The most ancient civilization of pre-Columbian America was culture. Pre-Columbian Civilizations of the Americas

Civilization of pre-Columbian Inca America

Introduction

Scientists are deeply engaged in the study of the three most striking civilizations, whose history goes back hundreds of years - these are the ancient civilizations of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans.

Each of these civilizations left for us a lot of evidence of its existence, by which we can judge the era of their heyday and the sudden decline or partial disappearance altogether.

Each culture carries a huge cultural layer studied and still being studied, expressed in the works of architecture, writing, in the remains of handicraft art, as well as in the language that has come down to us.

But the fate of these cultures is only a preface to a huge book, all the pages of which, it would seem, have long been torn out and lost. What was before the great ancient American states, ruthlessly conquered by the Spaniards? What kind of peoples inhabited America before the same Incas or Aztecs?

Faced every time with the ancient culture of Latin America and not infrequently with the modern one, we find a lot of interesting things in it and even more unsolved and surrounded by a halo of mysticism. What is one myth about the fabulous country "El dorado". Many fragments of the distant era of the existence of the civilizations of the Incas, Aztecs and Mayans, unfortunately, have been lost forever, but there remains much that we are in direct contact with, but it also gives us ways to unravel a lot, sometimes inexplicable, to us, modern people, regarding art in general those distant worlds.

The problem of studying these ancient cultures, until recently, was that Lat herself was "closed to the eyes and minds of scientists all over the world". America. With great obstacles and intervals in the breaks, excavations and searches for architectural treasures have been and are being carried out. Only recently, with the exception of literary information, has access been expanded to territories and places associated with the habitation of ancient tribes and peoples on them.

Among the ancient civilizations of America, the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas can be distinguished. The roots of these great civilizations are lost in the mists of time. Much remains unknown about them, but it is known that they have reached a high level of development. Maya, Aztecs and Incas had great achievements in astronomy, medicine, mathematics, architecture and road construction.

History of the Inca Civilization

The Incas (more correctly, the Inca) are the creators of one of the oldest civilizations in South America. Originally an Indian tribe of the Quechua language family, who lived in the 11th-13th centuries on the territory of modern Peru, later the dominant layer, as well as the supreme ruler in the state of Tahuantinsuyu formed by them (XV century). They achieved a highly developed social order without even mastering the wheel. A highly developed system of roads helped maintain the integrity of the geographically extended state. The Incas performed complex surgical operations and mastered the art of mummification. They built stone structures without the use of cement, while their buildings withstood such earthquakes that the later Spanish buildings collapsed to the foundation. And yet, having a powerful centralized state, they were conquered by a small handful of Spaniards.

The history of the Incas begins with a legend that was passed from mouth to mouth among the Incas - once the first Inca - Manco Capac and his sister-wife Mama Oclio, fulfilling the sacred will of their great father the Sun-Inca, came out of the waters of the protected Lake Titicaca to create a huge country , where they will worship their divine father, who gave them a magic wand, which was supposed to find the best place to build a city that would become the capital of a new great empire. Empires of the Sun.

That is how, from the legendary first Inca, the son of the Sun, the dynasty of Inca rulers began, each of which was expanding the limits of the empire. There are twelve successors of the legendary first Inca. Their reign lasted almost two hundred years, until the Inca Pachacuti appeared on the horizon of history, according to the biography, one could safely write novels and stage feature films. He was the youngest son of the governor - the Incas of the city of Cuzco. It is with him that the creation of a new history of the Incas is connected - according to legend, Pacachouli ordered the destruction of all previous "documents" as unworthy of the great Inca empire. Many even translate his name - Pacachouli - as the Inca name "The end of the old and the beginning of a new era", and everything that the previous Incas did before that, almost completely sunk into oblivion, we are left with only the names of dates and legends that have come down through third hands. But, as a compensation for the lost history, Pacachouli ordered that all his deeds be recorded in detail. So did all his successors in the future.

In the retelling of his descendants, whose blood had already mingled with the noble Spanish, gradually giving rise to a new nation, in 1438, the first year of his reign, the Inca Empire found a new capital and a new history. The empire even got a new position of official historian - it usually became one of the relatives of the ruler, carefully, with zeal, describing his new campaigns and victorious battles. It was then that the Inca army began to capture the shores of Lake Titicaca. The Incas took possession of thousands of herds of llamas and alpacas. It was not only meat, but also transport and clothing. It is no coincidence that Pacachouli declared these herds the property of the ruler. This was the beginning of the Golden Age of the Incas.

After his death, he was replaced on the throne by his son, the Inca Tupac Yupanqui, who became a great military leader and a successful conquering emperor. He was replaced by his nephew, Huayna Capac. It was these three Inca rulers who created the great Inca empire, on the lands of which more than ten million people lived. In the period of its short heyday, it surpassed in military power the glorified Roman Empire.

The Incas were smart rulers who planned their actions decades in advance. So the seizure of the territories of neighbors was as bloodless as possible, without massacres and conflagrations. The Incas were even careful about their future potential possessions, preferring, unlike the Spaniards, living villagers to devastated desert lands.

The Incas did not have money, and therefore the state took over all the care of warehouses with food and clothing, putting on its shoulders the need to supply subjects in time with everything necessary for life in all secluded corners of this vast empire. And the Incas really succeeded in this, even ordinary inhabitants of the empire were never left without food and clothing during crop failures. In the Inca Empire, there were special reserves - in case of war, crop failure, natural disasters, and even to help the poor, the elderly and the crippled. In special vaults, stocks of maize, clothes, weapons and much more lay for decades to come. Stocks that the Incas never had time to use and which mostly went to the ungrateful Spaniards. The Incas even had a semblance of a future science of statistics - the entire population was divided into age groups, and the load on each was calculated, corresponding to its capabilities.

The Inca Empire combined such seemingly incompatible things as the deification of the Great Inca and some rules of socialism, iron discipline reigned in the state - work was mandatory, everyone had to work. Even all sowing and harvesting began with the personal example of the great Inca in Cusco. To perform heavy work (in mines, planting coca and public construction) and service in the Inca army, a special compulsory service called mita was appointed. It was carried by healthy men in the prime of life, and it lasted three months a year.

When the supreme Inca, a descendant of the "divine sun", died, according to tradition, his body was embalmed and the mummy was left in his palace. The new ruler was forced to build a new palace for himself, and only his sister could be the lawful wife of the supreme Inca, and all the other hundreds of his women were only concubines, of which the young beautiful virgins, the “brides of the Sun”, were considered the most beautiful. To select them, a special government official traveled even to the most remote places of the empire, choosing among the ten-year-old most beautiful and most perfect girls, who were then taught the art of cooking for four years, and then the best of the girls were again chosen, who became the “brides of the sun”. They had to keep their virginity, which "had the right to violate" only the great Inca himself.

The trouble that destroyed the empire came from within - when the ruler Huayn Capac suddenly died, his eldest legitimate son Huascar took the throne. But in another city, his half-brother Atahualpa craved power, and in the struggle for the throne of the Incas, more than 150 thousand people died, most of the relatives of both rulers were destroyed and the best commanders were killed. And then the last ruler of the great Inca empire, Atahualpa, was captured by a detachment of Francisco Pissarro. The emperor of a great empire was captured by a ruthless man who until recently was the despised illiterate simple Spanish swineherd. And this man managed to outwit the ruler of almost the entire continent, forcing him to pay a monstrous ransom, but taking the gold, Pissarro nevertheless broke his word and “condemned” the Inca ruler, who had already become unnecessary, to death.

Magnificent, having no similar in craftsmanship and design, gold jewelry from the received ransom was melted down. The Indians again and again rose to fight the strangers - but now everything was useless. When some of them fought the Spaniards, other tribes and cities helped the Spaniards, hoping with the help of someone else's unprecedented weapons and terrifying horses to seize the throne of the great Inca and destroy competitors, to avenge their murdered relatives. Settlement of accounts between the Incas went too far - no one believed anyone. Many Inca leaders in the fight against the Spaniards turned out to be capable students - they began to adopt their tactics. So, having beaten off the horses from the Spaniards, the Indians started their cavalry and even artillery, forcing the captured Spaniards to shoot from their relatives' cannons. But this could no longer help - too many greedy strangers ended up on the land of the Incas. So in a few decades the great Inca empire became only history.

Even before the rise of the Incas to their power, several other cultures flourished in the vast Andean region. The first hunters and fishermen appeared here at least 12,000 years ago, and by 3000 BC. e. fishing villages strewn all this waterless coast. In the fertile valleys at the foot of the Andes and green oases in the desert, small rural communities arose.

Thousands of years later, larger social groups of people penetrated deep into the territory. Having overcome the high mountain peaks, they began to settle on the eastern slopes of the range, using the same irrigation methods that they had developed on the coast to irrigate their fields and harvest. Settlements sprang up around the temple complexes, and artisans produced increasingly sophisticated pottery and textiles.

Archaeologists classify the products of Andean artisans according to the time and geographical period of their distribution. For this, the term "horizons" is used to identify the main stages of stylistic uniformity, violated by some features, from the point of view of aesthetics and technology.

Early horizon: 1400-400 AD BC.

Early Intermediate Period: 400 BC - 550 AD

Middle horizon: 550-900 AD AD

Late Intermediate Period: 900-1476 AD

Early colonial period: 1532 - 1572 AD

Fall of the Inca Empire

Francisco Pissarro arrived in America in 1502 in search of fortune. For seven years he served in the Caribbean, participating in military campaigns against the Indians.

In 1524, Pissarro, together with Diego de Almagro and the priest Hernando de Luque, organized an expedition to the undiscovered territories of South America. But its participants fail to find anything interesting.

In 1526, a second expedition took place, during which Pissarro exchanged gold from local residents. During this expedition, three Incas were captured by the Spaniards in order to make translators out of them. This expedition turned out to be very difficult, and illness and hunger fell to their lot.

In 1527, Pissarro entered the Inca city of Tumbes. From the locals, he learns about the large amount of gold and silver decorating gardens and temples in the depths of their lands. Realizing that military forces are needed to obtain these riches, Pissarro travels to Spain and turns to Charles V for help. He talks about the countless treasures of the Incas, which can be quite easy to get. Charles V gives Pissarro the title of governor and captain of the governor of all the lands that he manages to conquer and control.

Even before the Spanish conquest began, the Incas suffered from the arrival of Europeans on their continent. Smallpox mowed down entire families among the natives who did not have immunity to it.

Around the same time, Huayna Capaca (Sapa Inca) dies. The highest state position should go to one of the sons from the main wife. The one of the sons who, in the opinion of the monarch, could better cope with the duties was chosen. In Cusco, the capital of the Incas, the nobility proclaims the new Sapa Inca - Huascara, which means "sweet hummingbird".

The problem was that the previous Sapa Inca spent the last years of his life in Quito. As a result, most of the court lived in Quito. The city developed into a second capital, dividing the tribal chiefs into two rival factions. The army stationed in Quito gave preference to another son of Huayna Capac - Atahualpa, which means "wild turkey" in translation. He spent most of his life next to his father on the battlefield. He was a man of sharp mind. Later, the Spaniards marveled at the speed with which he mastered the game of chess. At the same time, he was merciless, as evidenced by the fear of the courtiers to incur his wrath.

Atahualpa showed loyalty to the new Sapa Inca. But he refused to come to his brother's court, perhaps fearing that Huascar saw him as a dangerous rival. In the end, Sapa Inca demanded the presence of his brother by his side at court. Refusing the invitation, Atahualpa sent ambassadors in his place with expensive gifts. Huascar, perhaps under the influence of courtiers hostile to his brother, tortured his brother's men. After killing them, he sent his army to Quito, ordering Atahualpa to be brought by force to Cuzco. Atahualpa called his loyal warriors to arms.

The armies of Cuzco at first even managed to capture a recalcitrant brother. But he managed to escape and join his own. In battle, Atahualpa defeated those who captured him. Huascar urgently gathers a second army and sends it to his brother. The poorly trained recruits were no match for Atahualpa's veterans, and were defeated in two days' fighting.

As a result, Atahualpa captures Huascar and triumphantly enters Cuzco, after which a brutal massacre was committed against the wives, friends and advisers of the unfortunate brother.

In 1532, Pissarro and Almagro returned to Tumbes, along with 160 well-armed adventurers. On the site of the once flourishing city, they found only ruins. It suffered greatly from the epidemic, and then from the civil war. For five months, Pissarro moved along the coast, plundering imperial warehouses along the way.

As a result, Pissarro goes to the court of Atahualpa. Nine of his men, frightened by the prospect of being in mountainous terrain, turned back in Inca territory.

The Spaniards were surprised by the roads of the Incas, paved with stone slabs, with trees planted along the edges, creating a shadow, as well as canals lined with stone.

Learning about the movement of white people within his country, Atahualpa invites them to visit him. From the words of the ambassador, he understood that the Spaniards looked and were friendly. During a meeting with the ambassador, Pissarro made gifts to the monarch and talked a lot about peace.

Pissarro placed his men in an open area, in the main square of the city of Cajamarck. He sent Hernando de Soto to pay his respects to Atahualpa, so that he tried to seduce him with his offer to meet in person.

Atahualpa reproached the Spaniards for plundering his warehouses and for neglecting some of the Indians on the coast. To which the Spaniards began to praise their martial art and offered to use their services. Atahualpa agrees to pay a visit to Pissarro in Cajamarca.

