Transcript Early Civilizations in Mesoamerica

Early Civilizations in Mesoamerica
Objectives

Student will demonstrate
knowledge of major
civilizations of the Western
Hemisphere, including the
Mayan, Aztec, and Incan by

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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
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Essential Questions
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What were the
characteristics of Mayan,
Aztec, and Incan civilizations
Olmec
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Appeared in Mesoamerica
around 1200 B.C.E.
Located in the hot, swampy
lowlands of Gulf of Mexico
Mesoamerica’s “mother
culture”
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1st advanced civilization
Farmed along muddy riverbanks
Had large cities, center of
religious rituals
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Oldest city was San Lorenzo, 1150
B.C.E.
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Had earthen mounds, courtyards,
and pyramids
Large stone monuments
La Venta, 900 B.C.E.
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Used mounds as tombs
Center of Olmec religion
Culture and Decline
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Culture
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Planned ceremonial centers
Ritual ball games
Elite ruling class
Religion
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Carved colossal stone heads,
represent their gods
Polytheistic
Worshiped Jaguar spirit
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Trade
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Represented a powerful rain god
Large trading network
Traded iron ore and stones
Decline
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around 300 B.C.E.
No real answers as to why
Maya
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On Yucatan Peninsula
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Stretched from southern Mexico into
Northern Central America
Included dry scrub forest, jungle, and
mountains
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Civilization growing at same time as
Olmec
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Classic Period (250-900 C.E)
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Spectacular cities
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Tikal, Copan, Palenque, Chichen Itza
Sophisticated civilization
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Most advanced of all Mesoamerican
civilizations
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Built temples and pyramids
Complicated calendar
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Civilization included Central America
and Southern Mexico
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Unknown decline
Mayan Political Structure
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Composed of city-states
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Ruled by god-king
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Served as centers of religious
ceremonies and trade
Cities
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Featured pyramids, temples,
palaces, stone carvings
Ball court
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Hereditary rule
Often claimed to be descended
from the Sun God
playing game would maintain
cycles of sun and moon and bring
life giving rains
City-states often at war with
each other
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Captured soldiers became
slaves
Nobles were used for human
sacrifice
Agriculture and Trade
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Independent city-states
that were linked through
trade and alliances
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Very few “outside” trading
partners
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Agriculture
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Exchanged local products
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Salt, flint, feathers, shells,
honey
Cotton textiles, jade
ornaments
Currency: Cacao beans
Maize, beans, squash
Slash-n-burn farming as
well as sophisticated
farming like on terraces
Successful farming led to
accumulation of wealth
and development of social
classes
Mayan Social Structure
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Rulers
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Nobles:
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Leading warriors, priests
Townspeople:
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descended from gods
Passed rule onto eldest son
(hereditary)
skilled artisans, officials,
merchants
Farmers
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most people
lived on tiny plots
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Men: fighting and hunting
Women: homemaking and
raising children
Mayan Religion
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Life was in the hands of divine
powers
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Each day was a living god whose
behavior could be predicted with
the help of a system of calendars
Polytheistic
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Gods of corn, death, rain, war
Associated with four directions
and different colors
Supreme God: Itzamna
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Good and Evil (ex. Jaguar of the
night)
Practices
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Mayans worshipped Gods in
various ways
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Offerings of food, flowers, and
incense
Practiced human sacrifice
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Believed it kept the world in balance
At Chichen Itza threw people into a
deep sinkhole lake along with gold and
jade
Calendar
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Mayan religious beliefs led to the
development of the calendar,
mathematics, and astronomy.
Believed time was a burden
carried on the back of a god
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Accurate calendar needed to know
which god was in charge of what
day
Calendar
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260-day religious calendar
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365-day solar calendar
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Consisted of twenty13-day months
Consisted of eighteen 20-day months
Used both solar calendar and sacred
calendar
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Only trained priests could use read
Used it to foretell the future
Helped identify best times to plant crops,
attack enemies, and crown new rulers
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Indicated sophisticated
mathematics and astronomy
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Based calendar on observation of
the planets, sun, and moon
Math system included concept of
zero
Writings
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Writing
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Most advanced system in
ancient Americas
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Consisted of 800
hieroglyphic symbols
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Stood for whole words and
syllables
Wrote on a bark-paper
book called codex
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Spanish assumed they were
evil and destroyed many of
the codexes
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Only three remain
Disappearance
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What happened to the
Maya?
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In 800 C.E. the Maya
suddenly abandoned several
cities, while other cities
continued to thrive
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Invaders (Toltec) arrived
Most historians now
believe disappearance was
due to increased city-state
warfare, overpopulation,
disease, and
drought/famine.
Mayan Civilization
Traits of Civilization
Strength leading to
power
Weakness leading to
decline
Religious beliefs and
theocracy
United culture
Loyalty to the king
Many physical and human
resources funneled into
religious activities
Independent city-states
Wealthy and prosperous
culture
Frequent warfare occurs
between kingdoms
Intensive agriculture
Production of more food
feeds a larger population
Soil depletion and
population growth creates
need for more land
Teotihuacán
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First major city in Central
Mexico
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Located near Mexico City
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“place of the gods”
Built during 1st century C.E.
125,000 residents at its height
Pyramids of the Sun and
Moon
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At center was avenue of the dead,
lined with 20 pyramids
Pyramid of the Sun was the largest
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Over 200 ft tall and 3,000 ft wide
People lived in apartmentblock buildings around avenue
Most residents were farmers
Center of trading network
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Obsidian was most valuable item
