The pyramids of the American Mayan and Aztec tribes are the most famous and mysterious. Incas, Mayans, Aztecs. Who is this

It is very extensive and, as a result, has a different name for the Indian tribes living on open lands. There are many of them, although European sailors used only one term for the native inhabitants of America - Indians.

Columbus's fallacy and consequences

Over time, the mistake became clear: that the indigenous people are the aborigines of America. Before European colonization began in the 15th century, residents arrived in various stages of communal-tribal system. Some tribes were dominated by the patrilineal family, while others were dominated by matriarchy.

The level of development primarily depended on location and climatic conditions. In the process that followed, European countries used only the common name of Indian tribes for a whole group of culturally related tribes. Below we will consider some of them in detail.

Specialization and life of American Indians

It is very noteworthy that the American Indians made various ceramic products. This tradition began long before European contact. Several technologies were used in manual work.

Methods such as modeling using a frame and shape, molding with a spatula, clay cord modeling, and even sculptural modeling were used. A distinctive feature of the Indians was the production of masks, clay figurines and ritual objects.

The names of the Indian tribes are quite different, because they spoke different languages and had practically no written language. There are many nationalities in America. Let's look at the most famous of them.

The names of the Indian tribes and their role in American history

We will look at some of the most famous Hurons, Iroquois, Apaches, Mohicans, Incas, Mayans and Aztecs. Some of them were at a fairly low level of development, while others were impressively highly developed societies, the level of which cannot be simply defined by the word “tribe” with such extensive knowledge and architecture.

The Aztecs maintained old traditions before the Spanish conquest. Their number was about 60 thousand. The main activities were hunting and fishing. In addition, the tribe was divided into several clans with officials. Tribute was withdrawn from subject cities.

The Aztecs were distinguished by the fact that they maintained a fairly strict centralized control and hierarchical structure. At the highest level stood the emperor and priests, and at the lowest were slaves. The Aztecs also used the death penalty and human sacrifice.

Highly developed Inca society

The most mysterious tribe of the Incas belonged to the largest ancient civilization. The tribe lived at an altitude of 4.5 thousand meters in Colombia. This ancient state existed since XI to XVI centuries AD.

It included the entire territory of the states of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. As well as parts of modern Argentina, Colombia and Chile, despite the fact that in 1533 the empire had already lost most of its territories. Until 1572, the clan was able to withstand the attacks of the conquistadors, who were very interested in new lands.

Inca society was dominated by terrace farming. It was a fairly highly developed society that used sewers and created an irrigation system.

Today, many historians are interested in the question of why and where such a highly developed tribe disappeared.

"Inheritance" from the Indian tribes of America

Undoubtedly, it is clear that the American Indians made a significant contribution to the development of world civilization. Europeans borrowed the cultivation and cultivation of corn and sunflowers, as well as some vegetable crops: potatoes, tomatoes, peppers. In addition, legumes, cocoa fruits and tobacco were imported. We got all this from the Indians.

It was these crops that once helped reduce hunger in Eurasia. Corn subsequently became an indispensable feed source for livestock farming. We owe many of the dishes on our table to the Indians and Columbus, who brought the “curiosities” of that time to Europe.

During the Great Geographical Discoveries, Europeans discovered previously unknown and unique Indian civilizations to the world. The Old World was amazed by the original culture and art of these peoples no less than by the countless treasures they possessed. The history of the civilizations of pre-Columbian America goes back to hoary antiquity. It is interesting not only in itself, but its influence on the development of the whole world is extremely important.

The first city-states of the people Mayan with a well-established management system appeared at the beginning of our era on the territory of modern Mexico and other states of Central America. The Maya are the only people of pre-Columbian America who had writing in the form of hieroglyphs. The Mayans wrote their books (codexes) with paints on long strips of material made from plant fibers, and then put them in cases. There were libraries at the temples. The Mayans had their own calendar and knew how to determine eclipses of the Sun and Moon. They were the first to introduce the concept of zero into mathematics.

Story Aztecs before their appearance in the second half of the 12th century. Central Mexico is full of mysteries. They called their homeland the island of Aztlan (“where the herons live”). The location of the island still remains unknown, but it is from here that the word “Aztec” comes. The nomadic Aztec hunters were very warlike and subjugated many Indian tribes. A powerful empire arose with its capital Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City).

The Aztecs were skilled farmers, had excellent skills in pottery and weapons crafts, and knew the secrets of metal processing. When Hernan Cortes took over the Aztec ruler Montezuma, he, in order to stop the advance of the conquerors, sent his ambassadors to meet them with gifts for the Spanish king. Among the many treasures were beautiful works of Indian craftsmen - magnificent dishes, exquisite jewelry, perfect figurines of animals. Such generosity, however, did not save Montezuma and his people from insidious destruction.

Unlike the bulk of Indian jewelry, mercilessly melted down by Europeans into gold bars, Montezuma's gifts were lucky. They went straight to the king and were therefore preserved. Over time, they made an indelible impression on the wonderful German artist Albrecht Durer. He recalled: “In all my life I have never seen anything that would have gladdened my heart as much as these things. So, I saw among them wonderful, most perfect products and was amazed at such talent of people from distant countries.” Material from the site

The largest state in ancient America was the empire. Incas with its center in the city of Cusco, located high in the mountains (in the territory of modern Peru). The Incas themselves called their homeland “Tauantinsuyu” - “four connected directions of the world.” Incas (the word itself meant "ruler") They deified the Sun and were excellent astronomers. They successfully farmed, raised herds of llamas, and produced high-quality fabrics. The Incas invented the original knotted writing - “quipu”. It was a cord to which multi-colored threads were tied in the form of pendants. Combining such threads made it possible to make the necessary “records”. One of the found samples of “khipu” weighs 6 kg. The city of Cusco greeted the European invaders with amazing palaces, temples and squares, and from the four gates of the capital, roads leading to the four corners of the world began.

Machu Picchu - the city of the Incas. Modern look

The Conquest destroyed ancient Indian civilizations. Entire states and cultures were wiped off the face of the earth. The Mayans, Aztecs, Incas and other pre-Columbian peoples of America themselves turned into slaves or were physically destroyed en masse. Thus, the Great Geographical Discoveries had sad and tragic pages in their history.

The Incas, Mayans, Aztecs are the peoples who inhabited South and Central America before this continent was discovered and colonized by Europeans. America of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs is also called pre-Columbian. These peoples (today they are called Indians) created highly developed civilizations and left to their descendants many hitherto unresolved mysteries of their development. So,

Mayan

The Mayan peoples inhabited the Yucatan Peninsula. Their civilization developed in the territory that today belongs to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras and was based on individual city-states. The largest of them is Tikal.

Large cities controlled the surrounding lands and smaller towns. All the cities of the Mayan state were connected by roads along which trade routes passed. The Mayans traded among themselves and other peoples with jade, cocoa beans, salt and jaguar skins.

This is surprising, but the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs had no idea about the wheel and goods, if it was not possible to deliver them by water, were carried by porters along the roads. Outside the walls of the cities, the Mayans were engaged in peasant labor, mainly growing corn.

Today, the Maya's knowledge of mathematics and astronomy is amazing. Entire scientific works have been written about the accuracy of the calendar compiled by the Mayan priests, and the writing system developed by the Mayans contains a wide variety of symbols.

After centuries of prosperity, the Mayan civilization suddenly mysteriously fell into decline by the 14th century, and in the 1500s the Spanish conquerors (conquistadors) completed its collapse.

