Introduction
In the Aztec world there was a special group of intellectuals who created sophisticated metaphors, poems and preserved ancient traditions. They were called “experts of things” - tlamatines.
The achievement of the Tlamatines was that they were able to oppose the cruel military, mystical-military way of serving the gods with their own path: comprehension of the hidden part of heaven through the creation of sublime poems and aesthetic works.
Tlamatines could be painters, sculptors who create images, and a philosopher who rises in spirit to the heavenly peak, and musicians who hear the melodies of the celestial spheres, and astrologers who know the ways of the gods - all those who seek truth in the Universe.
Among the tlamatines, Ashaya Katzin-Itzcoatl (1468-1481) - the sixth ruler of Tenochtitlan and Montezumo L Shocoitzin (tlacatecutli from the time of the Conquest) - stood out.
The Aztecs created a mature literature. Prose played the main role in Aztec literature. It is religious, the individual psychology of the author is poorly expressed, and there is practically no love theme.
The most common of the genres was historical prose: records of the wanderings of mythical ancestors, meetings and enumeration of places traversed, in which reality was intertwined with myths. Epic works were very popular: the epic about the origin of the Indians, world eras, floods and about Quetzalcoatl.
A type of prose were didactic treatises. They represented the edifications of the elders and generalized the experience of the Aztecs in various areas of life. These texts have strong moral standards and a desire to strengthen moral principles.
The philosophical genre was a real pearl of poetry. His main motive is the short duration of human life. The brightest star of Aztec poetry, the model of a ruler, man, legislator and philosopher is Fasting Coyote (Nezaucoyotl, 1418-1472). The Aztecs' speech was flowery and elegant, and their language was eloquent, metaphorical and rich in rhetorical devices.
There was a special concept - “ancient word”. It was a kind of cliche, a model for performances, specially remembered and dedicated to certain occasions and holidays. The purpose of the “ancient words” was to instruct the Aztecs in matters of behavior, learning and everyday life. By knowing the correct answer to them, it was possible to determine a person’s belonging to a certain social class.
“Ancient words” were written in a special script (a combination of pictographic and hieroglyphic elements) on tanned deerskin or on paper made from agave. The leaves were glued to each other, and “folding” books were obtained.
There were two types of public schools with the integrity of the pedagogical system. They were compulsory on a mass scale: everyone who had reached the age of 15 had to enter one or another educational institution, depending on their inclinations or the vow that was given at their birth.
The first type was called Telpochcalli. Here they were taught to fight and work. The main subjects are military affairs, the construction of canals, dams and fortifications.
The second type of school - Kalmecak - existed at the sanctuaries and provided a higher level of education; they paid more attention to intellectual development. The young men were given in-depth knowledge of mathematics, chronology, astronomy and astrology. They were taught rhetoric, versification, legislation and history. Students were instilled with a dual character of thinking: a strict mathematical mindset and a subtle sensory perception of the world. Boys and girls were raised separately and with great severity. The purpose of education and upbringing was to give them a wise mind and a strong heart. This was the Aztec ideal of a man whose actions were guided by his soul. Students of Kalmekak usually joined the stratum of clergy.
All of the above factors determine the relevance and significance of the topic of work at the present stage, aimed at a deep and comprehensive study of the masterpieces of Aztec art.
The topic of essence and features has been poorly studied in our country, so it is relevant to devote work to systematizing, accumulating and consolidating knowledge about the masterpieces of Aztec art.
In this regard, the purpose of this work is to systematize, accumulate and consolidate knowledge about the masterpieces of Aztec art.

A brief historical excursion. The Middle Ages, which will be discussed in the article, occupied a period in human history from the 10th to the 16th centuries. They began with the collapse of the most powerful world empire in Europe - the Western Roman. And the end of the 14th century was marked by the domination of a significant part of Mesoamerica by the Aztec Empire, or, as neighboring tribes called them, the Tenochek.

