The technology used by the people living in the Mesoamerican (now central America) area proved to be very advanced for the people of their time. These advanced technologies helped their civilizations to thrive during their eras. One of these technologic advancements was the use of natural resources. According to a piece of a document written by Francisco Hernandez, the people of Mesoamerica used wood, leaves, thorns, and juices from plants to further advance their culture. They used what they could find and made durable and simple houses and foods. Another advancement made was the creation of weaponry. In the song, “Awaken the Flint,” they reference to the many different types of weapons and armor used by the warriors of the civilization. …show more content…
Hernan Cortes recorded facts about the people building these gardens so that they could farm and grow food on the island instead of having to go to the mainland. They also built bridges and drawbridges in order to get from one place to another easier. One way that we know so much about these people, also an advancement in the society, is how they kept records of everything that went on in their area. According to Ixtiuoxi, who wrote Historia Chichimeca, each “branch of knowledge” had a scribe that recorded what went on in each branch. This helped with the accuracy of all the information recorded and helps us today to better understand just how much went on in the Mesoamerican area. Going back to the idea that the civilization of Mesoamerica had advanced technologies in farming, it has been shown through a painting called the Codex Florentine that they used technologies like a version of the plow to dig up holes in the ground in order to plant seed to grow. While this device represented more of a modern day shovel, its purposes for preparing the land reflected that of a plow used today. This shows us that the people in Mesoamerica used as many resources as they could find in order to make their civilization as great as
Agriculture, corn growing specifically, dramatically influenced the size and sophistication of Native American civilizations in Mexico and South America. By about 1200 B.C., corn cultivation had reached the present-day American Southwest. On its journey, it powerfully molded Pueblo culture. The Pueblo peoples in the Rio Grande valley built complex irrigation systems to water their cornfields. They lived in villages made of multi-storied, terraced buildings when Spanish explorers greeted them in the sixteenth century.
Over a thousand years ago in the Mesoamerica region the culture that we know as Maya thrived. They had an amazement and intrigued fascination over the technical mastery of their intellectual studies. The Mayan’s history is rich with remarkable human achievements, as well as stories. Some of their most recognizable masterpieces are the Mayan trade network, building Cities, the Mayan number system, and the Mayan calendar.
The spread of maize cultivation from present-day Mexico northward into the present-day American Southwest and beyond supported economic development, settlement, advanced irrigation, and social diversification among societies. Cultivation of corn along with squash and beans allowed for the typically mobile Native American tribes to become more
The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican Civilization that lived in what is now Mexico from the 14th century to the 16th century. They were known for their advanced agricultural practices , which allowed them to sustain a large population in a relatively small environment . This essay will explore Aztecs’ agricultural practices, including their use of chinampas, or floating gardens, and their complex systems of canals and irrigation. The Aztecs should be remembered for their agricultural practices which were incredibly advanced for their time because they developed sophisticated systems of irrigation and crop cultivation that allowed them to support a large population in a region that was not always in the right conditions for agriculture. They built chinampas, which were like floating gardens, artificial islands built on a freshwater lake for agriculture.
Agriculture was more important to the Aztecs for many reasons. First of all, the Aztecs built artificial islands called chinampas to have more land for farming. Almost 20,000 acres of chinampas were built around tenochtitlan. They could be built in 8 days and could harvest 4 corn crops per year. This shows the agricultural importance to the Aztecs because they put lots of their resources into building islands to harvest on instead of using their resources elsewhere.
The Aztecs created new technology to help lower the amount of physical labor in their empire. " [Aztecs] were also busy developing a remarkable agricultural system called chinampas. Because of their strong military and agricultural success, Aztec leaders were able to rule some ten million people"(Aztec Intro Article). The Aztec people changed their way of living through their jobs in the fields. They worked everyday to maintain crops that grew "as far as the eye can see".
Mesoamerican cultures were able to become powerful and build large
While many may be aware of the Aztec civilization, their accomplishments can often be overshadowed by the time period when they were conquered by Spanish explorers, such as Hernan Cortez. However, the Aztecs were a prospering society before their downfall to the Spaniards. The Aztec’s demise is not the only characteristic to remember about one of the most commonly recognized civilizations of the fifteen hundreds. As an ancient Mesoamerican civilization displaced by powerful explorers, the Aztecs can still be seen as an organized society driven by their spirituality and traditions. The Aztecs used an organized system of chinampas and documents surveying what conquered peoples owed them, ensuring that they would be productive on a daily basis.
The Aztec civilization had geography that all had a purpose. For example, there were shallow lakes, mountains, and the chinampas, these all had purposes for their daily lives. “Aztec agriculture in the heart of the empire used chinampas for their crops. Chinampa is a method of farming that uses small, rectangular areas to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Mexican valley. Chinampas were essentially artificial islands created for the crops”.
They built extraordinary pyramids and even built artificial islands to add more land for the citizens and crop growers. There are two turning points in Aztec civilization. One turning point is when they truly became a great society through
Even if the Mayans also made temples, it was more extraordinary to see how the Aztecs had absolutely nothing but were able to work with what they had. At the same time, the Aztec had an advanced system for writing and keeping records. The Aztecs used hieroglyphics just like Egyptians, but there 's were a little different. Aztecs writing, “...had three primary functions, namely to mark calendrical dates, to record accounting mathematical calculations, and to write names of people and places”(Lawrence Lo, 2012). This was different than everybody else 's writing because they didn 't have an actual alphabet.
In the Western Hemisphere, no early civilization was more remarkable than the Maya. The Maya are the best-known classical civilizations of Mesoamerica, originating in the state in southeastern Mexico, Yucatan at around 2000 B.C. They rose to importance around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and northern Belize. The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples. As being the most remarkable civilization in the Western Hemisphere, the Maya produced an extensive range of structures, and have left a great architectural legacy that places the Maya civilization as one of the great preindustrial civilizations of the world.
The Aztecs came to Mesoamerica in the 13th century and built their capital city, Tenochtitlan. They were very intelligent and had a remarkable agriculture system which led to a great empire. Also, they made artificial islands, had one of the largest cities in the world, constructed a pyramid called the Great Temple, and eventually got expelled by the Spanish. In addition, the Aztecs increased the size of their empire and and constructed artificial islands where they placed gardens. “The Aztec civilization was highly developed socially, intellectually, and artistically.”
However, with the acquisition of more land comes the increase of population, and as this population learns the improved farming methods of the Aztecs, the cycle of expansion continues. In addition, agriculture was used on such a huge scale, representing how important it was in the lives of the Aztecs. In Document C, a Diego Rivera mural that depicts how the Aztecs farmed, one can see that the chinampas stretch out for miles. Why would there be so many if they weren't so important to Aztec culture? This shows that the ancient civilizations depended on them an greatly, because after all, they were how the Aztecs got their food.
It was a process of trial and error mud and then wood nothing worked until they used maize to create the perfect humans. They were handsome and smart everything the Gods wanted them to be. They were so smart it troubled the Gods so they structured the way they should live. They gave them wives and children, they planted crops, and praised the Gods and the land that they gave them. This seemed to be the best way to live life in this world and for the Quiche Maya.