Ethnic Groups of Mexico [antikvár]

In pre-Hispanic times various ethnic groups developed their culture on the territory that today is Mexico. Of these we are well acquainted with great buildings, sculptures, paintings and pottery that have been found on different archeologi-cai sites, as well as the codices or 'painted books' where various aspects of their religion, mythology, history, etc., are re-corded in hieroglyphic writing on bark paper or animai skin. Knowledge of pre-Hispanic cultures was widened in the sixteenth century by the writ-ings of some conquistadors, who recorded not only battles and military progress but also the customs and way of life of the conquered natives. We owe the most important works, however, to the missionary friars who, after the Conquest, collected information, on the religion, festivals, beliefs and way of life of the ethnic groups. These works, although reflecting the religious and cul-tural préjudices of the âge, have left us a clear picture of those peoples. Many native languages dis-appeared during Colonial times, due to the fact that considérable numbers of the native population died as a r e s u 11 of the new diseases brought by the Europeans and the hard labor to which they were forced in mines and on the land. Despite this, many groups survived, some because they lived in relative isolation, making their settlements dif-