Maya and Aztec

Ancient Mesoamerican civilizations

Archives for the ‘Articles’ Category

Christopher Columbus. A weaver’s son who found America

Category: Articles

A large fleet of sixty boats left Carthage about 525 B. C. to explore the western coast of Africa. It was one of the first maritime expeditions in world history and since that time men never stopped exploring the earth. They charted continents and islands. They made their way into the jungle of Central Africa […]



Conquest of Yucatan. General information on the history of the Maya

Category: Maya

1511 – 20 people with Valdivia boarded a boat without a sail, escaping from sinking caravels and without supplies. They drifted 13 days in the sea. Reaching the coast of Yucatan, they fell into the hands of evil cacique, who sacrificed Valdivia and four men, and then hosted a feast of their bodies. Others were […]



Of the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica

Category: Olmec

Almost all of the world’s earliest civilizations have arisen in river valleys, and the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica was no exception. The Olmec heartland is a low lying, crescent-shaped area along Mexico’s Gulf Coast, about 200 km long and 100 km broad (at its widest point). Within this compact area is found the vast majority […]



General information on the history of the Maya. Postclassic period

Category: Maya

In the Postclassic period Mayan high culture is preserved only in the north of Yucatan, but in the synthesis of a completely different civilization – Toltec. Petén city and the mountains of Guatemala have come to desolation, and many were abandoned by residents, while others turned to the tiny hamlet. North of the Yucatan and […]



General information on the history of the Maya. Classical period

Category: Maya

Classical period lasts from 325 to 925 AD. It is divided into Early Classic (325-625 AD.) – when was stopped the outside influence and appeared own features, such as Cone arch in the architecture and registration of historical dates using hieroglyphs; period of the heyday (625-800 AD.), when was reached its maximum brightness in mathematics, […]



General information on the history of the Maya. Formation and Teotihuacan influence

Category: Maya

In ancient time there were various groups of maya that have a common historical tradition. In this regard, the characteristics of their cultures were similar, the physical features matched, and they spoke the languages belonging to the same linguistic branch.



Brief history of the Aztec Empire

Category: Aztec

In the period from 1068 to 1168 AD (Presumably in 1168) Chichimecas tribe left their legendary homeland – the island Aztlan (“the place where herons live”, “the place of herons”). The exact location of the island is unknown, but many researchers believe that it was somewhere in the northern Gulf of California. From the word […]



The Zapotecs and Mixtecs States

Category: Articles

The first evidence of human activity (economic) of the Zapotecs ancestors are found in the valley of Oaxaca, all sorts of bottles made from pumpkins, dated between 7400 and 6700 BC Between 7000 and 5000’s. BC there are the first agricultural crops, in particular, were found domestic corn (maize), the length of the cob reached […]



Toltec State

Category: Articles

In VIII – IX centuries Chichimecas began arriving in central Mexico – the barbarians who were at the lower level of development than the peoples conquered by them. Toltecs were also the newcomers Chichimecas and they came from somewhere of the north, from the place where now the Mexican state of Jalisco and Zacatecas. However, […]



History of the city Teotihuacan

Category: Articles

History of the city is divided into 6 phases, stages of development: Patlachique, Tzacualli, Miccaotli, Tlamimilolpa, Xolalpan and Metepec. This division is based on stratigraphic data and on the characteristics of ceramic styles of different time periods. However, we are not sure for the precise definition of temporal boundaries of these phases due to the […]