The Mayan People Built Their Lives in What Is Today Known As Mexico and Central America

The Mayan people built their lives in what is today known as Mexico and Central America. The geography of the landed claimed by the Mayan’s diverse. Unlike early river civilizations, there were no mighty rivers in the region.

Mayan society was similar to Mesopotamia in many ways. Each city-state was ruled by a king. People believed the king was divine and they believed in many gods (polytheistic). The Mayan King had political and religious power (theocracy). One big difference was that Mayan kings and priests practiced bloodletting and human sacrifice to keep the gods happy. The Mayans built pyramids to get closer to the gods. They also used stelaes to record events.

Mesoamerican art and sciences reached their height in Mayan civilization. Mayan scribes used hieroglyphics to record events. In the northern lowlands, the Maya wrote on paper made from tree bark. After the ink was dry, they folded the paper, forming pages. Scholars refer to these books as codices. The Maya used codices to write down the information they needed to perform their rituals. The Maya had a very good understanding of math. They used a numbering system that included the number zero. The Mayan’s studied the stars and, like other early civilizations, created an accurate calendar.

Mayan class structure was similar to those of Mesopotamia. At the top was the king and his family. Most Mayan’s were farmers. Maize or corn was a staple of the Mayan’s diet. Maya practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. To clear land for farming, people cut down trees and other plants and burnt them. The ash added nutrients to the soil. In swampy areas, farmers created raised fields. They used canal systems to control water. The Maya also developed systems to collect and store rainwater during times of drought. The Maya had a well-developed road system for trade. Most traders used slaves to carry their goods to distant cities.

What happened to the Mayan’s is a mystery. What we do know is the next great empire in central Mexico was the Aztecs. The Aztec wandered Mexico for 100 years searching for the land promised to them by Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war, before settling down in a swamp. The Aztec people adapted to life in the swamp. They built canoes for fishing and hunting local birds. They built dikes and chinampas to increase the amount of farm land. They began to make war and defeat the other tribes that were living in the area.

Unlike the ancient river civilizations, the Aztec empire grew relatively quickly. The Aztec used politics, their military, and a system of ruling and tax collection. The Aztecs grew rich using slave labor, collecting tribute from tribes the conquered, and trade.

The social class system of the Aztec was similar to that of other early civilizations. At the top you had a king. The king was view as divine and had both religious and political power (theocracy). Below the king were the nobles. They were leaders and priests. The next class was made up of warriors and farmers, both were very important to the Aztec people. Like other civilizations, slaves were in the final class.

Religion played an important role in Aztec society. The king was viewed as a god. The Aztecs were polytheistic, worshiping many gods. The gods of the Aztecs represented natural forces. The Aztecs built pyramids which they used for human sacrifices and studied astronomy. The Aztec people thought the gods needed human sacrifices to stay alive and be happy. They were also concerned with the afterlife.

In 1519, Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes arrived on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. This was the beginning of the end for the Aztecs. The Aztec people thought that he was a god. Cortes got the neighboring tribes who hated the Aztecs to fight with him. The Spaniards also brought diseases with them to the Americas. It did not take long before 70 percent of the population died of illness.

Around 1100 CE, a powerful civilization came into being—the Incas. The empire stretched more than 2,500 miles. It covered the area along the Andes Mountains from Ecuador in the north to Chile in the south. Because of their location, the Incas had little or no contact with the Aztecs.

The most dominant physical feature of the Inca Empire was the Andes Mountains. The Andes is the longest continental mountain range in the world and today goes through seven South American countries. The Andes had a major influence on the Incan Civilization.

Like the Aztecs, the Incas adapted to their environment. They built over 40,000 miles of roads to connect their empire. The Incas used tunnels and rope bridges to mountain passes. All roads led to Cuzco, the capital of the Incan empire. Unlike Mesopotamian civilizations, the Incas did not rely on trade. The primary purpose of roads was to allow the Incan army to travel quickly throughout the empire to put down rebellions.

The social class system of the Incas was similar to that of other Mesoamerican civilizations. At the top was the Sapa Inca. The Sapa Inca was viewed as divine and had both religious and political power (theocracy). The Sapa Inca was believed to the son of the sun god, Inti. The royal family and the nobles came next. The bulk of the population were ayllu or common people.

Like other people of ancient river civilizations, the Incas worshipped many gods (polytheistic). Inti, the sun god, was the most powerful god. He was served by the "Chosen Women." These were chosen from all over the empire. They trained for many years, learning how to prepare ritual food and drink, how to make the wool garments worn by the Sapa Inca and the royal family. The Inca people had great respect for their ancestors. Like the Egyptians, one way the Incas showed this respect was to mummify the dead. At certain times of the year they would dress them in new clothes and offer them food and drink. They would also hold parades with the mummies.

Quechua was the language of the Incas. The Incas did not have a writing system. However, they had a mathematics system. Workers kept records on a quipu, a group of colored strings knotted to represent different numbers. They may have used quipus to record information that writing recorded in other ancient civilizations.

As with the Aztec, the Inca Empire ended with the arrival of the Spanish. Francisco Pizarro traveled to Peru in 1532 to claim land and gold for Spain. His weapons were superior to the Incas and the Incas had been made weak by diseases brought by Europeans. Before long, Spain claimed Peru, Ecuador, and Chile as part of its empire.

Like other ancient groups, Native American cultures were shaped by geography. Their ways of life were affected by the areas where they lived and had a direct impact on what they ate, their clothes, and the type of homes they lived in.

Politically, Native American’s were different from the Mesopotamian civilizations. There was little connection between government and religion and leaders were often chosen by the people. Customs and traditions were the rules that governed society. Decisions were made using a majority rule process.

The area in which a people settled dictated the type of homes they built. The Anasazi and the Pueblo Indians lived in the Southwest in the area where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah are located. They lived in a dry desert like environment. To adapt, the Anasazi and Pueblos used mud bricks to make their homes. Both the Pueblo and Anasazi built apartment like buildings with many stories. The Anasazi would sometimes build their homes on cliffs. Like the ancient Egyptians, the tribes living in the Southwest created irrigation systems to move water from rivers and streams to their crops. Groups often dug ditches from the rivers to the fields. Water moved through the ditches to water the crops.

The Eskimo people lived in a very different environment. They lived in the artic. Eskimo homes were made from the most plentiful resources: snow and ice. Igloos are dome-shaped shelters made by stacking blocks of ice or hard snow.

The Algonquin people lived in the Northeast. It includes all of the Great Lakes and much of the Appalachian Mountains. This land was mostly covered in forests. The Algonquin lived in wigwams. These small huts had an arched wooden frame covered by sheets of bark, animal skins, or woven mats.

The Great Plains was mostly covered by wide grasslands with few trees. Tribes living in this area were nomadic. They followed large herds of buffalo. Their homes had to be portable. They lived in tepees made from long wooden poles covered by animal skins. Religion played an important part in the lives of Native Americans. Many Native American groups had a religious leader, called a shaman, who was said to have magical or healing powers. Most tribes had sacred places where they held their ceremonies. Tribes in the Southwest had special rooms, many were below ground, called kivas for religious ceremonies. Nature was very important to native groups. Many groups believed that spirits lived in animals. They worshipped these animal spirits. Some peoples of the Pacific Northwest built totem poles to celebrate these beings. Our knowledge of early Native American religions is limited. Most Native American tribes have rich oral traditions. Often they recall events that happened long ago. Most native peoples did not have their own system of writing until after the Europeans arrived.