Transcript Olmec - cloudfront.net

Native Americans were the people who lived on the North American
continent thousands of years before the European settlers started their
voyages in the fifteenth century. Most scientists agree that the Native
Americans crossed this land bridge from Asia through the Bering
Strait during several series of migrations or movements.
Early Human Migrations
Land Routes
Water Routes
The Hunters followed Game
 When: circa 20,000 B.C.E. -
8000 B.C.E.
 Clovis Hunters and the
Pleistocene Extinctions
 Hunter-gathering societies
– Nomadism
– Band structure
– Egalitarianism
 Population diffusion
Major Pre-Columbian Civilizations
1.
2.
3.
4.
Olmecs
Maya
Aztecs
Incas
Veracruz
 The Olmec inhabited the
region 1,200 years ago, and
remained here until the
beginning of the Christian
era.
 Olmec” was not what the
people called themselves
– It means “rubber
people” and comes from
the rubber trees that
flourish in the region
Where?
 Among the various
Mesoamerican Pre-Classic
period (1200 BCE-400 BCE)
groups, the Olmecs are the
most well-known.
 About 3,000 years ago the
Olmecs lived along the Gulf
of Mexico coast in what is
now southern Mexico. The
area is now known as
Veracruz.
Culture
 The word "Olmec"
also refers to the
rubber balls used
for their ancient
ball game.
 Olmec were a highly
developed and well
organized group with
a complex calendar,
hereditary elite,
hieroglyphic writing
system, and maize
cultivation.
 They also created
unique art objects
and sculptures.
A quintessential Olmec piece that displays a
clefted head, the typical were-jaguar mouth and
the so-called flaming eyebrows, the original use
of this remarkable piece was probably religious
in nature.
Lands of the Mayans
The Yucatan
Peninsula
Important city-state: Chichen-Itza
Chichen-Itza -Ball Court
O
verview of Tikal (Guatemala)
Temple of the Masks
Mayan Cultivation
of Maize
Chac, God of Rain 
Mayan Drinking Cup
for Chocolate
Mayan Glyphs used in their writing
system
sky
king
Mayan
Mathematics
house
child
city
•Developed a number
system
•Understood the
concept of zero.
(similar to India
advance).
Pakal: The Maya
Astronaut
Monumental
Building:
Tikal:
Temple of the
Masks
Lands of the Aztecs
Tenochtitlan: The “Venice”
of the Americas
Aztec Chinampa or
Floating Garden:
15ft. to 30ft. wide
Aztec Sun Stone -Calendar
Aztec Writing
Aztec Math
Aztec Codex (15c Manuscript)
Aztecs Sacrifice
Neighboring Tribes to
the Sun God
The Aztecs W
ere
Fierce W
arriors
Lands of the Incas- Peru
Incan Suspension
Bridges
Incan Digging Sticks
O
ver 100 Different Types of Potatoes Cultivated
by the Incans
Produce from a Typical
Incan
Market
Incan Terrace Farming
The Quipu: An Incan
Database
Machu Picchu