Inca, Aztec, and Maya Comparison

Religion

Wrap Up!

Maya- Mayan religion was characterized by the worship of nature gods (especially the gods of sun, rain and corn), a priestly class, the importance of astronomy and astrology, rituals of human sacrifice, and the building of elaborate pyramidical temples.

Incas- The Incas worshiped a pantheon of nature gods and goddesses. Many differnt gods like god of the sun, sea, moon.

Aztecs- Sacrifice was one of the main events in the Aztec religion. Priests made human sacrifices to make the sun god happy. Aztecs fought in wars to capture men to sacrifice. On God's Feast Day, they killed their slaves for the gods. Human sacrifices were offerings to the sun and earth so that food would grow.

All three civilizations relied on government and farming very heavily and religion was big in them for good crops, over all you can lead everything they did back to their crops and life in prosperity.

Inca, Aztec, and Maya

Compare & Contrast

Citations

http://www.aztecnet.4mg.com/about.html

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/humanorigins/index.html

http://www.lost-civilizations.net/inca-civilization.html

Government & Family Structure

Innovations of the 3

Incas- Inca goverment worked in a pyramid system with few important people at the top and the further you went down, the less important the people became the more of them there where. Inca families were made up of husbands, wives and children. Parents arranged whom their children would marry. Women's responsibilities were weaving textiles. Men's responsibilities were to farm, to mine and to serve one time in the army. The Sapa Inca owned all the land, but families were given land to farm depending on how many children they had. Maya- Government was an important part of the Maya civilization. Priests ran governments, ruled cities, led ceremonies and performed many other jobs. The typical Mayan family (averaging five to seven members, as archaeologists have guessed) probably arose before dawn to a breakfast of hot chocolate--or, if they weren't rich enough, a thick, hot corn drink called atole--and tortillas or tamales. The Mayan family all lived together. The mens duties including farming and hunting, while the women would cook and weave. The children helped out their mothers with the chores and only went to school if they came from a noble family. Aztec- Ancient Aztec government got its structure from units of society that existed long before the Aztec empire was founded. First, of course, was the family unit, as a basic structure of society. The government was built up from there. In the Aztec house- holds, the men farmed or did craft work such as pottery, weaving, metal working, and wood carving. The women made the clothing and cooked the meals, Until the age of ten, boys stayed home learning skills from their fathers, then they would go to school for a general education and military training. Girls were expected to learn housekeeping and cooking skills; very few girls attended schools.

The Incas is mostly noted for their government and military innovations. The Maya made the calenders, their fascination with time led to Solar calenders that where so good, we still use them today. The Aztecs are said the be very quick and power conquers and being able to take power and land in such a short time showed an innovation of efficiency, they where an efficient people.

Farming & Agriculture

The Aztecs depended on farming but with the fertile land around Lake Texcoco it was made easy for them. The Incas took advantage of the ground, conquering the adversities like the Andean area and the inclement of the weather. The adaptation of agricultural technologies that already were used previously, allowed the Incas to organize the production a diversity of products of the coast, mountain and jungle, so them could be able to redistribute to villages that did not have access to other regions.The ancient Maya had diverse and sophisticated methods of food production. It was formerly believed that shifting cultivation (swidden) agriculture provided most of their food but it is now thought that permanent raised fields, terracing, forest gardens, managed fallows, and wild harvesting were also crucial to supporting the large populations of the Classic period in some areas.