A Bit of Historical Contextualization

Ancient American civilizations play an important role in the history of the modern world. Many are familiar with the arrival of Columbus in the Americas, but an often-overlooked aspect of history is the untouched cultures of the indigenous societies. This may be due to the difficulty of establishing a concrete and specific timeline prior to the Europeans or to the mass extinction that directly followed the arrival of the West. However, the information recovered provides a unique and paramount perspective on the ancient world. The pre-Columbian world, while incredibly diverse, was largely dominated by three indigenous groups: Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas – the Mayans being the oldest of the three. This section aims to explore ancient American civilizations and highlight the various cultural traditions, religious practices, and technological advances within the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan empires.

The religious practices of the indigenous groups offer crucial insight to the unique style and culture of the societies. The religious practices of the big three indigenous cultures often times required both animal and human sacrifice. This points to one of the reasons Europeans classified the indigenous cultures as "savages". For example, in Mayan culture, people would sacrifice dogs and iguanas painted with a cocoa like color to the god Ek Chuah to ensure the health of the cocoa crops. Aztec warriors and courtesans washed prisoners and slaves in their sacred spring before offering them up as sacrifices. Incas would celebrate Inti Ramyi, a festival specifically dedicated to the Sun god, which occurred during the summer solstice in June. In this event, 100 brown llamas were sacrificed, and statues of all the gods were dressed and presented to receive more sacrifices.

After Europeans branded the indigenous communities as savages due to the nature of the religious and cultural sacrifices, indigenous communities were considered years behind Europeans. This is simply untrue; technology in the pre-contact societies of America were extremely advanced for the time. The Aztecs built the largest pyramid structure in America, ruins of Teotihuacán, which span eight square miles and hold close to 2,000 apartment compounds in addition to plazas, temples, and palaces for the nobles and priests of the empire. In addition to complex structures, the indigenous societies of America, most notably the Incas, contributed to the medical field. Incas conducted brain surgery with a 90 percent survival rate, and while it remains unknown if the intended purpose of the surgeries were successful, there is no denying the Incas were skilled brain surgeons.