Which pre-columbian mesoamerican or american (north & south) civilization is considered the greatest?

Question

aztec, maya, inca (all of these more likely)...

cherokee, sioux, apache (all highly unlikely)...

any other...

Answer 1

Boy, good question.  My decision is based on the sophisticated cultural development of the my choice.  From what I have learned, the Maya were the most evolved of the cultures in mesoamerica. They had written language, understood astronomy, developed agronomy, created metallurgic alloys, and built the numerous pyramids in Central America. The Comanches of the north American territory understood animal husbandry, and selectively bred horses that exhibited endurance, passiveness, and structural balance. (beauty).  The Cherokee  culture in the southeastern states of north America had a written alphabet, bred cattle, and horses, for personal use and trade, were peaceful, and the culture was very widespread.  So which is the greatest?  Take a pick.

Answer 2

Greatest by how? What standards?  Like the Iroquois Confederation had a great system of government.  The Aztec civilization was grand in it's customs and religious beliefs.  The Maya were will known for their mathematics and written language.   The Inca were noted for their empire.  Most of the plains tribes are some of the best light horsemen the world has ever seen.

Each tribe and civilization each has an apscet that makes them great.

Answer 3

not the mayans, any  kind of american indian, but not the mayans.  the technology of the mayans was given to them from what they call a god, who was tall ,light complected, with beard and mustache, and said as he left by the sea, i will be back. some years later, as spain invaded. the Spaniard leader, was light complected, light beard and mustache, they mistook him for their god, and when the Spaniards seen how barbaric they were with human sacra fices, they slaughtered them.  they weren't to bright ......................

Answer 4

Maybe the Mayans and Cherokee? They both developed a sophisticated form of writing, right?

Ever notice that textbooks talk a lot about the Mesopotamians when it came to their writing?

Just think about the Mayans in comparison to other cultures that didn't develop a system of complex writing. How could they have conveyed deep thoughts or RECORDED astronomical data...and be accurate? Records could then be passed down to other generations probably adding some more years to the survival of that civilization.

The Aztecs seemed to have taken heart surgery a little too far.

Answer 5

I'd say the Inka. They had the largest Empire in the entire hemisphere at the time of the Spanish conquest. They had an impressive form of government similiar to Communism today and ruled from Bolivia and Columbia in the North all the way to Chile in the South. They prevented Famines with the careful knowledge food stores and they invented a unique numerical system of the Quipu while also domesticating the first large mammals. The Llama and Alpacas of the ANdes