The toponymy of the Aztecs often changed, because due to their militant aggressiveness they did not get along with neighboring tribes and peoples. They had to wander from place to place. What were the achievements of the Aztec civilization in the Middle Ages?

"Made in" in pre-Columbian America

The level of development of this America cannot be compared with the European level of the same time. At best, comparable to the Ancient East - Babylon or Egypt. Similar labor was carried out by slaves, although there were more free farmers, artisans, and the unification of the population into communities. The influence of rulers and religious figures represented by priests increased. True, the civilizations of Mesoamerica were built more on the labor of tireless tribes than on their seizure of foreign material assets. This can be said about the very warlike Aztecs.

Lake Xochimilco in former capital Aztec - the only one that has survived to this day, later called Venice of the New World. Net artificial islands, multiple channels - all this was created by the hands of artisans and slaves. So these tribes, between raids on foreign lands for slaves, tried to arrange their lives in a civilized manner. And now the Mexicans protect it as protected areas with an area of ​​12 million square meters.

Incas, Aztecs, Mayans: achievements and inventions of the ancients

So the whole world should know what the Incas, Mayans, Aztecs and other Indian civilizations of the central and southern part of the American continent gave it. When Europeans buy pure chocolate or chocolate candies, potatoes, corn, sunflower oil and dozens of other items, they must remember: all this came to them from Indian Latin America.

One day, ancient tribes tasted cocoa fruits and appreciated their taste. Cocoa gave the body strength and improved mood. Entire plantations began to be planted, and for years the quality of the beans was improved. The beans were used to make “chocolatl”. This is how the future chocolate was born.

Soon cocoa beans rose in price, which began to serve as money. For them you could buy both an animal and a slave. They became export goods - ships carried cocoa grains on ships, filling all the holds with them. The Mayans grew huge plantations of these trees, which bear fruit twice a year for eighty years. But the Aztecs decided differently: they imposed tribute on cocoa bean producers in the occupied territories. Pay in beans!

It was to the Indians what bread was to the Europeans. New World explorers have found the oldest ear of corn, establishing its age at 7,000 years. Since then, the length of the cob has grown 10 - 15 times!

But today, in most cases, it serves as feed for livestock and poultry. For food, grains are processed into popcorn or corn sticks.

From there sunflower came to Europe. But its removal from the wild environment and domestication took place closer to our times - only 2500 years. But complex selection aimed at improving the quality of seeds and increasing yields is carried out without stopping in time.

Of course, smokers are grateful to the Indians for tobacco. It grew on its own for six thousand years until the aborigines understood its significance for humans.

No one had previously analyzed how the Indians lived among tobacco plants and did not attach much importance to it. But after some hundred years, Indians from other territories learned about it, and the Spanish conquerors brought it to the Old World.

Tequila

Today, the strong alcoholic drink tequila has conquered, if not the whole world, then many territories. Tequila in its modern sense was not invented by the Mayans or Aztecs. From the pulque agave, the Indians initially obtained fermented juice with a strength of four to six degrees of alcohol. In our opinion, it was mash, which they called “a gift from the gods.”

Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

Novgorod State University

named after Yaroslav the Wise

in Ethnology

theme: Aztecs

Performed:

5th year student FPPRR group 9253

Govorova E.S.

Checked:

Desyatskov K.S.

Velikiy Novgorod

Introduction

The name “Aztecs” (literally “people of Aztlan”) recalls the legendary ancestral home of the Tenochki tribe, from where they made a difficult journey to the Valley of Mexico City. The Aztecs were one of many nomadic or semi-sedentary Chichimec tribes who migrated from the desert areas of northern Mexico (or even more remote) to the fertile agricultural areas of central Mexico.

Mythological and historical sources indicate that the wanderings of the tenochki took more than 200 years from the beginning or middle of the 12th century. to 1325. Leaving the island of Aztlan ("Place of the Herons"), the Tenochki reached Chicomostoc ("Seven Caves"), the mythical starting point of the wanderings of many wandering tribes, including the Tlaxcalans, Tepanecs, Xochimilcos and Chalcos, each of which once set off from Chicomostoc on a long journey south to the Valley of Mexico and nearby valleys.

