Cultural patterns & Cultural Diffusion
Personal Opinion
I believe that cultural diffusion and cultural patterns are clearly found throughout the entire Pre-Hispanic era of Central America. These civilizations were very much alike, with only slight twists from one tribe to the next. However, if we compare the Pre-Classic Mayas with the Post-Hispanic Aztecs, we can identify notable changes in daily life such as sacrificing humans daily vs. offering tortillas. We can see how some gods stayed, like Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc, and other gods were introduced, like Huitzilopotchli. There are variations in specific aspects such as how many wives a ruler had or which currency each people used, but the fundamentals are the same throughout the entire era. This is why we can compare them easily, because they are very similar. What I personally dislike about this is that they are so similar in so many aspects due to a strong presence of cultural diffusion, that it is hard to remember which town was distinguished for which reason. It is with pride that I can now say that I've learned and compared my nation's founders who lived and fought many centuries ago.