The Maya and Aztec Civilizations in Mesoamerica Stephanie Alimurung, Joaquin Ferrer, Aimee Rarugal and Darren Tantuco

Archaeology 2 WFR March 9, 2012 %-------------------------------------------------------------------------% write your abstract here: summary and results less than 100 words %-------------------------------------------------------------------------Keywords: Mayan, Aztec, Olmec, Mesoamerica, prehispanic Mexico %--------------------------------------------------------------------------% the main text of paper begins here %--------------------------------------------------------------------------\section{The Precedence of the Olmec civilization} The Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica emerged in the tropical forests along the Southern Gulf Coast of what is now Mexico. It lasted from around 1200 B.C. to 400 B.C.~\cite{Cottrill2006}. The term Olmec means rubber people since they were known to be the first to utilize rubber trees for sap. They had a hieroglyphical system of writing that has not been deciphered until present. They also used a system of three symbols for math and made precise calculations. Number one was represented by a dot and bar for zero and five. The Olmecs were able to monitor, record and predict eclipses and planet orbits. This led to their subsequent development of two calendars, an everyday calendar and a religious calendar~\cite{Perry}. The Olmecs, being known as a religious society, did not build cities but ritual centers. The civilization was ruled by the elite class of priests and aristocrats. Religious Olmec artifacts includes artworks depicting grinning jaguars, serpents and most notable of them all are the gargantuan carved stone heads. These massive stone heads were found in the religious center at La Venta and were made of volcanic basalt rocks~\cite{Ellis, Cottrill2006}. Their places of worship were pyramid-temples built on top of replicas of nearby volcanoes. The placement of the temple on top of the mound was supposed to lead the worshipers\rq { }eyes towards the sky where the gods were looking down from the heavens. Their religious rituals included a ceremonial ball game that was later called \textit{pok-a-tok}. Here, players used their elbows and hips to shoot a rubber ball into a stone ring in a high wall without their hands ever touching the ball itself. Some experts even believe that players were sacrificed to the gods after. All of these aspects of the Olmec civilization in one way or another trickled into later civilizations such as the Aztec and the Mayan civilizations and thus is considered to be the parent culture of Mesoamerica~\cite{Perry}. %------------------------------------------------------------------------% Section 2 %------------------------------------------------------------------------\section{The Mayans} Between 300-700 AD, around the time that Teotihuacan was expanding, another civilization was developing in the Yucatan Peninsula (currently the area where Mexico and Guatemala meet). They were known as the Mayans. These people built large cities with great pyramids, and the most important one was the city of Tikal. It was their political center, the largest city of the Mayan civilization~\cite{ }. -------Figure: A pyramid temple at Tikal~\cite{ } \subsection{Architecture} The Mayans built numerous tall structures, and in fact, these remained the tallest structures in the Americas until the completion of the Flatiron building in New York, in 1903. Some of the notable structures built by the Mayans were the ceremonial platforms, palaces, ball courts, and of course the pyramids. In building their cities, the Mayans most often made use of limestone, that they quarried themselves. The common Mayan house, on the other hand, was mainly built with wooden poles, adobe and thatch. However, houses of limestone have been discovered as well~\cite{ }.

