Transcript Presentation

The Mayan People
The Maya adjusted to life in
the tropical rain forest and
built a culture based on
their religious beliefs.
Be able to locate the Mayans and the Aztec on the map.
Mayan city-states
The Maya lived in the Peten, the Mayan word
for “flat region.”
Swamps and sinkholes connected them to
underground rivers and streams and
provided water.
Mayan
Underground
Granaries
In Peten, the dense forests blocked out
the sun.
Only because they had organized
government and civilization could they
have built cities and fields in Peten.
Set up city-states where rulers supplied
leadership and military force for building
projects.
believed they
were descendants
from the sun
claimed right
to rule
as god-kings
Mayan
Rulers
expected every
person to serve
them
• Video: Chamber of the
Underworld
WHY?
A way to please and honor the gods
Maya believed that the gods gave
life-giving fluid in the rain
Humans kept gods strong by giving
their own life-giving fluid, blood
Why?
Mayan priests offered captives
to Chac, god of rain and sunlight
They believed Chac lived in waters below
the sink-holes, so captives were thrown in
Religion was at the core of Mayan life.
Mayan Cultivation
Chac, God of Rain
Tikal - Wall Mask of the Rain God
Huge pyramid
with
temple towered
over every city
Women married
into distant Mayan
city-state royalty
to strengthen
trade and
form alliances
class system
set up by priests
Mayan
Society
What are
Alliances?
WOMEN had a
big role;
could serve
as queens
Tikal:
Temple of
the Masks
Chichen-Itza - Pyramid
Chichen-Itza - Observatory
Overview of Tikal (Guatemala)
Temple of the Masks
Tikal - Main Court
Tikal Jungle View at Sunset
Sports & Contests
Mayan Ball Game
Mayan cities had many ball courts. In a Mayan ball game, teams of two
or three players tried to drive a hard rubber ball through a decorated
stone ring. Players wore helmets, gloves, and knee and hip guards
made of animal hide to protect themselves against the hard rubber
balls. They were not allowed to use their hands or feet to throw or bat
the ball. They had to use their hips to drive the ball through the stone
rings. Because the stone rings were placed 27 feet (8m) above the
ground on a large rectangular field, players had to have
incredible skill to score a goal. Making a goal was so rare
that when a player scored, crowds rewarded the hero with
clothing and jewelry. Scholars think that a Mayan ball
game was more than a sport or contest. It had religious
and symbolic meaning—as well as deadly results. The
losing team was sacrificed to the gods in a ceremony
after the game.
Chichen-Itza - Ball Court
Mayan Science and Writing
The priests thought gods revealed plan in the heavens so they
studied moon, stars, and sun.
ADVANCES/DEVELOPMENTS:
365-day calendar
method of counting
based on 20
Mayan Glyphs
Mayan Glyphs
sky
king
house
Mayan
Mathematics
child
city
Mayan Drinking Cup for
Chocolate
Pakal: The Maya Astronaut
The Maya
The Aztec
Main Idea: The Aztec
moved into the Valley of
Mexico, where they created
an empire based on
conquest and war.
The Aztecs
Were
Fierce
Warriors
The Aztec arrived in Mexico around
A.D. 1250
Their sun god – the feathered serpent
Quetzalcoatl – had promised them a home
according to legend when the “eagle screams and
spreads it wings and eats the serpent”
Quetzalcoatl:
The God of Wisdom & Learning
Aztec
sacrificed
a local princess
whose father
then chased
them
According to
legend:
• Video: Tenochtilan
New city called: Tenochtitlan
which means “place of the prickly pear cactus
Aztec Kings:
1. claimed descent from gods
2. were picked by council of warriors, priests,
and nobles
3. usually last son of the royal family was
picked
The Codex
Mendoza :
The Founding
of
Tenochtitlan
Ruins of the City Center,
Tenochtitlan
Aztec View of Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan: The “Venice” of the
Americas
Aztec Chinampa or Floating Garden:
15ft. to 30ft. wide
Tenochtitlan
Social
pyramid of
Aztec
society
KING
NOBLES
COMMONERS
Largest group
(farmers, artisans, traders)
Could join nobility by
performing brave act in war
UNSKILLED LABORERS
ENSLAVED PEOPLE
Aztec Writing
Aztec Math
Aztec Sun Stone -- Calendar
Religion:
Death seen as honorable;
Afterlife for fallen soldiers, sacrificed captives,
and women who died in childbirth
Others went to “Land of the Dead” – the
lowest level of the underworld
Sons trained for war,
girls trained to take care of the house and family
The god Huitzilopochtli :
“ We shall conquer all the people in the universe.”
