Transcript Chapter 12

EARLY AMERICANS
Maya, Aztec, Inca,
Mound Builders,
and Anasazi
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Mayan Civilization
A.D. 300 - A.D. 900
 Located in Mesoamerica – southern
Mexico and Central America
 Lived in many separate city-states which
were always rivals and sometimes at war
 Performed human sacrifices as part of
religious ceremonies
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Mayan Civilization
Built large pyramids used as temples
 Pictures of rulers were carved onto large
stone monuments called stelaes
 Built canals (manmade waterways)
to irrigate (water) their crops
 Maize (Corn)
was their main food
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Mayan Civilization

Science
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Mayan Calendar
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Most accurate calendar until the 1700’s
Writing system
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Priests studied stars and planets
Glyphs
Numbering system
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Decimals
“ZERO”
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What Happened to the Mayan?
A.D. 900 - suddenly left their cities
 No one knows why??
 Possibilities

Crop failures, War, Disease, Drought,
Famine
 Rebellions against leaders
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Aztec Civilization
A.D. 1100
 Central Mexico
 Turned swampy island into great city
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Tenochtitlan - Present Day Mexico City
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Aztec Empire
1400’s – Were great Warriors - began
conquering the other people in the region
 Made them pay tribute - grew rich from
payments of food, cotton, gold, slaves
 Emperor, Montezuma, ruled all the land
 Aztec society had several different
classes (caste system)
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Aztec Accomplishments
Wrote history in books called codices
 Built pyramids for their gods – performed
human sacrifices
 Built causeways –
raised roads to travel
from the island to the
mainland
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Aztec Accomplishments
Built aqueducts – pipes carrying water
 Created more farmland by making artificial
floating islands called
chinampas
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What happened to the Aztecs?

In 1519 Spanish conquistador,
soldier/explorer, Hernan Cortes
arrived in Tenochtitlan and
with the help of neighboring
tribes, defeated the Aztecs
and destroyed their
capital city.
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Rise of the Inca
Cuzco – capital city
 A.D.1200 began acquiring
land through war
 Empire stretched 2500
miles along the western
coast of South America
(Peru)
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Incan Accomplishments

Great road system
 14,000
miles of
roads
 Their complex
government
used the roads
to control the
empire
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Incan Accomplishments

Terrace Farming – leveled planting areas on
the sides of the mountains
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Grew 200 kinds of potatoes, maize, beans, and
cotton
Developed a counting
system that used a rope
called a Quipu
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What happended to the Incas?

1531 – 1535 Spanish conquistador
Francisco Pizarro attacked the pacific
coast of South America, captured and
killed Incan Emperor and
many other Incan
leaders, destroying
the civilization.
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Mound Builders
The Mound Builders
lived in the Ohio
and Mississippi
River Valleys.
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Different Groups

There were three different groups of
Mound Builders:
Adena
 Mississippian
 Hopewell
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The MOUNDS

Mound Builders got their name because
they would bury their dead along with
their goods in large earthen mounds that
they formed by carrying dirt.
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Mound Uses

The mounds were used in many different
ways:
Burial grounds
 Platforms for cities
 Religious ceremonies
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Mound Builder Accomplishments
Mounds
 Cahokia – great walled city
 Artwork – pottery, cloth, wood
 Used rivers for irrigation of crops
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Corn, squash, beans
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What happened to the
Mound Builders?

It is uncertain what exactly happened to
this once flourishing culture, but it is
believed they could have run into food
shortages – more likely, they died out
because of diseases
brought by the white
man from Europe.
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Anasazi
The Anasazi were located
in the Southwest in
what today is
Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah, and
Arizona.
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Anasazi Religion
They believed in spirits for all of nature.
 Kachina dolls and dances were used to
bring rain to their dry land.
 They also had KIVAS
which were underground
religious
buildings
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Art and Farming
The Anasazi grew maize, squash, beans
 They dug canals
to irrigate
 They made pots,
cloths, baskets,
as well as jewelry
and dolls.
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Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
This city was the spiritual and trade center
of the culture.
 Many miles of roads
went from this center
to areas where trade
for their torquoise
took place.
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Cliff Dwellers – Mesa Verde, CO
They eventually abandoned the canyon floor
and moved into the
cliffs. Pueblos were
the homes they
built into the sides
of the canyon.
Why do you think they
moved from the canyon
floor to the cliffs?
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What happened to the Anasazi?
It is likely that the Anasazi died out or had
to move to other places because of
drought. They constantly dealt with a hot
and dry climate.
 Many ancestors still live in this area and
are known as the Pueblo Indians.
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