Pre-Columbian America: Empires of the New World - ISBN:161530150X

Pre-Columbian America: Empires of the New World

Date: 23 May 2011, 17:14

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Because educational curricula in the
West typically emphasize European
civilization and cultural traditions, pre-
Columbian civilizations are, at best, a
peripheral concept for many people
today. Perhaps the best-known features of
pre-Columbian civilizations are architectural,
namely the Mayan and Aztec
pyramids and the Inca ruins at Machu
Picchu, and ritualistic, such as a penchant
for human sacrifice. Yet these isolated
elements provide only a fragmented, and
thus distorted, picture of the cultures to
which they belonged. These elements
alone cannot convey the size, richness,
and complex history of pre-Columbian
civilizations.
Details found in this book mark an
attempt to rectify that situation. Readers
will come to a deep understanding of the
cultures, traditions, accomplishments, and
belief systems of the Mesoamerican
and Andean peoples.
The term “pre-Columbian” refers to a
time in the Americas before European
explorers and settlers arrived. It derives
from one of Western history’s most familiar
explorers, Christopher Columbus,
and owes its invention to Columbus’s traditional
albeit somewhat inaccurate
designation as the discoverer of this
“New World.” While pre-Columbian can
apply to life in both North and South
America, when scholars speak of
pre-Columbian civilizations, they are
referring to the great civilizations of
Mexico, Central America, and the Andes.
The Maya, Aztec, and Inca are the best
known of these. Maya and Aztec civilizations
flourished in the area known as
Mesoamerica, which includes about half
of Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize,
and parts of Honduras and El Salvador.
The Inca realm in the South American
Andes covered parts of the modern
nations of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile,
and Argentina.
Scholars once believed that the
Americas were sparsely populated at
the time of European arrival—a vast wilderness
paradise ripe for the taking,
abundant with animals, natural resources,
and perhaps gold beyond one’s wildest
imaginings. While the continents’ natural
riches have never been questioned,
the notion of an almost-uninhabited land
is no longer viewed as accurate. Some
scholars have estimated that the population
of the Americas could have been as
high as 112 million when Columbus
arrived. In contrast, Europe’s population
at the time has been estimated at 70
million to 88 million. It has also been estimated
that more than 25 million of the
Americas’ inhabitants lived in central
Mexico. That figure is more than two and
a half times the combined population of
Spain and Portugal in Columbus’s day.
Supporting the thesis of burgeoning
populations are archeological finds such

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