In the fertile valleys or plateaus the Maya, Inca and Aztec built communities and villages practicing sedentary lifestyles. They had for the most part “intensive and permanent agriculture”. (Lane and Restall 2012) This allowed them to produce complex foods that benefited the villages because they made them possible, but also resulted in social stratification. “The agricultural pursuits of the majority allowed a minority to live and work as artisans, merchants, warriors, nobles, and royalty, allowing for the development of writing, metallurgy, bureaucracy, and other features of high civilization.” More specifically, the Maya were able to create the most complete of the three Mesoamerican writing systems, “the one that was still in use at the beginning of the 16th century.” (Lane and Restall 2012) They were also able to expand, but their expansion would also be their end. Because they were so large – filled with regional kingdoms and empires – the Spanish were easily able to conquer them