Native American civilizations thrived in the Western Hemisphere before
Europeans discovered the "New World." These civilizations had many
similarities and contributed much to the development of the Latin American
culture today.
Each civilization was a part from each other, however they had
accomplished almost the something and had ideas that were alike but they were so
far apart its a astounding of what they came up with. The environment is very
important to a civilization. The Mayas lived in a tropical rain forest where
they were surrounded by plant life and tree. The Incas however lived in a more
dry, grassy, mountainous environment. But the Aztecs settled in a watery area,
actually their center town, to which al of their road went, was in the middle of
a lake.
Even thought these civilizations are so far apart they have created
things that are similar, and they have done such fascinating things with such
little technology. For example the Maya were ahead of their time they had
clocks, they could tell time, predict eclipse, they had a calendar, and a number
system of zero. The Aztecs were also remarkable they had pyramids, math,
language, herbs and medicine, and a calendar. Their religious practices were
also similar. The Mayas believed in human sacrifices, burial chambers, and they
had special pyramids that were like temples. These temples would be very high,
because I think they thought that the higher the pyramid the closer to god they
are.
The Aztecs were very gruesome people they are sort of like the, Spartans,
they believed in war and killing. When they won a war they would take prisoners.
And they would ripe the hearts out when they were still beating! They too
believed in human sacrifice. However on the other hand the Incas were more
peaceful people they were polytheistic all of the civilizations were, but the
Incas really believed in human labor, they believed in forces of nature, and in
festivals. The other hand their agriculture was very different Mayans grew
beans, corn, and squash. The Aztecs had floating gardens, they surrounded their
center city, since it was in the middle of a lake.
The Incas based their lives
on hunting, fishing and gathering food, but they did not develop cities. You
these three civilizations are alike and different. But I think that if they all
came together and lived peacefully without fighting, they would have mad one
great civilization.
