Life in Latin America Prior to European Contact

Before Europeans came to Latin America there was civilization taken by the Olmec, Inca, Maya, and Aztec. The Olmec carved ceremonial heads that meant a lot to their culture representing their gods. The Inca had a very advanced civilization; they were home to builders and engineers and built Macchu Picchu. They Maya became the powerhouse of all the civilizations after Tikals’ success from conquering surrounding areas. The Aztec were very religious and obeyed their gods at all times. Life in Latin America prior to European contact insinuated duality because they engineered buildings, had a strong understanding of astronomy, yet had limited technology, and practiced human sacrifice and blood-letting. They had a challenging life filled with violence but were advanced people at the same time.

The indigenous people were very advanced in engineering and constructing buildings. According to The Inca: The Great Inca Rebellion by PBS Nova, they used lime plaster for walls and floors and soil, wood, adobe bricks made from water, sand, clay, and material such as straw for construction. They used wood, straw, stone, sand, lime, and clay all as materials to build a strong, durable temple or house. The floors could have been made out of dirt, stone, or plaster. The house sizes would depend on the wealth, social standard, and location of the family. In this case, the more money, the higher up citizens were on the “social staircase” and the better the location the family had, the bigger the house would be made. The Maya also built many temples under the ruler of Pacal’s sun Ckan Bahlam as stated by The Maya: Engineering an Empire. He created an ambitious three tier pyramid which represented the temple of cross, the temple of sun, and the temple ...

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.... They accompanied this with annual blood-lettings. The Aztec and the Maya were very strict in practicing their culture and religion and human sacrifice was a big part of their culture.

Life in Latin America prior to European contact insinuated duality because they engineered buildings, had a strong understanding of astronomy, yet had limited technology, and practiced human sacrifice and blood-letting. Latin America before the Europeans came had a tough but advanced life. The Olmec, Inca, Maya, and Aztec were advanced in their own way and practiced religion differently. They had their own setbacks with resources and engineered sacred temples that are still standing today. In conclusion, life in Latin America prior to European contact was advanced yet could’ve been tough all rolled into one life that there is still more intriguing information to find out more about.