1. History of civilization

The Aztec city-states arose on a vast mountain plateau called the "Valley of Mexico", where the capital of Mexico is now located. This fertile valley has an area of ​​approx. 6500 sq. km extends approximately 50 km in length and width. It lies at an altitude of 2300 m above sea level. and is surrounded on all sides by mountains of volcanic origin, reaching a height of 5000 m. During the time of the Aztecs, the landscape was given originality by a chain of connecting lakes with the most extensive of them, Lake Texcoco. The lakes were fed by mountain runoff and streams, and periodic floods created constant problems for the population living on their shores. At the same time, the lakes provided drinking water, created habitat for fish, waterfowl and mammals, and boats served as a convenient means of transportation.

However, there they had to fight with local tribes, whose main leader, Culuacan, the ruler of the city of Coxcoxtli, was very unfriendly towards them. In order to firmly establish themselves, the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan on one of the islands in 1325, which they named after the leader Tenoch. The city was divided into four quarters: Teopan, Moyotlan, Quepopan and Aztacalco, in the middle of which stood the temple of the main Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. However, even after this, the struggle did not subside, which was greatly facilitated by discord among the Aztec tribes themselves. But in 1376, the Aztecs finally elected the supreme leader Acamapichtli (1376-1395), who strengthened both the external and internal position of the country. The unrest that followed his death led to the formation of a union, a confederation consisting of the Aztecs, Tepanecs and the inhabitants of Texcoco.

The Triple Alliance brought under its power a vast territory from the northern regions of what is now Mexico to the borders of Guatemala, which included a variety of landscapes and natural areas- the relatively dry areas of the northern Valley of Mexico, the mountain gorges of the present states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the Pacific mountain ranges, the coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico, the lush tropical forests of the Yucatan Peninsula. Thus, the Aztecs gained access to a variety of natural resources that were not available in their original places of residence.

The inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico and some other areas (for example, the Tlaxcalans who lived in the territory of the current states of Puebla and Tlaxcala) spoke dialects of the Nahuatl language (lit. “euphony”, “folding speech”). It was adopted as a second language by Aztec tributaries and became the intermediary language of almost all of Mexico during the colonial period (1521–1821). Traces of this language are found in numerous place names such as Acapulco or Oaxaca. According to some estimates, approx. 1.3 million people still speak Nahuatl or its variant Nahuat, more commonly called Mejicano. This language is part of the Macronaua family of the Uto-Aztecan branch, distributed from Canada to Central America and including about 30 related languages.

The Aztecs were great lovers of literature and collected libraries of pictographic books (so-called codices) with descriptions of religious rituals and historical events or representing registers of tribute collection. The paper for the codices was made from bark. The overwhelming majority of these books were destroyed during the Conquest or immediately after it. In general, in all of Mesoamerica (this is the name of the territory from the north of the Valley of Mexico to the southern borders of Honduras and El Salvador), no more than two dozen Indian codes have been preserved. Some scholars argue that not a single Aztec code of the pre-Spanish era has survived to this day, others believe that there are two of them - the Bourbon Code and the Register of Taxes. Be that as it may, even after the conquest, the Aztec written tradition did not die and was used for various purposes. Aztec scribes recorded hereditary titles and possessions, compiled reports to the Spanish king, and more often described the life and beliefs of their fellow tribesmen for the Spanish monks in order to make it easier for them to Christianize the Indians.

2. Social organization

Aztec society was strictly hierarchical and was divided into two main classes - the hereditary aristocracy and the plebs. The Aztec nobility lived in luxury in magnificent palaces and had many privileges, including the wearing of special clothes and insignia and polygamy, through which alliances were established with the aristocracy of other city-states. The nobility were destined for high positions and the most prestigious activities; it consisted of military leaders, judges, priests, teachers and scribes.