Aztecs

The Aztec Empire was located west of the Mayan lands, in the territory of modern Mexico. The capital of the Aztecs, the large city of Tenochitlan occupied an area of about 15 square kilometers and was located on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

In the life of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs, religion played a very important role. They worshiped many gods, and their temples in the form of stepped pyramids amaze with their grandeur no less than the Egyptian pyramids (the height of some of them reached 45 meters!). At the tops of these pyramids, the Aztecs performed human sacrifices to their gods.

Another sign of the Aztec civilization is the widespread passion for a ball game similar to modern basketball. True, the ring in this game was located vertically, and the ball could only be touched with the forearms and thighs of the legs. Players from the losing team were very often sacrificed.

The names of the Aztec rulers, under whom their empire reached its greatest prosperity, have also reached us - Montezuma I (1440-1468 reign) and Montezuma II (began reign in 1502). The Aztec civilization, like the Mayans, also perished under the onslaught of the conquistadors. This happened in 1521.

The Incas

The Inca Empire stretched 2,000 km along the Pacific coast of South America. Its heyday occurred in the late 1400s and early 1500s. In addition to the Incas, there were other states of South American Indians (for example, Tiahuanaco, Guari or Chimu), but they all fell into decline and were conquered by the Incas.

The Incas were engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture (burning and cultivating clearings in the Amazon jungle), hunting, trade and construction. Their capital, the city of Cusco, was located high in the Andes, and the Incas built a whole network of high mountain roads, with rope suspension bridges across the gorges.

In the 16th century, the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs were conquered and enslaved by Europeans, and who knows what the fate of their civilizations would have been if they had possessed firearms by the time the conquistadors appeared.

Information from the children's encyclopedia "Riddles of World History"

After centuries of prosperity, the Mayan civilization suddenly mysteriously fell into decline by the 14th century, and in the 1500s the Spanish conquerors (conquistadors) completed its collapse.

Aztecs

The Incas

Information from the children's encyclopedia "Riddles of World History"

All ancient civilizations are in any case mysterious, covered in secrets, since they are removed from the present time by an incalculable number of centuries. All evidence of their existence on the planet is findings, writings, objects and structures.

Aztec and Mayan mythology

And historians are free to interpret them as they consider possible. It is impossible to obtain more accurate information about such antiquity, and therefore the history of these civilizations is overgrown with speculation, legends and hypotheses.

One of these civilizations is the Indians of South America

Much has been said about the tribes that inhabited this area many millennia ago. Including the fact that they appeared out of nowhere and quite soon began to possess the highest level of knowledge, culture and technology.

It was the Indians of the Mayan, Incas, and Toltec tribes who left the greatest structures - pyramids similar to the famous Egyptian ones, only several centuries older. Although there is a hypothesis that the pyramids on Earth are a single whole, they are all connected not only by shape. But also for their purpose, and are located on the planet in a single perspective.

All these facts lead supporters of the extraterrestrial origin of life on earth to think about the influence of this higher intelligence on the construction of not only the pyramids, but also the actual buildings of the ancient Indians of Mesoamerica. To build such buildings and use them, it was necessary to have colossal knowledge of astronomy and cosmography, if we accept as true the hypothesis about the purpose of the pyramids as a channel of communication with the Universe, but they are really oriented towards Sirius, and absolutely accurately reflect and perceive the change of seasons and time days.

Even modern technology is not capable of processing stone for construction in the same way as the Incas did. In addition, buildings high in the mountains also require special lifting mechanisms, which the almost primitive pagan tribes, who did not even know the wheel, could hardly master (not to mention their manufacture) perfectly.

Another extremely interesting fact is the suddenly awakened craving for agriculture among these peoples

Having lived for centuries by hunting and gathering, they suddenly began to sow the fields freed from the forest with grains. And the crop they started to cultivate was corn. The only plant that cannot reproduce without human help.

Riddle after riddle emerges from the depths of ancient Indian cultures

Naturally, the inability to explain many of these facts gives rise to hypotheses about the extraterrestrial patronage of this civilization. Ancient people who worshiped the totem - the jaguar, and considered themselves his descendants, wrote a very accurate calendar of the Sun and Moon, using only cuneiform as their written language - a description of the origin of the Earth's satellite and the laws of movement of other luminaries, who never visited other places on the planet except their habitat - They built a structure that in all respects resembles a spaceport.

Video: Early Settlers of America

Description: In 1914, an unknown tribe of hunters was discovered in South America. Nowadays, scientists have established that their ancestors lived on the continent back in the Ice Age. How and where did they get there? What race did you belong to? How do their descendants live today?

There are a great many hypotheses about the emergence and existence of Mesoamerican culture; which of them is true is another mystery. The only thing we can say with certainty is that modern man knows negligibly little about the history of his own planet. And if some theories are ever confirmed, then the entire history of antiquity may have to be rewritten, which means that today’s history will undergo changes.

According to most researchers, the Mayan culture is one of the greatest achievements of mankind in antiquity. This civilization lasted for almost a thousand years. The Mayans were the first developed people of America that the Spaniards encountered during the conquest of the lands of the Western Hemisphere.

By the time Europeans arrived, the Mayans occupied a vast territory. Within its boundaries, scientists usually distinguish three cultural and geographical areas. For example, the northern one covered the entire Yucatan Peninsula, which was a flat limestone plain with shrubby vegetation. In places it was intersected by chains of low rocky hills. The absence of rivers, streams and lakes, poor soils meant difficulties for farming. The southern region, which included mountainous areas and the Pacific coast of Southern Mexico and Guatemala, was also not entirely favorable for living. The central region, which covered the northern part of Guatemala and the adjacent territories to the west, where the Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche are now located, was more favorable in its natural conditions. The central region is a hilly limestone lowland. Most of it is covered with tropical rainforests, which alternate with grassy savannas, swampy lowlands and lakes.

In such difficult conditions, the Maya Indians built first modest huts made of wood and clay, and later large stone cities.

How are the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas different?

Despite the fact that the tools were extremely primitive and were made only from wood, bone and stone, the Mayans were able to achieve amazing perfection in architecture, sculpture, painting, and in the production of ceramics.

The development of the ancient Mayan civilization lasted almost ten centuries. At the end of the 8th century, the Mayans reached the highest degree of cultural development. By this time, the Indians had built elegant temples, giant dam roads, numerous pyramids and palaces. Over the centuries, old villages and cities grew and expanded, and new ones arose. All this continued almost until the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. In the 9th century, some kind of disaster occurred in the prosperous lands and white-stone cities of the Mayans. As a result, architectural construction in cities stopped completely. Skilled sculptors no longer erected huge stone steles with the faces of rulers and gods, and skilled stone carvers no longer decorated them with elaborate and elegant hieroglyphs.

The largest Mayan centers began to fall into disrepair. Residents abandoned them. In just a few decades, the cities of the ancient Mayans were safely hidden from human eyes, falling into the tenacious embrace of a lush evergreen jungle. Empty areas and abandoned buildings were covered with forest greenery. Lianas and tree roots destroyed the foundations and ceilings of massive buildings, and low-growing bushes filled all the free parts of the space where streets and dam roads had recently been located. This is precisely one of the greatest mysteries of the cultural phenomenon, to which the ancient Mayan civilization is considered. Cities of the classical period, built in the 1st millennium AD. e., back in the pre-Columbian period, the jungle swallowed up. And when Columbus’s people set foot on the lands of America at the end of the 15th century, and the first conquistador expeditions arrived here at the beginning of the 16th century, even the closest descendants of the people who once lived there forgot about the ancient Mayan civilization.

