The Achievements of the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas

Section 1: Introduction
There were three great peoples of the early Americas: the Mayas, the Aztecs,
and the Incas. In this lesson, you will study the cultures of these peoples and
explore their unique achievements.

The history of these civilizations stretches from very ancient times to just a few
centuries ago. Mayan civilization dates back to 2000 B.C.E. It reached its
height in what is called the Classic period, from about 300 to 900 C.E. The
Aztecs and the Incas built their empires in the two centuries before the Spanish
arrived in the 1500s.

Scholars have learned about these cultures in various ways. They have studied
artifacts found at the sites of old settlements. They have read accounts left by
Spanish soldiers and priests. And they have observed traditions that can still
be found among the descendants of the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas.

The more we learn about these cultures, the more we can appreciate what was
special about each of them. The Mayas, for example, made striking advances in writing, astronomy, and
architecture. Both the Mayas and the Aztecs created highly accurate calendars. The Aztecs adapted earlier pyramid
designs to build massive stone temples. The Incas showed great skill in engineering and in managing their huge empire.

In this lesson, you will study these and other achievements of the Mayas, the Aztecs, and the Incas. You will focus on
three main areas of culture: science and technology, arts and architecture, and language and writing.

Themes
Cultural Interaction The civilizations of the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas made impressive cultural achievements in the
areas of science and technology, arts and architecture, and language and writing.
Human-Environment Interaction The peoples of Mesoamerica adapted their environment to suit their needs by building
artificial islands, causeways, terraces and roads.
Section 2: Achievements of the Mayas
Many of the greatest achievements of the Mayas date from the Classic period (about 300 to 900 C.E.). Hundreds of years
later, their ideas and practices continued to influence other Mesoamerican groups, including the Aztecs.

Science and Technology The Mayas made important breakthroughs in

astronomy and mathematics. Throughout Mayan lands, priests studied the sky from
observatories. They were able to track the movements of stars and planets with
great accuracy. The Mayas used their observations to calculate the solar
year. The Mayan figure for their year of 365.2420 days is amazingly precise.

These calculations allowed the Mayas to create their solar calendar of 365
days. They also had a sacred 260-day calendar. Every 52 years, the first date in
both calendars fell on the same day. This gave the Mayas a longer unit of time that they called a Calendar Round. For the
ancient Mayas, this 52-year period was something like what a century is to us.

Mayan astronomy and calendar-making depended on a deep understanding of mathematics. In some ways, the Mayan
number system was like ours. The Mayas used place values for numbers, just as we do. However, instead of being based
on the number 10, their system was based on 20. So instead of place values for 1s, 10s, and 100s, the Mayas had place
values for 1s, 20s, 400s (20 times 20), and so on.

The Mayas also recognized the need for zero—a discovery made by few other early civilizations. In the Mayan system for
writing numbers, a dot stood for one, a bar for five, and a shell symbol for zero. To add and subtract, people lined up two
numbers and then combined or took away dots and bars.

Arts and Architecture The Mayas were equally gifted in the arts. They painted, using colors mixed from minerals and
plants. We can see the artistry of Mayan painters in the Bonampak murals, which were found in Chiapas, Mexico. The
murals show nobles and priests, as well as battle scenes, ceremonies, and sacrifice rituals.

The Mayas also constructed upright stone slabs called steles (STEE-leez), which they often placed in front of
temples. Most steles stood between 5 and 12 feet tall, although some rose as high as 30 feet. Steles usually had three-
dimensional carvings of gods and rulers. Sometimes, the Mayas inscribed them with dates and hieroglyphics in honor of
significant events.

Another important art was weaving. We know from steles and paintings that the Mayas wove
colorful fabric in complex patterns. Women made embroidered tunics called huipiles and
fashioned lengths of cloth for trade. Mayan women still use similar techniques today. They still
make their huipiles in traditional designs. People from different towns can be distinguished by the
colors and patterns of their garments.