This god was honored by a pyramid in the
center of Tenochtitlan known as the
Grand Temple
Grand Temple: 135 feet, 100+ steps,
thousands of victims sacrificed there
Aztec Sun Motifs
Aztec Codex
(15c Manuscript)
Aztecs Sacrifice
Neighboring Tribes to the
Sun God
Heart Sacrifice
on an Aztec Temple Pyramid
Wall of Skulls, Tenochtitlan
Sacrificial Statue,
Tenochtitlan
AZTEC VIDEO FOR
HUMAN SACRIFICE
Aztec Gold
Life in the Incan Empire
Main Idea: To unite their
huge empire, Incan rulers
set up a highly organized
government and society .
His name means “Earthshaker”
1. 1438 he and son began to built
the largest empire in the
Americas (2500 miles north
to south)
2. set up strong central
government but let local
rulers stay in power
3. local rulers took sons to Cuzco,
the capital, for training
Pachacuti
4. required the people to learn
ruled 1438–1471
Quechua, the language
spoken by the Inca
5. Designed system of roads which
covered about 25,000 miles
when finished
Cuzco: Ancient Capital of the Inca
(11,000 ft. above
Inca believed sun god
sea level)
Inti protected Cuzco.
Rulers there were called
“sons of the sun.”
Temple of the
Sun at Cuzco
Social
pyramid of
Inca
society
Emperor
and wife
(Coya)
Head Priest and
Commander
They Further
divided society
into 12 job
categories
beneath the
bottom level.
Regional Army
Commanders
Temple priests,
Army commanders,
and Skilled workers
Farmers, Herders, and Ordinary Soldiers
INCAN SOCIETY
They rarely did human sacrifice
(only in troubled times)
When they did, they sacrificed children
because they thought children
were more pure and then
worshipped them as gods
They Built large works of stone:
They used
no writing,
no wheels,
no iron tools.
They were
skilled engineers.
The stones fit
precisely together
Used quipo, a
rope with
knotted cords
of different
lengths and
colors. Each
knot represented
a number
or item.
The Quipu: An Incan
Database
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Incan Suspension Bridges
Incan Terrace Farming
Incan Digging Sticks
Maize in Incan Pottery
& Gold Work
Over 100 Different
Types of Potatoes
Cultivated
by the Incans
Produce from a Typical
Incan
Market
Incan Ceramic Jars
Peanut
Cacao God
Potato
Cacao Pod
Squash
Incan Mummies
Inca Gold & Silver
Life in North America
Main Idea: The geography in lands
north of present-day Mexico shaped
the development of many different
Native American cultures .
By A.D. 1500 about 2 million people lived north
of Mesoamerica, spoke about
300 languages, and called themselves a
thousand different names.
Arctic regions
in Canada
settled about
3000 B.C
The Inuit built
igloos, dome-shaped
homes from
blocks of ice
and snow
used dogsleds
to
travel on land
and seal-skin
kayaks to travel
by sea
People of the
Far North
used blubber
from seals and
whales for oil
in lamps and
energy food
most hunted seals,
walruses,
polar bears,
caribou
In Pacific
northwest
peoples
like Tlingit,
Haida, and
Chinook
Setttled.
Used
cedar trees
to build wooden
houses and
canoes
Fished
for otters,
seals, whales,
salmon
Life on the
West Coast
California was
home
to about
500 different
cultures
Became the most
heavily populated
regions
due to rich food
resources
Farming was not
as easy due to
dense grass roots
on the plains.
They did not
have iron tools
Life on the
Great Plains
Mandan, Hidatsa,
Pawnee settled
along Missouri,
Arkansas,
Red Rivers
Men hunted,
women gathered,
and the
buffalo was
important.
They
lacked abundant
resources of
California peoples
They built
irrigation canals
(Hopi, Acoma,
Pueblo, and Zuni)
Life in the
Southwest
They built
apartment-like
homes using
sun-dried mud
bricks called
adobe
Early people like
Hohokam and
Anasazi
taught descendants
lessons like
how to farm
In the 1500s
2 groups
of hunters:
Apache and
Navajo
moved in
the area
all over
woodlands,
governments
were formed
Confederations,
governments that
link several
groups,
formed.
Life in the
Eastern
Woodlands
dense forests
Some had
strict social
classes and
codes of law
like the
Natchez and
Cherokee
combined
farming
with fishing
and hunting
THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERATION
WHO
Onondaga, Seneca, Mohawk, Oneida, and
Cayuga
WHY
To end fighting among themselves
HOW
Great Peace – a code of laws
governed the league
OTHER
RESULT
A Grand Council formed to make decisions, and
women were able to select men to sit on Grand
Council
Helped members unite against other
woodland enemies like the powerful
Algonquian