The culture that preceded the classical period of the Mayan civilization (experts call it protoclassical), the 1st millennium AD. BC, according to most researchers, is, of course, much more modest and differs in many qualitative indicators. However, the continuity between them is defined quite clearly. This is especially noticeable when comparing the following characteristic features: monumental stone architecture with a stepped (false) vault, the obligatory presence of carved stone steles with sculptural images and inscriptions, hieroglyphic writing, royal tombs with mortuary temples under them, the layout of the main architectural complexes around rectangular courtyards and squares , which are oriented to the cardinal points. All these features characteristic of preclassical architectural monuments undoubtedly served as the basis for the subsequent development and flourishing of Mayan culture.

The city of Copan was built during the classical period of the ancient Mayan civilization, around the middle of the 7th century. According to descriptions left in the 16th century by G. Palacio, and later, in the mid-19th century, by J. Stephenson, Copan was discovered in the west of Honduras, not far from the Guatemalan border, the departments of Zacapa and Chiquimula. The so-called urban center of Copan covers an area of 30 hectares. Local architecture was distinguished by the absence of large pyramids and highly elevated temples with huge “roof ridges.” Copan gives the impression of a huge acropolis, which included several pyramids, platforms, terraces, temples and courtyards. They were located on the territory of the city in groups. One of the main attractions is the stairs leading to the acropolis. It consists of 63 sculpted steps and has about 2,500 hieroglyphs. The temples especially stand out. Researchers date the construction of three of them to 756-771. One of the temples was dedicated to Venus.

The central square is of great interest. Nine monoliths were erected on it, which serve as the basis for altars, distinguished by elegant decoration. According to scientists, Copan was home to one of the largest astronomical observatories that the ancient Mayan cities had. American archaeologist S. Morley assumed that the population of Copan during its peak period reached 200 thousand people. However, according to other researchers, the scientist somewhat overestimated the number of inhabitants. Nevertheless, Copan was considered in ancient times to be the most prominent center of the Mayan civilization.

North of Copan, already on Guatemalan territory, is the city of Quirigua. It is not so impressive in size, but is of great interest as a monument to an ancient civilization. On its territory, archaeologists were able to discover amazing steles covered with relief images. One of them reaches ten meters in height and is larger in size than all other monoliths discovered in Mesoamerica.

Many researchers consider the architectural complex of Palenque to be one of the most brilliant cities of the ancient Mayan civilization of the classical period.

Its history goes back almost ten centuries. It existed from the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. until the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. The name of this city, like almost all other ancient Mayan cities, is conventional. In their choice, modern researchers were most often guided by purely random characteristics. Palenque translated from Spanish means “hedge”, “enclosure”, “fenced place”.

This urban center, its architecture and sculpture were distinguished by the peculiar features that were characteristic of the Mayan classical period.

The most common building material was stone. The buildings were constructed mainly from limestone. The rock cut out of the rocks was burned, thus obtaining lime.

The Mayans mixed it with sand, added water and prepared a cementing solution from these components.

In combination with stone dust, it gave a variety of another excellent building material - stuff (something like modern putty, made from a mixture of gypsum and chalk). The pieces covered the walls and ceilings. Using the extraordinary plasticity of this material, the Mayans masterfully made stucco decorations, which were applied to the walls and columns of buildings, their bases, and friezes. Using a sharp cutter, apparently made of obsidian (glass of volcanic origin), contours with images of deities and hieroglyphic inscriptions were applied with easily drawn lines onto the slabs covered with the piece. Limestones were also used to make various decorations and dishes. Limestone was used to make jambs, lintels, steles, altars, and statues.

The main features of the urban center in Palenque were the presence of a portico with three and sometimes five entrances. They were formed by erecting wide columns. Inside the central rear room, which was like a separate architectural unit, there was a sanctuary. It performed the function of protecting the symbol of the cult to which the temple was dedicated. The small rooms that were located on the sides of the sanctuary were the cells of the priests.

In Palenque, as in all other Mayan palaces and temples discovered during excavations, on both sides of the entrances on the wall or column you can find the likes of stone rings. This is either a piece of stone inserted into a small recess, or a small stone cylinder built vertically into the space between two stones.

Similar devices were used to fasten the ropes on which the curtain was hung. It served as a kind of door and sheltered the room from rain and wind, and saved it from the cold. The ancient Mayan architects also used protruding canopies in the construction of buildings, on which special cornices were strengthened. During rainstorms, water flowed down them, bypassing walls or columns decorated with reliefs from the piece, thereby protecting them from erosion and rapid destruction.

Of great interest is the evolution that the Mayans made in urban planning. Their first buildings, erected for ritual purposes or as dwellings for priests and leaders, were nothing more than simple huts of different sizes. The foundation for them at this time (IV-II centuries BC) were platforms of various heights, lined with stone and stucco. In the later Preclassic period (closer to the 1st millennium AD), the foundations for buildings began to develop into step pyramids, which were created by superimposing one platform on another. However, even during this period, the temple that crowned the pyramid, despite the fact that its base was decorated with rich alabaster masks, was an ordinary hut with a palm roof. And only in the classical period of development, starting from the first centuries of our era, a stone vault replaced the palm roof. It was called the false arch or Mayan vault. This architectural innovation is not a Mayan invention. Some peoples of the Old World, for example the Mycenaeans, covered their homes and buildings in a similar way, several thousand years earlier than the first shoots of the culture of the ancient Indian civilization arose.

The Mayan vault had a peculiarity. It was erected by bringing the walls closer together, starting from a certain height. Rows of stones were stacked one on top of the other so that each subsequent one protruded above the previous one. When the hole at the top became very small, it was covered with a slab. The new vault was much stronger. After all, it was built of stone and, unlike wood, did not succumb to the destructive and destructive effects of the humid tropical climate. This type of ceiling ensured the sharp angle of the vault, its great height and the enormous massiveness of the walls on which this vault rested. At the same time, the internal, usable volume of the buildings was very small compared to the external one. Due to the false arch, the architectural structures had a small width of the premises but a sufficient length.

The Mayan vault had another significant drawback. Due to the peculiarities of its design, it allowed covering only narrow spaces. However, in some cases, ancient architects still managed to erect such ceilings in the burial crypt of the Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque and in the transverse corridors separating the central building of the Governor's Palace and the side extensions in Uxmal. To increase the internal area, Mayan architects partitioned the room in the middle with a longitudinal wall. It had a door in the center. In such an architectural structure, the building was covered with two false vaults, one end resting on the middle wall and the other on the outer wall.

During the Classic period, the Mayans introduced innovations in the construction of foundations for their temples, ritual buildings, and palaces. They moved from using simple platforms to so-called pyramids. However, unlike the ancient Egyptians, the Mayans never sought to achieve a truly pyramidal geometric volume. By superimposing the platforms one on top of the other, they ended up with a truncated shape. On its tetrahedral top a small, usually two- or three-room temple was erected.

The number of ledges, or divisions, into which the body of the pyramid was divided could be very diverse. A long, steep and wide staircase usually led from the base of the pyramid to the door of the sanctuary. If the pyramid was very large, then such stairs were located on all four sides. The configuration of such pyramids was usually used for the construction of religious buildings on the tops of large hills. Among the Mayans, any elevation was a deification of the forces of nature. According to Indian beliefs, it was on the hill that rains, winds, and rivers lived. They believed that the higher the hill, the closer to the sky. Therefore, the temple had to rush to heaven, to where the gods live.