During this meeting, Hernando de Soto, wanted to scare Atahualpa and almost ran into him on his horse, stopping in close proximity to him, so that drops of the saliva of the horse fell on the clothes of the Inca. But Atahualpa did not flinch. He later ordered the execution of those courtiers who showed fear.

Pissarro, following the example of Cortes, who conquered the mighty Aztec empire by kidnapping the emperor, began to prepare his ambush.

During the night, Atahualpa sent 5,000 warriors to block the road north of Cajamarca. According to the plan he developed, as he later admitted to the Spaniards, he wanted to capture Pissarro and all his warriors alive in order to sacrifice the god of the Sun - Inti, and leave their horses for breeding.

At dawn, Pissarro posted his men in the buildings around the square. The wait was agonizing for the Spaniards, as the tenfold numerical superiority of the Incas frightened and overwhelmed. Later, as one of the eyewitnesses admitted, "many Spaniards unconsciously urinated in their pants because of the horror that bound them."

At sunset, the imperial procession approached the square. Atahualpa was carried by 80 servants on a wooden stretcher, inlaid with gold and decorated on all sides with parrot feathers. The monarch, dressed in robes with gold threads and all in jewelry, sat holding a golden shield with the heraldic image of the Sun in his hands. There were also dancers and accompanying musicians. His retinue numbered more than 5,000 soldiers (the main forces, about 80,000 soldiers, were outside the city). They all came unarmed.

In the square they saw only one Dominican monk in a cassock with a cross in one and a Bible in the other hand. The Royal Council in Spain decided that the pagans should be given the opportunity to accept Christianity voluntarily, without bloodshed, and the conquistadors decided not to violate the letter of the law. The monk explained the meaning of the Christian faith to the ruler of the Incas, and the interpreter explained to him that he was asked to accept the religion of strangers. “You say that your God accepted death,” Atahualpa answered, “but mine still lives,” he emphasized, pointing to the sun creeping beyond the horizon.

Atahualpa picked up the prayer book that was held out to him. As far as he understood, the Spaniards valued this thing in the same way as the Indians "huaca", a talisman in which the spirit of the gods was found. But this object seemed like a toy to him compared to their huge stone "huaca", which was worshiped by the Incas, so he threw it on the ground. According to eyewitnesses, after that the monk turned to Pissarro and said to him and his people: "You can attack them after this. I forgive you all your sins in advance."

Pissarro gave the signal to attack. Two cannons fired a volley into the crowd of Indians. Spanish horsemen, fully armed, left the buildings and attacked the unarmed Inca warriors. They were followed by the sound of trumpets infantry with a battle cry - "Santiago!" (the name of the saint helping, according to the Spaniards, to defeat the enemy).

It was a brutal massacre of unarmed Indians. Pissarro with difficulty pulled Atahualpa out of her. Within a few hours, 6,000 Inca warriors perished in and around Cajamarca, but not a single Spaniard was killed. Among the few wounded was Pissarro himself, who was wounded by his own soldier when he tried to break through to the royal enemy in order to capture him alive.

Many researchers have tried to understand why Atahualpa made such a fatal mistake by going out to the Spaniards with unarmed soldiers. Perhaps the leader did not even consider such an option for the course of events, when such a small detachment would try to attack his huge army. Or he believed in the speech of the Spaniards about the world.

In captivity, Atahualpa was allowed to retain all royal privileges. All his wives and servants were near him. The nobles came to him and carried out his orders. In less than a month, he learned to speak Spanish and even write a little.

Realizing that white people were attracted by gold, he decided to pay off, offering for his freedom to fill the rooms in which he was staying with gold, and also to "stuff an Indian hut with silver" twice. Instead of releasing Atahualpa with such a proposal, he signed his death warrant. By ordering to break all the gold in Cuzco, and delivering it to the Spaniards, he only ignited their passion for the precious metal. At the same time, fearing that his brother would be able to offer even more gold for his freedom, he ordered his execution. The Incas did not perceive gold and silver as something valuable. For them, it was just beautiful metal. They called gold "sweat of the sun" and silver "tears of the moon". For them, fabrics were valuable, as it took a lot of time to make them.

The Spaniards began to suspect that Atahualpa was plotting against them. This gave rise to panic fear in their ranks. Pissarro for a long time resisted the mood of his compatriots. But in the end, the panic broke his resolute attitude.

Atahualpa began to realize the inevitability of his death. His religion guaranteed him eternal life if the rite was properly performed.

At a meeting of the council, headed by Pissarro himself, it was decided to burn Atahualpa. When the Spaniards informed the leader of their decision, he burst into tears. The destruction of the body meant the deprivation of immortality.

The monk, before his death, once again tried to convert the pagan to the Christian faith. Realizing that if he converted to Christianity, he would not be burned, but strangled with a garrote (a hoop with a screw to slowly strangle the victim), he agreed to undergo an initiation ceremony, assuming that the body would be handed over to the people for mummification. But the Spaniards deceived him here too. After the chief was strangled, they burned his clothes and part of his body at the stake. The rest they buried in the ground.

Pissarro understood what benefits a local ruler under Spanish control promised him. He opted for Huayna Capac's son, Manco Inca. When the Spaniards arrived in Cuzco, they were greeted as well-wishers who restored the legitimate ruling branch of the Incas, although all the mummies were securely hidden before their appearance.

The conquistadors were not distinguished by generosity and in every possible way humiliated Manco, showing a disregard for the customs of the Incas. The worst happened when Pissarro traveled to the ocean coast to establish a new capital, Limo. He left his brothers Gonzalo and Juan in charge. Gonzalo treated Manco with undisguised contempt. Having kidnapped his beloved wife, he abused her.

The atrocities perpetrated by the Spaniards led to the fact that Manco flatly refused to cooperate and attempted to leave Cuzco. The Spaniards returned him to the capital in chains. In conclusion, they were subjected to various kinds of humiliation.

As a result, Manco persuades one of Francisco's brothers, Hernando, who had recently arrived in Cusco from Spain, to release him temporarily from prison so that he could pray in the sanctuary, for which he promised to give a golden statue depicting his father. As soon as Manco got out of Cuzco, he called on his people to revolt. The matter ended with the siege of Cusco, which lasted almost a whole year. During this siege, there were traitors among the Indians both in Cuzco and beyond, who secretly carried food to the invaders. Among them were even relatives of Manco himself, who feared reprisal for their former support for the Europeans by the new ruler. The hopelessness of the siege became clear when reinforcements arrived from Spain. Some supporters of Manco even broke away from him, realizing that a good moment had been lost.

After the failure of the siege of Cuzco, Manco took 20,000 of his compatriots with him into the dense jungle. There they built the new city of Vilcabamba in a short time. It covered an area of ​​about two square miles and consisted of about three hundred houses and sixty monumental structures. There were convenient roads and canals.

From this city, the Incas sometimes raided the conquerors, attacking outposts. In 1572, the Spaniards decided to do away with this last stronghold, as evidence of the former power of the natives. When they reached Vilcabamba, they found only deserted ruins on the site of the city. The defenders, before leaving the city, burned it. The Spaniards continued the pursuit, penetrating further and further into the jungle. As a result, they captured the last leader of the Incas, Tupac Amaru. He was brought to Cusco and beheaded in the town square. Thus ended the dynasty of the Inca rulers.

The result of the fifty-year stay of the Spaniards was the reduction of the indigenous population - by three quarters. Many died from diseases brought from the Old World, and many from hard labor.

Huge amounts of gold and silver were exported to Spain. Art objects, as a rule, were melted down before export. The most beautiful products were delivered to the court of Charles V, then they were put on public display in Seville. When Charles began to lack funds for military campaigns, these outstanding works of Inca art were ordered to be melted down.

Conclusion

Studying the Incas, their culture, it becomes clear and visible the richness of their traditions and the solidity of the experience they have accumulated over the period of their existence.

And yet it is worth thinking deeply about who the Incas are? Relying on the fact that scientists of the world cannot give a clear answer to many phenomena of this ancient civilization, and most importantly, they cannot explain the level of its development at that time. In fact, it is surprising that in an era when Europe only dreamed of many discoveries in the field of various sciences, there, on the American continent, such civilizations already existed that had long since stepped over the barrier of many scientific achievements and developed at a much faster pace than Europe did it. It is also noteworthy that in the world of the ancient civilizations of America, the primitiveness of morals bordered on extraordinary awareness in many sciences, the appearance of many of which in a society of this type did not fit at all in the minds of the minds of the then Europeans, and by the way, even now it is even more difficult for us to understand this paradox of the ancients. civilizations.

A person is always driven by a feeling of lack of knowledge, and he will never stop in the study of various phenomena if there is at least one drop of incomprehensible left. Apparently this is the nature of the human mind.

The insufficiency of real evidence and explanations of certain phenomena of ancient culture by itself gives rise to more and more research searches towards the subject of study, because it cannot be otherwise.

The ancient civilizations of America remain a storehouse of knowledge for all areas of the scientific world. Ethnographers find for themselves a lot of little-studied or not studied at all tribes and peoples living in remote areas of the Amazon basin. Historians and archaeologists, through archaeological finds and other evidence, are discovering for themselves and for the world unknown episodes in the history of the ancient world of America. Evidence of this is the fact of the attention of scientists and the pilgrimage of tourists to the cities of Machu Picchu and Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire.

Bibliography

For the preparation of this work, materials from the site were used. /archive/history.alltheuniverse/

Introduction - - - - - - - 1

History of the Inca Civilization - - - - - - - 2

1. Early horizon: 1400 - 400 AD BC. - - - - - - - 5

   Early Intermediate Period: 400 BC - 550 AD - - - - - - - 6

   Middle horizon: 550 - 900 AD AD . - - - - - - - 7

   Late Intermediate Period (coastal): 900 - 1476 AD - - - - - - 8

   Late Intermediate Period (mountainous areas): 900 - 1476 AD - - - - - 9

   Late horizon: 1476 - 1532 AD - - - - - - - 10

   Early colonial period: 1532 - 1572 AD - - - - - - - 11

Inca army- - - - - - - 12

Religion - - - - - - - 13

1. Hierarchy of the clergy among the Incas - - - - - - - 13

   Theology rooted in the natural history of the world - - - - - - - 15

   Reverence for the "living" stone - - - - - - - 16

   The art of working with metal - - - - - - - 17

Fall of the Inca Empire - - - - - - - 18

Conclusion - - - - - - - 23

Bibliography - - - - - - - 24

Mesoamerica in the classical era.

The territory on which the Mayan civilization developed was once occupied by the modern southern Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche and Yucatan, the Petén department in Northern Guatemala, Belize and part of Western El Salvador and Honduras. The southern borders of the Maya possessions were closed by the mountain ranges of Guatemala and Honduras. Three-quarters of the Yucatan Peninsula is surrounded by sea, and the land approaches to it from Mexico were blocked by the endless swamps of Chiapas and Tabasco. The Mayan territory is distinguished by an extraordinary variety of natural conditions, but nature has never been too generous to man here. Each step on the way to civilization went to the ancient inhabitants of these places with great difficulty and required the mobilization of all the human and material resources of society.

The history of the Maya can be divided into three major eras in accordance with the most important changes in the economy, social institutions and culture of local tribes: Paleo-Indian (10000-2000 BC); archaic (2000-100 BC or 0) and the era of civilization (100 BC or 0 - XVI century AD). These eras, in turn, are divided into smaller periods and stages. The initial stage of the classical Maya civilization falls approximately at the turn of our era (1st century BC - 1st century AD). The upper border belongs to the 9th century. AD

The earliest traces of human presence in the area of ​​distribution of the Maya culture were found in central Chiapas, mountainous Guatemala and part of Honduras (X millennium BC).

At the turn of III and II millennia BC. in these mountainous regions, early agricultural cultures of the Neolithic type appear, the basis of which was maize agriculture.

At the very end of the II - the beginning of the I millennium BC. The development of the Mayan tribes of the tropical jungle begins. Separate attempts to settle on the fertile, game-rich lands of the plains were made before, but the mass colonization of these areas began precisely from that time.

At the end of the II millennium BC. the milp (slash-and-burn) system of agriculture is finally taking shape, progressive changes are observed in the production of ceramics, house-building and other areas of culture. Based on these achievements, the tribes of the mountain Maya gradually mastered the forest lowlands of Peten, eastern Chiapas, Yucatan and Belize. Their general direction of movement was from west to east. In the course of their advance into the interior of the jungle, the Maya used the most advantageous directions and routes, and above all the river valleys.

By the middle of the 1st millennium BC. the colonization of most of the plains of the jungle was completed, after which the development of culture here proceeded quite independently.

At the end of the 1st millennium BC. Qualitative changes are taking place in the culture of the plains of the Maya: palace complexes appear in cities, former sanctuaries and light small temples turn into monumental stone structures, all the most important palace and religious architectural complexes stand out from the general mass of buildings and are located in the central part of the city on special elevated and fortified places, writing and a calendar are being formed, painting and monumental sculpture are developing, magnificent burials of rulers with human sacrifices appear inside the temple pyramids.

