Mayans and Aztecs - Ancient Lands of the Americas (Lost Treasures of the Ancient World)

List Price: $19.99 Buy For: $17.99
Usually ships in 24 hours


Add to Cart


Compare New & Used Prices From All Available Merchants:

Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Cromwell Productions
Studio: Kultur Video
Release Date: 2006-05-30
The Mayan civilization enjoyed a glorious period from 325 AD to 925 AD. Skilled potters, weavers and farmers, the magnificent temples at Chichen Itza and Copan are among the legacies of peace-loving people. The Aztecs of Mexico are remembered for their architecture, sculpture, art, and for their religious rituals which included large scale human sacrifice. This program contains superb graphics and computer animation, detailed reconstructions of ancient life, paintings and images, location footage, and Insightful interpretation and analysis.

Laudable, but not Original
The Kultur series is notorious for making works that are really just dry slideshow lectures. However, this one had reenactments and actually people being interviewed, so it moved more effectively.
Few works cover both the Aztecs and the Mayans. I appreciate that this work covered both, but it may confuse imprudent viewers who could collapse the two civilizations together.
This work confirms what most works on these peoples say. The Mayan civilization declined before European contact, the Aztecs had indigenous enemies, they believed strongly in human sacrifices, and the Aztec people themselves killed their leader Moctezuma II. For those who know much about the Aztecs and Mayas, this work will say nothing new. I applaud the work for saying the Mayans and Aztecs have descendants who live and speak the ancient languages to this day.
This disc was really made for a European audience. Though I understood the British narrator, the academic interviewees had accents so strong, a Yankee like myself just couldn't understand it.
I think this work may be too boring for an elementary class, but it would be okay for high school students. Those fascinated by ancient cultures should appreciate it.