Archaeologists and researchers consider the famous Temple of the Sun in Palenque to be a characteristic architectural example of a Mayan temple from the heyday of civilization (the second half of the 7th century). It is erected on a low pyramid, which is divided into five floors. The temple itself is located on the truncated top of the pyramid. This is an oblong, small building, which has an internal longitudinal wall. Two narrow sections of the façade wall are adjacent to the right and left ends, and two more rectangular pillars are placed between them. Thus, the facade is something like a portico. Its pillars are decorated with piece reliefs. The front wall is cut through by three doors leading to the room where the small sanctuary is located. On its back wall there is a bas-relief depicting a mask of the sun god. This mask is suspended on two crossed spears. Near them, two human figures are depicted in a pose of worship. It was this sculptural detail of the sanctuary that gave rise to some researchers calling this building in Palenque the Temple of the Sun.

The flat roof of the temple is crowned with a roofing ridge. It, like many other Mayan religious buildings, reaches a considerable height. The ridge consists of two walls converging in the upper part at an acute angle, which have numerous openings resembling windows. The surface of the walls of the ridge is covered with rich geometric patterns, in the center of which there is an image of a mythical monster. According to experts, the ridge had no structural function and served only to increase the overall height of the building. The Temple of the Sun, from the point of view of architects, is distinguished by the balance of all its parts, nobility and simplicity of outline. This is one of the most expressive and impressive monuments of Mayan architecture.

The main features of Mayan architecture associated with the construction of religious buildings can be traced in the example of other urban centers that existed in the 7th-9th centuries - Tikal, Piedras Negras, Uxmal, Yaxchilan, Copan, Quirigua. The differences can only be found in the details. For example, the temple pyramids of Tikal, the largest city of the classical period, were very tall, but had a relatively small base. In appearance they resembled towers. The tallest of them, the pyramid of Temple IV, is 45 m high, and together with the temple and the decorative ridge rises to more than 70 m.

(For comparison, this is the approximate height of a modern twenty-story building.)

The Mayan builders had a great sense of the surrounding landscape. They skillfully placed buildings on natural terraces. The architectural compositions fit naturally and freely into the mountainous terrain. Modern architects are amazed by the layout of Mayan settlements. Ancient city planners achieved amazing balance between the individual parts of the erected ensembles and their harmonious combination. An important role was played by the color contrast of the buildings and the surrounding nature. Mayan architects covered the walls of buildings with white or scarlet stuff. Against the backdrop of the blue sky or the bright green tropical vegetation surrounding the structures, this produced a special effect.

Despite the efforts of historians, archaeologists and other specialists studying the events of past years, antiquity still remains partially shrouded in mysteries. And modern discoveries and found artifacts, lifting the veil of secrets, cause surprise and admiration. The civilizations of the Incas, Aztecs and Mayans are very interesting, since their way of life and technology were advanced, and even today many points remain unclear to us.

The ancestors of this civilization came from the north to the settlement site 10 thousand years ago, after the end of the Ice Age, but the culture of these Indians, as they are accustomed to consider it, began to take shape in 2000 BC, that is, after about 6 thousand years, after the development of the area.

They had their own structure of government, in which power was given only to the “descendants of the gods.” But other people also had a lot of important things to do. Agriculture, for example.

In this area, the Mayans developed good technology: in areas flooded by swamps, they made embankments of earth, and where the soil was dry, they built colossal canals from the sea and rivers. By the way, these water communications were actively used as transport; the Indians hollowed out boats from logs. On their lands they were among the first to cultivate corn, legumes, and cocoa. And also nightshades: tobacco, potatoes and tomatoes, the cultivation of which was later adopted by the whole world.

Before colonization, in South and North America, only the Mayans invented writing. It was a set of hieroglyphs and “icons” - stylized images of what they were supposed to represent. Another of their achievements was simple mathematics: only addition and subtraction were used, but the Mayan counting system had the concept of zero, unlike the Mayan contemporaries from the Old World.

There was also medicine; descriptions of about two hundred diseases were found in special books, and medicinal plants were grown to treat them.

People collected jade and shells, from which artisans then made figurines and household items, using tools: saws, drills and abrasive dust as polish. Researchers were quite surprised by the blue paint that was found in ancient cities. Its recipe is still not clear. It does not fade, is not afraid of high temperatures, and is not even destroyed by acids.

The Indians lived in prosperity due to their hard work and developed trade. Various things and products were in circulation: from shells to tools; seaside cities used salt as currency, and residents of settlements remote from the sea paid with cocoa tree grains; however, simple exchange was also quoted.

The Mayans were very concerned about astronomy, in which they achieved certain successes. They compiled several calendars, with negligible errors even by modern standards. For the sake of this activity, they built several observatories, the windows in them exactly corresponded to the trajectories of the observed objects. All their observations were strictly documented in sacred books.

The entire Mayan state consisted of 200 cities, of which about 10% were megacities with a population of 50 thousand inhabitants. And most cities delighted the eye with masterpieces of architecture. Many buildings stand on pyramid-shaped foundations, and the higher the pyramid, the more important the object. The cladding of the houses is made of limestone, and in some places there are ornate patterns and stucco moldings. In general purpose buildings, columns and mosaic decoration are visible. This luxurious infrastructure even included a ball court. This game is called tlachtli.

In 1441, the story of the heyday of the Mayans began to come to an end. This is due to climate change, which has led to severe drought. The drought, in turn, deprived the people of food - the most necessary resource. Against the backdrop of general negative sentiment, the existing way of life began to disintegrate and the once huge, cohesive society was divided into small tribes. The last straw was the conquistadors. At the beginning of the 16th century, colonists came to these lands, and by the middle of it they had “finished off” culture and civilization, and those who managed to defend themselves and flee died from viruses and diseases brought from overseas.

This civilization is the youngest, as it began to take shape only in the 12th century. Which, by the way, did not prevent it from becoming the most numerous (6-12 million people) in pre-Columbian America and conquering considerable areas. The place where the empire was founded contributed to its development. The fertile land and climate provided a constant rich harvest, so it was possible to pay less attention to agriculture and concentrate on the war.

But the conquest of other peoples did not begin with violence; ambassadors came to foreigners several times, peacefully offered to join, and presented gifts and gifts. And only after this, in case of refusal, military action was taken. The Incas were armed with bows, axes, and stones. As well as the psychological impact. As they advanced, the soldiers shouted loudly and played wind instruments and drums. This greatly demoralized the enemy, who became much easier to defeat.

The conquered tribes were treated loyally and did not interfere with their traditions and customs. All that was required of them was recognition of the emperor, respect for the Inca religion and payment of taxes. Attempts at an uprising by subjects were nipped in the bud. To avoid a relapse, half of the rebels settled in different cities, and more faithful citizens moved in with the other half.

Alternative view

It is not for nothing that the Inca army is considered so powerful. From the age of 10, boys went to “trainings”. Experienced commanders prepared children for hand-to-hand combat, handling weapons, and gave them knowledge of tactics.

For the most part, the people were engaged in war and agriculture - they grew sunflowers, pineapples, and peppers. But there were also many specialists in other fields. These are one of the few Indians who knew how to smelt metal. And many deposits of gold and silver that they discovered are still being developed. There was so much gold that the cladding of some buildings was made from this metal.