The formation of statehood and civilization in the flat forest zone was accelerated by a significant influx of people from the south from the mountainous regions, where, as a result of the eruption of the Ilopango volcano, most of the land was covered with a thick layer of volcanic ash and turned out to be uninhabitable. The southern (mountainous) region, apparently, gave a powerful impetus to the development of the Mayan culture in the Central region (Northern Guatemala, Belize, Tabasco and Chiapas in Mexico). Here the Mayan civilization reached the peak of its development in the 1st millennium AD.

The economic base of the Mayan culture was slash-and-burn maize agriculture. Milp farming consists of clearing, burning, and planting a patch of rainforest. Due to the rapid depletion of the soil, after two or three years, the site must be abandoned and a new one must be sought. The main agricultural tools of the Maya were: a digging stick, an ax and a torch. Through long-term experiments and selection, local farmers have managed to develop hybrid high-yielding varieties of the main agricultural plants - maize, legumes and pumpkins. The manual technique of processing a small forest area and the combination of crops of several crops on one field made it possible to maintain fertility for a long time and did not require frequent change of plots. Natural conditions (soil fertility and abundance of heat and moisture) allowed Mayan farmers to collect here an average of at least two crops per year.

In addition to fields in the jungle, near each Indian dwelling there was a personal plot with vegetable gardens, groves of fruit trees, etc. The latter (especially breadfruit "ramon") did not require any care, but provided a significant amount of food.

The successes of ancient Maya agriculture were largely associated with the creation by the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. a clear and harmonious agricultural calendar that strictly regulates the timing and sequence of all agricultural work.

In addition to slash-and-burn, the Maya were familiar with other forms of agriculture. In the south of Yucatan and Belize, on the slopes of high hills, agricultural terraces were found with a special system of soil moisture. In the Candelaria River basin (Mexico), there was an agricultural system reminiscent of the "floating gardens" of the Aztecs. This so-called "raised fields", which have almost inexhaustible fertility. The Maya also had a fairly extensive network of irrigation and drainage canals. The latter removed excess water from swampy areas, turning them into fertile fields suitable for cultivation.

The canals built by the Maya simultaneously collected and brought rainwater into artificial reservoirs, served as an important source of animal protein (fish, waterfowl, freshwater edible mollusks), were convenient ways of communication and delivery of heavy loads on boats and rafts.

The craft of the Maya is represented by ceramic production, weaving, the production of stone tools and weapons, jade jewelry, and construction. Ceramic vessels with polychrome painting, graceful figured vessels, jade beads, bracelets, diadems and figurines are evidence of the high professionalism of Mayan artisans.

In the classical period, the Maya developed trade. Imported Mayan ceramics of the 1st millennium AD. discovered by archaeologists in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Strong trade ties were established with Teotihuacan. In this vast city, a large number of shards of Mayan ceramics and carved jade gizmos were found. Here was a whole quarter of Mayan traders, with their dwellings, warehouses of goods and sanctuaries. A similar quarter of Teotihuacan traders existed in one of the largest Mayan cities of the 1st millennium AD. Tikal. In addition to land trade, maritime transport routes were also used (images of dugout rowing boats are quite common in the works of art of the ancient Maya, starting at least from the 7th century AD).

The centers of the Mayan civilization were numerous cities. The largest of them were Tikal, Palenque, Yaxchilan, Naranjo, Piedras Negras, Copan, Quirigua, and others. All these names are late. The original names of the cities are still unknown (the exception is Naranjo, which is identified with the Jaguar's Ford fortress, known from the inscription on a clay vase).

Architecture in the central part of any major Mayan city of the 1st millennium AD. represented by pyramidal hills and platforms of various sizes and heights. On their flat tops there are stone buildings: temples, residences of the nobility, palaces. Buildings were surrounded by massive rectangular squares, which were the main planning unit in Mayan cities. Ordinary dwellings were built of wood and clay under roofs of dry palm leaves. All residential buildings stood on low (1-1.5 m) platforms lined with stone. Usually residential and auxiliary buildings form groups located around an open rectangular patio. Such groups were the habitat of a large patriarchal family. In the cities there were markets and craft workshops (for example, for processing flint and obsidian). The location of a building within the city was determined by the social status of its inhabitants.

A significant group of the population of the Maya cities (the ruling elite, officials, warriors, artisans and merchants) was not directly connected with agriculture and existed at the expense of a vast agricultural district, which supplied it with all the necessary agricultural products and mainly maize.

The nature of the socio-political structure of Maya society in the classical era cannot yet be unambiguously determined. It is clear that, at least in the period of its highest prosperity (7th-8th centuries AD), the Mayan social structure was quite complex. Along with the bulk of community farmers, there was nobility (its layer was made up of priests), artisans and professional merchants stood out. The presence of a number of rich burials in rural settlements testifies to the heterogeneity of the rural community. However, it is too early to judge how far this process has gone.

At the head of the hierarchical social system was the deified ruler. The Mayan rulers always emphasized their connection with the gods and performed, in addition to their main (secular) functions, a number of religious ones. They not only had power during their lifetime, but were revered by the people even after their death. In their activities, the rulers relied on the secular and spiritual nobility. From the first formed the administrative apparatus. Despite the fact that little is known about the organization of Mayan administration in the classical period, the presence of a control apparatus is undoubted. This is indicated by the regular planning of Mayan cities, an extensive irrigation system and the need for strict regulation of agricultural labor. The latter was the task of the priests. Any violation of the sacred order was regarded as blasphemy, and the violator could end up on the sacrificial altar.

Like other ancient societies, the Maya had slaves. They were used for various household chores, worked in the gardens and plantations of the nobility, served as porters on the roads and rowers on merchant boats. However, it is unlikely that the proportion of slave labor was significant.

After the 6th century AD in the Mayan cities there is a consolidation of the system of power based on the rules of inheritance, i.e. dynastic regime is established. But in many ways, the classical city-states of the Maya remained "chiefdoms" or "chiefdoms". The power of their hereditary rulers, although sanctioned by the gods, was limited - limited by the size of the territories controlled, the number of people and resources in these territories, and the comparative underdevelopment of the bureaucratic mechanism that the ruling elite had.

There were wars between the Mayan states. In most cases, the territory of the defeated city was not included in the state borders of the winner. The end of the battle was the capture of one ruler by another, usually with the subsequent sacrifice of the captured leader. The foreign policy goal of the Mayan rulers was power and control over neighbors, especially control over lands suitable for cultivation and over the population in order to cultivate these lands and build cities. However, not a single state has managed to achieve political centralization over a large territory and has not been able to hold this territory for any long period of time.

Approximately between 600 and 700 years. AD Teotihuacan invaded Maya territory. Mostly mountainous areas were attacked, but even in the lowland cities at this time Teotihuacan influence increases significantly. The Mayan city-states managed to resist and rather quickly overcame the consequences of the enemy invasion.

In the 7th century AD. Teotihuacan perishes under the onslaught of the northern barbarian tribes. This had the most serious consequences for the peoples of Central America. The system of political unions, associations and states that had evolved over many centuries was violated. A continuous period of campaigns, wars, migrations, and invasions of barbarian tribes began. This whole motley tangle of ethnic groups, different in language and culture, was inexorably approaching the western borders of the Maya.

At first, the Maya successfully repelled the onslaught of foreigners. It was to this time (the end of the 7th-8th centuries AD) that most of the victorious reliefs and stelae erected by the rulers of the Mayan city-states in the Usumacinta river basin belong: Palenque, Piedras Negras, Yaxchilan, etc. But soon the resistance forces the enemy is exhausted. Added to this was the constant hostility between the Maya city-states themselves, whose rulers, for any reason, sought to increase their territory at the expense of their neighbors.

A new wave of conquerors moved from the west. These were the Pipil tribes, whose ethnic and cultural affiliation has not yet been fully established. The Mayan cities in the Usumasinta river basin were the first to be defeated (end of the 8th - first half of the 9th century AD). Then, almost simultaneously, the most powerful city-states of Peten and Yucatan perished (second half of the 9th - early 10th centuries AD). In the course of some 100 years, the most populous and culturally developed region of Central America falls into a decline from which it has never recovered again.

The low-lying areas of the Maya after these events did not turn out to be completely deserted (according to some authoritative scientists, up to 1 million people died in this territory in just one century). In the XVI-XVII centuries, a rather large number of inhabitants lived in the forests of Peten and Belize, and in the very center of the former "Old Kingdom", on an island in the middle of Lake Peten Itza, there was a populous city of Taysal - the capital of an independent Mayan state that existed until the end of the XVII century .

In the northern region of Maya culture, in the Yucatan, events developed differently. In the X century. AD the cities of the Yucatan Maya were attacked by warlike Central Mexican tribes - the Toltecs. However, unlike the central Maya region, this did not lead to catastrophic consequences. The population of the peninsula not only survived, but also managed to quickly adapt to the new conditions. As a result, after a short time, a peculiar culture appeared in the Yucatan, combining Mayan and Toltec features.

The reason for the death of the classical Mayan civilization is still a mystery. Some facts indicate that the invasion of the militant groups "Pipil" was not the cause, but the result of the decline of the Mayan cities at the very end of the 1st millennium AD. It is possible that internal social upheavals or some serious economic crisis played a certain role here.

The construction and maintenance of an extensive system of irrigation canals and "elevated fields" required enormous efforts from society. The population, sharply reduced as a result of wars, was no longer able to support it in the difficult conditions of the tropical jungle. And she died, and the Mayan classical civilization died with her.

The end of the classical Maya civilization has much in common with the death of the Harappan culture in. And although they are separated by a rather impressive period of time, typologically they are very close. Perhaps GM Bograd-Levin is right, linking the decline of civilization in the Indus Valley not only with natural phenomena, but primarily with the evolution of the structure of sedentary agricultural cultures. True, the nature of this process is not yet clear and requires further study.

What was America like before its official opening? Many-sided, mysterious and very unusual.

1. Scientists believe that the ancestors of the first Indians settled in America 30 thousand years ago. Today it is customary to say that more than 20 tribes inhabited the mainland, who lived in different parts of it.

2. The most warlike tribes of the Indians - the Iroquois - lived according to their own Constitution, which was "recorded" with the help of shells and beads.

3. Hairstyle "scalp strand" was not as "curvy" as the modern Mohawk. The head of the Indians was shaved smoothly, leaving only a piece of hair tied in a tight knot at the back of the head.

4. Iroquois ritual masks are unique. No two are the same. The only "characteristic" is the crochet nose. It was this profile that the giant of Native American legends had, who swore to protect the northern people.

5. With all the brutality of the Iroquois men, the women of the tribe owned the land, and, accordingly, could dispose of it, and also elected a leader, who, if desired, could be removed. It is believed that it was in one of the Iroquois tribes - the Seneca - that the feminist movement originated.

6. Mohawks - another tribe of the Iroquois - were famous for their courage, as well as a unique ability - the absence of acrophobia. Because of their lack of fear of heights, these natives were later recruited to build New York's skyscrapers.

7. The roads built by the Incas were superior in quality to Roman and European ones. And the Russians, apparently, even more so.

8. The Mapuche were not cannibals, although they sacredly honored the tradition - to stun the captive with a club, cut out his heart and eat it. It was believed that this is how the courage and bravery of a defeated warrior would find a “new home”.

9. Disputes around the unique language of the Aymara Indians from the west of South America do not stop until now. Their grammar is turned upside down. When they talk about the future, they point back, and when they think about the past, they describe a situation that we perceive as the future. In general, in an attempt to understand what is going on in their minds, it is easy to muddy your own.

10. Named by the Spaniards, Lake Titicaca in the language of the Aymara and Quechua tribes was called "Mamakota" - "Mother Water". On one of the numerous islands of the lake, you can find the remains of burial towers - chulpas - up to 12 meters high. Their authors are the Aymars who lived in the pre-Inca era.

11. Palpa - a desert plateau in southern Peru - attracts all lovers of world mysteries with a unique collection of geoglyphs - huge drawings that are visible only from a bird's eye view. There are over 200 versions of their origin. According to one of them, the “landscape planning” was carried out by the Paracas people, who lived on the territory of modern Peru in the pre-Inca era. They learned how to embalm the dead long before the Egyptians, but did not invent writing, so information about them is extremely scarce.

12. Literally, the name of another Iroquois-speaking pelemen - Tuscarora, who once lived in the territory of modern East Carolina - means "hemp pickers."

13. Social hierarchy in pre-Columbian America is not often seen. For example, in the Natchi tribe. Every morning, the leader of the Big Sun came out of his luxurious house and indicated to his heavenly brother the Sun which way to go - from east to west. For a great honor of the time, the “king” reclined on a bed and “led” michmichguli - “stinking”. So the "gentlemen" called their fellow tribesmen.

14. Every winter, under a full moon, the Nootka Indians, who lived in the northwest of America, held a "kulvana" - a rite of passage for young warriors. Young men dressed as wolves and underwent difficult tests of dexterity and courage.

15. The kachina tatem dolls, which have been made by the Hopi for centuries, are sure to meet modern travelers in northeast Arizona. According to legend, it was the kachina spirits that saved the ancestors of the Hopi from the sinking Atlanta, transferring them on "flying shields" (outwardly very reminiscent of half a pumpkin) to the southern shores of America.

16. The disappearing Waorani tribe, living in the Amazonian jungle, still hunts today with the help of their ancestors’ weapons - a spear and a wind pipe, “spitting out” curare poison prepared according to their own recipe from it. The Huaorani believe that their people are descended from the jaguar, so hunting this cat has always been taboo.

