The Mesoamerican, Andean and European civilizations shared distinct but predominant characteristics and differences. Beginning with the governmental structures, the Olmecs in Mesoamerica practised division of labour, the Mayans had kingdoms and city-states, and the Aztecs had an enormous empire headed by an emperor. Similarly, the Europeans had several kingdoms, such as the United Kingdom and the Roman Empire. However, the system of governance among the European settlers later transformed into a centralized form of governance (Bentley et al., 2006). Additionally, the people of Mesoamerica and Andea spoke different languages. In Mesoamerica alone, its people spoke over 125 different languages. On the other hand, their European counterparts primarily spoke English, Portuguese, or Spanish.
Gender roles in Mesoamerica and Andea were complementary in nature. Men and women played separate but equally significant roles within society. Nonetheless, these roles varied among distinct Mesoamerican cultures and societies over-time. Similar to Europe, the division of labour was based on gender. Women primarily engaged in domestic labour and childrearing. Men were primarily engaged in warfare, weaponry, as well as holding religious and political positions (Bentley et al., 2006). On the contrary, men and women in Europe were depicted as playing different roles within society. The woman was not considered equal to man. The roles played by women undermined their overall input within society.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In resemblance to Europe, the Andean and Mesoamerican economy was primarily built on agriculture. Farm produce, be it animals or crops were important items of trade. Nonetheless, their European counterparts later went through the Agrarian and Industrial revolution, which meant that they had better farming systems and technological means. Nonetheless, a significant portion of the population in both Mesoamerica and Europe resided in rural areas. Even so, the population of Mesoamerica was quite smaller compared to the population of European cities perhaps because they had advanced farming techniques which made it possible to feed the population (Bentley et al., 2006). It is worth noting that Mesoamerican societies practiced horticulture since they could not domesticate animals. On the contrary, European empires had animals that were quite easy to domesticate, such as horses, cows, and mules.
Similar to European societies, Mesoamerican writing systems varied by culture. Writing without using words or using signs, also referred to as photography was a common practice in Mesoamerica and some parts of Europe. Furthermore, the Mayans utilized a similar writing system to the Europeans, whereby signs like letters, designated sounds and syllables were combined to form words. Contrary to Europe, a multifaceted pantheon of deities existed within both Andean and Mesoamerican culture. Many groups shared similar gods, even though there was a significant degree of variation (Bentley et al., 2006). Deities that played a significant role in Mesoamerica and Andea included the rain god and a feathered serpent deity. The Mexicans referred to the rain god as Tlaloc while the Mayans referred to the god as Chaac. Even though gods were worshipped in some parts of Europe, the European settlers in Mesoamerica primarily practised Christianity as their religion.
Another shared feature between the Andean, Mesoamerican, and European societies were the calendars. Nevertheless, the people of Mesoamerica had a 365 day and 260-day calendar. The 365-day calendar was based on the sun, had 18 months and was used in agriculture. The 265-day calendar had 20 months and was majorly used for rituals. Those in Europe relied on the current calendar, which has 12 months in a year.
References
Bentley, J.H., Ziegler, H.F., Streets-Salter, H., & Benjamin, C. (2006). Traditions & encounters: a global perspective on the past.