One of the significant achievements of the Incas is their colossal network of roads throughout the state. Most of the paths were simply trampled, but the wet soil was filled with a mixture of stones and clay to prevent it from becoming soggy. And if the route ran through a swamp, then a dam made of cobblestones was built at this place. In places where the road was crossed by a cliff or a river, bridges were built on stilts or suspended. And warehouses were organized along the roads every 3 km. postal buildings, each of which contained a messenger. The parcel itself was passed from one to another, according to the principle of a relay race, which allowed the parcel to travel up to 400 km. per day.

Although the Incas did not have writing, they did have a unique accounting system called “quipu”. The recordings were made on a half-meter string. The color of the rope meant provisions, people, etc. To indicate one, ten, hundred, a knot with one loop was knitted. To show two, twenty, two hundred, a knot was tied with two loops, and so on by analogy. Moreover, this system worked without errors, and largely thanks to it, there was no money in the state, there was an exchange, and various products were strictly distributed among people by the government.

Everything was organized so well that there were no rich or poor, everyone lived in prosperity, even the incapacitated, they were supported by taxes. There was practically no crime, because people were most often executed for this.

The main animal for the empire was the llama. It was transport, a source of meat, fertilizer and wool.

Amazingly, even then the Inca doctors used penicillin. They didn’t open it and didn’t know what it was, but they worked with the mold that contained it.

The life of this empire ended almost simultaneously with the Maya. The colonialists also came, but they were also joined by traitors, and the Spaniards quite easily destroyed civilization.

They began to appear in parallel with the Incas; in 1256, at their peak, the population was about 10 million. Due to the fact that the race is relatively young, they adopted a lot of knowledge and achievements from their more ancient neighbors, and knew how to use them effectively.

But it was also sad with writing; because of the conquest, they did not have time to develop it; instead, they used drawings.

But this did not stop him from building a life of luxury. It is believed that the Aztecs lived more beautiful than others. There was even something like landscape design: beautiful planting of trees and bushes around the houses, cages with birds, and stone aquariums.

And the city infrastructure included restaurants, hotels, hairdressers, pharmacies, theaters, tlachtli stadiums, which had “bookmakers”. They even built educational institutions where they taught crafts, military training, history, trade and religion.

The social strata were also diverse: nobles, warriors, traders, ordinary townspeople, slaves and the lowest caste - prisoners of war.

Basically, this empire existed due to tribute from captured cities. But paradoxically, things were getting better for the occupied territories. And they were unable to capture only one people - Purepecha. But we still contacted and traded with them.

Aztec achievements include: metal and coal mining; construction of aqueducts - stone gutters for water supply; trained doctors and cultivated medicinal plants, many unknown even in our time.

The diet consisted of such foods as turkey, shrimp, corn, tomatoes, vanilla and much more.

The process of growing plants was technologically advanced: piles were driven into the lake on which there was a platform with soil. This method gave up to 7 harvests per year. This is how the food crops listed above were planted, as well as cotton.

With the arrival of the Spaniards, like all other indigenous peoples, the Aztecs quickly came to an end. The conquest was helped by the fact that they were accepted as gods and were not hindered in any way.

A little more than ten years ago - on October 12, 1992, planet Earth celebrated one of the most significant dates in the history of mankind - the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. There are many hypotheses about when man appeared in the Western Hemisphere, in North and South America, on numerous islands, and when people came to the American continent. For the fifth century now (since the 16th century), pundits have been debating this issue. In numerous studies on this topic, among the first inhabitants of America are people from the Canary Islands, Phoenicians and Carthaginians, ancient Greeks and Romans, Jews, Spaniards, Egyptians and Babylonians, Chinese and even Tatars and Scythians.

Science developed, and as new discoveries were made, knowledge accumulated and hypotheses were selected. Today there is no longer any doubt that the part of the world marked on the world map as America was inhabited by people from other continents. However, from which ones exactly has not been finally decided. Nevertheless, scientists were able to identify many common features inherent in all Indians, bringing them closer to the Mongoloid peoples of Asia. The appearance of the original inhabitants of America at the time of their first meetings with Europeans was as follows: a stocky figure, short legs, medium-sized feet, rather long arms but with small hands, a high and usually wide forehead, poorly developed brow ridges. The Indian's face had a large, strongly protruding nose (often, especially in the north, the so-called eagle nose), and a rather large mouth. The eyes are most often dark brown. The hair is black, straight, thick.

Many early European documentary and literary sources indicated that the Indians were red-skinned. This is actually not true. The skin of representatives of various Indian tribes is rather yellow-brown. According to modern researchers, the name “Redskins” was given to them by the first settlers. It did not arise by chance. The North American Indians once had a widespread custom of rubbing their faces and bodies with red ocher on special occasions. That's why Europeans called them redskins.

Currently, anthropologists distinguish three main groups of Indians - North American, South American and Central American, whose representatives differ in height, skin color and other characteristics.

Most researchers believe that the settlement of the American continent came from Asia through the Bering Strait. Scientists believe that four great glaciations helped ancient people overcome the expanse of water. According to this hypothesis, during the glaciations the Bering Strait froze and turned into some kind of huge bridge. Asian tribes who led a nomadic lifestyle freely moved along it to the neighboring continent. Based on this, the time of the appearance of man on the American continent was determined - this happened 10-30 thousand years ago.

At the time of the arrival of the Spanish caravels under the command of Christopher Columbus off the eastern coast of the New World (October 1492), North and South America, including the islands of the West Indies, were inhabited by many tribes and nationalities. With the light hand of the famous navigator, who assumed that he had discovered new lands of India, they began to be called Indians. These tribes were at different levels of development. According to most researchers, before the European conquest, the most advanced civilizations of the Western Hemisphere developed in Mesoamerica and the Andes. The term “Mesoamerica” was introduced in the 40s of the 20th century by the German scientist Paul Kirchoff. Since then, in archeology this has been used to designate a geographic region that includes Mexico and most of Central America (up to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica). It was this territory that, at the time of its discovery by Europeans, was inhabited by many Indian tribes and presented a colorful picture of the cultures that they represented. According to the correct definition of the Czech Americanist Miloslav Stingl, “these cultures were at different stages of development of tribal society, and the general laws of evolution characteristic of the primitive communal formation manifested themselves here in many local variants and forms.”

Scientists include such cultures as the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Mayan, Toltec and Aztec among the most vibrant and developed civilizations of Ancient America (pre-Columbian period).

The study of the art of Ancient America and its history is relatively young. It dates back a little over a hundred years. American studies researchers currently do not have such rich material and achievements as are available today in the field of studying ancient art. They also experience great difficulties due to the fact that to support their conclusions obtained as a result of archaeological excavations and discoveries, they do not have as many written monuments as are, for example, at the disposal of researchers of the Ancient East. The ancient Americans developed writing much later and never reached a high level of development. The written monuments of the peoples of Mesoamerica that have reached us have not yet been sufficiently studied. Therefore, most information concerning political history, social system, mythology, conquests, titles and names of rulers is based only on Indian legends. Many of them were recorded after the Spanish conquest and date back to the first half of the 16th century. It is also important to remember that until this time, ancient American civilizations developed without any influence from European or Asian centers. Until the 16th century, their development proceeded completely independently.

The art of Ancient America, like any other art, has a number of features and characteristic features that are unique to it. In order to comprehend this uniqueness, a dialectical approach is necessary, taking into account the historical conditions under which the art and culture of the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica developed.

Scientists attribute the highest flowering of the culture of the Mayan Indian tribe to the 7th-8th centuries. The Aztec Empire reached the apogee of its development at the beginning of the 16th century. Very often, in the works of archaeological scientists and researchers of ancient cultural civilizations, the Mayan Indian peoples (as older people) are called by analogy “Greeks,” and the Aztecs (as they existed later) are called “Romans” of the New World.

