"To us the Aztec universe may appear irrational, terrifying, murderous in its brutality; and yet it is a mirror held up to our humanity which we ignore at our cost. For in the name of other ideals and other gods Western culture has been no less addicted to killing, even in our own century." —Michael Wood
The name Inca originally did not refer to a race or a nation. When Francisco Pizarro came to South America in 1532, Inca meant "king" or "ruler".
In terms of volume, the largest pyramid in the world is in Mexico. Called Quetzalcoatl, it was built around the year 100 by the Maya out of sun-dried bricks and earth. Although only 177 feet high, less than 40% of the height of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) at Giza, it covers an area of 45 acres. In contrast, the Great Pyramid is 480 feet high but covers an area of "only" 13 acres. It has been estimated that the Mexican pyramid is a million cubic yards greater in volume than the Great Pyramid. [ Ancient Egypt | Incas, Aztecs, and Maya ]
According to the Mayan "long count" linear calendar, the end of the world would occur on June 5th, 2012. [ Incas, Aztecs, and Maya | Calendars ]
The number 10 is used as a convenient base to count with, but the Gauls of ancient France, the Mayas of Central America, and other peoples used a base of 20. The Sumerians, the Babylonians, and others after them used a base of 60—convenient because 60 can be evenly divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30. The use of base 60 survives in the division of hours into minutes and minutes into seconds, and the division of the circle into 360 (60 × 6) degrees. [ Mathematics and Measurement | Ancient Civilisations | Incas, Aztecs, and Maya ] (source)
The Toltecs, a 7th century people who lived in what is now Mexico, used wooden swords when going to war so as not to harm their enemies.
When the Spanish conquistadors first reached Peru, centre of the Inca empire, the Peruvian Indians felt the Spanish horses to be ferocious and deadly monsters, there being no horses native to the Americas. Through an interpreter, they asked the Spanish cavalrymen what these animals ate. In response, the Spaniards, pointing to the gold jewelery and ornaments of the Peruvians, said, "They eat those things of yellow meta. They are hungry now but do not wish to be seen eating. Leave the food in front of them and go away." The Indians gathered some gold objects for the horses. After they had left, the Spanish pocketed the gold, and then, calling back the Indians, told them that the horses were still hungry and needed more food. (source)
The classical period of Mayan culture lasted for six centuries and then quickly collapsed for reasons that have not been determined. There are several theories, ranging from an epidemic to poor farming methods that led to the land becoming exhausted, to clear-cutting resulting in climate change. The collapse occurred quite quickly—Mayan cities that were flourishing at the start of the ninth century were abandoned by the end of the century. [ Incas, Aztecs, and Maya | Strange But True ] (source)
The ancient Mayan calendar was more accurate than the modern Gregorian calendar. While the Gregorian calendar gains three days in 10,000 years, the Mayan calendar loses only two days every 10,000 years. [ Calendars | Incas, Aztecs, and Maya ]
Some of the medical knowledge of the Maya is superior to the cures of "conventional western" medicine. For example, the Mayan herb used to treat athlete's foot is able to kill the bacteria completely, whereas the modern medicine only reduces the discomfort and reduces the bacteria count. [ Incas, Aztecs, and Maya | Medicine ]
The lone surviving written record of Mayan history is three codices written in heiroglyphs on bark paper. All three are now held in European cities. [ Literature | Incas, Aztecs, and Maya ]
One day in 1541, in the city of Mani (on the Yucatan Penninsula), the Franciscan monk Diego de Landa burned the books of the Maya, forever destroying a priceless record of a great people. It is reported that de Landa later realized his crime and spent the remaining days of his life collecting accounts of the Mayan civilisation from the society's survivors.
When Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City) was invaded by Cortez in 1519, it was a flower-covered, whitewashed city five times as large as London was at the time. (source)
When Hernando Cortez arrived in what today is Veracruz, he ordered his ships destroyed, forcing his men, especially those keen on returning to Spain, to carry on the war against the Indians. (source)
In the 1520's a Spanish force of 600 men led by Hernando Cortez with horses and guns overturned an empire of 2 million that had neither. Cortez landed in Mexico, gained allies among the enemies of the Aztecs, and marched on Tenochtitlán, where the local legend of "the pale god from over the sea" overawed Montezuma. Cortez, after having the Aztec emperor murdered, took control of the Aztec Empire with his handful of men. (source)
The Incas, experts at organisation and engineering, did not have wheels, arches, or writing. At the height of their power, before the Spanish conquest in 1532, the Incas ruled the entire area in South America from Quito, Ecuador, to the Rio Maule, Chile. Their empire was centred at Cuzco, Peru. (source)
Before the Spanish conquests in South America, the Incas had no iron. They had gold in relatively large quantities, though, and used it not only for decoration but also for everyday objects such as nails, eating utensils, combs, and eyebrow tweezers.
Much has been said about the value of Incan gold, but one of the great legacies of the Incas was food plants. The potato, the pumpkin, and the pineapple came from South America and spread through the world. Coca, the source of cocaine, and cinchona, the source of quinine, are also gifts of Peruvian civilisation to mankind.
Francisco Pizarro, the nearly illiterate Spanish adventurer, conquered the grand empire of the Incas with a force of no more than 106 foot soldiers and sixty-two downtrodden horses - and gunpowder! [ Weapons | Incas, Aztecs, and Maya ] (source)
Americans who chew gum are partly responsible for the development of Mayan studies. Workers entering the jungle to collect chickle, the sap of the sapodilla tree from which chewing gum is made, have stumbled on numerous vegitation-covered ruins and returned to alert the archaeologists.
The Spanish inquisitor Torquemada once wrote that, during Montezuma's reign over the Aztecs, Alonzo de Ojeda was intrigued by a pile of bulging sacks in an inconspicuous corner of the palace. Thinking that it might contain gold dust, he opened it, only to find that it contained lice instead. When the boy questioned the royal advisers, he was told that the poorest Aztec peasants had no gold to offer the king, and so collected the lice they removed from their bodies and set them aside. Once they had enough for a respectable offering, they filled a bag with them and offered it to their emperor. (source)
Inca stonework is characterized by the use of very large stones, some larger than 100 tons, that are fitted together without mortar so precisely that a knife blade cannot be inserted between the joints. It is still not know for certain how the Incas transported the large stones used in some of their stonework. (source)
The Incas built a stone wall over 150 miles long in modern-day Bolivia. Called the Great Wall of the Incas, this wall was built at altitudes of 8,000 to 12,000 feet in very rugged terrain. (source)