The lower class consisted of farmers, fishermen, artisans, and traders. In Tenochtitlan and neighboring cities, they lived in special neighborhoods called “calpulli” - a kind of community. Each calpulli had his own plot of land and his own patron god, his own school, paid a community tax and fielded warriors. Many calpulli were formed by professional affiliation. For example, bird feather craftsmen, stone carvers or traders lived in special areas. Some farmers were assigned to the estates of aristocrats, who were paid more in labor and taxes than the state.

However, for all their strength, class barriers could be overcome. Most often, the path to the top was opened by military valor and the capture of prisoners on the battlefield. Sometimes the son of a commoner, dedicated to a temple, eventually became a priest. Skilled artisans who made luxury goods or merchants could, despite the lack of inheritance rights, earn the favor of the ruler and become rich.

Slavery was common in Aztec society. As punishment for theft or non-payment of debt, the culprit could be temporarily given into slavery to the victim. It often happened when a person sold himself or members of his family into slavery under agreed conditions. Sometimes slaves were bought in markets for human sacrifice.

Education and lifestyle. Until approximately the age of 15, children were educated at home. Boys mastered military affairs and learned how to manage a household, and girls, who were often married off at this age, knew how to cook, spin and run a household. In addition, both of them received professional skills in pottery and the art of making bird feathers.

Most teenagers started school at age 15, although some started school at age 8. The children of the nobility were sent to Kalmekak, where, under the guidance of priests, they studied military affairs, history, astronomy, government, social institutions, and rituals. Their duties were also to collect firewood, clean churches, participate in various public works, and donate blood during religious ceremonies. The children of commoners attended the telpochkalli of their city quarter, where they were trained mainly in military affairs. Both boys and girls also went to schools called “cuicacalli” (“house of song”), designed to teach liturgical chants and dances.

Women, as a rule, were involved in raising children and housework. Some studied crafts and midwifery, or were initiated into religious sacraments, after which they became priestesses. Upon reaching the age of 70, men and women were surrounded by honor and received a number of privileges, including the permission to drink the alcoholic drink pulque without restrictions.

Belief in life after death was accompanied by certain ideas about what awaits the deceased. A warrior who died in battle or was sacrificed had the honor of accompanying the Sun on its path from sunrise to zenith. Women who died in childbirth - so to speak, on their battlefield - accompanied the Sun from zenith to sunset. Drowned people and those killed by lightning ended up in a blooming paradise, the abode of the rain god Tlalocan. Most of the dead Aztecs, it was believed, did not go beyond the lower underworld, Mictlan, where the god and goddess of death ruled.

Wars of conquest and empire management. Each Aztec city-state had one or more rulers called tlatoani (orator). Power was hereditary and passed from brother to brother or from father to son. However, the inheritance of honorary titles did not occur automatically, but required the approval of the highest circles of the city nobility. Thus, the legitimacy of the power of each new ruler was ensured both by the divine right of inheritance and by public recognition of his merits. The rulers lived in luxury, but not in idleness, since they were obliged to administer, pronounce verdicts in complex legal cases, oversee the proper performance of religious rituals and protect their subjects. As some city-states fell under the rule of others, some rulers were considered superior to others, and the ruler of Tenochtitlan was recognized as the main one.

In the service of the rulers were advisers, military leaders, priests, judges, scribes and other officials. Imperial conquests required the expansion of the bureaucracy to include tribute collectors, governors and garrison commanders. The conquered peoples enjoyed relative freedom. City-states were generally allowed to maintain ruling dynasties as long as tribute was paid carefully. New territories became part of the empire in various ways - some Tenoch peoples were conquered and forced to pay regular tribute, others were persuaded to an alliance through negotiations, marriages and gifts. City-states conquered by the triple alliance in the early era of its existence, by the beginning of the 16th century. were already deeply integrated into the imperial structure. Their rulers participated in the tenochki's wars of conquest, receiving rewards in the form of titles and lands.