The Mayan cultural traditions had enormous influence in the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as in several states of modern Mexico. The geographical boundaries of the distribution of this civilization were 325,000 km2 and covered the habitat of several dozen, and possibly hundreds of tribes. In general, the tribes inherited a single culture. However, in many ways it naturally had regional characteristics.

The Mayan civilization stood out primarily for its achievements in construction and architecture.

Representatives of this nationality created exquisite and perfect works of painting and sculpture, had unique masters in stone processing and the manufacture of ceramic products. The Mayans had deep knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Their greatest achievement is their introduction of such a mathematical concept as “zero”. They began to use it hundreds of years earlier than other highly developed civilizations.

The Aztecs appeared in Central Mexico in the second half of the 12th century. No historical data about them has been found before this time. There are only a few legends and traditions from which it is known that they called the island of Aztlan (Aztlan) their homeland.

Aztecs, Incas, Mayans

One of the traditional descriptions of the supposed life of ancestors in Aztlan is known, allegedly compiled for the last of the pre-Hispanic rulers of the Aztec state, the famous Montezuma II the Younger, based on ancient manuscripts. According to this source, the ancestral home of Aztlan was located on an island (or was an island), where there was a large mountain with caves that served as dwellings. From this word, which denoted the location of the island (Aztlan), came the name of the tribe - Aztecs (more precisely, Aztecs). However, science has not yet established the exact geographical location of this island.

In the earliest stages of their existence, the Aztecs were dominated by a nomadic lifestyle; they were mainly engaged in hunting. This left an imprint on their character. By nature they were very warlike. For almost two centuries, the Az-Tecs waged wars of conquest and at the beginning of the 14th century, having conquered many other tribes living in Central Mexico, they created a powerful empire. Around 1325, the city they founded, Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City), became its capital.

Currently, interest in the study of ancient Indian civilizations has not faded. Architectural monuments, sculpture, jewelry, household items discovered in places where peoples with an original, unique culture lived several thousand years ago, still conceal a lot of unsolved things. Understanding the history of pre-Columbian America, leading archaeologists and modern scientists are trying to find an explanation for many of the most important aspects of the life of ancient human communities.

The Mayan civilization is unique. Their writing, calendar system, and knowledge of astronomy amaze even modern cosmology specialists. The Mayan Indians are one of the most ancient and mysterious civilizations that ever existed on Earth.

Birth of the Mayan civilization

Scientists have determined where the Indians lived. According to the theory, after the end of the last ice age, the tribes living in the north went south to explore new lands. Today it is the territory of Latin America.

Then, over the next 6 thousand years, the Indians created their own culture - they built cities and farmed.

By 1500 BC, the Mayans lived in the Yucatan Peninsula, present-day Guatemala, the southern states of Mexico, and the western parts of El Salvador and Honduras.

Mayan Indians: history of the development of civilization

The first major centers were the cities of El Mirador, Nakbe and Tikal. The construction of temples flourished, calendars were widely used, and hieroglyphic writing developed.

The photo below shows the ancient Mayan cultural center in the ancient city of Tikal.

The Indians created their own system, including architecture with unique buildings - pyramids, monuments, palaces, politics and social hierarchy. Society was divided into the masses and the elite, consisting of rulers.

The Mayans believed that their rulers were descended from the gods. The status was emphasized by robes with a mandatory attribute - a breast mirror. “Mirror of the people” is what the Mayans called their supreme ruler.

Mayan ruling class

The ancient Mayan civilization numbered more than 20 million people.

A whole system of 200 cities was created, 20 of them were megacities with a population of more than 50 thousand people.

Economic development of the Mayans

Initially, the Mayans were engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture - they cut down the forest on the site that they planned to cultivate, then burned the trees and shrubs, and fertilized the soil with ash. Since the land in the tropics is infertile, its resources were quickly depleted, and the fields ceased to be cultivated. They words were overgrown with forest. Then the whole process began again.

But as the population increased, new methods were required, and the Indians began to use hillsides for terrace farming.

Swamps were also developed - raised fields were built on them by building beds a meter high above the water level.

They installed irrigation systems, and water flowed into reservoirs through a network of canals.

They traveled on the water in canoes made of red wood. They could accommodate up to 50 people at the same time. They traded fish, shells, shark teeth and other seafood. Salt was like money.

Salt production

Obsidian imported from Mexico and Guatemala was used to make weapons.

Jade was a ritual stone, it was always in price.

Jade products

Those who lived on the plain traded food supplies, cotton, jaguar skins and quetzal feathers.

Art and architecture

During the "classical" early and late periods (250 - 600 AD and 600 - 900 AD), a huge number of temples were built, and wall paintings depicting rulers appeared. Art is flourishing.

Below is a photo of Barel'ev with the image of the ruler.

Copan and Palenque become new cultural centers.

Migration

Beginning in 900 AD, the southern plains gradually emptied, leaving settlements in the northern part of Yucatan. Until 1000 AD, the influence of Mexican culture grew, and the cities of Labna, Uxmal, Kabah and ChiChen Itza flourished.

Below is a photo of the pyramid in the city of ChiChen Itza

After the mysterious collapse of Chichen Itza, Mayapan becomes the main Mayan city.

Why did the Mayan civilization disappear?

No one knows for sure the reason for the disappearance of the Indian people. There are only hypotheses on this score. According to the main one, in 1441 there was an uprising of the leaders who lived in the cities neighboring Mayapan. This caused the degeneration of civilization and its transformation into scattered tribes. Drought and famine also had an impact. Then the conquistadors appeared.

Below in the photo is the last center of civilization.

In 1517, Spanish ships landed on an unknown shore. In the battle with the Indians, the conquistadors saw gold. This began the extermination of the Mayan people, since the Spaniards believed that gold should belong to their rulers. In 1547, the Mayans were conquered, but some of the tribes managed to escape and hide in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula, where they lived for 150 years.

The diseases that the Spaniards brought with them caused outbreaks of epidemics. The Indians had no immunity to influenza, measles and smallpox, and they died by the millions.

The culture and religion of the Indians was exterminated in every possible way: temples were destroyed, shrines were destroyed, idolatry was punishable by torture.

In the 100 years since the Europeans arrived in Latin America, the Mayan civilization was completely eradicated.

Watch the BBC documentary about the mysterious Mayan civilization below

By the time Columbus “discovered” America (1492), it was inhabited by many Indian tribes and ethnic groups, most of which were at a primitive stage of development. At the same time, some of them, living in Mesoamerica (Central America) and the Andes (South America), reached the level of highly developed ancient civilizations, although they were far behind Europe: the latter was by that time experiencing the heyday of the Renaissance.

The meeting of two worlds, two cultures and civilizations had different consequences for the meeting parties. Europe borrowed many of the achievements of Indian civilizations; in particular, it was thanks to America that Europeans began to consume potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, tobacco, cocoa, and quinine. In general, after the discovery of the New World, the development of Europe accelerated significantly. The fate of ancient American cultures and civilizations was completely different: the development of some of them actually ceased, and many completely disappeared from the face of the earth.

Available scientific data indicate that there were no centers of formation of ancient man on the American continent. The settlement of this continent by people began in the late Paleolithic era - approximately 30-20 thousand years ago - and came from Northeast Asia through the Bering Strait and Alaska. The further evolution of the emerging communities went through all known stages and had both similarities and differences from other continents.

