Chinampas Floating Garden

761 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Inca and aztec empire

Are you aware that chinampas were given the beautiful nickname, “floating gardens”, by the Spanish (American Indian History Online)? This was due to the fact that they were basically islands used for the soul purpose of vegetation, situated on swamps and canals. The Aztecs were very resourceful. Most of their land was swamp and canals, so it was extremely hard to grow food let alone provide it for their entire civilization. Therefore, the wove together tree bark, and let it float on top of these swamps. Then, they would take any fertile soil they could find, including from inside the swamps, and dumped it on the platform. They would also have to add human fecal matter to fertilize the soil even further. But that’s not all. They also had a very innovative way to keep the chinampas from floating about. What they would do is plant the seed of a strong tree into it, and allow it to grow. This way the trees could anchor the chinampas in one place. They were a crucial aspect of the Aztec Empire because they were the cause of the abundance of crops produced for the massive capital city, a method of transportation it made more popular allowing travel to be more efficient, and most importantly, the relationship it caused between humans and nature.
Chinampas resulted in a massive surplus of food. They were the reason the Aztecs were able to harvest 7 crops per year (Student Resource Center)! Two of which were maize (Student Resource Center). Some other crops they were able to produce were quiltonil (a vegetable herb), and quelite cenizo (a small, green spinach). Yet another reason chinampas were vital to the survival of the Aztecs was that they produced cultigens, meaning they produced foods that could not be grown in the wild (Investiga...

... middle of paper ...

...lization. Then, they would continue to build chinampas, and this beautiful cycle between humanity and nature would live on.
In hindsight, chinampas were a crucial aspect to the Aztec Empire not only because it provided a food surplus, not only because it fixed a population problem, not only because it created a delivery system, but because it created balance. They forged the symbiotic linkage between humanity and nature that was eventually deluded by technological advancements. We are supposed to live in unity with nature, each of us equally giving and receiving. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, that’s how everyone is supposed to thrive. The problem is that now, we are taking away too much from nature without giving back. New isn’t always better. Although restoring this old partnership will be a very arduous task, but every marathon starts with a single step.

Show More
Related

  • Que Vivan Los Tamales Summary

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    The sale of food products in the market of Tlatelolco with its various colors, shapes, smells, and sounds “unified Native American cuisines while preserving rich regional variations; [epitomized] the social relationships that depended on the feeding of gods and people; and [preserved] the cultural significance of taste for pre-Columbian cooking and eating” (9-10). Cuisine played an important part in the constructing of social hierarchies in Mesoamerica, and to this day continues to shape individuality not only in Mexico, but also for every country. Traditional forms of Mesoamerican cooking mainly belonged to women, and three simple utensils including a cazuela, a metate, and a comal, allowed them to frugally make delicious tortillas. But they “derived much of their self-worth from skill at the metate, the ability to grind maize so they could feed tortillas and tamales to their husbands and children,” (14-15). This single crop has permitted for these lower-class women to preserve and refine the pre-Columbian cuisine of tortillas and tamales. Mexicans have always been and still are a people of corn, in spite of numerous attempts to change this, partly in thanks to the female

    Read More

  • Indian Givers

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    They domesticated and developed the hundreds of varieties of corn, potatoes, cassava, and peanuts that now feed much of the world. They discovered the curative powers of quinine, the anesthetizing ability of coca, and the potency of a thousand other drugs that made modern medicine and pharmacology possible. The drugs together with their improved agriculture made possible the population explosion of the last several centuries. They developed and refined a form of democracy that has been haphazardly and inadequately adopted in many parts of the world. They were the true colonizers of America who cut the trails through the jungles and deserts, made the roads, and built the cities upon which modern America is based."

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay On Aztec Culture

    547 Words  | 2 Pages

    Back in the time of the Aztec their culture was very different but also similar from our now. For instence they belived in human sacrifice and also there was only a few different jobs that you could make a living through. . There are four major jobs in their society,which are being a priest,tradesmen,warrior or in your a women you would more often then not work hard in the houses learning how to weave and make clothes.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Wheat In Maya Civilization

    208 Words  | 1 Pages

    Upon arrival in the Americas, Europeans set out to make wheat the standard grain in the lands they had discovered; the establishment of wheat was both functional, as it was a staple of the European diet, as well as an attempt to institutionalize European control. While wheat did gain some ground in the Americas, especially among the upper classes, it failed to surmount maize as the “the foundation of indigenous livelihood.” The persistence of maize as a staple of the indigenous way of life is not shocking, as J. Eric Thompson writes: “Maize was a great deal more than the economic basis of Maya civilization: it was the focal point of worship, and to it every Maya who worked the soil built a shrine in his own heart.” The Americas were not

    Read More

  • Clean Water In The Aztecs

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a result of their central location in Mexico and local water supply, the Aztec community served as an effective setting for trade. The Aztec community had a high population density and was known for having a large transient population (157). These factors can contribute to the spread of disease if proper measures are not put into action. Large populations increase the amount of waste produced and the demand for water. While the initiatives to maintain public health were effective, some also had negative consequences, such as the discarding of waste. The Aztecs implemented mechanisms to deliver and preserve clean water, had effective ways to dispose of dead bodies and established, and methods to maintain public spaces in order to prevent the spread of disease and support the well-being of the community.