17. One of the most powerful tribes in North America - the Hurons - completely lost their language. Their ancestors began each new decade with a "feast of the dead", which culminated in the transfer of the common grave of the ancestors who had died over the past ten years to a new place.

18. The tribal leaders of the Mohicans - sachems - inherited power through the maternal line. When determining military leaders, a more democratic method was used - elections.

19. The Comanches hardly punished their children, believing that they were a gift from the Great Spirit. To pacify the mischievous people, they had special people - "ghost men", who diligently portrayed angry spirits. Whether such a pedagogical technique worked, unfortunately, is not known.

20. The heraldic symbol of one of the most numerous peoples of the northern part of pre-Columbian America - the Ojibwe tribe - is an eagle.

21. One of the most sinister rituals of the Shuar and Achuar Indians was "tsantsa" - drying the enemy's head to the size of a fist. Target? Destroy a vengeful soul. The process was documented on video only once, in 1961.

22. For 10 thousand years, the modern territory of the state of Wisconsin was inhabited by the Menominee. The management of the tribe was carried out by representatives of the five brotherhoods. Bears solved civil disputes, Eagles - military, Wolves got food, Cranes were engaged in construction, including making canoes and traps. Finally, Elks raised, harvested and stored rice.

23. The Creek Indian tribe, living before colonization in the southeastern United States, advantageously differed from the North American peoples in a stately figure and high growth.

24. Timucua lived in the north of the Florida peninsula. The men of this tribe wore high hairstyles in order, according to the researchers, to visually increase their height. The bodies of the Timucua, including those of children, were decorated with numerous tattoos, each of which was applied for a specific deed.

25. Olmecs - one of the oldest civilizations of pre-Columbian America, disappeared one and a half thousand years before the advent of the Aztecs. It is believed that it was from the Olmecs that all the other great peoples of the pre-colonial era went: the Toltecs, the Aztecs, the Mayans, the Zapotecs. One of the main mysteries of the Olmecs are considered "stone heads". Despite numerous studies, it is still not possible to establish exactly where civilization originated and how exactly it developed.

26. Many pre-Columbian peoples of the Andes worshiped the creator of the world named Viracocha.

27. According to one of the legends, Viracocha caused the Unu-Pachacuti flood, as a result of which all the inhabitants of Lake Titicaca were destroyed. Only two survived. It was they who became the progenitors of a new civilization. Doesn't it remind you of anything?

28. Along the riverbeds stretching in the east, north and in the center of the future United States in 200-500 AD. the so-called Hopewell system of exchange ran - a route that allowed various Indian tribes to trade successfully.

29. One of the largest historical cultures of Mogollon was located in the southwest of the modern USA. According to scientists, their descendants may well be the Hopi Indians.

30. The prehistoric Indian culture of the Anasazi supposedly originated in the 12th century BC. The village of Taos (New Mexico), built in the period from 1000 to 1450, has survived to this day. AD The community of Taos today does not favor strangers and is famous for its conservative views. For example, the houses are not allowed to use electricity and running water.

By the time Columbus "discovered" America (1492), it was inhabited by many Indian tribes and ethnic groups, most of which were at the primitive stage of development. However, some of them, who lived in Mesoamerica (Central America) and the Andes (South America), reached the level of highly developed ancient civilizations, although they lagged far behind Europe: the latter was by then experiencing the heyday of the Renaissance.

The meeting of two worlds, two cultures and civilizations had different consequences for the meeting parties. Europe borrowed many achievements of Indian civilizations, in particular, it was thanks to America that Europeans began to use potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, tobacco, cocoa, and quinine. In general, after the discovery of the New World, the development of Europe accelerated significantly. The fate of ancient American cultures and civilizations was completely different: the development of some of them actually stopped, and many disappeared altogether from the face of the earth.

The available scientific evidence indicates that the American continent did not have its own centers of the formation of the most ancient man. The settlement of this continent by people began in the Late Paleolithic era - about 30-20 thousand years ago - and went from Northeast Asia through the Bering Strait and Alaska. The further evolution of emerging communities went through all known stages and had both similarities and differences from other continents.

An example of a highly developed primitive culture of the New World is the so-called olmec culture, that existed on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the 1st millennium BC. In relation to this culture, much remains unclear and mysterious. In particular, a specific ethnic group is not known - the carrier (the name "Olmec" is conditional) of this culture, the general territory of its distribution, as well as the features of the social structure, etc. are not defined.

Nevertheless, the available archaeological evidence suggests that in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. The tribes inhabiting Verascus and Tabasco reached a high level of development. They have the first "ritual centers", they build pyramids of adobe and clay, build monuments of monumental sculpture. An example of such monuments were huge anthropomorphic heads weighing up to 20 tons. Relief carving on basalt and jade, the manufacture of Celtic axes, masks and figurines are widely used. In the 1st century BC. the first samples of writing and calendar appear. Similar cultures existed in other parts of the continent.

Ancient cultures and civilizations developed by the end of the 1st millennium BC. and continued until the 16th century. AD before the arrival of the Europeans. Their evolution is usually divided into two periods: early, or classical (I millennium AD), and late, or postclassical (X-XVI centuries AD).

Among the most significant cultures of Mesoamerica of the classical period is teotihuacan. originated in Central Mexico. The surviving ruins of Teotihuacan, the capital of the civilization of the same name, testify that it was the political, economic and cultural center of all Mesoamerica with a population of 60-120 thousand people. Crafts and trade developed most successfully in it. Archaeologists have discovered in the city about 500 craft workshops, entire quarters of foreign merchants and "diplomats". Products of masters are found almost throughout Central America.

It is noteworthy that almost the entire city was a kind of architectural monument. Its center was carefully planned around two wide streets intersecting at right angles: from north to south - Road of the Dead Avenue more than 5 km long, and from west to east - an unnamed avenue up to 4 km long.

At the northern end of the Road of the Dead rises a huge silhouette of the Pyramid of the Moon (42 m high), built of raw brick and lined with volcanic stone. On the other side of the avenue, there is an even more grandiose structure - the Pyramid of the Sun (64.5 m high), on top of which a temple once stood. The intersection of the avenues is occupied by the palace of the ruler of Teotihuacan - the "Citadel", which is a complex of buildings, which included the temple the god Quetzalcoatl Feathered Serpent, one of the main deities, the patron of culture and knowledge, the god of air and wind. Only its pyramidal base survived from the temple, consisting of six decreasing stone platforms, as if placed on top of each other. The facade of the pyramid and the balustrade of the main staircase are decorated with the sculpted heads of Quetzalcoatl himself and the god of water and rain Tlaloc in the form of a butterfly.

Along the Road of the Dead are the remains of dozens more temples and palaces. Among them is the beautiful Palace of Quetzalpapalotl, or the Palace of the Feathered Snail, reconstructed today, the walls of which are decorated with frescoes. There are also fine examples of such painting in the Temple of Agriculture, which depicts gods, people and animals. The original monuments of the culture under consideration are anthropomorphic masks made of stone and clay. In the III-VII centuries. widely used ceramics - cylindrical vessels with picturesque paintings or carved ornaments - and terracotta figurines.

The culture of Teotihuacan reached its peak by the beginning of the 7th century. AD However, already at the end of the same century, the beautiful city suddenly perishes, destroyed by a gigantic fire. The causes of this catastrophe still remain unclear - most likely as a result of the invasion of the militant barbarian tribes of Northern Mexico.

Aztec culture

After the death of Teotihuacan, Central Mexico plunged into troubled times of interethnic wars and internecine strife for a long time. As a result of repeated mixing of local tribes with newcomers - first with the Chichemecs, and then the tenochki pharmacies - in 1325, the capital of the Aztecs was founded on the desert islands of Lake Texcoco Tenochtitlan. The emerging city-state grew rapidly and by the beginning of the 16th century. turned into one of the most powerful powers in America - the famous Aztec empire with a vast territory and a population of 5-6 million people. Its borders stretched from northern Mexico to Guatemala and from the Pacific coast to the Gulf of Mexico.

The capital itself - Tenochtitlan - became a large city with a population of 120-300 thousand inhabitants. This island city was connected to the mainland by three wide stone dam roads. According to eyewitnesses, the Aztec capital was a beautiful, well-planned city. Its ritual-administrative center was a magnificent architectural ensemble, which included a walled "sacred area", inside which were located the main city temples, the dwellings of priests, schools, a playground for a ritual ball game. Nearby were no less magnificent palaces of the Aztec rulers.

basis economy Aztecs was agriculture, and the main cultivated crop - corn. It should be emphasized that it was the Aztecs who were the first to grow cocoa beans and tomatoes; they are the authors of the word "tomatoes". Many crafts were at a high level, especially gold coinage. When the great Albrecht Dürer saw the Aztec goldwork in 1520, he declared: "Never in my life have I seen anything that would move me so deeply as these objects."

Reached the highest level spiritual culture of the Aztecs. This was largely facilitated by the effective education system, which included two types of schools in which the male population studied. In schools of the first type, boys from the upper stratum were brought up, who were to become a priest, dignitary or military leader. In schools of the second type, boys from ordinary families studied, where they were prepared for agricultural work, crafts and military affairs. Schooling was compulsory.

The system of religious and mythological representations and cults Aztec was quite complex. At the origins of the pantheon were the ancestors - creator god ome teku aphid and his divine wife. Among the acting main deity was the god of the sun and war Huitzilopochtli. War was a form of worship for this god and was elevated to a cult. A special place was occupied by the god Sinteobl, the patron saint of corn fertility. The protector of the priests was the Lord Quetzalcoatl.

The god of trade and the patron of merchants was Yakatekuhali. In fact, there were many gods. Suffice it to say that every month and every day of the year had its own god.

developed very successfully . It was based on philosophy, which was practiced by sages who were highly respected. The leading science was astronomy. Aztec astrologers freely navigated in the starry picture of the sky. Satisfying the needs of agriculture, they developed a fairly accurate calendar. taking into account the position and movement of stars in the sky.

The Aztecs created a highly developed artistic culture. Among the arts, significant success has been achieved literature. Aztec writers created didactic treatises, dramatic and prose works. The leading position was occupied by poetry, which included several genres: military poems, poems about flowers, spring songs. The greatest success enjoyed religious verses and hymns, which were sung in honor of the main gods of the Aztecs.

No less successfully developed architecture. In addition to the beautiful ensembles and palaces of the capital already mentioned above, magnificent architectural monuments were created in other cities. However, almost all of them were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors. Among the amazing creations is the recently discovered temple at Malinalco. This temple, which had the shape of a traditional Aztec pyramid, is notable for that. that all of it was carved right into the rock. Considering that the Aztecs used only stone tools, one can imagine what gigantic efforts the construction of this temple required.

In the 1980s, as a result of earthquakes, earthworks and excavations in the very center of Mexico City, the Main Temple of the Aztecs was opened - Templo Mayor. The sanctuaries of the main god Huitzilopochtli and the god of water and rain, the patron of agriculture Tlaloc were also opened. Remains of wall paintings, samples of stone sculpture were found. Among those found, a round stone with a diameter of more than 3 m with a bas-relief image of the goddess Koyol-shaukhka, the sister of Huitzilopochtli, stands out. Stone figurines of gods, corals, shells, pottery, necklaces, etc. have been preserved in deep hiding places.

The Aztec culture and civilization reached its peak at the beginning of the 16th century. However, this flowering was soon put to an end. The Spaniards captured Tenochti Glan in 1521. The city was destroyed, and a new city, Mexico City, grew up on its ruins, which became the center of the colonial possessions of the European conquerors.

Mayan civilization

The culture and civilization of the Maya became another amazing phenomenon of pre-Columbian America that existed in the 1st-15th centuries. AD in southeastern Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. A modern researcher of this region, G. Leman, called the Maya "the most fascinating of all the civilizations of ancient America."

Indeed, everything related to the Maya is shrouded in mystery and mystery. Their origin remains a mystery. The mystery is their choice of place of settlement - the impenetrable jungle of Mexico. At the same time, the ups and downs in their subsequent development are both a mystery and a miracle.

In the classical period (I-IX centuries AD), the development of Maya civilization and culture is on a steep upward trend. Already in the first centuries of our era, they reach the highest level and amazing perfection in architecture, sculpture and painting. The emerging large and populous cities become centers of handicraft production, marked by a real flourishing of painted ceramics. At this time, the Maya create the only developed civilization in America. hieroglyphic writing, as evidenced by inscriptions on steles, reliefs, small plastic items. The Maya compiled an accurate solar calendar and successfully predicted solar and lunar eclipses.

The main view of the monumental architecture there was a pyramidal temple, installed on a high pyramid - up to 70 m. Considering that the whole building was erected on high pyramidal hills, one can imagine how majestic and grandiose the whole structure looks. This is how the Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque appears, which served as the tomb of the ruler, like the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. The entire building was covered with hieroglyphic relief inscriptions that adorn the walls, the crypt, the lid of the sarcophagus and other objects. A steep staircase with several platforms leads to the temple. In the city there are three more pyramids with temples of the Sun, the Cross and the Leafy Cross, as well as a palace with a five-story square tower, which apparently served as an observatory: on the top floor, a stone bench was preserved, on which the astrologer sat, peering into the distant sky. The walls of the palace are also decorated with reliefs depicting prisoners of war.