Mayan palaces were usually built near the center of each city. They housed the elite of society and were highly decorated with elaborate carvings. The carvings depicted society, and recorded history, showing the nobility, warriors in battle, and priests conducting sacrifices. Another staple structure in a Mayan city was the ball court. This was an area built for ball games that Mayans were so fond of. And finally, we have the famous pyramids. These pyramids were temples that priests would climb to perform sacrifices on the high platforms at the top. The pyramid temples were built like this so that people from below could watch the rituals being performed. Many Mayan art, such as stone carvings, show such blood-shedding gruesome practices~\cite{ }. --------Figure: Pyramid El Castillo, the famous temple of Chichen Izta~\cite{ \subsection{Society} The Mayan civilization was divided into city states, like most other civilizations that sprung up at that time. However, their city states were ruled by the same king. In each city state, there was also a ruling chief, who had nobles and officials at his side. The nobles were also military leaders, and the officials managed the city by collecting taxes and enforcing laws~\cite{ }. --------Figure: An illustration of slaves laboring and building a structure under the command of the ruling chief~\cite{ } Priests, in the Mayan society, also held a high position. This was because they were the only ones who could perform sacrifices and conduct important ceremonies that the Mayans believed would bring good harvest and success in war. Priests were also their \lq \lq astronomers \rq \rq {}and observed the stars and planets. By doing this, there were able to develop one of the most accurate calendars of that time. Time was so important to the Mayans because they believed that if religious ceremonies were not held on the right day, then the gods could destroy the world. Priests were also able to determine lucky and unlucky days--days good for battle, for planting and for building--and taught that the day in which someone was born can influence his or her future. Apart from \lq \lq keeping time \rq \rq, the priests also kept records. They taught nobles how to read their written language and interpret the calendar. They passed down knowledge and information~\cite{ }. --------Figure: A Mayan Glyph block, with their written language~\cite{ } Along with the priests, nobles, and officials, the warriors were also in the upper class of the Mayan society. Wars were frequent among the city states, and Mayans fought in them mainly to capture people. These captives either became slaves that helped labor around the city, or were sacrificed to the gods. Wars had large religious significance, and kings and nobilities would even join in combat~\cite{ }. Finally, there were the peasants and farmers. Most of the Mayan society comprised of these people. They were the ones who paid nearly all the taxes to keep the city running and to keep the upper class live in comfort. Their taxes were in the form of food. Only certain artisans and merchants paid taxes, and no upperclassman had to drop a single coin~\cite{ }. When it comes to agriculture, Mayan farmers were known for cultivating maize. They also grew beans and squash. Cotton was also one of their main products, and the Mayans made elaborate textiles from them. It was generally the men who would work out in the fields, while the women were the ones who would turn the crops into food, take care of the children, and weave the cotton~\cite{ }. --------Figure: Figures (a) and (b) are snapshots of a single cylindrical vessel depicting a young ruler on his throne with two lesser men across him. In between them is a vessel, much like the one it is drawn on, with foaming liquid that is probably honey or cacao~\cite{vesselsite} \subsection{Religious practices} As mentioned above, the Mayans had their own set of religious practices and ceremonies. The Mayans had numerous gods, but one of the more prominent ones is Quetzalcoatl. He was their creator-god, the god of the morning star whose name meant feathered snake ~\cite{Lindemans}. \subsection{Art} A lot of information about the Mayan society can be gathered from their art and architecture. Mayans would document their history in the form of carvings, drawings, and sculptures that architects have excavated throughout the years. In art, they depicted rulers and gods. They also showed events, and ceremonial practices; and

