Download Change and Continuity Over Time Essay

Change and Continuity Over Time Essay
Topic: Mesoamerican political and cultural changes and continuities 600 - 1450_________________________________________________
Beginning
· Mayans conducted warfare in order to
acquire human labor and sacrifices.
· Mayans were highly religious, they built
temples to honor their gods and often
conducted human sacrifices using captives
from warfare.
· Mayan civilization was a collection of citystates.
· Mayan kings held absolute power.
· They had a pyramidal social structure with
warriors and priests at the top, and slaves
and peasants on the bottom.
·Women held some power in Mayan society,
there are two known female rulers and
instances of matrilineal descent occurred.
· Mayans made many advances in math and
astronomy (concept of zero, developed
calendars) and also had a writing system.
Middle
· Mayan civilization collapses for unknown
reasons and other civilizations emerged to
take its place, such as Aztec among others.
· Toltec civilization was one of the
civilizations to emerge.
· Toltecs borrowed and maintained the
culture from the Teotihuacan. They later
passed on this culture to the Aztecs.
· Toltecs had a warrior-based society;
however the social structure remained
pretty much the same.
· Toltec culture also revolved around
warriors, many lintels and paintings of
warriors were made.
· Special system of the Toltecs was that
they ruled using a dual king system (two
kings ruled simultaneously).
End
· Aztecs borrowed and adapted culture from
the Toltecs.
· Aztecs ruled as an empire.
· Aztecs also conducted warfare, but they
added onto the reasons for warfare. They
introduced a tribute system, where they
took tributes from the people they
conquered.
· Aztecs were also highly religious and built
temples honoring their gods. Within the
Aztec civilization an increase in human
sacrifice can be seen.
· Women did not have as much power
compared to their Mayan counterparts.
They were subordinate to men although
they could inherit property.
· Aztec kings didn’t hold as much power
and were chosen by a group of nobles.
Changes: Reasons for warfare changed; tribute system was added. Mayan civilization was a collection of city-states while Aztecs were an
empire. Mayans were ruled by a king with absolute power, Toltecs were ruled by two kinds, and Aztecs were ruled by kings that held less
power and were chosen by nobles. Women also lost power in Aztec society.
Continuities: Warfare was conducted throughout Mesoamerica in order to gain human labor and sacrifices. Mesoamerican civilizations were
highly religious, conducting many human sacrifices and building many temples to honor their gods. Social structure remained relatively the
same with the king(s) at the top, followed by warriors and priests, commoners, and then slaves at the bottom. As civilizations rose and fell,
culture was passed on.
THESIS: Throughout this time period, many political practices were borrowed from neighboring and past civilizations and sometimes
amended. The same was true for Mesoamerican culture, similarities are evident throughout Mesoamerica, but significant changes were also
made to society.