In the VI-IX centuries. achieve the highest success monumental sculpture and Mayan painting. The sculptural schools of Palenque, Copan and other cities achieve rare skill and subtlety in conveying the naturalness of the poses and movements of the depicted characters, which are usually rulers, dignitaries and warriors. Small plastic art is also distinguished by amazing craftsmanship - especially small figurines.

The surviving examples of Mayan painting amaze with the elegance of the pattern and the richness of color. The famous frescoes of Bonampak are recognized masterpieces of pictorial art. They tell about military battles, depict solemn ceremonies, complex sacrificial rituals, graceful dances, etc.

In the 1X-X centuries. most of the Mayan cities were destroyed by the invading Toltec tribes, but in the XI century. Mayan culture re-emerged in the Yucatan Peninsula and in the mountains of Guatemala. Its main centers are the cities of Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Mayapan.

The most successful is still developing architecture. One of the remarkable architectural monuments of the postclassical period is the pyramid of Kukulkan - the "Feathered Serpent" in Chichen Itza. Four staircases lead to the top of the nine-stage pyramid, where the temple is located, bordered by a balustrade, which starts at the bottom with a beautifully executed snake head and continues in the form of a snake body to the upper floor. The pyramid symbolizes the calendar, because the 365 steps of its stairs correspond to the number of days in a year. It is also notable for the fact that inside it there is another nine-step pyramid, in which there is a sanctuary, and in it there is an amazing stone throne depicting a jaguar.

The pyramid "Temple of the Magician" in Uxmal is also very original. It differs from all others in that it has an oval shape in horizontal projection.

By the middle of the XV century. Mayan culture enters into a severe crisis and declines. When the Spanish conquerors entered at the beginning of the XVI century. to the Mayan cities, many of them were abandoned by their inhabitants. The reasons for such an unexpected and sad ending to a flourishing culture and civilization remain a mystery.

Ancient Civilizations of South America. Inca culture

In South America, almost simultaneously with the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica, at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, in the mountains of the northeastern region of Peru, an equally mysterious chavin culture, similar to the Olmec, although not related to it.

At the turn of our era in the northern part of the coastal zone of Peru appears Mochica Civilization, and in the south Nazca civilization. Somewhat later, in the mountains of northern Bolivia, an original Tiahuanaco culture. These civilizations of South America were in some respects inferior to the cultures of Mesoamsric: they did not have hieroglyphic writing, an accurate calendar, and so on. But in many other ways, especially in technology - they outnumbered Mesoamerica. Already from the II millennium BC. The Indians of Peru and Bolivia smelted metals, processed gold, silver, copper and their alloys, and made of them not only beautiful decorations, but also tools of labor - shovels and hoes. They had developed agriculture, built magnificent temples, created monumental sculptures, and made beautiful ceramic products with polychrome painting. Their fine fabrics made of cotton and wool became widely known. In the 1st millennium AD the production of metal products, ceramics and fabrics reached a large scale and high level, and it was this that made up the unique originality of the South American civilizations of the classical period.

The postclassic period (X-XVI centuries AD) is marked by the emergence and disappearance of many states both in the mountainous and coastal zones of South America. In the XIV century. The Incas create the state of Tahuatin-suyu in the mountainous zone, which, after long wars with neighboring small states, manages to emerge victorious and subjugate all the others.

In the XV century. it turns to the gigantic and famous Inca Empire with a vast territory and a population of about 6 million people. At the head of a huge power was a divine ruler, the son of the Sun Inca, who relied on a hereditary aristocracy and a caste of priests.

basis economy was agriculture, the main crops of which were corn, potatoes, beans, red pepper. The state of the Incas was distinguished by the effective organization of public works, called "mita". Mita meant the obligation of all subjects of the empire to work one month a year on the construction of state facilities. It allowed tens of thousands of people to gather in one place, thanks to which irrigation canals, fortresses, roads, bridges, etc. were built in a short time.

From north to south, the Inca Country is crossed by two paraplegic roads. one of which had a length of more than 5 thousand km. These highways were connected to each other by a large number of transverse roads, which created an excellent network of communications. Along the roads at certain distances there were post stations, warehouses with products and necessary materials. There was a state post office in Gauatinsuyu.

Spiritual and religious life and matters of worship were in the hands of the priests. considered the supreme deity Viracocha - Creator of the world and other gods. Other deities were the golden sun god Inti. god of weather, thunder and lightning Ilpa. A special place was occupied by the ancient cults of the mother of the Earth Mama Pacha and the mother of the sea Mama (Sochi. The worship of the gods took place in stone temples decorated with gold inside.

It regulated all aspects of life, including the personal life of the citizens of the empire. All Incas up to a certain age had to marry. If this did not happen, then this issue was decided by the state official at his own discretion, and his decision was binding.

Although the Incas did not have a real written language, this did not prevent them from creating beautiful myths, legends, epic poems, religious hymns, as well as dramatic works. Unfortunately, little of this spiritual wealth has been preserved.

of the highest flourishing culture the Incas reached at the beginning XVI in. However, this prosperity did not last long. In 1532, the most powerful empire of pre-Columbian America submitted to the Europeans almost without resistance. A small group of Spanish conquerors led by Francisco Pizarro managed to kill Inca Atahualpa, which paralyzed the will to resist his people, and the great Inca empire ceased to exist.

AZTEC, 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 showed signs of a cultural community, although they had their own city-states and royal dynasties. Among these tribes, the tenochki dominated, and only this last people was sometimes called "Aztecs". The Aztecs also mean the powerful tripartite alliance created by the Tenochtitlan Tenochtitlan, the Texcoco Acolua and the Tlacopan Tepanecs, who established their dominance in Central and Southern Mexico in the period from 1430 to 1521.

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 with an area of ​​about 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. In the time of the Aztecs, a chain of connecting lakes with the most extensive of them, Lake Texcoco, gave the landscape its originality. 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, fish, waterfowl and mammals lived there, boats served as a convenient means of transportation.

The history of the Aztecs (Aztecs, Nahua) (Spanish aztecas), Indian people. Other names are tenochki and mexica), as well as other peoples of central Mexico, before the arrival of Europeans, it is known from their legends recorded by Spanish and Indian chroniclers (B. Sahagun, D. Duran, F. Alvarado Tesosomok, F. de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, A. D. Chimalpain, J. Bautista Pomar, D. Munoz Camargo and others) after the conquest. Europeans received the first information about the Aztecs during the period of the conquest, when Hernan Cortes sent five letters of reports to the Spanish king about the progress of the conquest of Mexico. Approximately 40 years later, a member of the Cortes expedition, soldier Bernal Diaz del Castillo, compiled The true story of the conquest of New Spain(Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva Espaa), where he vividly and thoroughly described tenochkov and neighboring peoples. Information about various aspects of Aztec culture came in the 16th and early 17th centuries. from chronicles and ethnographic descriptions created by the Aztec nobility and Spanish monks. Of the works of this kind, the most valuable is the multi-volume General History of the Things of New Spain (Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espaa) Franciscan monk Bernardino de Sahagun, containing a variety of information - from stories about the Aztec gods and rulers to descriptions of flora and fauna.

Historical background. The Aztec culture was the last link in a long chain of advanced civilizations that flourished and declined in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The most ancient of them, the Olmec culture, developed on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the XIV-III centuries. BC. The Olmecs paved the way for the formation of subsequent civilizations, so the era of their existence is called preclassical. They had a developed mythology with an extensive pantheon of gods, erected massive stone structures, were skilled in stone carving and pottery. Their society was hierarchical and narrowly professionalized; the latter manifested itself, in particular, in the fact that specially trained people dealt with religious, administrative and economic issues.

These features of Olmec society were further developed in subsequent civilizations. In the tropical rainforests of southern Mesoamerica, the Maya civilization flourished for a relatively short historical period, leaving behind vast cities and many magnificent works of art. At about 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 laid down in the preclassical and classical eras. Agricultural surpluses contributed to the growth of population and cities, wealth and power were increasingly concentrated in the upper strata of society, which led to the formation of hereditary dynasties of rulers of city-states. Religious ceremonies based on polytheism became more complicated. Extensive professional strata of people engaged in intellectual labor and trade arose, and trade and conquests spread this culture over a vast territory and led to the formation of empires. The dominant position of individual cultural centers did not interfere with the existence of other cities and settlements. Such a complex system of social interrelations was already firmly established throughout Mesoamerica by the time the Aztecs arrived here.

The wanderings of the Aztecs. The name "Aztecs" (lit. "people of Aztlan") recalls the legendary ancestral home of the Tenochki tribe, from where they made a difficult journey to the Mexico Valley. The Aztecs were one of the many nomadic or semi-sedentary Chichimec tribes that migrated from the desert regions of northern Mexico (or even more remote) to the fertile agricultural regions of Central Mexico.

Mythological and historical sources indicate that the wandering tenochki took more than 200 years from the beginning or middle of the XII century. until 1325. Leaving the island of Astlan (“Place of the Herons”), the tenochki reached Chicomostok (“Seven Caves”), the mythical starting point of the wanderings of many wandering tribes, including the Tlaxcalans, Tepanecs, Xochimilcos and Chalcos, each of which once left Chicomostoc for a long journey south into the Mexico Valley and nearby valleys.

The Tenochki were the last to leave the Seven Caves, led by the chief deity of their tribe, Huitzilopochtli ("Hummingbird of the Left Side"). Their journey was not smooth and uninterrupted, because from time to time they stopped for a long time to build a temple or resolve intra-tribal strife with weapons. The related tribes of the Tenochs, already settled in the Valley of Mexico, greeted them with mixed feelings. On the one hand, they were desirable as brave warriors that warring city-states could use as mercenaries. On the other hand, they were condemned for cruel rites and customs. The first sanctuary of the tenochki was erected on Chapultepec Hill (“Grasshopper Hill”), then they moved from one city to another, until in 1325 they chose two islets on Lake Texcoco for settlement.

This choice, due to practical expediency, had a mythical background. In the densely populated lake basin, the islands were the only free place. They could be expanded with bulk artificial islands (chinampa), and boats served as an easy and convenient mode of transport. There is a legend according to which Huitzilopochtli ordered the tenochki to settle where they see an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its claws (this symbol was included in the state emblem of Mexico). In that place, the city of tenochkov, Tenochtitlan, was founded.

From 1325 to 1430 tenochki were in the service, including as military mercenaries, at the most powerful city-state in the Valley of Mexico, Azcapotzalco. As a reward for their service, they received land and access to natural resources. With extraordinary diligence, they rebuilt the city and expanded their possessions with the help of artificial chinampa islands. They entered into alliances, most often through marriages, with the ruling dynasties of neighboring peoples, dating back to the Toltecs.

Creation of an empire. In 1428, the tenochki entered into an alliance with the Acolua of the city-state of Texcoco, located east of Tenochtitlan, rebelled against the Tepaneks of Azcapotzalco and defeated them in 1430. After that, the Tepaneks of nearby Tlacopan joined the military alliance of the Tenochki and Acolua. Thus, a powerful military-political force was created - a tripartite alliance aimed at wars of conquest and control over the economic resources of a vast territory.

The ruler of the tenochki, Itzcoatl, who was the first to lead the tripartite alliance, subjugated the other city-states of the Mexico Valley. Each of the five subsequent rulers expanded the territory of the empire. However, the last of the Aztec emperors, Motekusoma Shokoyotzin (Montezuma II), was engaged not so much in capturing new territories as in consolidating the empire and suppressing uprisings. But Montezuma, like his predecessors, failed to subdue the Tarascans on the western borders of the empire and the Tlaxcalans in the east. The latter provided enormous military assistance to the Spanish conquistadors led by Cortes in the conquest of the Aztec empire.

Having formed a coalition with the neighboring peoples of the Acolhua (Texcoco) and Tepanecs (Tlacopan), they fought with other Nahua peoples, as well as with the Otomi in the north, the Huastecs and Totonacs in the east, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs in the south and the Tarascans in the west. The reign of Montezuma I was especially successful. The role of Tenochtitlan in the union of the three cities increased. The capital of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan, was destroyed by the conquistadors to the ground. The remains of ancient structures did not attract attention until, in 1790, during earthworks, the so-called. Stone of the Sun and a 17-ton statue of the goddess Coatlicue. Archaeological interest in Aztec culture arose after a corner of the main temple was discovered in 1900, but large-scale archaeological excavations of the temple were undertaken only in 1978-1982. Then archaeologists managed to expose seven separate segments of the temple and extract more than 7,000 items of Aztec art and everyday life from hundreds of burials. Later archaeological excavations revealed a number of large and small ancient structures under the Mexican capital.

Other rulers continued to expand the boundaries of the Aztec possessions. In some cases, Aztec colonies were located on the lands of the defeated peoples. The Triple Alliance subjugated to its power a huge territory from the northern regions of present-day Mexico to the borders of Guatemala, which included a variety of landscapes and natural areas - the relatively arid regions of the north of the Mexico Valley, the mountain gorges of the current states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the Pacific mountain ranges, the coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico, the lush, humid tropical forests of the Yucatan Peninsula. Thus, the Aztecs gained access to a variety of natural resources that were not in the places of their original 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 (literally, "harmony", "folding speech"). It was adopted as a second language by the 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 toponyms such as Acapulco or Oaxaca. According to some estimates, about 1.3 million people still speak Nahuatl or its variant Nahuat, more commonly called "Mexicano". This language is part of the Macro-Naua family of the Uto-Aztecan branch, which is distributed from Canada to Central America and includes about 30 related languages. Thus, a political association was created, stretching to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west. Since 1503, the Aztecs were ruled by Montezuma II; he was captured by the Spaniards and killed during a battle in 1520.

