The descendants of the ancient civilization still live throughout Central America. Introduction It’s not every day that...
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica was home to interconnected civilizations extending from central Mexico into Central America. Explore the cities and traditions that shaped the region before and after European conquest.
Broken mirrors can be associated with bad luck, but for the ancient Maya, a cracked mirror was...
The early colonization of Latin America was a project of monumental violence. It erased civilizations, enslaved millions,...
The Spanish did not simply impose their will upon a static world. They disrupted a delicate ecological...
The dead did not vanish but were transformed. By Matthew A. McIntoshPublic HistorianBrewminate Introduction Across the high...
In 1521, Hernán Cortés and a vast coalition of Indigenous allies besieged Tenochtitlan for 93 days. Smallpox...
Notions of self or personhood. Introduction From the portraits of Benin kings and queens to the busts of Roman patricians, the history...
Colonial legacies remain. By Dr. Elena Jackson AlbarránAssociate Professor of History and Global and Intercultural StudiesMiami University...
Ideology the Spanish used to take over the ‘New World’. By Dr. Diego Javier LuisAssistant Professor of...
Severe droughts between 800 and 1000 CE may have helped destabilize Classic Maya cities already strained by...
The Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Americas in the final decade of the 15th century. Introduction The...
Visual teaching tools used by missionaries for converting the Indigenous population of Central Mexico to Christianity. Introduction...
In the annals of history, one civilization stands out for its remarkable understanding of the cosmos—the mighty...
The color Black and even Black or Blackened skin held positive connotations in Mesoamerican worldview. Introduction A...
The sun loomed large in ancient Maya conceptions of the world. By Elizabeth Svoboda At the ancient...
From 200 to 900 CE, Mesoamerican cities turned architecture, art, writing, ritual, and political power into monumental...
Exploring the cultures of the Aztec, Huastec, and TaÃno – and the monumental changes from the Spanish...
After the fall of Tenochtitlan, the remaining Aztec warriors and civilians fled the city as the Spanish...
The deity Itzamna was frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendrical system to the ancestral...
It seems to have been thought that these would restrict the dog’s movement between worlds. Introduction Dogs...
This civilization lasted 3,500 years, from about 2000 B.C.E. to 1500 C.E. At its peak, it included...
These texts excruciatingly detail the human horror and the treachery of a mass murder, now known as...
The sacred festivities date back to to the foundation of the city Tenochtitlan in the 14th century....
Works of Mesoamerican art often include references to calendars and time. Introduction We think of calendars as...
Exploring the Aztecs, a Mesoamerican people who built a vast empire in what is today central Mexico...
The Aztec painted language operated at two levels – identifying glyphs and strategic placement and presentation. Writing...
Other Mesoamerican cultures also engaged in human sacrifice and built tzompantlis, but the Mexica brought it to...
This would have been placed in a grave to embody the shaman’s power that would help the...
Aztec culture had complex mythological and religious traditions. Introduction The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central...
By 2000 BCE, many agrarian village communities had been settled throughout the Andes and the surrounding regions....