An example of a highly developed primitive culture of the New World is the so-called Olmec Culture, existed on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the 1st millennium BC. Much remains unclear and mysterious regarding this culture. In particular, the specific ethnic group that bears (the name “Olmec” will be conditional) this culture is not known, the general territory of its distribution, as well as the features of the social structure, etc., have not been determined.

It is important to note that, however, with all this, the available archaeological information allows us to say that in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. The tribes inhabiting Verascus and Tabasco reached a high level of development. They will have the first “ritual centers”, they build pyramids from adobe and clay, and construct monuments of monumental sculpture. An example of such monuments were huge anthropomorphic heads weighing up to 20 tons. Relief carving on basalt and jade, the production of celtic axes, masks and statues are widespread. In the 1st century BC. there will be the first examples of writing and calendar. Similar cultures existed in other areas of the continent.

Ancient cultures and civilizations developed by the end of the 1st millennium BC. and existed until the 16th century. AD - before the arrival of Europeans. In their evolution, two periods are usually distinguished: early, or classical (1st millennium AD), and late, or postclassical (X-XVI centuries AD)

Among the most significant cultures of Mesoamerica of the classical period are Teotihuacan. originated in Central Mexico. The surviving ruins should be noted that Teotihuacan, the capital of the civilization of the same name, indicates that it was the political, economic and cultural center of all Mesoamerica with a population of 60-120 thousand people. Crafts and trade developed most successfully in it. Archaeologists have discovered about 500 craft workshops, entire neighborhoods of foreign merchants and “diplomats” in the city. Craftsmanship products are found throughout almost all of Central America.

It is noteworthy that almost the entire city was a unique architectural monument. Its center was carefully planned around two wide streets intersecting at right angles: from north to south - the Road of the Dead Avenue, over 5 km long, and from west to east - an unnamed avenue up to 4 km long.

At the northern end of the Road of the Dead rises the huge silhouette of the Pyramid of the Moon (height 42 m), made of raw brick and lined with volcanic stone. On the other side of the avenue there is an even more grandiose structure - the Pyramid of the Sun (height 64.5 m), on the top of which a temple once stood. The place where the avenues intersect is occupied by the ruler's palace. Note that Teotihuacan is a “Citadel”, which is a complex of buildings that included a temple god Quetzalcoatl - The Feathered Serpent, one of the main deities, patron of culture and knowledge, god of air and wind. All that remains of the temple is its pyramidal base, consisting of six decreasing stone platforms, as if placed on top of each other. The facade of the pyramid and the balustrade of the main staircase are decorated with sculpted heads of Quetzalcoatl himself and the god of water and rain Tlaloc in the form of a butterfly.

Along the Road of the Dead there are the remains of dozens more temples and palaces. Among them is the beautiful Quetzalpapalotl Palace, or Palace of the Feathered Snail, reconstructed today, the walls of which are decorated with fresco paintings. There are also excellent examples of such painting in the Temple of Agriculture, which depicts gods, people and animals. The original monuments of the culture in question will be anthropomorphic masks made of stone and clay. In the III-VII centuries. Ceramic products—cylindrical vessels with picturesque paintings or carved ornaments—and terracotta figurines are widely used.

Note that Teotihuacan culture reached its highest peak by the beginning of the 7th century. AD At the same time, already at the end of the same century, the beautiful city suddenly perishes, destroyed by a gigantic fire. The causes of this disaster still remain unclear - most likely as a result of the invasion of militant barbarian tribes of Northern Mexico.

Aztec culture

After the death, we note that Teotihuacan Central Mexico plunged into troubled times of interethnic wars and civil strife for a long time. As a result of repeated mixing of local tribes with newcomers - first with the Chichemecs, and then with the Tenochki-pharmacies - in 1325 on the desert islands of the lake, we note that the capital of the Aztecs was founded in Texcoco Note that Tenochtitlan. The emerging city-state grew rapidly and by the beginning of the 16th century. turned into one of the most powerful powers in America - the famous Aztec Empire with a huge territory and a population of 5-6 million people. Its borders extended from Northern Mexico to Guatemala and from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf of Mexico.

The capital itself - note that Tenochtitlan - has become a large city with a population of 120-300 thousand inhabitants. The island city was connected to the mainland by three wide stone causeway roads. According to eyewitnesses, the Aztec capital was a beautiful, well-planned city. Its ritual and administrative center was a magnificent architectural ensemble, which included a “sacred area” surrounded by walls, inside which were located the main city temples, dwellings of priests, schools, and a ground for ritual ball games. Nearby were no less magnificent palaces of the Aztec rulers.

basis economy The Aztecs were agriculture, and the main cultivated crop was corn. It should be emphasized that it was the Aztecs who were the first to grow cocoa beans And tomatoes; they will be the authors of the word “tomatoes”. Many crafts were at a high level, especially gold coinage. When the great Albrecht Durer saw Aztec gold items in 1520, he declared: “Never in my life have I seen anything that moved me so deeply as these objects.”

Reached the highest level Aztec spiritual culture. This was largely due to the effective education system, which included two types of schools, in which the male population is educated. In schools of the first type, boys from the upper class were brought up, who were destined to become a priest, dignitary or military leader. Boys from ordinary families studied in schools of the second type, where they were prepared for agricultural work, crafts and military affairs. Schooling was compulsory.

System of religious-mythological ideas and cults The Aztecs were quite complex. At the origins of the pantheon were the ancestors - creator god Ome teku aphids and his divine consort. Among the active ones, the main deity was the god of the sun and war Huitzilopochtli. War was a form of worship of this god and was elevated to a cult.
It is worth noting that the god Sintheoble, the patron of corn fertility, occupied a special place. The protector of the priests was Lord Quetzalcoatl.

Yacatecuhali was the god of trade and patron of merchants. In general, there were many gods. Suffice it to say that every month and every day of the year had his god.

Developed very successfully the science. It was based on philosophy, which was practiced by sages who were highly respected. The leading science was astronomy. Aztec stargazers easily navigated the starry picture of the sky. Satisfying the needs of agriculture, they developed a fairly accurate calendar. taking into account the position and movement of stars in the sky.

The Aztecs created a highly developed artistic culture. Among the arts has achieved significant success literature. Aztec writers created didactic treatises, dramatic and prose works. The leading position was occupied by poetry, which included several genres: military poems, poems about flowers, spring songs. The greatest success was enjoyed by religious poems and hymns, which were sung in honor of the main gods of the Aztecs.

No less successfully developed architecture. In addition to the beautiful ensembles and palaces of the capital already mentioned above, magnificent architectural monuments were created in other cities. Moreover, almost all of them were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors. Among the amazing creations is the recently discovered temple in Malinalco. This temple, which had the shape of a traditional Aztec pyramid, is notable for this. that it was all carved right into the rock. If we consider that the Aztecs used only stone tools, then one can imagine what gigantic efforts the construction of this temple required.

In the 1980s, as a result of earthquakes, excavations and excavations, the Main Aztec Temple was opened in the very center of Mexico City - Note that Templo Major. The sanctuaries of the main god Huitzilopochtli and the god of water and rain, patron of agriculture, Tlaloc, were also discovered. Remains of wall paintings and samples of stone sculpture were discovered. Among the finds, a round stone with a diameter of more than 3 m with a bas-relief image of the goddess Coyol-shauhki, the sister of Huitzilopochtli, stands out. Stone figurines of gods, corals, shells, pottery, necklaces, etc. were preserved in deep hiding pits.