War was the most important sphere of life of the Aztecs. Successful wars enriched the empire and provided opportunities for individual warriors to move up the social ladder. The main valor was considered to be the capture of a prisoner for sacrifice; a warrior who captured four enemy warriors was promoted in rank.

3. Religion

The Aztec polytheistic pantheon included many gods and goddesses. The demiurge gods are represented by the mysterious, unpredictable Tezcatlipoca (“Smoking Mirror”), the fire god Xiutecutli and the famous Quetzalcoatl (“Feathered Serpent”), “who gave maize to people.” Since the life of the Aztecs largely depended on agriculture, they worshiped the gods of rain, fertility, maize, etc. Gods of war, such as Huitzilopochtli of the Tenoches, were associated with the Sun.

The Aztecs erected temples for each deity, where priests and priestesses performed his cult. Main temple Tenochtitlan (46 m high) was crowned with two sanctuaries dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaloc. This temple rose in the middle of a vast fenced area where there were other temples, chambers of warriors, a priestly school and a court for a ritual ball game. Elaborate religious rituals included festivals, fasting, chants, dances, the burning of incense and rubber, and ritual drama, often involving human sacrifice.

According to Aztec mythology, the Universe was divided into thirteen heavens and nine underworlds. The created world went through four eras of development, each of which ended with the death of the human race: the first - from jaguars, the second - from hurricanes, the third - from a worldwide fire, the fourth - from a flood. The contemporary Aztec era of the “Fifth Sun” was supposed to end with terrible earthquakes.

The Aztec religion was bloodthirsty, absorbing countless human sacrifices. The Aztecs believed that deities controlled the forces of nature and the actions of people. They depicted the gods as similar to people, but gave them grotesque monstrous features, sometimes bestial. The sun god, the source of all life, was considered the supreme deity. The priests greeted the sunrise with psalms and bloody sacrifices. The formidable war god Huitzilopochtl was especially revered: this disgusting god, as soon as he was born, stained himself with the Blood of his own family: he cut off the heads of his brothers and sister.

The Aztecs made human sacrifices in the following way. Four priests, painted black and wearing black robes, grabbed the victim by the arms and legs and threw him onto the sacrificial stone. The fifth priest, dressed in purple robes, ripped open her chest with a sharp obsidian dagger and with his hand tore out her heart, which he then threw at the foot of the statue of the god. The Aztecs had ritual cannibalism: the heart was eaten by priests, and the body by members of aristocratic families during ceremonial feasts. Almost every day a holiday of some god was celebrated, so human blood flowed continuously. The cult of the fire god was wild and terrible. In honor of him, the priests lit a huge fire in the temple of this god, and, having tied up the military prisoners, they threw them into the fire. Without waiting until they died, they pulled them out of the flames with hooks, laid them on their backs and performed a ritual dance around the fire. Only after that the priests slaughtered them on a sacrificial stone: The Aztec religion did not spare even children. The priests killed babies bought from poor parents with knives during a drought, hoping that the rain god would have mercy.

The Aztec state constantly had to worry about providing victims to the insatiable gods. A special group of warriors did nothing but deliver prisoners to the temples. When Montezuma was asked why he tolerated the independent state of the Tlaxcalans in close proximity, he replied; “So that it supplies us with people to sacrifice to the gods.” During the solemn consecration of the temple of the god of war in Tenochtitian, which took place in 1486, 20 thousand captives were killed, and at the coronation of Montezuma, 12 thousand soldiers died.

Historical facts suggest that mass human sacrifices were introduced by the Aztecs only at the beginning of the 14th century, when the tribal community had already decomposed, and the ruling elite, led by the king, used the ancient ritual as a weapon of terror to maintain power. Therefore, it can be argued that the terrible religion of the Aztecs was the religion of the Aztec aristocracy.

