The Incas and the Aztecs

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The Incas and the Aztecs Before the Spanish and Portuguese "discovered" the New World, there

were many groups of people already living in South and Central

America. Two of these groups were the Incas and the Aztecs. The Incas

lived mainly in Peru, and the Aztecs lived mainly in what is today

Mexico City. Although these two groups probably never came on contact

with one another, they had many similar traits. This is probably

partly because of the influences on them by traveling tribes. It is

more likely that the similarities of the tribes are based on the

similar conditions they lived with and the problems they faced.

However, they are also very different. This is obvious because they

were two separate tribes, and if they were too similar then one

couldn't distinguish them from each other.

The Inca Empire was centered on Machu Pichu in Peru. The Inca were

skilled in engineering and in craft production. The hierarchy of Incan

society went from the Emperor at the top to the Laborers at the

bottom. Each social class had a different role in their society. The

Incas were polytheistic, which means they had many gods, and each of

these gods had a story that went along with them. This is why the

priest was such a high class. He had to know so much and have a

religious answer for anything. He was in the third rank right under

the royal family. There were also "mamacunas" which were basically

nuns. The job of the priest was so great that he had these nuns to

help him. Though they had ceremonies for many different events, they

were most concerning agriculture or illn...

... middle of paper ...

...was given to warriors and nobles for strength.

The Incas and Aztecs were similar and different in the ways

aforementioned. The similarities were in the social classes, were both

polytheistic, the both had an emperor, ate similar foods, and lived

under similar conditions. The differences were language, levels of

social classes, importance of music and dance, and the importance of

architecture. A major difference was their lifestyle. The Aztecs were

war-like people, and were always picking fights with other tribes. The

Incas were a more peaceful society; one in which everyone did their

share, but they were more gentle and less rigid than the Aztecs. The

Incas did have powerful armies, but they would rather wait to be

attacked than cause a fight.

[1]

[2] http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/medicine.html

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