art was also an important trade merchandise~\cite{Authentic}. Their art helped us learn more about their lifestyle culture as a civilization. --------Figure: Figure (a) shows the sculpture of Pakal the Great, one of the rulers of Palenque that ascended the trone at the age of 12 and ruled of 68 years. His headdress here is supposed to depict growing maize~\cite{ }. On the other hand, Figure (b) is a lintel which originally formed the ceiling of a doorway to a temple room, showing Lady Xoc, queen of King Shield Jaguar, bloodletting. This rite was a significant for the Mayans in pleasing the gods and calling upon the royal ancestors~\cite{lintel} \subsection{Technology} Now we know that the Mayans had impressive architecture, developed quite an accurate calendar, and had a writing system. Their writing system is extremely complex, comprising of hundreds of unique signs that are very pictorial~\cite{ }. As for their calendar, the Mayans developed a 365-day solar calendar and a 260-day calendar based the orbit of the planet, Venus. In addition to this, Mayans were able to come up with a numbering system as well, and had the concept of zero~\cite{ }. %------------------------------------------------------------------------% Section 3 %------------------------------------------------------------------------\section{The Aztecs} The Valley of Mexico is a cradle from which one of the greatest civilizations emerged. This was the Aztec Empire. In what is Mexico City today was one the great Aztec city of Tenochtitln. Here, the Aztecs built a city in the middle of a vast lake and created an empire which turned their nomadic tribe into a great ruling power. This empire established by Aztecs stayed in power for more than half a century, ruling neighboring tribes and states and the city of Tenochtitln at its peak, was home to almost 300,000 Aztec citizens~\cite{Perry}. The Aztecs showed so much potential as a flourishing civilization, making progress many domains, namely in the arts and sciences and can even be said to be greater than existing civilization in Europe at that time. Archaeological finds and discovered aspects of their culture, religion, art and architecture proves their greatness in the world of ancient civilizations. The Aztecs migrated to central Mexico between AD 1150-1350. They are believed to have migrated from a place in the north called Aztlan and at their arrival, central Mexico was still considerably empty~\cite{Smith}. The establishment of Tenochtitln marks the start of the rule of the great Aztec empire. The culture of the Aztecs, though rooted from other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations is unique and advanced~\cite{Perry}. \subsection{Architecture} The remains of the once great Aztec civilization are ruins of evidence which point to their advancements in engineering, architecture and construction. Much of great and notable Aztec architecture consists of PyramidTemples. These structures were built rising above the ground in pyramid-like fashion with flat plateaus on top which served as the temples. The famous Aztec temples are the The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon in Teotihuacn. The Templo Mayor and the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Tenochtitlan~\cite{Cottrill2011}. These temples displayed the Aztec's excellence in construction and engineering. More evidence to their engineering and construction excellence were the aqueducts , sewers and dams constructed around Tenochtitln to cater to the city's growing population. Aztec architecture is astounding as, plenty of the ancient stone structure stand in the middle of Mexico city today. \subsection{Society} The social organization of the Aztecs, similar to the Mayans, was divided in a pyramidal structure. The highest level of the noble sector of society was the King or tlatoani his word was law and his power, absolute. Next were the chiefs or tecuhtli who held important military and political roles. Then there were the priests who were highly held in society's ranks as they supervised and conducted private and public rituals to appease the gods. The commoners were compromised of citizens of the Aztec empire who farmed the land. They composed of 90% of the Aztec people ~\cite{Smith}. Below the commoners were slaves who were either criminals or prisoners of war. Despite being slaves, Aztec law gives them rights which allows them to own land in order to buy their freedom~\cite{Ellis}. Unlike the Mayan system of government and sectorial ruling, the Aztec empire had was more centralized and tribute-dependent. The Aztecs had only a single ruler, or the King who resided in Tenochtitln. He ruled the

Aztec empire. The empire was composed of conquered city-states who were managed and controlled by appointed governors. City-states under the Aztec empire's rule were required tributes in goods or captives for sacrifice. This kept the Aztec empire together. \subsection{Religous practices} An important aspect of the Aztec civilization was their religion. As seen in the noble treatment of their priests, the Aztecs placed much importance in the practice and sustenance of their religion. The Aztec religion was polytheistic. It was stated in page 5 of~\cite{Smith} that: \begin{quote} There were hundreds of named gods and goddesses were seen more as forces or spirits, each possessing a number of distinctive attributes of clothing and regalia. \end{quote} The Aztecs believed that these gods and forces manipulated nature and that rituals and sacrifices were in order for their people to be favorably looked upon. The chief Aztec god, among the numerous they've named, was Huitzilopochtli who