Olmec Culture

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 Olmec culture is best known as the “Mother Culture,” because during the formative period in Mesoamerica the region flourished. This is also known as the first culture to develop the

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 ancient Aztecs were located on Lake Texcoco, and their capital was Tenochtitlan. The empire was made up of a bunch of city-states known as the Altepetl. Amongst the city-states there was an alliance trusting relationship between them(IDM doc C). The Aztec people were very kind to others, and even helped them out

The Aztecs lived in the Valley of Mexico, in Tlaltecuhtli, and their peak of civilization was around 1350-1519 CE (Feder). They ruled under the socio-political system, which means everything was ruled by an Emperor, but each city-state was was also ruled by the local nobles. The city had a population of more than 1 million citizens and more in the hinterlands.

The Aztec people dominated the 14th through 16th century Mesoamerica. They are one of the most noted cultures recognized in history books today and they deserve as much recognition for their accomplishments and errors as much as any other civilization because their works were much the same. Their religious practices were similar to that of the ancient civilizations throughout the entire world. The magnificent capital, Tenochtitlan, displays accomplishments other cities had achieved thousands of years before the Aztecs marched through what is now Mexico. Even the fall of their empire was like that of the far away Celtic civilization and countless others.

The Aztecs were first found in Mesoamerica in the early 13th century. They are known for so many different things like art, land, agriculture,and architecture. The Aztecs were around for 200 years. In fact they were one of the last native American civilizations. One thing they deeply believed in were gods, some of the gods they deeply worshiped were Huitzilopochilt, the God of war, Tlaloc, the God of rain, and one more is Tonatiuh, which is the God of sun.

Olmec colossal heads have been found at La Venta, San Lorenzo, and Tres Zapotes. Despite they were each carved out of a basalt boulder and weigh 8 tons on average, they were hauled for miles through water and across land. No one knows for sure how they were transported, but some believe that the Olmec people used log rollers and balsa rafts to carry the giant heads. They are one of the most mysterious artifacts in the ancient world, but the most believed theory about the Olmec colossal heads is that because of their intricate features, and all the work that was put into making one, they represented Olmec rulers. Another theory is that the heads with helmets were the well-known ball players.

I chose to study about Tiwanaku, a pre-Columbian archaeological site in South America in A.D. 500 and compare it to Teotihuacan, a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city in 500 A.D. located in a sub valley of the Valley of Mexico. There a great similarities to each place but the two things that separates them is location and time. Tiwanaku is located in the southern shores of Lake Titicaca, in the Province of Ingavi, Department of La Paz. It was built nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, making it the highest urban centers ever constructed of its time. Surrounded by mountains and hills settled in a valley, it began as a small settlement in 1200 BCE that reached its peak of inhabitants roughly around 400 A.D. and 900 A.D..

The Aztecs have a very known reputation for their sacrificial practices. They are known to be cruel and terrifying, but looking past all of their human sacrifices, they had a great civilization, in fact, their human sacrifices were very spiritual and religious. Also, the Aztecs were the only civilization that not only provided free education to all, but required all to attend school. Along with that, they also had a very innovative agricultural system.

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.

It was in a rainforest and the cities were like big temples and pyramids and small houses. Their time periods and capitals were Pre, Golden, post and the capital was chichen itza. The Aztec’s location was located a bit above the Mayan empire. The Aztecs lived in a rain forest to. The city's were near water and were sometimes on water.

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 ancient Mayans, who lived in parts of present-day Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, created one of the most complex and advanced civilizations in the Western Hemisphere. The Mayans accomplished many remarkable and influential achievements, most notably, in art, astronomy, and engineering. The achievements of the Mayans influenced the cultures around them and are still influential today. The Mayans created amazingly sophisticated works of art.

They were located on the Yucatan Peninsula, which is today’s eastern Mexico. In addition, the Mayans lived there from 300 CE to 900 CE. Most Mayan cities had populations of about 10,000 people but their major city Tikal had over 70,000 people. The Mayans was known for building temples, pyramids, studying astronomy, mathematics, and creating a complex writing system. In addition, they were outstanding sculptors in stone, stucco and wood, they were also prodigious painters of murals and pottery.