Imagine a person taking a walk through an art gallery that displays the pieces from cultures of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca. Would one be able to distinguish which piece came from which culture? There are many similarities in these cultures when it comes to art, architecture, and lifestyle. These three cultures make up part of what was Mesoamerica. Although they share a lot of are similarities, each culture is unique in their own way. However, it is clear that they derived influence from each other. This paper provides an insight on how these cultures arts are strikingly similar yet different in their own way.
The Maya Civilization
This was the first civilization of the Mesoamerica. It was developed by the people of Maya between the period of 800 BC and 900 AD (Maya Art History, 2016). Maya civilization is widely acknowledged for its development of a full writing system known as the hieroglyphic script, and the development of remarkable systems of astronomy, architecture, art, mathematics and calendar
The Incans used stone blocks to create prime structures without joining the stone blocks with mortar. These stones were sculpted to exactly fit together (Inca Art History, 2016). The final structures were stable due to the tight fit of the stones. Machu Picchu is a notable living example of the Incan architecture (Inca Art History, 2016).
The Incan architecture was very different from the Mayan Architecture. The Mayans mainly used limestone for the construction of their buildings while the Incans used other types of stones. A major distinguishing factor of the Incan construction they never used any form of paste or mortar to join blocks together (Inca Art History, 2016). They simply and perfectly laid stones on top of one another. On the other hand, the
Mayans joined blocks of limestone with stucco (Maya Art History,
The Aztec’s and the Inca’s have many similarities such as religious beliefs, and views about gods. Inca’s views about training for war are different, and the Aztec’s artifacts are somewhat different to. The farm land compared to the Inca’s is differs also, because where the Aztec’s lived the land was elevated about ten thousand feet.
Long before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic to the ‘New World’, the Western Hemisphere had already divided and developed civilizations. Some of these civilizations were extremely advanced for the time. As people settled in the Americas and developed cultures, so did differences in the life styles, religions, and art of these peoples. The cultures of Mesoamerica, South America, and North America all developed many different types of art, most notably ceramics and larger scale items that still baffle historians today.
The Aztecs were a tribe that relied on corn a lot. Well, it wasn’t necessarily corn, it was actually a thing called maize. Maize is a corn like substance that they use for many things like tortillas that they could use to make other things with and put them with the tortillas. Some of this includes tomatoes, beans, squash, deer and other things. While the Aztecs relied on maize for many things, the Incas did not use at much corn as the Aztecs did. Instead their main diet was the food that there was when they traveled. The Incas had a very large spread of land that they traveled on. Instead of staying in one place the incas would get all the food from one place then they would go to another place and get all the food from there. After that they would go back to the original spot that they had been because all the food had grown
In the fertile valleys or high plateaus the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs built communities and villages practicing sedentary lifestyles. They had for the most part “permanent, intensive agriculture.” (Lane and Restall 2012) This allowed them to produce complex foods that benefitted the villages because it made them possible but it also resulted in social stratification. “Agricultural activities of the majority allowed a minority to live and work as artisans, merchants, warriors, nobles and royalty – permitting the development of writing, metallurgy, bureaucracy, and other features of high civilization.” More specifically, the Mayans were able to create the most complete of the three Mesoamerican writing systems, “one that was still used in the early sixteenth century.” (Lane and Restall 2012) They were also able to expand, but their expansion would also be their demise. Because they were so large -- filled with regional kingdoms and empires -- the Spanish were easily able to conquer
The Mayans lived in Southern Mexico and Central America in their capital, Tikal, which is in present day Guatemala. The Mayans were known for their engineering, one structure they were famous for is their pyramid temple in Tikal (Document 1). This pyramid was the tallest structure in the Americas up until the 20th century and is still standing today. The government must have been strong and well organized in order to carry out such a large task. The Mayan religion had multiple gods and this pyramid was most likely devoted to one or used as a place for sacrifices. Another accomplishment of the Mayans was the creation of their calendar. An extra document that would be useful is one that explains how the calendar was created. The Mayans must have studied astronomy and math to a great length. Similar to the Ancient Egyptians, they wrote with symbols and pictures known as glyphs that were used in the calendar. These glyphs were gods, such as Zotz (Document 2). The use of glyphs is an acknowledgement of a writing system, which is another accomplishment.
The Maya and Aztec civilizations were both indigenous people that flourished in Mesoamerica during different periods of time. Maya 's classic period is dated from 250 to 900 AD, which was considered to be the peak of their civilization. They covered much of the Yucatan Peninsula and were centered in what is now known as Guatemala. The Aztecs dominated from 1325 AD to 1521 AD, in what is now modern day Mexico. Although they shared cultural similarities such as their social structure, they also had their differences in military and religious rituals.
The Olmec, Mayan, and the Aztec Indians were very advanced civilizations for the 14th, 15th, and 16th century. They would used different kinds of resources found around them to create the technology they used to survive. For example the Olmec and the Mayans used cotton to create all kinds of garments, the Mayans also created a number system and their weapons and armor to go to war, the Aztecs adopted an education on how to hunt, how to fight, jewel cutting, metal polishing, song composition, science of the heavens, planing trees and flowers, cooking, cleaning, and many other things. Many cultures were influenced by these three civilizations as they had spread across the world and still use many of their techniques in our everyday lives.
My friends, after traveling through the Asian continent and Japan, I continued on to the Americas. The art in the Americas has three regions, North America, Central America, and South America. Each region has a very distinct aspect to their forms of art. All cultures have some kind of art. Being curious about art, I have collected samples from five different areas. The following works of art are very different from European art, but there are still some similarities. The similarities of the human spirit are evident in the following images.
The proximity of the Mesoamerican people to each other in the region led to a high degree of cultural interaction between each other. The consistent interaction between Mesoamerican civilizations within the region created a cultural diffusion that allowed Mesoamericans to
The Maya didn’t discover metallurgy until late in the Classic period and used it only to produce jewelry and decorations for the elite. Artists and their numerous assistants cut and filled the stones used for palaces, pyramids, and housing, aided only by levers and stone tools. Each wave of construction represented the mobilization of thousands of laborers.
The layout of the Maya cities was quite a unique one. They had no formal plan and expansion was done
Throughout the worlds history, many forms of folk art have been established. One easily identifiable is that of the Mexican folk art. Mexican folk art has great range and variety. This is primarily because the difference in available materials spread throughout the land. There are over a hundred types of clay, different woods and metals, and even a vast array of vegetable fibers used in textile work that let to a drastic amount of recognizable differences in the art. Artists used a large variety of animal, mineral, and vegetable products to dye and paint their pieces. There is also a very different stylization based on geographic locations and split of communities. This is due to the settling of invading Mesoamerican culture mixed with the Spanish and Arabic cultures. Although there is a vast amount of traditional folk art products from Mexico, pottery, wood burning, glass blowing, and paper mache are staples of the Mexican folk art culture. When Mexico ...
...c used a slash and burn style of farming and they relocated once the nutrients of the land were used up. The Incas were much more advanced. Labor specialization was common, especially in the large densely populated areas like Cuzco. The Incas made roads, had irrigation channels, fortresses, and mines. They used crop rotation and terracing and other advanced agricultural methods.
In order to build this city, the Incans used stone tools, bronze tools, and chisels. The materials they used were mud, clay, adobe, and granite blocks. Each block weighed 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 Maya civilization is a very important culture that has left a great impact on our world today. They are known for their written language, art, mathematical system and astronomical system. The Maya territory includes Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico. In these areas the Maya thrived in their religious practices, politics, and their use of the territory.