Geographical Differences Between The Mayans And The Aztecs
840 Words4 Pages
Nancy Lin
Mrs.Filipiak
Social study
April 5, 2015
Native Americans
Between about 40,000 and 15,000 years ago, Asian people started migrate to America by the land bridge in order to search for food. However they arrived, their ascendants settled in this big great land. As time went by, different culture developed in a different region. Some of these people settled in Mesoamerica. The main two groups were the Mayans and the Aztecs. The location, landforms, climates and other geographical difference impacted the culture of these two native groups.
Maya civilization developed in tropical forest and highlands after people learned to farm. The area of this civilization extended throughout the Northern Central America region included present-day…show more content… The Aztec empire developed in highlands of central Mexico. There is a broad, high plateau stretches across it. This enormous empire was spread along the Gulf coast, Pacific Ocean and reach as south as Guatemala(santacruz.k12.ca.us). Volcanoes are rise above the farmland. The Valley of Mexico was the basin that located at the central of the empire. Streams and mountains surrounded the city created great natural barrier and made a great place to settle. There is a large lake in the middle of the valley, Lake Texcoco. This region has cooler temperature than the hot Maya lowlands. The Aztecs often relied on primary food source such as maize or corn. Maizes and corns supplied a good amount of calories and proteins it was also easier for them to farm in the highland region(healthyeating.sfgate.com). Meat is not a main part of their food because there weren't many meat resources in the areas where the Aztec settled. The local Maguey Cactus that grew around the Texcoco Lake was one of the main materials that the Aztec used them to make clothes. Aztec clothes cotton fiber and ayate fiber were made from the Cactus(Legendsandchronicles.com). Because the wood is hard to find in the highland, Adobe bricks became very common in the construction of houses in the Aztec empire. It was bricks made of water, sand, clay, stone and clay which were easier to find in their