Architecture of Mesoamerica

Imagine this; you are a child filled with curiosity. The world around you is rich in history, technology and art. The buildings around you reach far into the sky and you wonder where it began. This curiosity led me to wonder about different buildings of an earlier time. Not only do structures of previous time periods intrigue me, but the history of the people behind them. When envisioning earlier structures; the pyramids of Egypt are what come to mind. For me, I wanted to look into the other architectures of our world history. The groups of people in the America's, are taught in history classrooms, but not the structures that they built. So, this story is a dual journey of learning, and of time travel. Let me take you on a trip through time, to experience the awe-inspiring Maya, Aztec, and Inca people.

INTRODUCING THE MAYA: To begin telling their story of Architecture, I thought it would be best to start with an origin story. Oral traditions were the original way to share knowledge and pass down cultural history to future generations. Thus, I believe it is important to do some background exploring.

So now that you have heard a Maya origin story, I'd like to discuss who the Maya are. According to one source "the Maya are a group of people who spoke a related language in a large area of Mesoamerica" (Encylopedia of pre-colonial latin America). Geographically the location of land that the maya occupied spanned from what is known as the "Modern countries of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador" (Graeber &Wengrow). With such a wide range of land, diversity within the maya language was common, and according to the encyclopedia of pre-colonial Latin America, There's an estimated 30 or more different Mayan languages. This variety within the Maya people is also shared with some of the environmental climates, and architectural aspects.

FIRST LET'S LOOK AT THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE MAYA.

Now that I've illustrated the differences in environments that the Maya people populated, I'd like dive into the architectural aspects of the maya people. According to my source "Maya ceremonial centers", There has been over 100 ceremonial centers that have been located and studied that date to the classic maya period (200 A.D-1200.) My source makes the claim that "all maya centers display similar patterns of temples, monuments and courtyards, but no identical pattern of likeness" (Orientation of Maya Ceremonial Centers.) This information could compliment the theory that "Immigrants from Teotihuacan or from other places-built temples in Maya cities" (Graeber &Wengrow). The fact that there are similarities in architectural structures of the maya, but they aren't identical, also further aligns with the theory of royal foreigners.

When you hear about the maya, topics such as "topography, water bodies, roads, defense necessities, old land use patterns, politico-economic considerations, astronomical factors, climate elements, esthetic & religious influences" are quite often brought up (Maya Ceremonial Centers). One thing that has been deemed to be true of the maya is that their use of mathematics, astronomy, planning, and architecture was certainly amazing.

SOURING TO ARCHITECTUAL BRILLANCE.

Now that we've finished articulating the architecture of the maya people, I would like to move onwards to the Aztec. Before speaking about the Aztec, or their architectural Structures, I want to start with a map visual that illustrates the location of the Aztec.

A BACKGROUND ON THE AZTEC: It is said that sometime around 1150 A.D a group of people referred to as the Mexica migrated from a place called the Atzlan (Graeber & Wengrow), to Tenochtitlan, where they built their city off the layout of Teohuacan. According to sources "this state organization was created and maintained, in part, by military force and a religious cosmology pervaded by themes of competition, conflict, agricultural regeneration, warfare, and the ritual killing of gods and men." (Encylopedia of religion).

There are some striking differences that seperates the Maya & The Aztec. Although the Maya participated in Human Sacrifice, it was not on the scale of the Aztec. The Aztec Empire focused on human Sacrifice on such a large scale that it's one of the most known aspects of the Aztec.

TURNING THE PAGE: WELCOMING THE INCA.

Just like I did with the Maya, I'd like to start by providing An Inca Origin story. I believe these oral traditions introduce an intriguing perspective of the Inca people.

Sited by Graeber & Wendrow to be "an upside-down (To European eyes) political world, sitting atop the Andean Cordillera, was the super Kingdom of Tawantinsuyu. Tawantinsuyu refers to the 4 administrative units of the Sapa's Inca Domain." The Inca's capital was Cuzco, and the Inca spread through the lands across south America, from "Quito to Santiago." The Inca consisted of more than 80 provinces and countless ethnic groups. Despite The Inca's geographic size, many of the Inca's villages remained in a stance of self-governing. These forms of governing were "Collective associations called the ayullu." (Graeber & Wendrow.) According to another source "The imperial Inca state was essentially a theocracy, with the Inca ruler claiming divine descent from the sun, must be born in mind" (Bray).

A look at Inca Architecture, & Geography.

 ^{The one thing that all three Meso-American populations have in common was their ability to create unbelievable complex structures that have ties to mathematics, astronomy, rituals, and architecture.}