Introduction
It’s fascinating to observe the evolution of the architecture of many cultures as they progress and blend with other cultural influences.
Mayan, Aztec and Inca Architecture are all considered a part of the native Mesoamerican civilization from Mexico and Central America areas prior to the Spanish 16th-century conquests.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview the Architecture and Culture of the ancient Maya, Aztec and Inca civilizations.
Mayan Architecture and Culture
The most iconic Mayan architectural structures were the step style temple-pyramids, which were usually made from mounds of earth with mineral facing.
These structures were typically topped off with either a raised platform or temple which was restricted for use only by privileged society figures.
Their communities usually started as just ceremonial canters then evolved into impressive cities equipped with sacred temples, towering pyramids, grand palaces and plazas. They also incorporated ball courts for their favorite ball game.
The ancient Maya excavated building stones in vast quantities. They used stones such as limestone as their building stones and they used the more durable stones (chert) for cutting and breaking down the other stones. They also developed an elaborate and beautiful tradition of sculpture and relief carving.
The Maya Mesoamerican Indians have been known to occupy a continuous region of the southern parts of Mexico, Guatemala, as well as northern portions of Belize.
Prior to the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America, the Maya were considered as one of the most impressive civilizations of the entire Western Hemisphere.
They cultivated the lands with using skillful agriculture and slash-and-burn techniques, for the farming of maize (corn), squash and beans, then in later years manioc (cassava) was also grown. The most impressive agricultural technique was their sophisticated irrigation and terracing system.
Mayan religion was based on pantheism beliefs. They worshipped nature gods, such as the sun, moon, rain and also a corn god. They also had a priestly class that was responsible for their highly structured series of ceremonies and rituals.
The Mayan practice of mathematics and astronomy was another impressive development. They used the study of astronomy to produce an intricate calendar system which involved accurate determinations of daily and yearly cycles. These
Mayan astronomers also made a precise compilation of tables which can be used to determine positions for the Moon and Venus. They also had the ability to make accurate predictions, such as the occurrence of solar eclipses.
Aztec Architecture and Culture
The Aztec civilization occupied an immense mountainous region of approximately 3,000 square miles which consisted of precipitous elevations and valleys (7,000 feet above sea level). The adjacent areas ranged at an elevation limited to 18,000 feet in the volcano area of Popocatépetl.
The elevation and slopes combined with the climatic challenges caused a vast amount of agricultural issues which required varied innovations and techniques. The problems ranged from little or extreme precipitation, humidity, as well as severe frost. The sloping land also caused regular erosion issues.
Most of the fertile land was sloped, so level land was scarce. To make matters worse, the remaining square miles of somewhat level land consisted of chains of lakes with saturated shores.
As a result they had to devise techniques to allow them to coexist with these environmental issues.
They developed terraces that consisted of simple earth and maguey for the milder terrain and stone terracing for the steeper angled areas. They also devised canal irrigation systems to solve the humidity challenges and they resolved the frost issues with proper seasonal crop planning.
However, their most significant agricultural accomplishment was the system of swamp reclamation which made farming and colonization of the surrounding lake areas more possible. This agricultural technique used was called chinampa and is also popularly termed as "floating gardens" or artificial islands.
The technique involved the agricultural use of small, rectangular areas of fertile cultivatable land in the shallow lake beds. This impressive method of agriculture was extremely productive and yielded an average three crops per year which supplied the needs of the rural areas as well as the city of Tenochtitlán.
The construction and components are also very impressive. They usually ranged typically from 98 by 8 feet or longer in area. They consisted mainly of rectangular wattle fencing with layers made of mud, lake residue, decomposing vegetation and trees. The trees were used mainly as anchors on the corners of the chinampas. They often placed the chinampas far apart to create channels for the high traffic canoe activities.
For flood control, they constructed a series of stone based causeway dikes. These dikes combined with sluice gates allowed the Aztecs to convert a section of the large brackish waters of Lake Texcoco into a freshwater bay for additional chinampa development.
The various causeway dikes also served as interconnections for the mainland and the smaller rural lakeside settlements.
This basin was also rich with major resources which were unfortunately often exploited for other areas of civilization. For example, the northeastern area of the basin contained one of region’s most major deposits of Obsidian (a natural glass of volcanic origin). Obsidian was an excellent element for the manufacture of various stone tools. The pine trees in the forests from the higher elevations were used for lumber.
