Aztec Culture

Aztec people are originally nomadic tribe in northern Mexico; they arrived in Mesoamerica around the beginning of the 13th century. They emerged as a dominant force in central Mexico, developing an intricate social, political, religious and commercial organization that brought many of the regions city states under their control by the 15th century. The Aztec control the area around there capital city of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City. There borders stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. They control lands as far south as present day Guatemala. Aztec was ruled by Montezuma II who was considered a great ruler and popular by his own people but unpopular by those he concurred.

The Aztec were known for their art work and architecture,

They lived along the western cost of South America and there land stretched over 200miles from present day Colombia south to Chile. There empire was centered at their capital in Cuzco, Peru. They were ruled by Atahualpa.

Atahualpa was the son of the Inca emperor, Huayna Capac after his father’s death Atahualpa fought against his brother for control of the empire. He won the battle and became the Sapa Inca. The Sapa Inca was thought to be a living descendant of the Sun gods. The Sapa Inca was very wealthy and was carried by servants from place to place on a special chair called a litter.

The Incan were known for making beautiful gold, silver and bronze pieces; there leader even had rooms of gold and silver in his palace and ate from gold plates and cups and war gold jewelry, skillfully made textiles and for building a network of roads allowing them to quickly move along their empire. They also managed to farm in difficult areas by building terraces on the mountain sides of the Andres Mountain where they

Many aspects of the Inca culture were destroyed as cities and towns were pillaged, resulting in the loss of the vast amounts of traditional art works craft and architecture. The introduction of Christianity greatly impacted the art of the region as it begun to reflect Christian themes alongside and in place of traditional Inca designs; the Incas practiced polytheistic religion in which they believed in many gods, they believed Viracocha their creator created the earth, stars and all living things. The Spanish also introduced new techniques such as oil painting on canvas, which fused with the artistic traditions of the