Transcript South America

South America
Objectives

Student will demonstrate
knowledge of major
civilizations of the
Western Hemisphere,
including the Mayan,
Aztec, and Incan by
– Describing the geographic
relationship, with emphasis
on patterns of development
in terms of climate and
physical features
– Describing cultural patterns
and political and economic
structures

Essential Questions
– What were the
characteristics of Mayan,
Aztec, and Incan
civilizations
Early Civilizations

Caral
– 1200 B.C.
– Located in the Supe River
Valley of Peru
– Contains buildings,
apartments, and stone
buildings
– Irrigation systems

Moche
–
–
–
–
200 B.C.
Pacific coast of Ecuador
Urban center
Grew crops: maize, peanuts,
potatoes, cotton
– Capital of powerful state
– Pottery and paintings
Early Civilizations

Chavin
– 850 B.C.
– Huge temple
complex
– Worshiped ferocious
god, part jaguarpart man

Nazca
– Etched glyphs into
desert
– Southern Peru
Nazca
The Inca
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
Arose in 1200’s
Inca started as small
group near Cuzco
– Word was originally the
name of the ruling family of
a group of people living in
high plateau of the Andes
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Located in the high
mountains in Peru
Incan beginnings
– Belief the Incan ruler was
descended from the Sun
god Inti
– Worshiped dead rulers,
preserved as sacred
mummies
Pachacuti

Pachacuti
– 1438 C.E. took the throne

Claimed himself Sapa Inca,
or Emperor
– Expanded the Incan state
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By 1500 C.E. the Incan
empire covered over 2500
miles
Accomplished through
diplomacy and military
force
– Lived in splendor

Never wore same clothes
twice
– Built Cuzco into a capital
city
Inca Political Structure

12 million people in Incan
empire

Single official language:
Quechua
– Incan state built on war
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Offered enemy an
honorable surrender
before war
– Allow them to keep customs
and rulers in exchange for
loyalty to Incan state

All young men required to
serve in army

Incans built cities in
conquered areas
All roads led to Cuzco
– 24,800 miles built
– Two major roadways went
north-south
– One in the Andes, one
along the coast
– Rest houses and storage
depots were placed along
roads
Incan Roads
Incan Political Structure

Empire divided into 4
quarters
– Each ruled by a governor
 Quarters
were divided
into provinces
 Each province had
around 10,000 people
 Families divided into
groups of 10, 100,
1000, and 10000
– Emperor was at the top
of the system
 Descended
god, Inti
from sun

Community cooperation
– Small groups called ayllu
worked together for the
common good
 Used
to build roads,
irrigation canals,
agricultural terraces,
and stored food
– Labor was used as a
tribute, called Mita
 Required
all able-body
citizens to work a
certain number of days
every year
Socialist State?

Incan state controlled
most economic activity
– Regulated the
production and
distribution of goods
– Allowed little private
commerce or trade

Land ownership divided
into three parts
– State, religious, and
community lands
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
Citizens expected to
work for state
Cared for in return
– Aged and disabled
were supported by
state

People didn’t go hungry
in bad harvest
– Government stored
freeze-dried potatoes
in warehouses in case
of emergencies
Incan Social Structure

Society and life was
structured

– Men and women required
to pick partner from within
own social groups
– Based on ayllu, extended
family group
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Marriage
Chief led group, part of
chain of command
Women
– Expected to care for
children and weave cloth
– Only exception were
priestesses
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Rural Areas
– People lived by farming
– Created terraces and
irrigation system
– Planted corn and potatoes
– Lived in stone homes or
adobes
Daily Life

Farming
– Expanded hillside
terraces
– Terraces kept rain
from washing away
soil
– Spent part of year
working for emperor
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Metalworking
– Best metalworkers in
Americas
– Learned to work and
alloy, or bend, copper,
bronze, silver, and
gold

Medical Advances
– Surgery on human
skull
– Created clean
operating areas
– Made patient
unconscious with a
drug
Incan Farming
Building and Culture

Great Builders
– Cuzco
 Administrative
and
ceremonial capital of
Incan Empire
 Temples, plazas, and
palaces
– Temple of the Sun
– Sacred shrine
– Decorated in gold
 Fine
streets, houses
made of stone
 Did not use wheel for
construction
Machu Picchu
– Machu Picchu
 Ceremonial
religious
center?
 Retreat for
Incan rulers?
 Sun temple
 Public
buildings
 Central plaza
 Water system
Machu Picchu
Culture

No writing system
– History and literature part
of oral tradition

Kept records with Quipu
– System of knotted strings
– Knots and their positions
counted
– Colors told what was being
counted
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i.e. yellow= gold
Court theater
– Tragedies and comedies
– Actors were members of
nobility
– Poetry recited and music
played
Religion
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Reinforced power of the
state
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Religious Practices
– Sun-worship services
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Worshipped less gods
than the Aztec
Focused on key natural
spirits
– Moon, stars, thunder
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Balance of nature
– Patterns in how humans
should relate to each other
and the earth

Priestesses-Led
services
Trained in rituals
– Sacrificed Ilamas
Conquest of the Inca
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Breakdown of Inca
– Began to occur in early
1500s at height of empire
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1531
– Francisco Pizarro arrives with
180 men on pacific coast
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Brings steel weapons,
gunpowder, and horses
Also brought smallpox
– Emperor died of smallpox,
his sons fought over ruling
the empire
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Led to civil war
Pizarro took advantage and
took Cuzco
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By 1535, Pizarro had
established Lima as the
new capital of the colony of
the Spanish Empire
Incan Mummies
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Death was important
part of life
Worshiped spirits and
bodies of ancestors
Believed in afterlife
– Tombs and mummies
considered holy
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Mummies
– Embalmed
– Bundled with offerings like
food, tools, precious items
Review - Objectives

Student will demonstrate
knowledge of major
civilizations of the
Western Hemisphere,
including the Mayan,
Aztec, and Incan by
– Describing the geographic
relationship, with emphasis
on patterns of development
in terms of climate and
physical features
– Describing cultural patterns
and political and economic
structures

Essential Questions
– What were the
characteristics of Mayan,
Aztec, and Incan
civilizations