City was abandoned by 750 C.E.
Toltec
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Dominated central Mexico from9001200 C.E.
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Center of empire at Tula
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War-like people
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Worshiped a fierce war god
Demanded blood and human sacrifice
Characteristics
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Built pyramids and palaces
Carved tall pillars in shapes of warriors
Legend of Quetzalocoatl
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Through trade and conquest, the
Toltec ruled as far as the Yucatan
peninsula
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Greatly influenced late- Mayan culture
Aztec
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Migrated to Valley of Mexico in
12th century C.E.
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Mountain basin
Several large, shallow lakes
Accessible resources and fertile
soil
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1365 C.E. built capital at
Tenochtitlan on an island in the
middle of Lake Texcoco
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Took conquering spirit of Toltec
to the extreme
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War at center of government and
religion
Rule until 1500s when
conquered by Spanish
Rise of Aztec
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Sign would come from their god of
war and of the sun.
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God would tell them when they saw
an eagle perched on a cactus
growing on a rock, their journey
would end.
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1325, attack from other peoples
drove them into the swamps
where they would see the sign and
build Tenochtitlan
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Took 100 years to build city
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While they were building capital,
their warriors conquered modern
Mexico
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Collection of semi-independent
territories governed by local lords
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Were tributary states
Tenochtitlan
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By early 1500s was an
extraordinary urban city
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Connected to mainland by three
raised roads, or causeways
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Smaller cities ringed the lake
Streets and avenues connected the
city center with residential areas
Canals intersected the roadways
allowing canoes into the center of
the city
Tlateloco: huge market at center of
the city
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Population between 200,000400,000
Larger than London
Market had agricultural produce
Avocados, beans, chili peppers, corn,
squash, tomatoes
Massive, walled complex at center
Main structure was Great Temple, a
giant pyramid with twin temples on
the top
Aztec Political Structure
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By 1500, 4 million lived in Valley of
Mexico
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Monarch had the power, claimed was
descended from gods
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Ruler assisted by council of lords and
government officials
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Formed Triple Alliance with other
leading city states
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Power was based on military conquest
and tribute states
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Let local rulers rule tribute states
Demanded tributes of gold, maize, cacao
beans, cotton, jade, and other products
Destroyed rebellious villages or captured
slaves if they didn’t pay their tribute
At time of Spanish conquest, ruled
over 38 provinces
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Empire stretched from Central Mexico
to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts
Estimated population between 5 and 15
million
Aztec Social Structure
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Monarch/ Emperor
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Nobles:
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Farmers (most people)
Warriors
Craftspeople
Merchants (elite)
Indentured workers
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Council of lords
Government officials
Military Leaders
Religious leaders
Commoners
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Had absolute power
Landless laborers
Slaves
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Captured in war
Aztec Social Structure
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Boys
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Men were warriors from
moment of birth
Girls
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Not equal to men
Could inherit property
Could enter into contracts
Most worked at home
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Raised children, weave textiles
priestess
Trade and Agriculture
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Trade Network
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Huge market at the heart
of the city
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Products brought in from all
over Mesoamerica
Larger than most in Europe
at the time
Agriculture
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Produce grown on
chinampas
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Farm plots built on marshy
fringes of the lake
Religion and Culture
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Religion an important part of Aztec life
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Religious practice centered on elaborate
public ceremonies
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Adopted many beliefs from Toltec
Meant to communicate with the Gods and win
their favor
Polytheistic
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Over 1000 gods
Most important rituals involved Sun God,
Huitzilopochtli
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Had to be nourished with human blood to make the
sun rise everyday
Human sacrifice carried out on a massive scale
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Believed day of reckoning was coming, so
human sacrifice would delay it
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Thousands led to altar atop the Great Temple
Priests carved out hearts using obsidian knives
Required lots of captured slaves and different
battle tactics to capture live prisoners
Feathered serpent: Quetzalcoatl
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Legend about a Toltec prince whose return
from exile would be proceeded by sign of an
arrow in a sapling
When Aztec saw the sign, the cross, on the
Spanish they thought it was Quetzalcoatl
returned
Aztec Calendar
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Derived from Mayan System
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Two main calendars
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Sacred
Agricultural/solar
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Had 5 unlucky day period
known as the nemontemi
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Both calendars started on
same day, was marked by a
great ceremony of fire
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Sunstones
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Calendar was a huge stone
Measures 13 feet and weighs 24
tons
Contained information about
days and gods
Destruction of the Aztec
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1502 Montezuma II crowned
Emperor
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1519: Spanish forces under Hernan
Cortes landed in Veracruz
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Arrived at Tenochtitlan received warm
welcome from Monarch Montezuma
Montezuma, thinking they were their
god resurrected, gave the Spanish gifts
of gold
Spanish took Montezuma hostage and
pillaged the city in 1520
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Aztec Empire began to weaken
Overpopulation
Too many sacrifices
Provinces rose up against Aztec
oppression
Aztec revolted and fought Spanish
Natural disasters such as smallpox,
brought by the Spanish, ravaged the
Aztecs
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Cortes leveled pyramids, filled in canals
and rivers and built on top of
Tenochtitlan
Aztec Civilization
Traits of Civilization
Strength leading to
Power
Weakness leading to
decline
Religious beliefs and
theocracy
United culture
Loyalty to the king
Many physical and human
resources funneled into
religious activities
Powerful army
Adds land, power, and
prisoners for religious
sacrifice
Need for prisoners
changes warfare style to
less deadly and less
aggressive
Empire of tribute states
Provides wealth and power
and prisoners for religious
sacrifice
Tribute states are
rebellious and need to be
controlled
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