Civilization of the Americas
The old civilizations of America were truly one of the most advanced and thriving civilizations the world has ever come to see. There is no wander that the Spanish colonizers were amazed at what they were seeing. They did not have technologies as advanced as the ones that had been develop in Europe. However they did have an intricate architecture, superior buildings, and great cultivation methods. Therefore the civilizations of the old America were magnificent and advanced civilizations.
The Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations possessed great knowledge when it came to construction, which allowed them to make roads, pyramids, and irrigation systems that made their lifestyle much more sophisticated. Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés himself describes in document 3 how astonished he was by the magnificence of Tenochtitlán. Even without modern machinery these civilizations were able to construct things out of rock that weighted tons and were able to do this with precision and great structural beauty. The Aztec and Maya pyramids, like Tikal seen in document 1, have resisted all these years because their symmetric shape has great structural strength. It is now known that a pyramid has the least amount of material surface area possible to enclose a given volume of space when building with flat surfaces. They took advantage of this to make gigantic temples and homes that were perfectly carved and are true architectural beauty. Also the map we see in document 5 shows how the roads that Inca made were the most extensive and advanced transportation system ever seen before the Columbian South America. Extending for thousands of miles and having hundreds of branches the road system made the communication and transportation between the cities easier. The irrigation system is perhaps one of the most impressing of any of the ones ever seen. In document 4, Garcilazo de la Vega describes the cleverness of the Inca by building this system. He explains how it was a great way to
The Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations possessed great knowledge when it came to construction, which allowed them to make roads, pyramids, and irrigation systems that made their lifestyle much more sophisticated. Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés himself describes in document 3 how astonished he was by the magnificence of Tenochtitlán. Even without modern machinery these civilizations were able to construct things out of rock that weighted tons and were able to do this with precision and great structural beauty. The Aztec and Maya pyramids, like Tikal seen in document 1, have resisted all these years because their symmetric shape has great structural strength. It is now known that a pyramid has the least amount of material surface area possible to enclose a given volume of space when building with flat surfaces. They took advantage of this to make gigantic temples and homes that were perfectly carved and are true architectural beauty. Also the map we see in document 5 shows how the roads that Inca made were the most extensive and advanced transportation system ever seen before the Columbian South America. Extending for thousands of miles and having hundreds of branches the road system made the communication and transportation between the cities easier. The irrigation system is perhaps one of the most impressing of any of the ones ever seen. In document 4, Garcilazo de la Vega describes the cleverness of the Inca by building this system. He explains how it was a great way to