In architecture, the Mayas built temple-pyramids from hand-cut limestone bricks. An unusual
feature of Mayan buildings was a type of arch called a corbel vault. Builders stacked stones so
that they gradually angled in toward each other to form a triangular archway. At the top of the arch, where the stones
almost touched, one stone joined the two sides. The archway always had nine stone layers, representing the nine layers
of the underworld (the place where souls were thought to go after death).
Language and Writing The Mayas developed the most complex system of writing in the ancient Americas. They used
hieroglyphics, or picture symbols, to represent sounds, words, and ideas. Hieroglyphic inscriptions have been found on
stoneware and other artifacts dating from possibly as early as 300 B.C.E.

Over time, the Mayas created hundreds of glyphs. Eventually, scribes could write down anything in the spoken
language. They often wrote about rulers, history, myths and gods, and astronomy.
Not all Mayan groups shared the same language. Instead, they spoke related dialects. Today, about four million
Mesoamericans still speak one of thirty or so Mayan dialects.

Section 3: Achievements of the Aztecs

The Aztecs adapted many ideas from earlier groups, including their calendars and temple-pyramids. But the Aztecs
improved on these ideas and made them their own.

Science and Technology One of the Aztecs’ most

remarkable technological achievements was the
construction of their island city, Tenochtitlán. The
Aztecs enlarged the area of the city by creating
artificial islands called chinampas. Today, flower
farmers in Xochimilco, near Mexico City, still use
chinampas. Tourists enjoy taking boat trips to see
these “floating gardens.”

Just as impressive as the chinampas were the three

causeways that connected Tenochtitlán to the
mainland. The causeways were often crowded with
people traveling in and out of the capital. During the
rainy season, when the waters of the lake rose, the
causeways also served as dikes.

To manage time, the Aztecs adapted the Mayan solar and sacred calendars. The 365-day solar calendar was especially
useful for farming, since it tracked the seasons. Priests used the sacred 260-day calendar to predict events and to
determine “lucky” days for such things as planting crops and going to war.

One of the most famous Aztec artifacts is a calendar called the Sun Stone. Dedicated to the god of the sun, this
beautifully carved stone is nearly twelve feet wide and weighs almost twenty-five tons. The center shows the face of the
sun god. Today, the Sun Stone is a well-known symbol of Mexico.

Arts and Architecture The Aztecs practiced a number of arts, including poetry, music, dance, and sculpture. Poets
wrote verses to sing the praises of the gods, to tell stories, and to celebrate the natural world. Poetry was highly
valued. Aztec poets sung their poems or recited them to music. Sometimes, actors performed them, creating a dramatic
show with dialogue and costumes.

Music and dance were important features of Aztec ceremonies and holidays. People dressed up for these special
occasions. Women wore beautiful blouses over their skirts. Men painted their faces, greased their hair, and wore
feathered headdresses. The dancers formed large circles and moved to the beat of
drums and the sound of rattle bells. The dances had religious meaning, and the dancers
had to perform every step correctly. Sometimes, thousands of people danced at one
time. Even the emperor occasionally joined in.

The Aztecs were also gifted painters and sculptors. Painters used brilliant colors to
create scenes showing gods and religious ceremonies. Sculptors fashioned stone
statues and relief sculptures on temple walls. They also carved small, lifelike figures of
people and animals from rock and semiprecious stones, such as jade. In technical craft
and beauty, their work surpassed that of earlier Mesoamerican cultures.

In architecture, the Aztecs are best remembered today for their massive stone
temples. The Aztecs were unique in building double stairways, like those of the Great
Temple in Tenochtitlán. The staircases led to two temples, one for the sun god and one for the god of rain. Smaller
pyramids nearby had their own temples, where sacrificial fires burned before huge statues of the gods.

Language and Writing Spoken language was raised to an art in Aztec society. Almost any occasion called for dramatic
and often flowery speeches. The rich vocabulary of the Aztec language, Nahuatl, allowed speakers to create new words
and describe abstract concepts.

