She completed her own lidar survey five years later and remembers the shock she experienced. Kathryn Reese-Taylor, associate professor at the University of Calgary's department of anthropology and archaeology, first heard about lidar technology in 2009. Light detection and ranging technology, called lidar, has revealed undiscovered ceremonial ruins, the oldest and largest Maya structure found to date, the "surprising complexity" of cities and their connections, and evidence of a sophisticated stone-working industry, not to mention nearly 500 new Mesoamerican sites, including those built by the Maya. Scientists have long studied their astronomical systems, architecture, calendars, hieroglyphic writing, farming practices, and extensive trade networks through dense jungle and swamps.īut in just the last 15 years, airborne lasers have led researchers to new discoveries that were once virtually invisible at ground level. The Maya civilization rose to prominence in the year 250 AD, although artifacts from these Indigenous peoples date back thousands of years earlier. (CBC/The Teenager and the Lost Maya City) The truth was there in the jungle, 'we just couldn't see' Gadoury used Google Earth to help come up with a theory that the Maya built their cities based on constellations. Cortés began to build what is now known as Mexico City, the capital of a Spanish colony of which he was named governor, atop the ruins.Archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli (L) and William Gadoury check GPS coordinates on a phone as they search for a missing Maya city in Mexico. They were aided by Texcoco, a former Triple Alliance member.A great deal of Tenochtitlan was destroyed in the fighting, or was looted, burned, or destroyed after the surrender. The Spanish conquistadors laid siege to the Aztec capital from the middle of May of 1521 until they surrendered on August 13, 1521. This was not the end of the interactions, however. Upon arriving in Tenochtitlan, Cortés took Motecuhzoma prisoner and attempted to rule on his behalf, but this did not go well, and Cortés fled the city in June of 1520. They were looking for gold, and the gifts from the Mexica ruler, Motecuhzoma, proved that gold was present. The Spanish, led by conquistador Hernando Cortés, arrived in what is now Mexico in 1519. The Spanish reaction to Aztec religious practices is believed to be partially responsible for the violence of the Spanish conquest. At their central temple in Tenochtitlan, Templo Mayor, the Aztecs practiced both bloodletting (offering one’s own blood) and human sacrifice as part of their religious practices. The codices also recorded religious practices.Ī 260-day ritual calendar was used by Aztec priests for divination, alongside a 365-day solar calendar. Two pictographic texts that survived Spanish destruction-the Matricula de tributos and Codex Mendoza-record the tributes paid to the Aztecs. Recordkeeping was important to tracking tributes. Chinampas, small, artificial islands created above the waterline, were one feature of the system. Key to the rise of Tenochtitlan was the agricultural system that made it possible to feed the population. They formed the Aztec Triple Alliance and were able to win the battle for regional control, collecting tribute from conquered states. In 1428, the Mexica allied with two other cities-Texcoco and Tlacopan. They were subject to the Tepanec, whose capital was Azcapotzalco, and had to pay tribute to them. Archaeologists date the founding of Tenochtitlan to 1325 C.E.Īt first, the Mexica in Tenochtitlan were one of a number of small city-states in the region. This settlement, in the region of Mesoamerica called Anáhuac located on a group of five connected lakes, became Tenochtitlan. The legend recounts that Huitzilopochtli told them to found their settlement in the place where a giant eagle eating a snake was perched on a cactus. The Mexica founding of Tenochtitlan was under direction from their patron god Huitzilopochtli, according to legend.
While it is not clear where Aztlan was, a number of scholars believe that the Mexica-as the Aztec referred to themselves- migrated south to central Mexico in the 13th century. The legendary origin of the Aztec people has them migrating from a homeland called Aztlan to what would become modern-day Mexico.
0 kommentar(er)
