Mesoamerica Brochure
By: Anna Pham
The Mayan Civilization
The Mayans used the farming process of slash and burn to make the soil more fertile for their crops. They build pyramids that contained arches and steps and to honor Gods. Art that was included in the Mayan civilization was pottery, sculptures, jade work, and steles. In addition, they developed a system of mathematics and number system based on the number 20 and using zero for record keeping. A popular tradition that the Mayans have was that they competed with each other in a ball game. The purpose of the game was that you have to hit a solid rubber ball without using your hands into a ring. Losers of the game would have to sacrifice themselves to the Gods.
The Incas Civilization
Their government has two social classes: nobles and commoners. They were the first civilization to perform surgery and blood transfusions. Furthermore, they were the first civilization to build 10,000 miles of roads. Moreover, they created a mathematics writing system called quipu (knots tied to colored rope of varied sizes) for record keeping. The Incas used terraced mountain irrigation streams for farming because they lived in the mountains and flat lands were very scarce. Therefore, they formed steps of land down the mountain side. One of the traditions that the Incas have is that they educated corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, squash, peanuts, quinoa and peppers. Agriculture was sacred to the Incas, so that is why they performed this tradition.
The Aztec Civilization
They used deer skin to write on. The Aztecs have 3 social classes: nobles, intermediates, and commoners. In addition, the Aztecs created Chinampas(floating gardens) because their civilization was created on a lake, so they found a way to farm on water. One of their inventions was that they made books called codices using hieroglyphics. It was used for record keeping or for important events. One of the traditions that the Aztecs have was that they think that human sacrifice were required for the world to move on. In this way, they put into effect the sacrifice from the victims from their varied battles or wars.