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MEXICO - CULTURE - ANCIENT CULTURES
Ancient Mexico was inhabited by a series of Indian peoples, some of whom developed amazingly advanced and complex civilizations. These cultures flourished in a region we now call Mesoamerica, which includes the Central Plateau and spreads south to Central America. One of the earliest civilizations (1200 - 100 B.C.) was that of the Olmecs, known today as the "mother culture" of Mexico. The Olmecs grew corn, crushed the cacao bean to make a cocoa-like drink, and wove cotton into cloth. But they are most noted for carving giant stone heads that weighed many tons. If you visit Mexico, you can view one of these remarkable sculptures at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Another major civilization in Mexico was that of the Maya of the Yucatan (1500 B.C. - A.D. 900), perhaps the most brilliant of all the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica. Like the Olmecs, the Maya grew corn, which they made into little flat cornmeal cakes that later came to be called tortillas. The Maya were superb architects, mathematicians, and astronomers. Their accomplishments included an accurate calendar, domed observatories, and a system of hieroglyphic writing that the Aztecs later adopted for their own. In addition, these talented people built cities such as Uxmal, Palenque and Chichen Itza. But the fantastic Maya history ends in a great mystery. Why did the Maya abandon their cities around A.D. 900, leaving their civilization to practically disappear?
Ancient Mexico holds the key to another intriguing puzzle as well: Who built the legendary city that lay just thirty miles from present-day Mexico City? Spanning over twenty-five miles and populated by perhaps 150,000 people, the city that existed between A.D. 100 and 600 was probably the largest in the Western world at the time. Among its great avenues and plazas were buildings covered with fantastic paintings and a 200 foot tall pyramid, the famous Pyramid of the Sun, which still stands today.
Five hundred years after the city lay in ruins, it was discovered by the Aztecs, who believe such a magnificent metropolis must have been built by gods or giants. The Aztecs gave the mysterious ruined city the name Teotihuacan, which means "the place where those who die turn into gods."
The Aztecs themselves were a different sort of people, who arrived from the north in search of a place to establish their own civilization. In 1325, they founded their capital city, Tenochtitlan, on an island in Lake Texcoco, which ay in the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs conquered other tribes and took thousands of slaves but they were also skillful engineers. They built aqueducts, drawbridges, and even "floating islands" to grow their crops.
When the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes came upon the Aztecs in 1519, they had become the richest, most powerful empire in all of Mexico. The great Aztec chief Montezuma believed that Cortes was the ancient god Quetzalcoatl returned to rule his people. At first, the chief and the explorer were in awe of each other, but Cortes soon kidnapped Montezuma. The Aztecs quickly came to realize that Cortes was no god. After just two years of war, the Spanish managed to conquer and enslave the Aztecs. For nearly 300 years thereafter, Spain ruled the land and the Indians. Finally in 1810, a parish priest named Father Miguel Hidalgo led the first of the revolts that led to independence for Mexico in 1821.
Today the majority of Mexican people are mestizos, persons of mixed Indian and Spanish ancestry. As you explore the activities in this book, you will discover how this blend of cultures adds spice not only to Mexico's food, but also to its language, games, arts, crafts, songs and stories.
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