Economy. The basis of the Aztec diet was corn, beans, pumpkin, numerous varieties of chili peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables, as well as chia and amaranth seeds, a variety of fruits from the tropical zone, and a prickly pear-shaped nopal cactus growing in semi-deserts. Vegetable food was supplemented by the meat of domesticated turkeys and dogs, game, and fish. From all these components, the Aztecs were able to prepare very nutritious and healthy stews, cereals, sauces. From cocoa beans they prepared a fragrant foamy drink intended for the nobility. The alcoholic drink pulque (future mezcal and tequila) was prepared from agave juice. The Aztecs bred turkeys, geese and ducks, as well as cochineal on one of the types of cactus, kept dogs.

Agave also gave wood fiber for making coarse clothes, ropes, nets, bags and sandals. A finer fiber was obtained from cotton, which was cultivated outside the Valley of Mexico and imported into the Aztec capital. Only noble people had the right to wear clothes made of cotton fabrics. Men's hats and loincloths, women's skirts and blouses were often covered with intricate patterns.

Located on the island of Tenochtitlan, it expanded due to the "floating gardens" of the chinampa, a strip of land several tens of meters long and up to 10 meters wide, protruding into the water of the canal. She was laid down with a layer of grass, reeds and silt; watering was carried out if necessary. Chinampa retained fertility for a long time, it was possible to harvest several times a year on it. Aztec farmers built them in shallow water from tied baskets of silt and algae and strengthened them by planting willows around the edges. Those. The basis of the existence of the Aztecs was productive irrigated agriculture on the chinampas. Between the artificial islands, a network of interconnected channels formed, which served for irrigation and transportation of goods and supported the habitat of fish and waterfowl. Farming on the chinampa was possible only in the vicinity of Tenochtitlan and in the southern lakes, near the cities of Xochimilco and Chalco, since the springs here kept the water fresh, while in the central part of Lake Texcoco it was more salty and therefore unsuitable for agriculture. In the middle of the XV century. The Aztecs built a powerful dam across the lake to save fresh water for Tenochtitlan and protect the city from floods. The engineering and architectural achievements of the Aztecs, who did not know pack animals, wheels and metal tools, were based solely on the efficient organization of labor.

However, the chinampas and the lands of the Mexico Valley could not feed the growing urban population. By 1519, from 150 to 200 thousand people lived in Tenochtitlan, the population of the second largest city, Texcoco, reached 30 thousand, and from 10 to 25 thousand people lived in other cities. The proportion of the aristocracy increased, and among other urban strata, a significant proportion were those who consumed, but did not produce food: artisans, merchants, scribes, teachers, priests and military leaders.

Food was delivered to the cities as tribute levied on conquered peoples, or brought in by merchants and local farmers to be sold in the market. In large cities, markets functioned daily, and in small ones they opened every five or twenty days. The largest market in the Aztec state was organized in the satellite city of Tenochtitlan - Tlatelolco: according to the estimates of the Spanish conquistador, from 20 to 25 thousand people gathered here daily. You could buy anything here - from tortillas and feathers to precious stones and slaves. At the service of visitors there were always barbers, porters and judges who monitored the order and honesty of transactions.

The conquered peoples regularly, once every three months or every six months, paid tribute to the Aztecs. They delivered food, clothes, military vestments, polished jadeite beads and bright feathers of tropical birds to the cities of the triple alliance, and also provided various services, including escorting captives who were appointed to be sacrificed.

Traders undertook long and dangerous journeys to bring valuable goods to the Aztec cities, and many amassed considerable wealth. Merchants often served as informants and ambassadors in lands outside the empire. Trade was both barter and through common equivalents (cocoa beans, pieces of cotton fabrics, copper hatchets or sickle-shaped knives, tubes of bird feathers with golden sand).

Aztec artisans they skillfully processed stone, wove, sewed clothes, made jewelry, erected buildings, processed copper, gold and silver - both by cold forging and melting (they knew how to alloy gold with copper). Complex headdresses and cloaks made of multi-colored feathers were highly valued. The Aztecs were also famous for their mosaic products, both in the decoration of wooden or stone sculptures, and in architecture. In the manufacture of ceramic dishes, the Aztecs, like most other peoples of America, did not use a potter's wheel. They decorated their vessels with drawings of plants, birds and fish.

Conquest wars 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 succession and by the public recognition of his merits. The rulers lived in luxury, but not in idleness, as they were obliged to exercise control, pass verdicts in difficult legal cases, oversee the proper execution of religious rituals, and protect subjects. Since some city-states fell under the rule of others, some rulers were considered higher than others, and the ruler of Tenochtitlan was recognized as the main one.

In the service of the rulers were advisers, commanders, priests, judges, scribes and other officials. Imperial conquests required an expansion of the bureaucracy with tribute collectors, governors, and garrison commanders. The conquered peoples enjoyed relative freedom. City-states were generally allowed to maintain ruling dynasties on the condition that tributes were carefully paid. New territories were included in the empire in various ways - some peoples conquered tenochki and forced them to pay regular tribute, others were persuaded to an alliance by negotiations, marriage ties 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 tenochki 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 an opportunity for individual warriors to move up the social ladder. The main virtue was the capture of a prisoner for sacrifice; a warrior who captured four enemy warriors rose in rank. The main weapon was a bow with arrows tipped with stone, bone or flint and obsidian. The Aztecs also used spear throwers and wooden swords with cutting obsidian liners. A wicker shield served as a protective weapon and, for the nobility, a cotton shell and a wooden helmet. For representatives of the highest nobility, the shell could be made of gold plates.

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 opulent palaces and had many privileges, including the wearing of special robes 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 was made up of military leaders, judges, priests, teachers and scribes.

The lower class consisted of farmers, fishermen, artisans, merchants. In Tenochtitlan and neighboring cities, they lived in special quarters called "calpulli" - a kind of community. Each kalpulli had its own allotment of land and its own patron god, its own school, paid the community tax and exhibited warriors. Many kalpulli were formed by professional affiliation. So, for example, craftsmen in the dressing of bird feathers, stone carvers or merchants lived in special areas. Some farmers were assigned to the possessions of aristocrats, who were paid more labor and taxes than the state.

However, for all its strength, class barriers could be overcome. Most often, the path to the top was opened by military prowess 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, despite the lack of hereditary rights, could earn the favor of the ruler and get rich.

Slavery was widespread in the Aztec society. As a punishment for theft or non-payment of a debt, the guilty person could be temporarily enslaved to the victim. It often happened when a person, on agreed terms, sold himself or his family members into slavery. Sometimes slaves were bought in the markets for human sacrifice. The owner of a slave did not have the right to kill him and could sell him to another person only with his (slave's) consent. A slave could start a family and have property. He could gain freedom by paying back a debt, or the price once paid for it, and in some other ways. Slavery was not hereditary - the children of slaves became Mayeks

Mayeks are free Aztecs who, for some reason, found themselves outside the Calpulli. They worked as porters or cultivated the land received from temples or masters, for which they gave part of the crop (large). They could not leave the land on which they were planted. During the war they were members of the militia.

The Aztecs practically lived in one city and its environs, forming a city-state. The lowest unit of Aztec society is usually considered to be the "calpulli", neighborhood communities. They owned the land, which they provided for the use of male heads of families. The land was inherited by a son, younger brother or nephew in the male line. Land could be leased to another person from calpulli, but not sold and returned to calpulli if it was not cultivated for two years or the male line of its owners degenerated. Calpulli had free lands, which were provided as needed. Part of the communal lands was cultivated jointly. The harvest from them went to the payment of taxes and the maintenance of the head of the calpulli and higher officials.

There was property and social differentiation. Noble people began to allocate lands for their service. These lands were granted for life use and were to be transferred to the successor in office. But sons often became such successors, and the lands turned into hereditary ones. Distinguished warriors received land on the territory of indigenous peoples, they also passed from father to son.

The heads of families made up the council of elders of the community, headed by a calpullek. He was elected by the council, but, as a rule, from the sons of the previous leader. He distributed land, settled disputes, managed public storage facilities. Calpulli also had a military leader who taught youth and performed police functions. He also led the Calpulli warriors during the fighting. Each calpulli had its own temples and some public buildings. They were located around the square, which became the center of the community. The Aztecs had 20 calpulli. At the tribal council, the calpulli was represented by a man called an orator.

Most of the free Aztecs were farmers. They paid taxes, performed all sorts of duties. Among them stood out a layer of elders who were exempt from taxes and did not participate in productive labor. It also included distinguished soldiers who received land for life use. Special strata among the free were artisans and merchants.

The lower layer of the nobility was formed by people who distinguished themselves in wars, in the line of duty or with special religious zeal. They were exempted from certain taxes, had the right to wear clothes made of thin cotton, jewelry made of gold and precious stones, special signs indicating their status. Usually they were elected to positions of responsibility. Their position was not hereditary.

The class of priests was formed from the younger children of the nobility. Among them, several steps stood out. The highest hierarchs were the priests of the gods Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. They were advisers to the supreme ruler and members of the tribal council.

A council of 20 orators decided ordinary affairs of state, declared war and made peace, settled disputes between Calpulli and between individuals from different Calpulli. The most important issues, including the election of the supreme ruler, were decided by a large council, which also included the civil and military leaders of the calpulli, the military leaders of the phratries and some other officials, as well as the highest clergy.

20 calpulli were 4 phratries. Each phratry had its own temples, arsenals with weapons. They were led by military leaders who were advisers to the supreme ruler. The supreme ruler of the Aztecs was called "tlacatecuhtli" (leader of men). His position was emphasized by special clothes and splendor of jewelry, the form of communication with those around him, the method of movement (he was carried on a stretcher), and some other ways. He was in charge of collecting taxes, receiving ambassadors, arranging receptions in honor of ambassadors and nobility. He was the military leader of the confederation. The influence of the supreme rulers especially increased in the years preceding the appearance of the Spaniards. Tlacatecuhtli had a co-ruler; he accepted and distributed tribute, presided over the tribal council, and during the wars he led the Aztec troops.

Relations between people were regulated by a system of prescriptions and prohibitions and punishments for their violation. There was no blood feud. Punishments were of various kinds: corporal, confiscation of property, enslavement, short imprisonment, public ridicule. But in most cases, the perpetrators were punishable by death, ranging from crimes against the state to violations of harvest deadlines. The guilty could be hanged, decapitated, strangled, flogged or quartered. Adultery was punished by burning on a stake, stoning, etc.

The Aztecs had public schools in which boys were taught martial arts, singing, dancing and oratory. The children of the nobility attended the school of priests, where they studied writing, versification, astronomical knowledge and history, and were introduced to religious canons.

Girls entered into marriage at the age of 16-18 and boys at 20-22. Parents played a major role in marriage. There were some restrictions in the choice of a partner - it was impossible to marry close relatives both in the male and female lines, as well as within the calpulli. The wedding ceremony included a joint meal, dancing, visiting the newlyweds, bloodletting, etc. Polygamy was known, especially in the upper strata. When divorced, sons stayed with their father, daughters with their mother. A divorced woman returned to her calpulli and could remarry. After the death of her husband, his widow remained in her husband's calpulli and married one of its members.

Religion. The Aztecs revered many gods of different levels and significance - personal, domestic, communal, as well as general Aztec. Among the latter, a special place was occupied by the god of war Witzilopchtli (associated with the Sun) , the god of night and fate Tezcatlipoca ("Smoking Mirror"), the god of rain, water, thunder and mountains Tlaloc, the god of fire Xiutecutli, the god of the wind and the patron of the priests Quetzalcoatl ("Feathered Serpent", "who gave people maize"). Shipe was the god of agriculture. They also revered the god and goddess of maize. There were gods who patronized the art of weaving, healing, gathering, etc.

The Aztecs erected temples for each deity, where priests and priestesses worshiped him. The main temple of 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 enclosed area containing other temples, warriors' chambers, a priestly school, and a ritual ball court. Sophisticated religious rituals included festivities, fasting, chants, dances, burning incense and rubber, as well as ritual dramatic performances, often with human sacrifices.

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

Human sacrifice, which was an essential part of the Aztec religious rites, was practiced in order to supply the gods with energy and thus delay the inevitable death of the human race. Sacrifices, the Aztecs believed, were necessary to maintain a sustainable life cycle; human blood nourished the Sun, caused rains and ensured the earthly existence of man. Some forms of sacrifice were limited to bloodletting through the thorns of the maguey plant, but often the priests killed the victim by ripping open the chest with a knife and tearing out the heart. In some rites, a chosen one was sacrificed, who had the honor of embodying a deity, while in others many captives were killed.

The Aztecs believed that, depending on the type of death, the souls of the dead went either to the underworld, or to the country of the god Tlaloc, which was considered an earthly paradise, or to the heavenly dwelling of the sun god. This highest honor was awarded to brave warriors, people who were sacrificed, and women who died in childbirth.