4. Achievements of science and art

The Aztecs had a cyclical account of time. They combined the solar 365-day calendar with the ritual 260-day calendar. According to the first, the year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, to which 5 so-called were added at the end. unlucky days. The solar calendar was applied to the agricultural cycle and major religious practices. The ritual calendar, used for prophecies and predictions of human fate, contained 20 names of the days of the month (“rabbit”, “rain”, etc.) in combination with numbers from 1 to 13. The newborn, along with the name of the day of his birth (like “Two Deer" or "Ten Eagle") also received a prediction of his fate. Thus, it was believed that Two Rabbit would be a drunkard, and One Snake would earn fame and wealth. Both calendars were connected into a 52-year cycle, at the end of which the past years disappeared, just as the wind carries away a bundle of 52 reeds, and a new cycle began. The end of each 52-year cycle threatened the death of the Universe.

The Aztecs created an extensive corpus of oral literature, represented by the genres of epic, hymn and lyric poetry, religious chants, drama, legends and tales. This literature is also very diverse in tone and theme and ranges from glorifying military valor and the exploits of ancestors to contemplation and reflection on the essence of life and human destiny. Poetic exercises and debates were constantly practiced among the nobility.

The Aztecs proved themselves to be skilled builders, sculptors, stone carvers, potters, jewelers, and weavers. The art of making products from the bright feathers of tropical birds was especially revered. Feathers were used to decorate warriors' shields, clothes, standards, and headdresses. Jewelers worked in gold, jadeite, rock crystal and turquoise, showing extraordinary skill in creating mosaics and ornaments.

Conclusion

Aztecs are the name of the peoples who inhabited the Valley of Mexico shortly before the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. This ethnonym unites many tribal groups that spoke the Nahuatl language and exhibited features of a cultural community, although they had their own city-states and royal dynasties. Among these tribes, the Tenochs occupied a dominant position, and only this last people was sometimes called “Aztecs”. The Aztecs also refer to the powerful triple alliance created by the Tenochchi of Tenochtitlan, the Acolhua of Texcoco, and the Tepanecs of Tlacopan, who established their dominance in central and southern Mexico from 1430 to 1521.

The Aztec culture was the latest in a long line of advanced civilizations that flourished and declined in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The oldest of these, the Olmec culture, developed on the Gulf Coast in the 14th–3rd centuries. BC. The Olmecs paved the way for the formation of subsequent civilizations, which is why the era of their existence is called pre-classical. They had a developed mythology with an extensive pantheon of gods, erected massive stone structures, and were skilled in stone carving and pottery. Their society was hierarchical and narrowly professionalized; the latter was manifested, in particular, in the fact that religious, administrative and economic issues were dealt with by specially trained people.

These features of Olmec society were further developed in subsequent civilizations. In the tropical rainforests of southern Mesoamerica, the Mayan civilization flourished for a relatively short historical period, leaving behind vast cities and many magnificent works of art. Around the same time, a similar civilization of the classical era arose in the Valley of Mexico, in Teotihuacan, a huge city with an area of ​​26–28 square meters. km and with a population of up to 100 thousand people.

The service and veneration of God consisted, first of all, in bringing him human sacrifices from among the captives. According to the beliefs of the Aztecs, human blood was the food of the gods, and therefore the more people, namely people, not animals, were thrown on the altar, the kinder God had to be to the Aztecs. It is estimated that in just a few years up to 150 thousand people were killed in this way. When waging war, the Aztecs tried not to kill, but to capture their enemies in order to sacrifice them. For this people, the value of human life was reduced to nothing, and even simple moral principles were completely rejected. Against the backdrop of these atrocities, art and culture flourished, magnificent palaces with gardens and galleries, huge pyramid temples stretching into the sky, canals, dams, and schools were erected. Poetry and philosophy developed, but a people without a foundation of faith in the true God could not exist for long. Its degradation began, terrible debauchery and cruelty filled the life of the Aztecs.

