But Aztec "writing" was not true writing in that it could not represent any meaningful utterance in a language, like the Maya Script can; it was pictogrammic with limited use of the rebus principle. It was also cumbersome to use and was not nearly as expressive as the Classical Nahuatl language which the Mexica spoke.And Maya writing might be a bit problematic to adopt. For one, it's not pictographic like Aztec writing. As long as you understood certainly cultural aspects and meanings, anyone can understand Aztec writing. But Maya writing was logo-syllabic, and pretty much made for Mayan languages. It'd be like adapting Hieroglyphs or Chinese characters to use for English.
Sailing wouldn't get them to Chaco Canyon. Still, besides the general spread of agriculture, there are a lot of Mesoamerican influences in the ancient Pueblo cultures... The elites of the major centers imported luxury items like macaws and cacao beans from the south in exchange for turquoise and other local resources, which were likely transported directly by merchants between the two regions. There's even a theory that the Kokopelli image originated from the memory of a Mesoamerican trader.
Unfortunately, the only confirmed contacts were contemporary with the Toltecs, who didn't have a writing system. It shouldn't be too hard to give them one, or to put someone else in their place during that time period who had knowledge of writing.
As for the Caribbean, there's less evidence for any extensive Pre-Columbian contact here, but there are some cultural similarities - For example, the ball courts in both regions. The Yucatan really isn't that far away from the tip of Cuba.
Hmm, my bad I guess. Linguistics is far from a strongpoint of mine, I don't understand a few of the words your using.Nevertheless, there's still the problem of actually being able to have enough regular contacts (and enough time) that Maya writing passes on south.
Yeah, but you still have to find a plausible reason for them to go all the way to Panama. And even if they did (not so knowledgable on South American natives) I don't think the limited contacts at the frontiers of both worlds would be enough to spread writing.The civilizations of the Andes had sailing rafts.
The civilizations of the Andes had sailing rafts.
Just found this paper, which suggests they very well may have had large sailing canoes. This might also be interesting.If they had sailing vessels during the classical collapse, It's likely Mayan migration would spread throughout the Caribbean. Contact with Andeans would also be possible.
Uh, that paper seems to be about how they did not have sails. They even say it was Thompson who said they did, and Thompson was incredibly wrong on pretty much every level of Maya studies as we know today. He was the man responsible for the idea that they were a completely pacifistic society whose cities were ritual centers inhabited only by priests and that all their writings were only of esoteric matters considering the gods and the stars, stuff which was disproven four centuries earlier by Spanish accounts made by witnesses to Maya civilization.Just found this paper, which suggests they very well may have had large sailing canoes. This might also be interesting.
My mistake in thinking I had found something that was actually something elseUh, that paper seems to be about how they did not have sails. They even say it was Thompson who said they did, and Thompson was incredibly wrong on pretty much every level of Maya studies as we know today. He was the man responsible for the idea that they were a completely pacifistic society whose cities were ritual centers inhabited only by priests and that all their writings were only of esoteric matters considering the gods and the stars, stuff which was disproven four centuries earlier by Spanish accounts made by witnesses to Maya civilization.