The Aztec system of writing used both glyphs and pictographs. A pictograph is a drawing that depicts a word, phrase, or
name, rather than symbolizes it. For example, the Aztec pictograph for war was a symbol of a shield and a club. The
Aztecs did not have enough pictographs and glyphs to express everything that could be spoken in their language. Instead,
scribes used writing to list data or to outline events. Priests used these writings to spark their memories when relating
stories from the past.

Section 4: Achievements of the Incas

Like the Aztecs, the Incas often borrowed and improved upon ideas from other
cultures. But the Incas faced a unique challenge in managing the largest
empire in the Americas. Maintaining tight control over such a huge area was
one of their most impressive accomplishments.

Science and Technology The Incas’ greatest technological skill was

engineering. The best example is their amazing system of roads.

The Incas built roads across the length and width of their empire. To create
routes through steep mountain ranges, they carved staircases and gouged
tunnels out of rock. They also built suspension bridges over rivers. Thick
rope cables were anchored at stone towers on either side of the river. Two
cables served as rails, while three others held a walkway.

In agriculture, the Incas showed their technological skill by vastly enlarging the system of terraces already in use by earlier
Andean farmers. The Incas anchored their step-like terraces with stones and improved the drainage systems in the
fields. On some terraces, they planted different crops at elevations where the plants would grow best.
To irrigate the crops, the Incas built canals that brought water to the top of a hillside of terraces. From there, the water ran
down, level by level. People in South America still grow crops on Incan terraces.

The Incas also made remarkable advances in medicine. Incan priests, who were in charge of healing, practiced a type of
surgery called trephination. Usually, the patient was an injured warrior. Priests cut into the patient’s skull to remove bone
fragments that were pressing against the brain. As drastic as this sounds, many people survived the operation and
recovered full health.

Arts and Architecture Making textiles for clothing was one of the most important Incan arts. The quality and design of a
person’s clothes were a sign of status. The delicate cloth worn by Incan nobles often featured bright colors and bold
geometric patterns. Incan women also made feather tunics, or long shirts, weaving feathers from jungle birds right into the
cloth.

Fashioning objects out of gold was another important art. The Incas
prized gold, which they called the “sweat of the sun.” Gold covered
almost every inch inside the Temple of the Sun in the Incan capital city
of Cuzco. Incan goldsmiths also fashioned masks, sculptures, knives,
and jewelry.

Music was a major part of Incan life. The Incas played flutes, seashell
horns, rattles, drums, and panpipes. Scholars believe that the modern
music of the Andes region preserves elements of Incan music.
In architecture, the Incas are known for their huge, durable stone
buildings. The massive stones of Incan structures fit together so tightly that a knife blade could not be slipped between
them. Incan buildings were sturdy, too—many remain standing today.

Language and Writing The Incas made their language, Quechua (KECH-wah), the official language of the empire. As a
result, Quechua spread far and wide. About ten million people in South America still speak it.

The Incas did not have a written language. Instead, they developed an ingenious substitute: the knotted sets of strings
called quipus. The Incas used quipus as memory aids when sending messages and recording information.

Summary:
In this chapter, you explored the cultural achievements of the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas. All three Mesoamerican
peoples accomplished advances in science and technology, arts and architecture, and language and writing.

Cultural Interaction The cultural achievements of the Mayan Classical period had a lasting impact on later
Mesoamerican cultures. The Mayas were able to develop a very accurate solar calendar with their knowledge of
astronomy and math. The Aztecs later adopted a calendar based on the Mayan system and created the famous Sun
Stone calendar. The Mayas and Aztecs both painted elaborate, colorful murals. The Aztecs also followed the Mayan
example in constructing large stone temple-pyramids. The Incas constructed huge stone buildings as well. The Mayas
and Incas were both known for weaving elaborate, colorful fabrics.

Human-Environment Interaction The peoples of Mesoamerica engineered their environment to best suit their needs. In
Tenochtitlán the Aztecs constructed artificial islands to enlarge the area of their city. They also constructed causeways
connecting the island city of Tenochtitlán to the mainland that served as bridges and dikes. The Incas adapted to their
mountainous terrain by creating terraced farms. They also created an elaborate system of roads throughout their large
empire.