    Read More

  • Mayan, Inca, and Aztec Civilizations

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Aztecs were from Aztlan, located in both north and northwest Mexico. These civilizations were possible because the people in the areas became sedentary and agricultural. They were able to do this because of the vast natural resources and climates of where they lived. Their cultures were for the most part male dominated, possessions usually past through the male line from one male member to another male. Women would normally move to the male’s village when they got married.

    Read More

  • Corn To The Maya Culture

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    corn. The Popol Vuh makes clear the importance of maize to the Maya culture, and maize has

    Read More

  • The Aztec Human Sacrifices

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Aztec civilization was a very complex society that was feared and known well for their various gory sacrifices done to please their many gods in their polytheistic religion. The much feared civilization began by the exile of one of the two Toltec leaders, which lead to the decline of the Toltec state that was later replaced by Mexica, or the Aztecs. According to the Aztecs, the land chosen to build their main city was chosen by the portrayal of an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. Through military might, the Aztecs managed to become the most powerful civilization in the mid-fourteenth century. They maintained their power through military might and the fear they caused other civilizations because of the human sacrifices they performed on their captured victims. In the mid-fourteenth century, the Aztecs used the method of human sacrifices to uphold fear in their neighbors by using the method year round to please the gods and ensure their survival.

    Read More

  • The Monkey Garden

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Monkey Garden by Sandra Cisneros tells the story of a young girl’s loss of childhood innocence. The story is narrated by a mature woman remembering her initiation into adolescence through the images and events that occurred in an unused neighborhood lot. She is not ready to mature into adolescence and uses her imagination to transform the lot into a fantasy garden--a place where she can hide from the adult world.

    Read More

  • The Aztecs: Should Historians Emphasize Agriculture or Human Sacrifice?

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ot only did the Aztecs think of how these trees would function for the chinampas, but also how it would help the farmers. The Aztecs also grew reeds as well and used the chutes for frames to compact the soil together. Also using the land that they are provided with, the Aztecs used the shallow lakes to support the chinampas and the canals that they used to transport through the water. Not only did the Aztecs create and prosper, but they used whatever resources they could get from area around them.

    Read More

  • Dbq On The Aztecs

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    August 13th, 1521 marked the end of a diabolical, yet genius group of leaders. They were referred to as the Aztecs. They were an extremely advanced ancient civilization. The Aztec’s were overthrown by the Spanish, yet we still haven’t forgotten the Aztecs. But since their culture was so complex it’s hard to know what is the most necessary thing to study when it comes to them, especially when their were so many things that defined their culture. The Aztecs were highly religious and believed in human sacrifice. They also had a complex method of farming called chinampas. This grew an extremely large amount of food per year by using canals. This was extremely successful because of how complex it was. When asked if historians should emphasize agriculture

    Read More

  • Victors and Vanquished

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the principle themes in the Aztec downfall was the immense greed of the Europeans. The principle goal of every major faction in Europe was to gain power and wealth it didn’t matter from what source. Everyone from popes and kings to the lowly soldier envisioned rivers of gold and fame. Ever since they had boats Europeans have been looking for lucrative trade routes and other ways to turn a profit. The ruling monarchs of these countries contributed a great deal to this. They saw vast profits from these ventures through taxes and the customary “ Royal Fifth” which was a fifth of all profits would go straight to the King and/or Queen. Also royalty or other nobility within the country personally funded a large majority of explorations. Trading and exploration companies just helped push the trend further and made the exploitation of newly discovered lands big business. While greed was defiantly a starting point for Cortez’s expedition, it was his greed while in Central Mexico that changed the tide of history. Cortez’s first encounters with the natives in Central...

    Read More

  • The Columbian Exchange: Chocolate

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    This source was one of the most useful for the research of the collateral. It is a PDF file of the Columbian Exchange and all the background information of the trade, as well as an extensive list of foods are provided. Cacao beans, while not a staple crop, was very influential in the trade network. This journal was useful in providing details on the importance of cacao, and its significance over time.

    Read More

  • Machu Picchu

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each block weighs fifty tons! They would thatch the roofs with tree trunks and straw. After the buildings were constructed, the Incan people would smooth the stones with sand, mud, and clay to make the structures look polished. The people who inhabited this ancient site considered it to be magical because of the Andes Mountains and the Amazon River. The Temple of the Condor was a place of worship where the head of the condor was used as an altar for sacrifices.

    Read More

  • Japanese Gardens

    2449 Words  | 5 Pages

    Japanese Gardens The role of gardens plays a much more important role in Japan than here in the United States. This is due primarily to the fact the Japanese garden embodies native values, cultural beliefs and religious principles. Perhaps this is why there is no one prototype for the Japanese garden, just as there is no one native philosophy or aesthetic. In this way, similar to other forms of Japanese art, landscape design is constantly evolving due to exposure to outside influences, mainly Chinese, that effect not only changing aesthetic tastes but also the values of patrons. In observing a Japanese garden, it is important to remember that the line between the garden and the landscape that surrounds it is not separate.

    Read More

More about Chinampas Floating Garden

Open Document