Civilization of the Americas

By ETHAN GOMEZ

There is much more to Mesoamerica than the Aztec, Mayan, and Toltec civilizations. In fact, several different ancient Mesoamerican civilizations had their own gods and religious beliefs. These civilizations included the Olmec civilization, Zapotec civilization, Teotihuacan civilization, Maya civilization, Toltec civilization, and Aztec civilization.

The Olmec civilization is the first known Mesoamerican civilization. The name Olmec comes from the Nahuatl word for rubber people, and they were pre-Columbian people living in what is now southern Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The Olmecs are essential to history because they were the first Mesoamerican people to develop a writing system, use hieroglyphics, and construct significant stone monuments (such as pyramids).

The calendar developed by the Olmecs was one of their most remarkable achievements. They based their calendar on 365 days divided into 18 months of 20 days each plus 5 extra days at the end of each year—so it was different from our current calendar! They also used zero as part of their number system, which is why we still use it today!

The Zapotec civilization was in the Oaxaca Valley, Mexico. This Mesoamerican civilization was known for using the Mesoamerican writing system and art.

The Zapotecs were one of the first civilizations in Mexico to develop a writing system. They used it to write on stone or pottery, but we don't know what their language sounded like because no one left any written records about them or their lives, so all that remains is physical evidence, like pottery with pictures and hieroglyphs carved into it. This type of evidence is called epigraphic because it's an inscription on something else (like a statue).

The city of Teotihuacan was a center of trade and politics. It existed from about 300 BC until 600 AD when it was abandoned. The site has been a subject of archaeology since the 19th century; it is now an essential source of information on Mesoamerican civilization, among the most significant early cities in pre-Columbian America.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DTTV PUBLICATIONS
• Release date: Aug 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201919368

ETHAN GOMEZ

In addition to his work in early Native American history in the United States, Ethan Gomez specializes in the history of Latin America and its varied cultures. A fluent Nahuatl speaker, he has studied the Nahuatl historical annals from the 16th and 17th centuries, written by the Aztecs in their own language, using the Latin alphabet that Spanish friars taught them so they could convert more easily to Christianity. Several Mesoamerican codices are also a specialty of his.

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ETHAN GOMEZ

Introduction

There is much more to Mesoamerica than the Aztec, Mayan, and Toltec civilizations. In fact, several different ancient Mesoamerican civilizations had their own gods and religious beliefs. These civilizations included the Olmec civilization, Zapotec civilization, Teotihuacan civilization, Maya civilization, Toltec civilization, and Aztec civilization.

The Olmec civilization is the first known Mesoamerican civilization. The name Olmec comes from the Nahuatl word for rubber people, and they were pre-Columbian people living in what is now southern Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The Olmecs are essential to history because they were the first Mesoamerican people to develop a writing system, use hieroglyphics, and construct significant stone monuments (such as pyramids).

The calendar developed by the Olmecs was one of their most remarkable achievements. They based their calendar on 365 days divided into 18 months of 20 days each plus 5 extra days at the end of each year—so it was different from our current calendar! They also used zero as part of their number system, which is why we still use it today!

The Zapotec civilization was in the Oaxaca Valley, Mexico. This Mesoamerican civilization was known for using the Mesoamerican writing system and art.

The Zapotecs were one of the first civilizations in Mexico to develop a writing system. They used it to write on stone or pottery, but we don't know what their language sounded like because no one left any written records about them or their lives, so all that remains is physical evidence, like pottery with pictures and hieroglyphs carved into it. This type of evidence is called epigraphic because it's an inscription on something else (like a statue).

The city of Teotihuacan was a center of trade and politics. It existed from about 300 BC until 600 AD when it was abandoned. The site has been a subject of archaeology since the 19th century; it is now an essential source of information on Mesoamerican civilization, among the most significant early cities in pre-Columbian America.

The city is located just north of present-day Mexico City in the state (state = province/county) of Mexico, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of the Federal District (Mexico City). The name Teotihuacan means place where men become gods, possibly an allusion to their belief that their rulers became divine after death.

The Teotihuacanos were not only builders but also warriors; they fought with neighboring groups over territory and resources. Their most important military victory came in 378 AD against Xolalpan by capturing its ruler Cuauhtémoc and killing many Xolalpan warriors during battle. After this victory, they took over Xolalpan's lands, including Azcapotzalco, Colhuacan, and Tlaxcala areas, where they established their control over those regions along with other surrounding places like Cholula or Chichen Itza until finally falling into decline due to internal conflicts caused by constant wars between various ethnic groups within the Aztec Empire itself during its final years before being conquered by Spanish Conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés after they arrived at Cempoala Island (between Veracruz/Tamiahua province) in July 1519

The Maya civilization was one of the most advanced in ancient Mesoamerica. They had a complex calendar, writing system, religion, and astronomical system. The Mayans' complex political, economic, and social structure made them the most advanced civilization.

The Maya civilization originated in Guatemala and southern Mexico between 200 BCE-900 CE. The Mayans were known for their architecture, agriculture, and urban centers. The Mayan cities contained large pyramids of stone representing essential deities such as rain gods or chiefs that ruled over their domains (Guatemala). However, their culture was also significantly developed in art; ceramics were used to make pottery for everyday use, and ritualistic pieces such as bowls used during sacrifices or incense burners were explicitly designed for burning incense during religious ceremonies (Bray).

