Old movies about the conquerors invading Mesoamerica and taking over the native people there always typify Mesoamericans as primitive and unintelligentùeasy prey. The conquerors would dupe them with the simplest of ruses and treat them with disdain, regarding them as uncivilized. This perception of the Mesoamericans has persisted to the present day, the general tendency being to stereotype them as dumb savages, people whoùunlike the purportedly enlightened Spaniards who conquered themùare lacking in civilization. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Mesoamericans were a highly civilized society, with very distinct and complex hierarchies, symbology, customs, and religious beliefs; in short, they had an extremely ordered society and also viewed their universe as one of order:
Extending from the Eskimos and Indians of Canada and North America to the Araucans and Pampas of Chile and Argentina is an immense complex of myths, traditions, symbols, rites, usages and customs, ways of life, and so on, which, despite their variety, articulate in a coherent manner (Gonzßlez, ôThe Precolumbian Worldö).
Their society was stratified into castes, as well as highly specialized and characterized by an imperial administration (ôThe Aztecs/Mexicasö). The Aztecs had a trading network and a tribute system, as well as a highly developed and well-maintained agricultural economy that was sophisticated in its ability to adjust to the land (ôThe Aztecs/Mexicasö). Not only was their society civilized, ordered, and complex, it was notable for its highly developed mathematics, science, and technologyùall factors in its success (ôHistorical Background of the Mayasö).
The ancient Mesoamerican cosmology was much more complex than fictional Hollywood portrayals would have us believe. The universe was seen as divided into a number of cosmic directions and cosmic layers, associated with cosmic colors, and tiers both above and ...