One of the most impressive architectural wonders of the Aztec civilization was the capital city of Tenochtitlán. It was considered as a gigantic metropolis than spanned for over five square miles.
However, it was initially two individual cities, Tlatelolco and Tenochtitlán, which were merged as one city after the Aztecs conquered Tlatelolco.
At first, they continued the division mainly for administrative reasons, however, growth and development made it difficult to maintain. As a result, Tenochtitlán was eventually divided into four great wards known as ‘calpulli’.
The combination of these chinampa villages, other lakeshore settlements and the actual city made Tenochtitlán the largest and most densely populated Meso-American society.
The urbanized area city population consisted of non-food-laborers, such as craftsmen, builders, business persons, religious figures, bureaucrats and warriors.
Aztec religious practices were sometimes considered elaborate and placed great emphasis on sacrifice and austere manners of conduct as the required prerequisite for approaching the paranormal state. The faction of gods required a great expert team of priests. As a matter of fact, each temple and god was equipped with its individual associate religious order.
Aztec religion was considered as syncretistic because it consisted of elements of other Mesoamerican religions and cultures especially with their cosmological beliefs. Their pantheon consisted of different gods of nature and a god of war (Huitzilopochtli). Human sacrifice and bloodletting were commonly practiced.
The Aztec calendar also had a correlation to their religious practices. The calendar shared some of the commonalities of most Mesoamerica cultures such as a solar year and a sacred year as well as the parallel two year cycles that produced the larger 52 year cycle.
The city consisted of hundreds of temples and associated religious structures.
“Tenochtitlan’s great temple complex of consisted of three large pyramid temples
(the principal temple platform, dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc,
was 100 feet high and measured 300 feet on a side at its base).
There were also six small pyramid temples,
three calmecac buildings (dormitories and colleges for priests),
a ball court, a great wooden rack for the skulls of sacrificed victims,
a sacred pool, a sacred grove, and several large open courts.
All of these structures were placed within a vast walled enclosure,
1,200 feet on a side. The temple complex at Tlatelolco was at least half as large.”- Britannica
Inca Architecture and Culture
The city of Machu Picchu is one of the greatest architectural marvels of the Inca Civilization and is considered as the lost city of the Incas. It’s located in the Andean mountain range overlooking the Urubamba valley and sits 7,500 feet above sea level.
The Inca capital city of Cuzco served as another architectural model of their design and engineering skills and techniques. One noticeable feature is the preciseness of the cut stones used in their construction.
The Inca culture was based on societal rankings and was emperor ruled with the aid of noble bureaucrats. This governmental structure often used more rigid and brutal methods of authority.
Although their construction methods seemed impressively innovative, their designs were not considered original. The designs of their temples, palaces, reinforcement and irrigation systems shared many similarities with other Mesoamerican civilizations.
They had an agriculture based economy which for the most part, made them self sufficient. They cultivated various types of staples such as corn (maize) and potatoes. They also raised animals such as, ducks, llamas and alpacas.
Houses were built out of stone or adobe mud walls with solid stone foundations and thatched roofs with wooden beams. The designs and layout varied, but most of these dwellings were rectangular. Curved walls and multi-level structures existed, but were not a common occurrence. The stone work in the city of Cuzco definitely serve as a testimony to the skillfulness and rigidity Incan masonry.
Another notable characteristic is the kancha, which is an enclosed rectangular area that houses three or more rectangle shaped buildings that surround a courtyard. Kancha units were used for various purposes and helped to form a backdrop for the layout of dwellings and also palaces and temples. The kancha was a common feature in Cuzco palaces and the Temple of the Sun (Qorikancha), however, the Inca settlement of Ollantaytambo (beside the Urubamba River) is home to one of the best kancha.
The Incas developed a widespread system of roadways which spanned throughout their empire. It consisted of two north–south roads with one running alongside the coast for about a 2,250 mile stretch. They also created inland interconnections equipped with tunnels and vine-supported suspension type bridges.
The Inca religion was a combination of animism, fetishism, and pantheism. Their pantheon was headed by Inti, the sun god, a creator god and culture hero, Viracocha, and the rain god Apu Illapu.
Inca Empire enforced their religion as a highly structured state religion, but, seemed to tolerate other native religions. They believed in divinity and also practiced the sacrifice of humans and animals.