Let’s take a look at the Pre-Colombian civilizations: Aztec, Mayaand Inca

The Aztecs were the latest of a series of Native Americans to rule Central Mexico. Theywere preceded by Nahuatl, Toltecs, Mixtecs and other groups that were conquered by the Aztec Nation.

A Nahuatl woman depicted in one of the surviving Codex.

A Toltec warrior

At the time of the arrival by Hernán Cortés and his crew, the Aztecs controlled several million people from their capital of Tenochtitlan. It is possible to describethe culture of the Aztecs as bloody as well as highly efficient. The dedication of the Temple to Huitzilopochotl, the Sun God, cost the lives of an estimated 80,000 personsaccording to contemporary accounts. You can see why the Spaniards called him

“Huichilobos”

Don’t be shocked, they even recorded the event:

The Aztecs were also builders and effective farmers, even without metal other than gold, silver and copper.

They ruled from their capital of Tenochtitlan, what is today Mexico City.

The Spanish view of the Aztec capitalof Tenochtitlan, by far the largest cityin all of America.

Aztec farming fed this population—along with the protein from the sacrificialvictims offered to the gods (not all the time but frequently enough to alienatemost of their so-called allies and tributary peoples0

This was the traditional system of farming which introduced corn to Western Europe

An idealized view of a typical milpa:

The other system was the use of “floating gardens” located in Xochimilco whichsupplied much of the foods for the capital city

Gold

Since the Spaniards were interested in gold and not so much in artifacts, much Was melted down for shipment back to Spain. See “Nuestra Sra de Atocha

The Mayans

Briefly, the Mayans ruled from centuries before Christ until perhaps 1100 the areaknown today as the Yucatan Peninsula and modern day Guatemala, extending somecontrol into areas of El Salvador and Honduras. They are known for the great pyramids, religious centers such as Tical, Copan and other places, where the famous ball courts can be seen today. The Mayans were the world’s best astronomers and without glass, metal or any tools that we know of, they devised the best calendarof all time, accurate to within .00025 of a day. Only the advent of the atomic clockimproved on the Mayan calendar!

The Mayan ball court:

Hoops. Anyone? Remember, the losers get sacrificed!

While brilliant, the Mayans were also rather violent and as bloody as theirneighbors to the North

Lady Xoc, aunt-wife of king Shield Jaguar II, drawing a barbed rope through her tongue. AD 709

Presentation of captives to a Mayan ruler, c. AD 785

The Mayan Calendar

The demise of the Mayan Civilization is generallyAttributed to the climatic conditions that resultedIn repeated crop failures that undermined thePower of the rulers and caused violence betweenRival cities.

The Incaan American Indian people of Peru who in the two centuries before the Spanish discovery of America conquered an area stretching from the southern border of present-day Colombia to central Chile. Centering on the city of Cusco (Cuzco) in the Peruvian Andes, the Inca domain included the coastal and mountain regions of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and the northern areas of Chile and Argentina--the only true empire existing in the New World at the time of Columbus, and the greatest political achievement of the American Indians. In the native language the term ``Inca'' was the title of the Indian emperor.

Why was Pizarro so interested in the Incas? Look at this:

And this:

Get the idea?

Someday, while you are young and healthy, try and make it to thisplace: Machu Pichu. Nobody knows why it was built; nobody knowswhat it was used for.

Thanks, I’ll be here all week