How well do you know the Maya and Aztecs?
The Maya and Aztecs built great cities and developed advanced science. Six questions, from easy to hard.
Did you know?
- Maya bark-paper books were rare even when they were made, and only four are generally accepted as surviving today. One, the Dresden Codex, contains detailed astronomical tables, including predictions of eclipses.
- The Aztecs used cacao beans as small change in markets. A turkey hen was said to cost around 100 beans, while a tomato cost just one, according to a document from the 16th century.
- Tikal, one of the greatest Maya cities, had temples rising over 60 metres above the rainforest. The site in Guatemala is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site surrounded by protected jungle.
Science and cities of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica, the region covering much of Mexico and Central America, was home to several advanced civilisations. The Maya flourished for many centuries, building cities with pyramids, palaces and observatories, while the Aztecs later built a powerful state centred on a capital in the Valley of Mexico. Both developed writing, calendars and sophisticated farming.
Maya writing
The Maya had a complete writing system of several hundred glyphs, representing words and syllables. They wrote on stone monuments, pottery and bark-paper books called codices. Scholars made major progress in deciphering Maya writing only in the second half of the 20th century.
Astronomy and calendars
Maya astronomers tracked the movements of the Sun, Moon and Venus with great precision. They used several interlocking calendars, including a 260-day ritual calendar and a 365-day solar calendar, to organise farming and festivals.
Aztec capital
The Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, stood on an island in Lake Texcoco and was connected to the shore by causeways. Canals, markets and aqueducts supported a population estimated in the hundreds of thousands, one of the largest cities in the world at the time.
Markets and trade
Aztec markets, such as the great market at Tlatelolco, offered food, cloth, pottery, feathers and tools. Cacao beans and cotton cloth were used as forms of currency, and professional merchants travelled long distances to trade.
Living cultures today
Millions of people today speak Maya languages and Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. Their traditions, foods and crafts continue, showing that these civilisations are not only history but part of living cultures.
Foods the world inherited
Many foods eaten worldwide today were first grown in Mesoamerica, including maize, beans, squash, tomatoes, avocados, chillies and cacao. Farmers developed these crops over thousands of years through careful selection. After the 16th century they spread across the globe, transforming cuisines from Italy to India and becoming part of daily meals for billions of people.