The ancient peoples of the past from Central and South America were some of the most adaptive civilizations throughout world history. These civilizations blazed the path to the future, by creating the foundation for ideas we use today, which we would add on to. The main three groups were the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Incas who, “amazingly adapted their terrain, either thick jungle or rugged mountains, using it for travel as well as agriculture”, by making modifications to fit their needs. (Sophie Flanagan, “Mayan, Inca, and Aztec Civilizations”, Paragraph 4) The Mayans lived in an very diverse landscape, including mountains, jungles, and swampy lowlands which led to many different agricultural methods being used to be able to farm on …show more content…
Like the way of the Mayans, they also had some adaptations related to agriculture, like chinampas which were called “floating islands” . It was “a method of farming that used small, rectangular areas to grow crops on shallow lake-beds” which under the circumstances expanded the Aztecs land and gave more space to grow crops. (“Aztec Agriculture- Rich and Varied”, aztec-history.com, paragraph 4) The Aztecs primary strength in adapting was in engineering, and one example of an adaptation in the engineering field used by the Aztecs are causeways, which is “an raised road that allows people to easily travel” to and from places. Causeways connected the Aztecs to other people so they could trade, and communicate with other people. (“Tenochtitlan”, ducksters.com, Paragraph 3) Another adaptation were dikes, which “ran along the east to hold back floodwaters” which means it protected the Aztecs on water-related issues such as flooding, or protecting the freshwater supply, which would have been an big problem if they hadn’t adapted, because they live on an island. (TCI p. 275) With these inventions, the Aztecs were able to develop an powerful empire, by adapting to their environment