List of used literature

1. Vaian J. History of the Aztecs. M., 1949.

Kinzhalov R. The Art of Ancient America. M., 1962.

Daggers R. Eagle, quetzal and cross. M., 1991.

Leon-Portilla M. Nagua Philosophy. M., 1961.

Oparin A.A. Ancient cities and biblical archeology. M.: Prometheus, 1991.

Sodi D. Great cultures of Mesoamerica. M., 1985.

1. History of Aztec culture

The Aztec culture was the latest in a long line of advanced civilizations that flourished and declined in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The oldest of them, the Olmec culture, developed on the Gulf Coast in the 14th-3rd centuries. BC. The Olmecs paved the way for the formation of subsequent civilizations, which is why the era of their existence is called pre-classical. They had a developed mythology with an extensive pantheon of gods, erected massive stone structures, and were skilled in stone carving and pottery. Their society was hierarchical and narrowly professionalized; the latter was manifested, in particular, in the fact that religious, administrative and economic issues were dealt with by specially trained people.

These features of Olmec society were further developed in subsequent civilizations. In the tropical rainforests of southern Mesoamerica, for a relatively short historical period, the Mayan civilization flourished magnificently, leaving behind vast cities and many magnificent works art. Around the same time, a similar civilization of the classical era arose in the Valley of Mexico, in Teotihuacan, a huge city with an area of ​​26-28 square meters. km and with a population of up to 100 thousand people.

At the beginning of the 7th century. Teotihuacan was destroyed during the war. It was replaced by the Toltec culture, which flourished in the 9th-12th centuries. The Toltec and other late classical civilizations (including the Aztec) continued the trends established in the pre-classical and classical eras. Agricultural surpluses fueled population and urban growth, and wealth and power became increasingly concentrated at the top of society, leading to the formation of hereditary dynasties of city-state rulers. Religious rituals based on polytheism became more complex. Vast professional layers of people engaged in intellectual work and trade arose, and trade and conquests spread this culture over a vast territory and led to the formation of empires. Dominant position of individual cultural centers did not interfere with the existence of other cities and settlements. Such a complex system of social relationships was already firmly established throughout Mesoamerica by the time the Aztecs arrived here.

In 1495, when Spanish ships appeared off the coast of the New World, many Indian tribes and peoples with different levels of development lived on this large continent. Most of them were hunters, fishermen, and simple farmers. Only in two relatively small areas of the Western Hemisphere - in Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras) and in the Andes (Bolivia, Peru) - did the Spaniards meet Indian civilization high level. The highest achievements of pre-Columbian American culture were born on their territory.

This is how potatoes, tobacco, tomatoes, corn, cocoa, as well as quinine, rubber, etc. came to Europe. The Incas, before meeting the Europeans, used bronze weapons and tools. And in Mesoamerica, metals (excluding iron) were found at the beginning of the 1st millennium and were used for decoration and the production of religious needs.

The Indians of Peru did not have their own written language (this is not known for sure), and in Central America, perhaps 3 thousand years ago, a local Indian written language was created, as well as an original way of writing down dates. The Maya and Aztecs left codices that contain information from the Mexican state in the pre-Columbian period. In the Nazca Desert (Peru), huge drawings were found (for example, a 120-meter bird, a 200-meter lizard, and in another place a giant monkey).

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The toponymy of the Aztecs often changed, because due to their militant aggressiveness they did not get along with neighboring tribes and peoples. They had to wander from place to place. What were the achievements of the Aztec civilization in the Middle Ages?

"Made in" in pre-Columbian America

The level of development of this America cannot be compared with the European level of the same time. At best, comparable to the Ancient East - Babylon or Egypt. Similar labor was carried out by slaves, although there were more free farmers, artisans, and the unification of the population into communities. The influence of rulers and religious figures represented by priests increased. True, the civilizations of Mesoamerica were built more on the labor of tireless tribes than on their seizure of foreign material assets. This can be said about the very warlike Aztecs.

