Final answer:
Mesoamericans showed their belief in an afterlife through ritual sacrifices, sophisticated cultural practices, and burial customs that included providing homes and personal items for the deceased, suggesting preparation for a continued existence beyond death.
Step-by-step explanation:
Evidence that Mesoamericans believed in an afterlife comes from various sources, including their cultural practices, artifacts, and architecture. The ritualistic sacrifices and beliefs in balancing opposing forces suggest that the Mesoamericans placed significant importance on pleasing their gods to ensure a favorable existence beyond death.
Additionally, the sophisticated systems of writing and advanced astronomy with accurate and complex calendar systems hint at their perception of a universe with celestial, terrestrial, and underworld realms, indicating an understanding of an afterlife. The practice of providing the deceased with 'homes' or including personal items with burial remains, as seen in various cemeteries, also suggests that the dead were being prepared for a continued existence.
Furthermore, like the Chinchorro mummies and the axis mundi concept, various Mesoamerican cultures demonstrate a strong spiritual component potentially related to ancestor worship and beliefs in an afterlife. The consistent presence of these beliefs across distinct civilizations such as the Olmec and the Aztec shows a central theme of an afterlife in Mesoamerican culture.