I’ve heard a few theories. One being they didn’t need to invent war ships and gun powder due to their unique situation with their neighbors. Another was that when they came to south America thousands of years ago then they were separated from where civilization first started and we’re essentially starting over technologically. Along side the starting over idea, their food was of poor quality like the the evolution of maize into the corn we have today.
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I quibble with the idea that the Aztecs were “less technological advanced” than the Spanish. Civilization doesn’t work like Civilization tech trees - you can’t say one civilization has more “technology points” than another. There were some ways in which I’d argue that the Aztecs were spectacularly “advanced” technologically - especially in architecture and agriculture.
The major thing the Aztecs did not have that the Europeans did was iron. They had bronze, but mostly used it for decorative purposes. Figuring out how to make iron is complicated, and probably something that only happened by accident. The Aztecs had access to pretty effective and nasty obsidian weaponry, so it’s not like they would have felt like they were lacking.
Remember too that the Spanish destroyed as much evidence of Mesoamerican culture and history as they could. Diego de Landa alone burned 27 Mayan books - we have 3 that have survived til now. So much pre-Colombian history is colored through the lens of the Spanish conquistadors, who were incentivized to justify their genocide by portraying Mesoamericans as backwards and brutish.
