Did the empires of the Inca and Aztec civilizations have an impact on each other due to their proximity? There were many similarities and differences between the Aztecs and Incas in the Americas. Although they did develop in close proximity of one another, they had similarities; they did not develop on top of one another causing differences. There were such differences and similarities in terms of social structure, religion, and state. .
As for social structure, there are a few similarities and differences. Both civilizations have a clan system based on kinship and heredity. Therefore, it was like a dynasty because family members got the positions in the area. A difference in this is that the Aztec clan is called Calpulli and the Inca clan is called Ayllu. Both settled areas were divides into 4 Ayllu or Calpulli which controlled distribution of land, and labor. The warriors would fight together as a whole. This is similar to European feudalism in that a family is the lord or Calpulli or Ayllu who are the rulers of their land and they chose who gets land, and the warriors fight as one to defend the clan's settled area. Religion also played similarities and differences in these civilizations.
Religion has many similarities and differences. Both civilizations were polytheistic but the Incas were in transition to monotheism. The Aztecs had two main gods while the Incas worshipped the sun and fallen ancestors. Both cultures practiced human sacrifice but in unique ways and reason. The Aztec gods required extensive human sacrificing. On the celebration of the inauguration of Huitzilopochtli, one of the two main gods, Montezuma II sacrificed 40,000. The Inca god(s) did not require this much sacrificing but still did require it. The Incas would take someone up to the top of a sacred mountain and they thought that would create a mummy. The Aztecs however used ritual cannibalism to dispose of the sacrificed.
