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
Mayan Calendar
Most accurate calendar until the 1700’s
Writing system
Priests studied stars and planets
Glyphs
Numbering system
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
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
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
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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