Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Americas:

Aztecs Toltecs Mayas and Olmecs

Who were they?

What happened to them?

Where are they now?

By Dr. Ted Manning President Tourisk Inc.

About the Mayas,Aztecs and other

Pre-Columbian civilizations • Who were the Aztecs and

Maya – and how did they relate to the other pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas?

• Where and when were they dominant

• What did they leave behind?

• Note separate presentations follows with more on Mayan calendar

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The Chronology

• Olmec (Mexico) 1200 BC – 400BC

• Teotihuacan (central Mexico) 200 BC -700 AD (built pyramids of Sun and Moon; some consider them to be Toltec or Totonac, others related to the early Maya)

• Maya 200-1200 AD (Yucatan peninsula)

• Aztec 1100-1521 AD (Central Mexico)

Note that these are only a few of many important cultures/civilizations

of the Americas– the ones who have left the most evidence of their presence. Others like the Mixtec and Zapotec of Mexico the Moche and Inca of Peru the Chibcha of Columbia and Mapuche of Chile have been important in the history of Latin America.

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Early Cultures - 1000 BC

Olmecs in Gulf Region

Olmec Head - Tabasco

In 2007 Olmec city

ruins were found

south of Mexico

City – a thousand

miles from where

relics from the

Olmec core in

Tabasco in the

southern Gulf -

showing much

broader influence

than was

previously known

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500 BC Zapotec

Civilization Oaxaca

Mexico

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Monte Alban Mexico Tourisk Inc.

1 AD – Western Mexico is Cradle of Culture

Mexcaltitan Island Nayarit

Huichol Statue

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4-500 AD - Early Mayan Empire in Yucatan

Teotihuacan Pyramids Built (central plateau)

Pyramid of the Moon,Teotihuachan

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1000AD Mayan Culture Dominates Yucatan,

Toltecs in Central Mexico

Chichen Itza

(now Mexico)

Copan (now

Honduras)

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Photos from

www.Mundomayatrail.com

Xochicalco

(Toltec 900AD)

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1250AD …Mayans fade away

Aztecs and Huastecs rise

Tenochtitlan of the Aztecs

(Now Mexico City)

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The arrival of Cortez

in Tenochtitlan – now

Mexico City marked

the end of the Aztec

civilization

When Cortez arrived the Maya civilization had already

disappeared and the Aztecs were in decline

Puzzle: Disappearance of Civilizations

• While conquest was clearly important to the end of Aztec and Incan civilizations, others just collapsed

• Mayans: Happened rapidly – about 1200 AD

• When European explorers arrived, there was no visible higher civilization in the region.. only rural dwellers living a subsistence existence

• Most of the monuments were grown over, and the residents seemed to know little about them … except for stories.

• The people found in the Yucatan did not seem to have any memory of the written language, their calendar, or the history of their people

• … at least those who were asked.

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Lamanai Belize

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Aztecs were the Dominant Culture

when Cortez arrived

• A few hundred men on horses (who some

thought were gods) and who had guns

effectively brought down a civilization.

• The roots of the Aztec civilization were

shaken.

• Mexico became a colony of Spain

• Modern Mexicans have mixed emotions

about the conquest -

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Diego Rivera Mural –Mexico City

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Aztec Legacy

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Evidence of the Past

Chichen Itza Observatory

Early sketch of Tajin Ruins

Early discoveries of the complex ruins

amazed explorers .. New finds occur

regularly even now, taking advantage of

modern technologies

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El Tigre temple ruin

El Mirador Site Guatemala Tourisk Inc.

The Puzzle of the Economy

• How could they support an advanced civilization

in the jungle ?

• How could an area now seen as poor, with

subsistence agriculture the main economy,

produce enough to build and maintain cities,

transport routes, temples?

• Did the disappearance of the Maya and other

civilizations occur due to breakdown of their

economic, government and cultural system?

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An Agricultural Civilization?

• Until recently most

thought the Maya and

Mixtec did shifting

cultivation …

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New remote sensing helps find new

evidence: Palenque site

•New sites

•Field patterns

•Remote

settlements

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What happened in

1200?

Some Theories: • War (internal or

external)

• Disease

• Political collapse

• Breach of supply system

• Collapse of agriculture

due to overuse

• Ecological collapse –maybe from climate change

• A mix of the above

Uxmal

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Important sites from the Mayan Era:

CHICHEN ITZA Tourisk Inc.

TIKAL

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COPAN

HONDURAS

UXMAL MEXICO Tourisk Inc.

TULUM

MEXICO

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Where are they now?

• Many of the residents of Mexico and Central America can trace their ancestry directly back to the Mayan, Mixtec, Aztec civilizations of centuries ago.

Olmec Head – La Venta

New River Belize

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Historic Fishing Methods Lake Patrzcuaro

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Lacandon Tribe – One of the last

isolated remnants 1935

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Modern Latin America–

life and influence from

the past

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If you are interested

Some excellent websites on Pre-Columbian civilizations:

The Mayan and Aztec calendars: http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-mayan.html

• Historical civilizations (neat historic graphics): http://www.ballgame.org/sub_section.asp?section=1&sub_section=1

• Villanova University site with pictures and history of most major Meso-American sites: http://www.facultysenate.villanova.edu/maya/pic448.htm

• A source of many links to Inca sites (for Kids and adults)

http://annettelamb.com/42explore/inca.htm

• Incan history and archaeology:

http://incas.perucultural.org.pe/english/

All photography © Ted ManningTourisk Inc

Mesoamerican Time

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The Mayan and later

Aztec calendar was a

complex relationship of

cycles, months and days

which produced a calendar of

365 days. With adjustments,

it was as accurate as our

calendar.

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Months named after animals and

common objects

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The Mayan Months: 18 months of

20 days plus Uayeb with 5.

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The 20 Days of the Mayan Month

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