The Aztecs had a complex system of rituals, consisting of a cycle of festivities tied mainly to the agricultural calendar. Various dances and ball games were part of these rituals. An important ritual was the offering of human blood to the gods. The Aztecs believed that only a constant flow of blood kept the gods young and strong. Bloodletting was widely practiced, for which the tongue, earlobes, limbs and even the genitals were pierced. Priests resorted to such operations several times a day. Most of all, the gods required human sacrifice. They took place at the top of the pyramids at the temple of one or another deity. Various methods of killing the victim were known. Sometimes up to six priests participated in the ritual. Five held the victim with his back on the ritual stone - four held by the limbs, one by the head. The sixth opened the chest with a knife, pulled out the heart, showed it to the sun and placed it in a vessel that stood in front of the image of the deity. The headless body was thrown down. It was picked up by the person who gave the victim or captured her. He took the body home, where he separated the limbs and prepared ritual food from them, which he shared with relatives and friends. It was believed that eating the victim, who, according to the Aztecs, personified God, attached to God himself. It is believed that the number of people sacrificed per year could reach 2.5 thousand people.

Education and lifestyle. Treatment included both magical means and practical skills. They knew how to fix broken bones, stop the blood, sew wounds together. They knew the various medicinal properties of plants. Until about the age of 15, children received home education. The boys mastered military affairs and learned how to manage the household, and the girls, who were often given in marriage at this age, knew how to cook, spin and manage the household. In addition, both of them received professional skills in pottery and the art of dressing bird feathers.

Most teenagers went to school at 15, although some started school at 8. The children of the nobility were sent to kalmekak, where, under the guidance of priests, they studied military affairs, history, astronomy, administration, social institutions, and rituals. Their duties were also charged with collecting firewood, cleanliness in temples, participating in various public works, and donating blood during religious rites. The children of the commoners attended the telpochkalli of their city quarter, where they were mainly trained in military affairs. Both boys and girls also went to schools called "kuikakalli" ("house of song"), designed to teach liturgical chants and dances.

Women, as a rule, were engaged in raising children and housekeeping. Some were trained in crafts and midwifery, or initiated into religious mysteries, 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 permission to 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 was expected to be honored to accompany 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. The drowned and those killed by lightning fell into 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.

To calculate time, the Aztecs used two calendars, a ritual of 260 days and a solar one, which had 18 twenty-day months and 5 unlucky days. The names of the months in it corresponded to the names of agricultural plants. The solar calendar was applied to the agricultural cycle and major religious rites. 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. A newborn, along with the name of his birthday (like “Two Deer "or" Ten Eagle ") also received a prediction of his fate. So, it was believed that Two Rabbits would be a drunkard, and One Snake would earn fame and fortune. Both calendars were combined into a 52-year cycle, at the end of which the lived 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.

To record historical events, calendar and astronomical phenomena and related rituals, as well as to account for land donations and taxes, the Aztecs used writing that combined hieroglyphic and pictographic principles. Letters were applied with a pen brush on deer skin, fabric or maguey paper. Several Aztec documents have survived to this day, apparently compiled after the arrival of the Spaniards. History has preserved the names of several dozen poets from peoples who spoke the Nahua languages. The most celebrated of these was Nezahualcoyotl (1402-1472), ruler of Texcoco.

The Aztecs were great lovers of literature and collected libraries of pictographic books (the so-called codes) with descriptions of religious rites and historical events, or representing registers of tribute collection. Paper for codices was made from the bark. The vast majority of these books were destroyed during the conquest or immediately after it. In general, throughout Mesoamerica (this is the name of the territory from the north of the Mexico Valley to the southern borders of Honduras and El Salvador), no more than two dozen Indian codices have survived. Some scholars argue that not a single Aztec code of the pre-Hispanic 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 fellow tribesmen for the Spanish monks in order to make it easier for them to Christianize the Indians.

The Aztecs created an extensive body of oral literature, represented by the genres of epic, hymn and lyric poetry, religious chants, drama, legends and tales. In terms of tone and subject matter, this literature is also very diverse and varies from chanting of military prowess and exploits of ancestors to contemplation and reflection on the essence of life and the destiny of man. Poetic exercises and disputes were constantly practiced among the nobility.

The Aztecs showed themselves as the most skillful builders, sculptors, stone carvers, potters, jewelers, weavers. The art of making products from the bright feathers of tropical birds enjoyed special honor. Feathers were used to decorate warriors' shields, clothes, standards, and headdresses. Jewelers worked on gold, jadeite, rock crystal and turquoise, showing extraordinary skill in creating mosaics and ornaments.

Maya - historical and modern Indian people who created one of the most highly developed civilizations in America and the whole ancient world. Some cultural traditions of the ancient Maya are preserved by about 2.5 million of their modern descendants, representing more than 30 ethnic groups and language dialects.

During the I - the beginning of the II millennium AD. the Maya people, speaking various languages ​​​​of the Maya-Kiche family, settled in a vast territory, including the southern states of Mexico (Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo), the current countries of Belize and Guatemala and the western regions of El Salvador and Honduras. These territories, located in the tropical zone, are distinguished by a variety of landscapes. In the mountainous south stretches a chain of volcanoes, some active. Once upon a time, powerful coniferous forests grew here on generous volcanic soils. In the north, the volcanoes pass into the limestone mountains of Alta Verapaz, which further north form the limestone plateau of Peten, characterized by a hot and humid climate. Here the center of development of the Mayan civilization of the classical era was formed. The western part of the Petén plateau is drained by the Pasion and Usumacinta rivers, which flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern part by rivers that carry water to the Caribbean Sea. To the north of the Peten Plateau, humidity decreases with the height of the forest cover. In the north of the Yucatec Plains, rainforests give way to shrubs, and in the Puuk hills the climate is so arid that in ancient times people settled here along the shores of karst lakes (cenote) or stored water in underground reservoirs (chultun). On the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient Maya mined salt and traded it with the inhabitants of the interior.

Archaeologists know hundreds of settlements of that time and dozens of capitals of city-states, among which there are two groups. More ancient, southern, include Copan, Tikal, Vashaktun, Yashchilan and Palenque, etc. They originate in 1 thousand BC. e. and reach maturity between the II century. BC. and 7th c. AD More northern - on the Yucatan Peninsula - Uxmal, Kabakh, Labna, Chichen Itza, etc. Their apogee comes after the 7th century. n. e.

By the end of the 1st millennium AD. many large Mayan cities of the southern regions (present-day Belize, Guatemala and Southern Mexico) were deserted, in others life was barely glimmering. Various reasons have been put forward to explain this fact: climate change, earthquake, soil depletion and depletion of non-agricultural food resources, epidemic diseases, uprisings, invasion of foreigners. Indian sources, as well as archeological data, speak of an invasion of the Yucatan by the Toltecs and peoples close to them (in particular, the Pipils) at the end of the 10th century. Scholars are increasingly coming to the conclusion that the Mayan cities of the classical period may have perished as a result of a combination of several factors of economic and social orders, interconnected.

Initially it was believed that the Maya lived in vast areas of tropical lowlands in small groups, engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture. With the rapid depletion of the soil, this forced them to often change their places of settlement. The Maya were peaceful and showed a special interest in astronomy, and their cities with high pyramids and stone buildings also served as priestly ceremonial centers where people gathered to observe unusual celestial phenomena.

According to modern estimates, the ancient Mayan people numbered more than 3 million people. In the distant past, their country was the most densely populated tropical zone. The Maya were able to maintain soil fertility for several centuries and turn land of little use for agriculture into plantations where maize, beans, pumpkin, cotton, cocoa and various tropical fruits were grown. Maya writing was based on a strict phonetic and syntactic system. The deciphering of ancient hieroglyphic inscriptions has refuted previous ideas about Mayan peacefulness: many of these inscriptions report wars between city-states and about captives sacrificed to the gods. The only thing that has not been revised from previous ideas is the exceptional interest of the ancient Maya in the movement of celestial bodies. Their astronomers very accurately calculated the cycles of motion of the Sun, Moon, Venus and some constellations (in particular, the Milky Way). The Mayan civilization, in its characteristics, reveals a commonality with the nearest ancient civilizations of the Mexican highlands, as well as with distant Mesopotamian, ancient Greek and ancient Chinese civilizations.

Periodization of Mayan history. In the archaic (2000-1500 BC) and early formative periods (1500-1000 BC) of the preclassic era, small semi-roaming tribes of hunters and gatherers lived in the lowlands of Guatemala, eating wild edible roots and fruits, as well as game and fish. They left behind only rare stone tools and a few settlements definitely dated from this time. The Middle Formative Period (1000-400 BC) is the first relatively well-documented epoch in Maya history. At this time, small agricultural settlements appear scattered in the jungle and along the banks of the rivers of the Peten Plateau and in the north of Belize (Cuelho, Colha, Kashob). Archaeological evidence suggests that in this era the Maya did not have pompous architecture, division into classes and centralized power.

However, in the subsequent late formative period of the preclassic era (400 BC - 250 AD), major changes took place in the life of the Maya. At this time, monumental structures were being built - stylobates, pyramids, ball courts, and cities were growing rapidly. Impressive architectural complexes are being built in cities such as Calakmul and Tzibilchaltun in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), El Mirador, Yashaktun, Tikal, Nakbe and Tintal in the jungles of Peten (Guatemala), Cerros, Cuello, Lamanay and Nomul (Belize), Chalchuapa (Salvador). There is a rapid growth of settlements that arose during this period, such as Kashob in northern Belize. At the end of the late formative period, barter trade developed between settlements distant from each other. Jade and obsidian products, sea shells and feathers of the quetzal bird are most valued. At this time, for the first time, sharp flint tools and the so-called. eccentrics - stone products of the most bizarre shape, sometimes in the form of a trident or a profile of a human face. At the same time, the practice of consecrating buildings, arranging caches, where jade products and other valuables were placed, took shape.

During the subsequent Early Classic period (AD 250-600) of the Classical era, Mayan society developed into a system of rival city-states, each with its own royal dynasty. These political formations showed commonality both in the system of government and in culture (language, writing, astronomical knowledge, calendar, etc.). The beginning of the early classical period approximately coincides with one of the oldest dates recorded on the stele of the city of Tikal - 292 AD, which, in accordance with the so-called. "Mayan long count" is expressed by the numbers 8.12.14.8.5.

The possessions of individual city-states of the classical era extended an average of 2000 square meters. km, and some cities, such as Tikal or Calakmul, controlled much larger territories. The political and cultural centers of each state formation were cities with magnificent buildings, the architecture of which was a local or zonal variation of the general style of Mayan architecture. The buildings were arranged around a vast rectangular central square. Their facades were usually decorated with masks of the main gods and mythological characters, carved from stone or made using the technique of stucco relief. The walls of the long narrow rooms inside the buildings were often painted with frescoes depicting rituals, holidays, and military scenes. Window lintels, lintels, staircases of palaces, as well as free-standing stelae were covered with hieroglyphic texts, sometimes with portraits interspersed, telling about the deeds of the rulers. On lintel 26 in Yashchilan, the wife of the ruler, Shield Jaguar, is depicted helping her husband to put on military regalia.

In the center of the Mayan cities of the classical era, pyramids up to 15 m high towered. These structures often served as tombs for revered people, so kings and priests practiced rituals here that aimed to establish a magical connection with the spirits of their ancestors.

The burial of Pakal, the ruler of Palenque, discovered in the "Temple of the Inscriptions", gave a lot of valuable information about the practice of honoring the royal ancestors. The inscription on the lid of the sarcophagus says that Pacal was born (according to our reckoning) in 603 and died in 683. The deceased was decorated with a jade necklace, massive earrings (a sign of military prowess), bracelets, a mosaic mask made of more than 200 pieces of jade . Pacal was buried in a stone sarcophagus, on which were carved the names and portraits of his illustrious ancestors, such as his great-grandmother Kan-Ik, who had considerable power. Vessels, apparently with food and drinks, were usually placed in the burials, intended to feed the deceased on his way to the afterlife.

In Mayan cities, the central part stands out, where the rulers lived with their relatives and retinue. Such are the palace complex in Palenque, the acropolis of Tikal, the Sepulturas zone in Copan. The rulers and their closest relatives were engaged exclusively in state affairs - they organized and led military raids against neighboring city-states, arranged magnificent festivities, and took part in rituals. Members of the royal family also became scribes, priests, soothsayers, artists, sculptors and architects. So, in the House of Bakabs in Kopan lived scribes of the highest rank.

Beyond the city limits, the population was dispersed in small villages surrounded by gardens and fields. People lived in large families in wooden houses covered with thatch or thatch. One of these villages of the classical era has been preserved in Serena (El Salvador), where the Laguna Caldera volcano allegedly erupted in the summer of 590. Hot ash covered nearby houses, a kitchen hearth and a wall niche with painted pumpkin plates and bottles, plants, trees, fields, including a field with corn sprouts. In many ancient settlements, buildings are grouped around the central courtyard, where joint work was carried out. Land ownership was communal in nature.

In the late classical period (650-950), the population of the lowland regions of Guatemala reached 3 million people. The increased demand for agricultural products forced farmers to drain swamps and apply terraced agriculture in hilly areas, for example, along the banks of the Rio Bec.

