empire, until its fall at the hands of the Spaniards. But a religious reason also reinforced the construction of the Templo Mayor and its significance in the Aztec empire. The Aztec creation story, greatly condensed, included the creation the deities of death, the heavens, the waters, and the alligator-fish Cipactli at the hands of the gods Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl. From Cipactli, the earth, or Cemanahuac, was formed. Aztec myth also states that Tenochtitlan was founded after early Mexica-Aztecs saw an eagle with a bird in its talons standing above a prickly pear cactus. The eagle was a representation of Huitzilopochtli, their main god. Connecting these two legends, the Aztecs called their capital, Tenochtitlan, Cemanahuac as well, to express their belief that they too were at the center of the universe like earth. To further imitate the universe, which was divided into four parts in Aztec myth, Tenochitlan was dived into four as well. Beginning from the Templo Mayor, which was the city’s center, four lines divided the city into north, south, west, and east barrios. By using Tenochitlan, and even more directly, the Templo Mayor, the Aztec empire declared that they were the chosen-people of the

Religion was the center of the Aztec’s life. The Aztecs worshiped many gods, which were actually the forces of nature, such as rain or sunshine, represented in a human form. In the Aztec religion there was over 1,000 gods and goddesses. Each god had many different names and meanings. The Aztecs had many gods that were focused on agriculture, since most of their culture was based on this. The main god of the Aztec people was Huitzilopochtli this is the god that told them to build the city of Tenochtitlan this is also the first temple built after finding the capital. Now Tlaloc had a big impact on the people as well being the rain god. The people thought he fertilized the crops and the way the people sacrificed to him was by killing 6 year olds or younger to make them cry before sacrifice. They thought the tears would help with the process, if the children did not cry enough they had to make them cry more before killing them. The sun god that helped Tlaloc in the process of growing the crops was Tonatiuh he provided the warmth and comfort for the people. He also needed a blood sacrifice to preform his duties. People that died a violent death went to the god of Tlaloc for their afterlife. Now the god of night was Tezcatlipoca his name means, Smoking Mirror, he had connections with the all parts of the world. Tezcatlipoca was brothers to Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent,

Mesoamerica’s first metropolis was Teotihuacán. The metropolis included many palaces and temples, but the main structure was the Pyramid of the Sun. It also consisted of many streets and a huge market that sold various goods and agricultural produce. Most people lived in apartment compounds, some housing over 100 people, made of stucco and consisting of different rooms. Teotihuacán grew wealthy from agriculture due to its location in the Valley of Mexico. This valley provided them with fertile soil as well as a steady supply of water. As the city’s power and wealth declined, the ruling class abandoned the area and principalities and surrounding peoples competed for the farmland. Farmers at this time took

Tenochtitlan is the religious center and capital for the Aztec population which was well over 200,000 people (1). One of the best known structures from Tenochtitlan is the Templo Mayor, standing in the center of the city. Here they honored their gods as well as conducted rituals such as human sacrifice. Excavations at Tenochtitlan found human remains with wounds that explained stone carvings of violent myths of human sacrifice (2).

2. The Teotihuacans built an enormous city and great buildings. The toltecs are known for large pyramids topped with temples.

In this article, Sarah C. Clayton examines the gender roles and ideologies in ancient Teotihuacan. Stated in her thesis, this work will provide for a better understanding of social organization and diversity. Anthropologists separate gender (cultural) with sex (biological). For example, there were differences in different places in Teotihuacan, were the “mainstream” society had males with a higher power than females, and in Tlailotlacan, there were equal social status. People were buried underneath the apartment compounds, where archeologists examine the gender and the age and if social status may intersect with gender. Burial brings are essential information to gender roles, as Clayton views different numerical data. The author went more in

Chaco Canyon, located in what is New Mexico today, closer to Arizona, is one of the archeological sites with many hypothesis and conclusions full of contradiction because of its complexity of what was happening there during Chaco’s economical peak. It is one of the prehistorical places that hold the history of the humans and how complex the organization between social, religious and economical was. The remains of the amazing tall and complex buildings surrounded with roads helped the archeologists to hypothesize the use of those buildings and those roads that surrounded them.

The city was built on Lake Tescoco. It was laid out on the water and small marshy islands. The city housed the leader of the Aztecs and was home to around 300,000 people. Still, that was barely a piece of the Aztec population that ranged to ten million. Now that you've learned a little more about the Aztecs, it's time to finally move on to more important things, their Agriculture (Doc A).

It was built during classic Maya period ca. 800-900 CE. The urban design in Chichen Itza is perfectly planned. The Mayan build pyramids and Temples in sets of clusters. The great Chichen Itza urban area it is far away from the visited zone today.

Their strong religious beliefs had led them to travel many miles in search of the land they believed the gods wanted them to go. However, finding the place to settle was not an easy task for the Aztecs. They suffered hunger, diseases and others struggles. Still with all those obstacles they where able to find a sign that they believed was sent from the gods to stay in that land. The infamous sign portrayed an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake on its peak. At that point they realized the land in which they where standing was there home and decided to name “Tenochtitlan”. Today, Tenochtitlan is known as Mexico City and is considered to be the largest city on the

The location of this great metropolis is a subvalley of the Valley of Mexico. In its northwestern region, the area it occupies is considered to be a highly strategic because it controls access to the valley. This proved to be quite beneficial for aiding and accelerating the development of the Teotihuacan culture. The valley of Mexico is home to obsidian sources, permanent springs, lake systems, irrigable agricultural lands, deposits of salt and limestone, the later was extremely important for construction of the majority of the structures found at this site.

The Mayan sincerity was evident not only in the belief of all their gods, but also the various rituals they perform. Such rituals ensured that the Mayans continue to hold together through their religion, which penetrates every part of the Mayan life; and has not shown any signs of rupture. The lunar calendars they designed were a wonder and a miracle of their time philosophy, which considered various aspects of human experiences. These ranged from the biology of human, agricultural cycles, as well as the star and planetary movements. What is more, they endeavored to seek harmony and balance by combining the space with time and the cosmos respectively.

Propaganda has influenced modern society in such a way that most individuals are oblivious to its role in the modern way of life. Infact, without propaganda society would function in a drastically different way because of the newfound lack of outside influence. Propaganda, or the use of various mediums to persuade or influence rational thought, has been utilized to shape human civilization since it first began. From, as document A states, the Ancient Greeks use of theater performances and religious festivals to mold the opinions of men, to the Spanish Armada use of false information to gain the support of the spanish citizens, and finally to Yarn Adams and Tom Paine who used literature to rally colonists against the British Empire, propaganda has performed vital roles in the evolution of modern civilization. Therefore, it can be said that propaganda has been used as a language of power to spread ideas and beliefs, promote and build strength, and to control the action of men.