The Aztec culture and civilization reached its peak at the beginning of the 16th century. At the same time, this flowering soon came to an end. The Spaniards captured Tenochti Glan in 1521. The city was destroyed, and on its ruins a new city grew - Mexico City, which became the center of the colonial possessions of the European conquerors.

Mayan civilization

Mayan culture and civilization became another amazing phenomenon of pre-Columbian America, which existed in the 1st-15th centuries. AD in southeastern Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. A modern researcher of the region, G. Lehman, called the Mayans “the most fascinating of all the civilizations of ancient America.”

Indeed, everything connected with the Mayans is shrouded in mystery and mystery. Their origin remains a mystery. The mystery will be their choice of place of settlement - the rugged jungles of Mexico. It is important to note that the ups and downs in their subsequent development are both a mystery and a miracle.

In the classical period (I-IX centuries AD), the development of Mayan civilization and culture proceeded along a steep upward trajectory. Already in the first centuries of our era, they reached the highest level and amazing perfection in architecture, sculpture and painting. The emerging large and populous cities became centers of craft production, marked by a real flowering of painted ceramics. In ϶ᴛᴏ time, the Mayans created the only developed hieroglyphic writing, as evidenced by inscriptions on steles, reliefs, and small plastic objects. The Mayans compiled an accurate solar calendar and successfully predicted solar and lunar eclipses.

The main type of monumental architecture there was a pyramidal temple installed on a high pyramid - up to 70 m. If you consider that the entire structure was erected on high pyramidal hills, you can imagine how majestic and grandiose the entire structure looks. This is exactly how the Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque appears, which served as the tomb of the ruler like the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. The entire structure was covered with hieroglyphic relief inscriptions, which decorate the walls, crypt, sarcophagus lid and other objects. A steep staircase with several platforms leads to the temple. In the city there are three more pyramids with temples of the Sun, the Cross and the Foliated Cross, as well as a palace with a five-story square tower, which apparently served as an observatory: on the top floor there is a stone bench on which the astrologer sat, peering into the distant sky. The walls of the palace are also decorated with reliefs depicting prisoners of war.

In the VI-IX centuries. achieve the highest successes monumental sculpture and Mayan painting. The sculptural schools of Palenque, Copan and other cities achieve rare skill and subtlety in conveying the naturalness of the poses and movements of the characters depicted, which are usually rulers, dignitaries and warriors. Small plastic works are also distinguished by amazing craftsmanship - especially small figurines.

The surviving examples of Mayan painting amaze with the elegance of their design and richness of color. The famous frescoes of Bonampak will be recognized as masterpieces of pictorial art. It is worth noting that they talk about military battles, depict solemn ceremonies, complex rituals of sacrifice, graceful dances, etc.

In the 1st-10th centuries. Most Mayan cities were destroyed by the invading Toltec tribes, but in the 11th century. Mayan culture was revived again in the Yucatan Peninsula and in the mountains of Guatemala.
It is worth noting that its main centers are the cities of Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Mayapan.

Still developing most successfully architecture. It is important to note that one of the remarkable architectural monuments of the postclassical period will be the pyramid of Kukulcan - the “Feathered Serpent” in Chichen Itza. To the top of the nine-step pyramid, where the temple is located, there are four staircases bordered by a balustrade, which begins at the bottom with a beautifully executed snake head and continues in the form of a snake body to the upper floor. The pyramid symbolizes the calendar, since the 365 steps of its stairs correspond to the number of days in the year. It is worth noting that it is also notable for the fact that inside it there is another nine-step pyramid, in which there is a sanctuary, and in it there is an amazing stone throne depicting a jaguar.

The “Temple of the Magician” pyramid in Uxmal will also be very original. It is worth noting that it differs from all others in that in horizontal projection it has an oval shape.

By the middle of the 15th century. Mayan culture enters into a severe crisis and declines. When the Spanish conquerors entered at the beginning of the 16th century. to Mayan cities, many of them were abandoned by their inhabitants. The reasons for such an unexpected and sad ending to a thriving culture and civilization remain a mystery.

Ancient civilizations of South America. Inca culture

In South America, almost simultaneously with the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica, at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, an equally mysterious Chavin culture, similar to the Olmec, although not related to it.

At the turn of our era, in the northern part of the coastal zone of Peru there will be Mochica Civilization, and in the south - Nazca civilization. Somewhat later, in the mountains of northern Bolivia, an original Tiahuanaco culture. These civilizations of South America were in some respects inferior to the Mesoamerican cultures: they did not have hieroglyphic writing, an accurate calendar, etc. But in many other ways - especially in technology - they were superior to Mesoamerica. Already from the 2nd millennium BC. The Indians of Peru and Bolivia smelted metals, processed gold, silver, copper and their alloys and made from them not only beautiful jewelry, but also tools - shovels and hoes. It is worth noting that they had developed agriculture, built magnificent temples, created monumental sculptures, and produced beautiful ceramics with polychrome painting. Their fine fabrics made of cotton and wool became widely known. In the 1st millennium AD the production of metal products, ceramics and textiles reached a large scale and a high level, and it was this that constituted the unique variety of South American civilizations of the classical period.

The Postclassical period (X-XVI centuries AD) was marked by the emergence and disappearance of many states in both the mountainous and coastal zones of South America. In the XIV century. The Incas create the state of Tauatin-suyu in the mountainous zone, which, after long wars with neighboring small states, manages to emerge victorious and subjugate all the others.

In the 15th century it turns to the gigantic and famous Inca Empire with a huge territory and a population of about 6 million people. At the head of the huge power was a divine ruler, the son of the Sun Inca, who relied on a hereditary aristocracy and a caste of priests.

The basis economy was agriculture, the main crops of which were corn, potatoes, beans, and red peppers. The Inca state was distinguished by its efficient organization of public works, called "mita". Mita implied the obligation of all subjects of the empire to work one month a year on the construction of government facilities. It is worth noting that it made it possible to gather tens of thousands of people in one place, thanks to which irrigation canals, fortresses, roads, bridges, etc. were built in a short time.

From north to south, the Inca Country is crossed by two paraplegic roads. one of which had a length of more than 5 thousand km. These highways were connected to each other by a large number of transverse roads, which created an excellent network of communications. Along the roads at certain distances there were postal stations and warehouses with food and necessary materials. There was a state post office in Gauatinsuyu.

Spiritual and religious life and matters of cult were the responsibility of the priests. The supreme deity was considered Viracocha - Creator of the world and other gods. Other deities were the golden sun god Inti. god of weather, thunder and lightning Ilpa.
It is worth noting that the ancient cults of the mother of the Earth Mama Pacha and the mother of the sea Mama (Sochi) occupied a special place. The worship of the gods took place in stone temples decorated inside with gold.

State regulated all aspects of life, including the personal life of citizens of the empire. All Incas were required to marry before a certain age. If this did not happen, then the issue was decided by a government official at his discretion, and his decision was binding.

Although the Incas did not have real writing, this did not prevent them from creating beautiful myths, legends, epic poems, religious hymns, and dramatic works. Unfortunately, little has been preserved of this spiritual wealth.

Highest flourishing culture the Incas reached at the beginning XVI V. At the same time, prosperity did not last long. In 1532, the most powerful empire of pre-Columbian America submitted to the Europeans almost without resistance. A small group of Spanish conquerors led by Francisco Pizarro managed to kill Inca Atahualpa, which paralyzed the will to resist his people, and the great Inca Empire ceased to exist.