was known as the sun-god. It was this god was believed to gain strength from human sacrifices in order for the sun to rise each day. Ritual sacrifices performed by priests to appease the sun-god was what lead to a massive massacre in where 20,000 captives were believed to have been sacrificed~cite{Perry}. The practices and rituals involving this vast number of sacrifices is what fueled the Aztecs to be in a constant state of war. This was in order to capture more captives to perform rituals. \subsection{Art} Aztec Art revolved around religion and mythology, depicting fantastic creatures and images of their many gods. Art works were in the Aztec empire were precious objects and while everyone was allowed to keep artworks, the more valuable works were kept by those in the higher class. Plenty of the Aztec art was in the form of sculptures said to represent very lifelike depictions~\cite{May}. One astounding artistic Aztec creation is the OcelotlCuauhxicalli, a vessel with formed in an image of a jaguar used to store the hearts of sacrificed victims. This is an example of a work of art used for religious purposes with the jaguar stands as the god of the earth where the dead are buried, and as the underworld where the dead souls travel. A similar artwork, serving as sacrificial vessel too, is the Cuauhtli-Cuauhxicalli. This version though, simply depicts the head of an eagle. The eagle represents a strong warrior and the the vessel was used to feed the deities who descended from the heavens when sacrifices were offered. One more Aztec artwork is the Cihuacoatl, a representation of an earth goddess who represents fertility and the keeper of souls in the afterlife. This sculpture is believed to represent: old and the new, war and fertility, life and death. There are numerous artworks which reveal the connection of religion, art and the state as it is believed that the religious images depicted in Aztec art served the purpose of legitimizing the power of the state~\cite{Moreno-art}. \subsection{Technology} Another important aspect of the Aztec culture was the importance of education in their society. The Aztecs required their children to attend school where history and religion were taught. Boys were taught duties as subjects and warriors while girls were taught how to weave. In school, children were taught the basics of reading, writing and interpreting their calendar, using medicines, making pottery, debate and poetry~\cite{Perry}. These show advancements in science which lead the Aztecs to develop their calendar, based on the stars, aqueducts, sewers, irrigation systems and many more wonders found in Tenochtitln. \section{Conclusion} SOON References {Cottrill2006} C\`ottrill J. (2006). The Ancient Olmec Civilization. In Aztec History \url{http://www.aztec-history.com/olmeccivilization.html} Online; Accessed February 29, 2012. {Perry} Perry, M., Davis, D.F., Harris, J.G., Von Laue, T. H., Warren, D. Jr. (1989). A history of the world (Revised ed., pp.291-299). Philippines: Houghton Mifflin Company.

{Ellis} Ellis, E. G. and Esler, A. (2005). World history: Connections to today (pp. 141-142, 144). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. {Lindemans} Lindemans, M. Quetzalcoatl. In Encyclopedia Mythica. \url{http://www.pantheon.org/articles/q/quetzalcoatl.html} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012. {Authentic} Authentic Maya (2011). Maya Art. \url{http://www.authenticmaya.com/maya_art.htm} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012. {vesselsite} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (2006). Cylindrical Vessel with Throne Scene. \url{http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1999.484.2} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012. {lintel} Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc (n.d.). \url{http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=36799} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012. {Cottrill2011} C\`ottrill, J. (2011). Aztec history (pp. 1). \url{http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-art.html} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012. {Moreno-architecture} %Moreno, M. (n.d.). Aztec Architecture - Part 1: The Sun Stone. In Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies.\url{http://www.famsi.org/research/aguilar/Aztec_Architecture_Part1.pdf} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012. {Smith} Smith, M. E. (2006). Aztec Culture: An Overview. In Smith, Aztec Culture (pp 2-3,5). \url{http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/1-CompleteSet/Smith-AztecCulture-WWW.pdf} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012. {Moreno-art} Moreno, M. (n.d.). Aztec Art - Part 1: The Sun Stone. In Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (pp. 4-5, 17). \url{http://www.famsi.org/research/aguilar/Aztec_Art_Part1.pdf} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012. {May} May, J. (2011). Aztec history (pp. 1). \url{http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-temples.html} Online; Accessed March 5, 2012.