The interaction between the explorers from Western Europe and the indigenous people of North and South America was shaped by the different cultures and beliefs that each come from. Over the course of several hundreds of years, many different explorers from Western Europe made the voyage to the Americas. Whether they were exploring the different bodies of land in the search of riches, or conquering the indigenous people that resided there, the attitudes of the men that traveled there were shaped…
The Moche were an Andean civilization that resided in ancient Peru. Animals were popular subjects of Moche art and were often depicted on pottery as a composite creature made up of multiple animals. One of the popular uses for pottery in the Moche civilization was to create stirrup spout vessels that held chicha beer for the elite. A specific ceramic stirrup spout vessel that appears to have animalistic qualities is the Vessel in the Shape of a Crested Animal which was found in Tomb 2 at the…
Aztec architecture is simple but bold, elegant but powerful, with its mixed colors and symbols that help create a distinctive style. It refers to pre-Columbian architecture of the Aztec civilization. Instead of wrecking the old building that would add on to or built over it the old structure. While Aztec architecture doesn’t have many structures or “buildings” that are too well-known there is some that are still known and visited to this day. Aztecs also built pyramid temples for religion and…
Blood, human sacrifice, and savage ways are conceptions of the Aztec civilization that a mind novice in Aztec history has formulated. These misconceptions can be attributed in part to the destruction of historical archives and undiscovered pieces of information nestled within Aztec ruins. It is correct to say that much history of this grand civilization was destroyed during the Spanish Conquest of 1519 led by Hernan Cortes and his populous army of men. However, through archaeological…
Human sacrifice was a common practice in early latin american cultures. Many such cultures believed that these sacrifices brought about good luck and pleased their gods, thus the Aztecs emulated these previous and contemporary civilizations, yet far surpassed them in both the number of victims and the brutality which they inflicted upon them. All written evidence of human sacrifice by the Aztecs was written by the Spanish conquistadors, who greatly exaggerated all accounts of human sacrifice to…
3) with three deities, two of which are performing self-sacrifice through bloodletting, and an axis mundi in the form of a world tree and water portal. The deity on the left of the tree is Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl without his mask, as indicated by the wind jewel as the cross-section of a conch, spiney headdress, and black skin. The deity on the right is likely a Macuiltonaleque (“5 Souls”) deity of excess due to the handprint visible on his face. Underneath…
Aztecs religion was divided up into 4 quadrants. Also, they worshipped Huitzilopochtli. The men preferred human sacrifice, Quetzalcoatl created the humans. They called themself Culhuah. They started to, feed their gods gods human blood. However, the gods tribal bird is the humming bird. The Tezcatlipoca believed that they can turn into a jaguars. Today, many scholars think…
Over a course of almost a hundred years, the Aztecs were extremely powerful while controlling and deeply influencing large parts of Mesoamerica. However, such strong forces can not last forever, and that, was the case with the Aztecs. Their reign of hundreds of years came to a sudden halt after the introduction of Spanish conquistadors. The Aztec empire finally fell on account of the diseases and war that the Spanish conquistadors, such as Hernan Cortes, brought. The beginnings of the…
“Religion is an expression of social cohesion” as it unifies people together in a variety of ways such as a common goal or behaviour. It brings together people from all social classes to celebrate religious ceremonies such as sacrifice. It also allows societies to work in relative harmony by ensuring morals and principles according to the religion are evident in society. These features are both eminent in Nordic and Aztec communities. In Nordic society, religion played a significant role in…
“(The Aztecs) considered their capital the ‘queen’ of all settlements, and the Spaniards described it as a place belonging to legend” (Doc A). As the Renaissance was taking place in Europe, the Aztecs were busy creating a remarkable world class society in the Americas. The Aztec Empire took place from 1350 to 1519 in present-day Mexico. The study of the Aztecs usually begins in 1519, the year when Hernan Cortes and the 500 Spanish conquistadors first discovered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan…