Conclusion
For me it is very clear that pretty much all aspects of each culture were diffused into other cultures. I studied the Zapotecs and basically every aspect of their culture had something that was similar to the Aztec culture. Both had religion as the center of their entire civilization, and both practiced forms of sacrifice to their Gods. Another similarity is that both empires expanded exponentially because of the wars that they fought. This lead to war being a part of their culture and their social life. In both cases the was also improved their economy because of the tribute that was paid to them by the conquered cities. In the economical aspect both culture's economies were based around agriculture. The whole of the empires depended on how well the commoners were able to produce food. In the political aspect both cultures had the same basic hierarchy. Both cultures were ruled by one emperor, who was normally born into the role of emperor. After the emperor there were the priests who conducted sacrificial ceremonies and religious events. The nobles came after them and then came merchants and artisans. Then came the warriors. The only difference in this is that in the Aztec culture the warriors could end up being of equal status to the nobles. The final social group was made up of the commoners, who were usually farmers. I can observe that pretty much everything in the Aztec and Zapotec cultures was the same with minor differences. This shows me how cultural diffusion happened in Mexico, and how many of the aspects of one culture ended up being taken up by another culture. In this case the Aztec culture used some of the practices of the Zapotecs, along with other practices of other cultures, in order to create their new hybrid culture which included bits and pieces of other cultures.