Economy in Early American Civilizations: Maya, Aztecs and Inca

The Maya were believed to existence in 1800 BC and gone by 1500 AD. They had a lot of big cities but no capital. Many of the people lived in hay huts, some in limestone buildings built on tall pyramids which could actually be used as landmarks. They have a constant reminder the gods are present with the pyramids and first one was built right before Christ birth. Their agriculture was based on the economy, there main crop was corn but also grew cotton, beans, squash and cocao. They hunted deer, duck, turkey, monkeys, iguana, and other things with bow and arrows, blowguns, darts to eat, they did a little fishing. The Mayan art was about politics, the

The Mayan civilization existed in central america from to 250-900 CE. The Mayans were located in Mesoamerica which is mondern day Central America which includes southern Mexico , Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. In the western hemisphere, no early culture was more remarkable than the Maya. The Mayans were extremetly a pre industrial society that had many achievements. Those achievements include a developed calendar, a unique number system, and most importantly their trade networks.

Agriculture helped many people out because if there wasn’t the Chinampas, people couldn’t eat and they’d starve to death. (Document B) Military needed fed the most because if you eat, you get energy and strength to do things without being so tired.(Document B) When the military is fed, they can fight other lands to conquer land to expand the Aztecs society.

According to Aditia Rinaldi “Every end should be followed by great new beginning”. The ending of the Toltec and Chavin civilizations marked the new beginnings of the Aztec and Incan cultures. The cultures of former civilizations in Mesoamerica developed technology that aided in the creation of the Aztec and Incan civilizations. The culture of these civilizations was also impacted by their location. The Aztecs were built on cities next to lakes and plentiful water sources while the Incans were founded on mountainous, rough soil. The soil type determined the number of crops that could be grown and trade patterns. Another important aspect of Incan and Aztec culture was social class structure. The class structure of the Aztecs started with monarchs/religious leaders and ended on slaves with warriors, craftsmen, and traders located in the middle. The Incan hierarchy was based on the lower class (poor families) working for the upper class (monarch and government). Both class structures had a majority of low class poor workers. The cultures of both Incan and Aztec empire were greatly affected by civilizations before them, geographic location, and social class structure.

Above the primary agriculturalists and soldiers were the skilled artisans, who functioned within Mayan society not only to produce functional

The Mayan, Inca, and Aztec civilizations each originated from Latin America. The Mayans lived in southern and central Mexico, other Mayans lived in Central America in the present day countries of Belize, Guatemala, and ancient Honduras. The Incas lived along the long coastal strip, and in the high peaks and deep fertile valleys of the Andes Mountains, and along the edges of the tropical forest to the east; this would be the country of Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina in present days. The Aztecs were from Aztlan located in both north and northwest Mexico.

The Mayans trading network was really hard for them since they had no transportation only a boat and they had to carry it by hand. They had to carry it for 10 hours everyday at 1-3 miles per hour. The goods were about 80-150 pounds. The mayans built a city and they had 80-130 workers that built the city. The mayans invented the number 0 when they were creating their number

During the 15th century, there were two leading empires of Mesoamerica. The Inca Empire, which was located in what is now Peru and the Aztecs, whose area was located in what is now Mexico. Both the Aztec and Inca empires were advanced civilizations with a good economy, agricultural developments, and religious practices that spread across the region of Mesoamerica.

Maya culture is one of the oldest and most intelligent tribal races. The flourishing period of Maya was between 300 and 900. The principal food in Maya was maize, which was also called “the maize culture”. They had no livestock such as sheep and horses. Also, they made the calendar and divided a year to 18 months. In addition, they built huge stone temples and held bloodletting ceremonies in order to sacrifice

Another difference between the two lies in the economic climate of the two civilizations; the Aztec were conquers that took prisoners of war and collected tribute from the peoples they conquered, which gave them access to more resources and presumably wealth than trade alone; the

The Maya were known for their agriculture, trade, science and religion. They had a complex writing system and developed a calendar from observing the earths movements around the sun. One can’t say that just one

The Maya were a people from Middle America, which includes modern Guatemala, Southern Mexico, and Northern Belize (Editors). The Maya civilization was considered to be “one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica,” (Maya). “The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making, and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork,” (Maya). They also gave mankind the modern calendar (Jarus, Maya). The Mayans were a very advanced people, but one of the most important things in the Mayan culture was their religion/god worshipping rituals.

Agriculture was the basis of the economy of the Mayan and corn was the principal food.(Voorhies 324) Other crops included avocados, tomatoes, and chili peppers. They cultivated an enormous variety of plants.(Foley 20)

Throughout the three civilizations, various methods of dealing with crops were introduced in attempts of increasing yield and production. The Olmecs developed irrigation, which made agriculture an important element of Mesoamerican life as it brought surpluses that led to population growth and civilization expansion. Alongside irrigation is the extensive planting and harvesting of crops like beans, squash, and especially maize that became the basis and stable crops of the community. The Mayans continued the agricultural success of the preceding people by draining swamps and erecting platforms for farming. These two practices greatly expanded the amount of land agriculture could take place in a geography without vast fertile lands, further leading to population boost and empire building in addition to the long-lasting practice of irrigation. With with the aid of innovations made into reality by the two previous groups of people, the Aztecs kept the tradition of constant improvement to current conditions. Building up on the Mayan efforts of draining swamps, the Aztecs developed Chinampas. These aquatic water beds that acted as floating islands extended the existing use of irrigation on the rich aquatic environment of the capital, Tenochtitlan. With these multiple examples and instances of agricultural advancements that continued and improved on the products and practices of previous civilizations, changes still coexist in the middle as the use of calendar differed from one civilization to the next despite sharing a root of calendar

Throughout time, there are many instances of early civilizations accomplishing breathtaking feats that we find awe worthy even today. These cultures helped shape humanity as a whole, and paved the way for people everywhere. Of these early cultures, one of the most remarkable was undoubtedly the Mayans. The Mayans lived in Mesoamerica, around Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. They were an isolated group of people that thrived on farming and raised crops such as Maize, Beans, and Chili Peppers. They also Fished often and hunted Deer and other woodland creatures.