The Toltec Civilization. The Toltec civilization was a Mesoamerican culture that dominated central Mexico in the Post-Classic period, roughly from 900–1170 CE. It was centered in the capital city of Tula, which is located in modern-day Hidalgo state, Mexico.

Precolumbian culture: This term refers to societies before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492 and incorporates prehispanic cultures along with those who lived during European settlement (postcolonial). Prehispanic culture refers to any group or society before the Spanish conquest in 1521 CE. In other words, it means any indigenous peoples whose history predates European colonization of the Americas (in this case, Mesoamerica).

The Aztec civilization was one of the most advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica. The civilization's capital city was Tenochtitlan, on an island in Lake Texcoco. Today, the site of Tenochtitlan is a large lake surrounded by Mexico City.

The city-states of the Aztec empire were independent but united under a strong central government. At its height, the empire controlled much of what we now call Central America, Southern North America, and parts of South America, including Ecuador and Colombia.

Mesoamerica was primarily composed of three regions: Soconusco (southern Pacific coast), Oaxaca (central southern Pacific coast), and Veracruz (central Gulf Coast). This region contains many different ecosystems such as deserts, mountains, volcanoes, etc...

There were a lot more connections between the civilizations of Mesoamerica than we knew, and they were all tied together by the idea of gods, religion, and mythology.

You may not realize it, but the origins of Mesoamerican civilization were actually in present-day Mexico. The Olmecs were a group of people who lived in that area roughly 1,400 years ago, and they are considered the first civilization in this part of the world. They had their own written language (only recently rediscovered), a calendar system still used today and even some form of art.

The Olmecs also have an exciting connection with another civilization that came after them: The Maya.

Mesoamerica refers to pre-Spanish civilization in Mexico and Central America. Mesoamerican American Indians, including the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations, were among the most advanced native peoples in the Western Hemisphere. At the tip of Baja (Lower) California, Mesoamerican borders extend westward from a point on the Gulf Coast of Mexico above the modern port of Tampico, then dip south to exclude much of the central desert of highland Mexico. Across the Pacific coast in El Salvador, the boundary extends from north-western Honduras to the Caribbean. Approximately half of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador, along with much of South America's Pacific Coast, are considered Mesoamerican (the Inca, although based in Peru and controlling much of South America's Pacific Coast, are nonetheless Mesoamerican).

Mesoamerica is characterized by two strong contrasts geographically and culturally: highlands and lowlands. The Mexican highlands are dominated by two mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre and the Sierra Nevada. A volcanic cordillera separates the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Located in Mesoamerica's southeast are the partly volcanic Chiapas-Guatemala highlands. Coastal lowlands dominate the lowlands. Pre-Spanish civilization was centered in the high valleys and landlocked basins of Mexico. It included the Petén-Yucatán Peninsula, the homeland of the Mayans, which extended south along the Gulf of Mexico.

Among the subregions of Mesoamerica, there was a symbiosis of diversity. Cacao beans were used for money in extensive and well-regulated markets developed through the interregional exchange of agricultural products, luxury items, and other commodities. As a result of high agricultural productivity, nonfarming artisans built stepped pyramids, created highly developed sculptures, pottery, and paintings, and crafted advanced stone architecture. States and empires may have emerged as a result, as well as large-scale political unity.

The Mesoamerican system of thought, preserved in folding-screen books made of deerskin or bark paper, may have been even more significant in separating them from other New World peoples. Essentially, this system consisted of 260 (13 * 20) days interspersed with a vague year of 365 (18 * 20 days plus five nameless days), which produced a 52-year calendar cycle.

Mesoamerican religions, known as Christo-pagans by anthropologists, are complex syncretisms of indigenous beliefs and early Roman Catholic Christianity. Christian saints and deities have been reinterpreted as indigenous supernatural beings (some benign, others not). At sacred places, gifts or animal sacrifices are offered to appease mountain and water spirits. Some spirits accompany individuals in the form of animals or natural phenomena, such as lightning or shooting stars. The failure to appease malevolent spirits or witchcraft is associated with the disease.

During the Calendar Round, religious life was based on a ritual cycle. Each underworld had a presiding god, and there were 13 heavens. The system was controlled by a priesthood with advanced astronomical knowledge. Mesoamerican pantheons feature an old, dual creator god, a god of royalty and warfare, a sun god, a moon goddess, a rain god, a culture hero called the Feathered Serpent, and many others.

There is a strong association between myths and religion. There is an exceptional amount of mythology in the Mesoamerican faith. Both sacred rituals and sacred places provide a spiritual narrative that underpins both symbolic behavior (cult, ritual) and symbolic objects (temples, icons). As symbolic narratives, tales are usually of unknown origin, at least partially traditional, and ostensibly relate to or attempt to explain natural events or phenomena. Myths are stories about gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or circumstances at an unspecified time independent of everyday human experience.

Maya, Aztec, and Inca mythologies and their deities and spiritual practices exist beyond the ordinary and every day. The Maya, Aztec, and Inca pantheons and legends presented here are complex, sophisticated, and cosmically synchronized. Despite sharing certain cultural traits and traditions, each great Mesoamerican civilization has stunning variations