The Incas built forts from stone blocks weighing over 100 tons, cut so precisely they needed no mortar. They had no wheels and no iron tools.
This article covers the pre-conquest civilizations of the Americas: the Aztecs, the Mayas, and the Incas.
🏛️ Must Know
Two Kinds of American Culture
- Small EconomiesSmall subsistence economies existed in the Caribbean region and in Brazil, living by hunting, fishing and basic farming.
- Powerful StatesPowerful monarchical systems also existed, built on developed agriculture and mining: the Aztecs and Mayas of Central America, and the Incas of Peru.
- Monumental ArchitectureThese larger states all built monumental architecture, remains of which still mesmerise visitors today.
The Aztec Empire and Tenochtitlan
- MigrationThe Aztecs migrated from the north into the central valley of Mexico in the twelfth century.
- Tribute EmpireThey expanded by defeating rival tribes, who were then forced to pay tribute to the Aztec state.
- ChinampasSince land was scarce, the Aztecs built chinampas, artificial islands woven from reed-mats and covered with mud and plants.
- TenochtitlanTheir capital, Tenochtitlan, was built on these islands in Lake Mexico in 1325, with palaces and pyramids rising from the water.
Aztec Society and Schooling
- HierarchyAztec society was hierarchical. Nobles, priests, warriors and traders held the most respected positions.
- The KingNobles chose a supreme leader from among themselves, who ruled until death and was seen as the sun’s representative on earth.
- Peasants and LandLand belonged to clans, not individuals. Peasants worked land owned by nobles, similar to European serfs, in exchange for a share of the harvest.
- Schools for AllAll Aztec children attended school. Nobles’ children trained as leaders at the calmecac, while others learned trades and history at the tepochcalli.
The Mayas: Corn, Astronomy and Undeciphered Writing
- TimelineMaya culture developed remarkably between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, but held less power than the Aztecs by the sixteenth century.
- Corn CultureCorn cultivation was central to Maya life, and many religious ceremonies centred on planting and harvesting it.
- ScienceAgricultural surplus let priests and chiefs invest in architecture, astronomy and mathematics.
- WritingThe Mayas devised a pictographic form of writing that remains only partially deciphered even today.
The Inca Empire of Peru
- OriginsThe first Inca, Manco Capac, founded his capital at Cuzco in the twelfth century.
- Vast ExtentAt its greatest extent, the Inca empire stretched 3,000 miles from Ecuador to Chile.
- Centralised RuleThe empire was highly centralised. Every subject had to speak Quechua, the language of the royal court.
- Confederacy StyleLike the Aztecs, the Incas ruled through a confederacy-like system, rewarding local rulers who cooperated militarily.
📘 Good to Know
Inca Engineering Without Iron or Wheels
- Mountain RoadsThe Incas built extensive roads through the mountains from Ecuador to Chile.
- Precise StoneworkTheir forts used stone slabs cut so precisely that they needed no mortar to hold together.
- No WheelsSome stones weighed over 100 metric tons, yet the Incas moved them without any wheeled vehicles at all.
- The QuipuInstead of writing, the Incas used the quipu, a system of knotted cords used for accounting and record-keeping.
- FarmingThey terraced infertile hillsides and built drainage and irrigation systems, growing corn and potatoes and raising llamas.
The Arawaks and the Tupinamba
- The ArawaksThe Arawakian Lucayos lived across hundreds of small Caribbean islands and preferred negotiation over conflict.
- Gold’s ValueThe Arawaks used gold for ornaments but did not prize it the way Europeans did, happily trading it for glass beads.
- The TupinambaThe Tupinamba lived on Brazil’s east coast, and had no king, army or church, which Europeans who met them envied.
🌟 Great to Know
A Different Set of Values
- No Private LandAztec and Inca society was hierarchical, but resources were not privately owned by a few individuals, unlike in Europe.
- Gold UndervaluedGold was used ritually in temples but was not prized as highly as in contemporary European society.
Machu Picchu and Rediscovery
- Destroyed RecordsEuropean conquest was accompanied by ruthless destruction of native manuscripts and monuments.
- Late StudyAnthropologists only began studying these cultures in the late nineteenth century, and archaeologists later found their ruins.
- Machu PicchuThe Inca city of Machu Picchu escaped Spanish notice entirely, and was only rediscovered in 1911.
- Neruda’s PoemPoet Pablo Neruda wrote of the thousands of forced labourers behind Inca achievements, in The Heights of Machu Picchu (1943).
Exam Point of View
Exam Wisdom: Comparing Ancient Civilizations
- WhyNo previous-year question on the Aztecs, Mayas or Incas has appeared in the papers indexed on this site yet. This card offers general exam wisdom instead of a specific citation.
- Watch ForNCERT itself invites a comparison with Mesopotamia: both built on a farming surplus, but only the American civilizations lacked the wheel and iron tools.
- Key ContrastRemember which civilization lacked writing entirely: the Incas used only the quipu, while the Mayas had a real, if undeciphered, script.
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