In the late classical period, new cities began to emerge from the established city-states. So, the city of Himbal got out of control of Tikal, which is proclaimed in the language of hieroglyphs on architectural structures. During the period under review, the Mayan epigraphy reaches its peak, but the content of the inscriptions on the monuments is changing. If earlier reports about the life path of rulers with dates of birth, marriage, accession to the throne, death prevailed, now the main attention is paid to wars, conquests, captures of captives for sacrifices.

By 850, many cities in the south of the lowland zone were abandoned. Construction is completely stopped in Palenque, Tikal, Copan. The reasons for what happened are still unclear. The decline of these cities could be caused by uprisings, enemy invasion, epidemic or ecological crisis. The center of development of the Mayan civilization moved to the north of the Yucatan Peninsula and the western highlands - areas that received several waves of Mexican cultural influences. Here, for a short time, the cities of Uxmal, Sayil, Kabah, Labna and Chichen Itza flourish. These opulent cities surpassed their former heights, with many-roomed palaces, taller and wider stepped vaults, intricate stone carvings and mosaic friezes, and huge ball courts.

Knowledge. In the hierarchical social structure of the Mayan city-states, there was a special priestly clergy, whose members ( ahkins) stored this knowledge, used it to predict astronomical phenomena, compiling calendars, building ceremonial centers, astronomical observatories.

Cosmogony Maya was a complex system based on three creation theories: two of them were destroyed by floods, and only the third became a reality. In the view of the Maya Universe had square shape, vertically it consisted of thirteen heavenly spheres, each of which had its own patron. Esoteric, theogonic and cosmogonic representations of the Maya were recorded not only in individual monuments, but also in entire architectural ensembles, for example, in the mathematically rigorous building of a square square oriented to the cardinal directions in the ancient center Washactun.

But this fixation was functional: in the ritual-research, in particular, the points of sunrise during the periods solstice and equinoxes. It is difficult to explain the achievements of the Maya in the compilation of calendars and the development of counting systems. For comparison, we give the definition of the length of the year in different calendars: the length of the year according to modern data - 365.2422 days; ancient julian year - 365,2510 day; modern Gregorian year - 365.2425 days; year Mayan - 365.2420 days.

The Mayan year consisted of 18 months ( 20 days in each). Special days were added to equalize the solar year. The Maya also had larger units of time than the year, which reached values ​​( alautun), which included 239 days. All Maya dates have single starting point (" year one"). According to modern chronology, it falls on 3113 BC. (or according to another correlation - 3373 BC). It's curious that it's close enough to the first year Jewish calendar- 3761 BC

Maya skillfully combined two calendar: haab - sunny, consisting of 365 days and tzolkin - religious - 260 days. When combined, a cycle was formed from 18 890 days, only after which the name and number of the day again coincided with the same name of the month.

Maya designed twenty-decimal a counting system using zero, while the set of numbers was more than modest - there were two of them: dot and trait(zero).

By the time the Spaniards appeared on the Mayan lands, there were a dozen and a half small states that fought with each other in order to capture booty and slaves. The first Spanish expeditions reached the shores of the Yucatan in 1517 and 1518. (F. Hernandez de Cordova and J. de Grijalva). In 1519, Cortes passed along the coast of this peninsula. Only after the capture of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan and the conquests in central Mexico did the Spaniards begin to conquer the Maya. In 1523-1524, P. de Alvarado fought his way to Guatemala and founded the city of Santiago de Caballeros de Guatemala. In 1527, the Spaniards made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the Yucatan. The second attempt was also unsuccessful, although the Spaniards temporarily (1532-1533) owned the city of Chichen Itza. A few years later, the Spaniards again began to attack the inhabitants of Yucatan, and by the middle of the 16th century. almost the entire peninsula was dominated by aliens. The exception was the Itza, who retained their independence until 1697, when their capital Tayasal fell.

As a result of wars and diseases brought by the conquistadors, many Mayan lands were devastated. In some areas (the northeast of the Yucatan, its east coast, as well as the central part of the Petén and the Usumacinta river basin), demographic losses during the century amounted to 90%. Only by the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. Maya population began to increase again. During the colonial period, the society and culture of the Mayan peoples underwent strong changes. The local nobility, who resisted, was destroyed, the supreme power was in the hands of the Spanish officials. Catholicism was planted, former beliefs were uprooted by violent methods - images of deities, altars and temples were destroyed, manuscripts were burned.

A feature of the culture of the ancient Maya, in comparison with other cultures of America, is that it reached its peak in tropical rainforests. The Maya practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. According to ethnographic observations, it is known that this type of agriculture alone, without other sources of food, cannot ensure the stability of the settlements, since the soils in the areas around the settlements are quickly depleted and it is necessary to change habitats. At the same time, there is little opportunity to develop crafts, build monumental religious buildings, and so on, or, in other words, support artisans and merchants, as well as the priesthood and the nobility. In recent years, information began to appear about finds in different places of the ancient Maya habitat of traces of land reclamation, which was supposed to significantly increase yields. But this evidence is not recognized by all archaeologists. The developed calendar system could play a compensating role, which made it possible to plan and carry out the work of the annual agricultural cycle on time (including the felling of trees and shrubs, their burning in the dry season, planting before the start of rains, caring for plants, harvesting), as well as high crop yields. . The Maya grew corn, beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, capsicums, some root vegetables (yam, cassava, and jicama), spice plants, as well as cotton, tobacco, and eneken. On the coastal lands of the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, cocoa was grown. Perhaps they took care of fruit trees. Farming tools were a stone ax for cutting trees and a pointed stake for planting seeds and digging out root crops.

The Maya hunted various animals using spears, throwing darts and a bow with arrows, as well as arrow-throwing pipes (of which the victim was hit with clay balls), slings, nooses and other traps. Deer, tapir, peccaries, armadillos, iguanas, as well as birds served as prey. In coastal areas, manatees were hunted. Fish were beaten with spears and bows, caught with nets and hooks. The latter were made from a shell, they could also be copper. The Maya bred dogs, turkeys and bees. The main food was corn. Cakes were baked from corn dough and a variety of dishes and a nutritious drink were prepared. Another drink was made from ground cocoa. Boiled or ground beans were eaten with other vegetables or with meat. Various types of pumpkins, as well as root crops, tomatoes, and others, were also eaten. The Maya knew a lot of fruits - avocados, annona, guayaba, etc. They ate meat mainly on holidays. Food was flavored with spices, in particular, several varieties of pepper. In addition to soft drinks, the Maya prepared several alcoholic drinks.

The Maya lived in several types of settlements, from small villages with a few huts to large urban centers. Unlike the urban centers of the Mexican highlands, Maya cities were irregular collections of platforms, palaces, temples, ball courts, plazas, and roads. The largest city of the classical period was, apparently, Zibilchaltun, which was one of the largest cities in pre-Columbian America. Its area was about 50 sq. km, with a probable building density of 1 thousand buildings per 2 sq. km. km. One of the most famous Mayan cities was Mayapan on the Yucatan Peninsula. It was surrounded by a wall with a total length of 9 km with 12 gates. In the city, archaeologists found traces of about 4 thousand buildings, of which about 140 were ceremonial structures, and the rest - groups of houses of various sizes and quality of construction, surrounded by stone fences; while the best (about 50) were on natural elevations, and the worst - in the lowlands. The layout of the city was only that the most impressive ceremonial buildings were located in the center, and around them - the houses of the nobility. Palaces were almost always placed on an artificial elevation. They were of one or several floors; a five-story structure was found in Tikal, built in a ledge on a slope. Some palaces could have up to 60 rooms. The Maya, like other peoples of America, did not know the arch, they blocked the ceilings with wooden beams or erected stepped stone vaults. Maya painted and decorated their premises with sculpture. Barns for storing corn, pools for collecting water adjoined residential buildings. Outbuildings may have included steam baths and toilets. In cities, buildings were erected from limestone, and architectural details (jambs and lintels), as well as altars, statues and steles, were cut from it. In those places where there was no stone, baked clay bricks served as building material. Mayan rural dwellings of the classical period are well studied in the mountainous Guatemala. First, the platform was leveled and compacted, a fire was made on it and the soil was calcined, forming a strong layer 5-8 cm thick. The bases of the walls were erected from large river pebbles or pieces of pumice. The walls themselves consisted of thin poles and pieces of pumice held together with clay. The entire wall was also coated with clay. The shape of the dwellings was rectangular.

The Maya developed a variety of crafts, including stone processing. Without metal tools, the Maya processed flint and obsidian, obtaining from them various tools (knives, axes, etc.), weapons (arrowheads and spears, insert plates) and jewelry. Axes and chisels were made from diorite and serpentine, and diadems, complex ear and nose pendants, chest plates, masks, etc. were made from jade. Various utensils (ritual and household), many other household items, as well as figurines and masks were made from clay. Many wild plants served as technical raw materials - in particular, paper was obtained from the soaked and broken bark of some ficus trees. From the trees, in addition to serving as a building material, they extracted resins used for various purposes (incense, rubber, cosmetics, chewing gum), as well as various dyes.

Maya of the classical period, apparently, did not know the processing of metals. Items made of gold and gold-copper alloy (mainly jewelry) found on their territory come from Central America. Copper products were also known - adzes, tweezers and hooks. The Maya knew weaving. Clothing differed significantly among the community members and the nobility. The former could get by with one loincloth, while the gentlemen, in addition to it, wore sandals, beaded skirts, elegant capes or jaguar skins, as well as complex headdresses, including jade tiaras, turbans, plumes, hats, etc. could include a lace jacket, a skirt, a long tunic and a small cape.

The development of crafts, as well as the different geographical conditions in which different Maya groups were located, facilitated trade both between individual Maya settlements and with neighbors. They traded both handicrafts and raw materials (flint, obsidian, salt, cotton, cocoa). From Central Mexico and Costa Rica and Panama, jade, obsidian, gold, copper and ceramics came to the Maya. Slaves were also an article of trade. By land, goods were transported along paths and roads, along rivers and along the sea coast - on single-tree boats. Basically, trade transactions were carried out through the exchange of goods, but there were also generally accepted equivalents that served as money - cocoa beans, red shells, jade beads, small axes and bronze bells.

The Maya, like other peoples of America, did not know draft animals, wheeled vehicles and arable implements.

According to a number of signs, it can be judged that the social stratification of the Mayan society of the classical period has gone far. It is reflected in the scenes from the murals of rooms and drawings on ceramics. On the murals in Bonampak, the supreme ruler, rulers of a lower rank, court nobility, military leaders, warriors, merchants and musicians (in one group) and servants stand out. They differed in clothing, jewelry and other external attributes. The texts of read manuscripts also speak of the stratification of Maya society, in which one can find information about rulers, priesthood, military and court nobility, free artisans, various categories of dependent population and slaves.

Worldview. Among the Maya, knowledge and religion were inseparable from one another and constituted a single worldview, which was reflected in their art. Ideas about the diversity of the surrounding world were personified in the images of numerous deities, which can be combined into several main groups corresponding to different areas of human experience: gods of hunting, gods of fertility, gods of various elements, gods of heavenly bodies, gods of war, gods of death, and so on. In different periods of Maya history, these or other gods could have different significance for their worshipers. The Maya believed that the universe consisted of 13 heavens and 9 underworlds. In the center of the earth was a tree that passed through all the heavenly spheres. On each of the four sides of the earth stood another tree, symbolizing the countries of the world - the east corresponded to the mahogany, the south - yellow, the west - black and the north - white. Each side of the world had several gods (wind, rain and heaven holders), who had the corresponding color. One of the important gods of the Maya of the classical period was the god of corn, represented in the guise of a young man with a high headdress. By the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, Itzamna, represented as an old man with a hooked nose and beard, was considered another important deity. As a rule, images of Mayan deities included a variety of symbolism, which speaks of the complexity of the thinking of customers and performers of sculptures, reliefs or drawings and is not always clear to our contemporaries. So, the sun god had large crooked fangs, his mouth was outlined by a strip of circles. The eyes and mouth of another deity are depicted as coiled snakes, etc. Among the female deities, the “red goddess”, the wife of the rain god, was especially significant, judging by the codes; she was depicted with a snake on her head and with the paws of some predator instead of legs. Itzamna's wife was the moon goddess Ish-Chel; it was believed that it helps in childbirth, in weaving and in medicine. Some Mayan gods were represented in the form of animals or birds: a jaguar, an eagle. In the Toltec period of Maya history, the veneration of deities of central Mexican origin spread among them. One of the most respected gods of this kind was Kukulkan, in whose image elements of the god Quetzalcoatl of the Nahua peoples are obvious.

An example of Mayan mythology of the pre-Hispanic period is given by the epic of one of the peoples of Guatemala, the Quiche, Popol-Vuh (Popol-Vuh), the epic of the Quiche Indians (Guatemala), preserved from colonial times. Written in Latin letters in the middle. 16th century, first scientific publication - 1861. The monument is based on mythical legends and historical legends. It reflected the formation of the early class system of the Quiche people before the Conquista). It contains plots of the creation of the world and people, the origin of the twin heroes, their struggle with the underground lords, etc.

Maya worship of deities was expressed in complex rituals, part of which were sacrifices (including human ones) and a ball game.

For a long time it was believed that the Maya were the inventors of writing and the calendar system. However, after that