Lake Xochimilco in the former Aztec capital is the only one still standing, later called the Venice of the New World. A network of artificial islands, multiple canals - all this was created by the hands of artisans and slaves. So these tribes, between raids on foreign lands for slaves, tried to arrange their lives in a civilized manner. And now the Mexicans protect it as protected areas with an area of ​​12 million square meters.

Incas, Aztecs, Mayans: achievements and inventions of the ancients

So the whole world should know what the Incas, Mayans, Aztecs and other Indian civilizations of the central and southern part of the American continent gave it. When Europeans buy pure chocolate or chocolate candies, potatoes, corn, sunflower oil and dozens of other items, they must remember: all this came to them from Indian Latin America.

One day, ancient tribes tasted cocoa fruits and appreciated their taste. Cocoa gave the body strength and improved mood. Entire plantations began to be planted, and for years the quality of the beans was improved. The beans were used to make “chocolatl”. This is how the future chocolate was born.

Soon cocoa beans rose in price, which began to serve as money. For them you could buy both an animal and a slave. They became export goods - ships carried cocoa grains on ships, filling all the holds with them. The Mayans grew huge plantations of these trees, which bear fruit twice a year for eighty years. But the Aztecs decided differently: they imposed tribute on cocoa bean producers in the occupied territories. Pay in beans!

It was to the Indians what bread was to the Europeans. New World explorers have found the oldest ear of corn, establishing its age at 7,000 years. Since then, the length of the cob has grown 10 - 15 times!

But today, in most cases, it serves as feed for livestock and poultry. For food, grains are processed into popcorn or corn sticks.

From there sunflower came to Europe. But its removal from the wild environment and domestication took place closer to our times - only 2500 years. But complex selection aimed at improving the quality of seeds and increasing yields is carried out without stopping in time.

Tobacco

Of course, smokers are grateful to the Indians for tobacco. It grew on its own for six thousand years until the aborigines understood its significance for humans.

No one had previously analyzed how the Indians lived among tobacco plants and did not attach much importance to it. But after some hundred years, Indians from other territories learned about it, and the Spanish conquerors brought it to the Old World.

Today, the strong alcoholic drink tequila has conquered, if not the whole world, then many territories. Tequila in its modern sense was not invented by the Mayans or Aztecs. From the pulque agave, the Indians initially obtained fermented juice with a strength of four to six degrees of alcohol. In our opinion, it was mash, which they called “a gift from the gods.”

To this primitive technology, Spanish sailors added the European method of producing alcohol. In 1600, a tequila factory was already in operation. The authorities immediately taxed her. And tequila was exported under the brand name “Jose Cuervo”. This brand is still alive.

Homeopathy

Indians, like all other people, are susceptible to diseases, especially in ancient times. What is the treatment? Remedies for various ailments were sought in flora. Homeopathy originates from those times.

The tribes thoroughly studied the entire palette of flowers and other plants and tested them on themselves. Some banished coughs from the chest, others relieved stomach colic and all kinds of disorders, others healed inflamed wounds, and others used the bactericidal properties of toads.

You can also name many ancient recipes that were tested in Mesoamerica. And the whole world adopted the experience of the Indians of this region. IN Russian villages and today they treat sore throat and other diseases of the oral cavity by breathing on the earthen toad, whose skin is bactericidal. This helped create the drug bufarian just for the treatment of these diseases. The power of ancient Indian medicine is evidenced by this fact. If the Indians took on the treatment of wounds, after their treatment the wounds healed faster.

Mayan doctors succeeded in ancient healing, and at the same time they originated the medical division of labor that exists today. Some were traumatologists, others were dentists. It was somehow easier to eliminate external damage even with stone medical equipment, but it’s hard to imagine how it would be with teeth. Actually, this is what dentists do in many cases now: if a tooth hurts, then it must be pulled out!

The list of achievements of the ancient Indians is not exhausted by this list.