Transcript Social Structure

Astronomy
Mayan Calendar
Mayan Political & Economic
Structure
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Availability of resources led to trade between villages in the
Yucatan Peninsula (ECONOMIC)
Trade led to wealth, sharing of resources & exchange of ideas
(ECONOMIC)
Group of city-states each with its own king who claimed to be
from the sun god (POLITICAL)
Center of city-state was a ceremonial center including temples,
palaces, rulers/nobles, ball courts & markets (POLITICAL)
Small villages surrounded the ceremonial center (POLITICAL)
Kings expected people to serve him (POLITICAL)
Royal women married into royal families from other city states
(INCREASED TRADE AND ALLIANCES FORMED)
(POLITICAL)
Mayan Civilization
Social Structure:
•Ruler & Family
 •Nobles & Priests
•Craftsman, merchants, traders
•Farmers, hunters
•Slaves
Religion:
• Polytheistic
•Temple structure for human sacrifices-games where losers were
sacrificed, POWs also sacrificed
Achievements:
•Architecture
•Astronomy
•Calendar
•Paper
•Mathematics
•Temples
Several Theories
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Over-farming created a drop in food
production
Attack from enemies
Fighting among city-states
Rebellion of peasants that
overthrew king and priests
Drought
Aztec Political & Economic
Structure
Developed: On an island in Lake Texcoco
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Aztecs conquered neighboring city-states to gain control of
resources
Political Structure:
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Empire ruled by an emperor (who was believed to have
descended from the gods)
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Council of priests, nobles & warriors
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City-states were ruled by local leaders who answered to the
Emperor
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City-states paid tributes to the Emperor
Economics:
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Agricultural
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Development of specialized labor
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Trade grows as artisans & craftsman sell goods
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Wealth from trade & tributes paid by conquered peoples
supported by the empire
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Social Structure:
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Emperor
Nobles, warriors, & Priests
Commoners-craftsmen, merchants, traders, farmers
Unskilled Workers-farm laborers
Slaves
Religion:
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Polytheistic
Temples
Human sacrifices (believed this was necessary to prevent gods
from destroying the world)
Achievements:
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Chinampas
Architecture
Jewelry
Writing
Calendar
Arrows & the use of poison
Small
pox weakened the empire
Technology in warfare gave the
Spanish the upper hand
Tribute states joined forces with
Spanish explorers by Cortes to
overthrow the Aztec emperor
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Developed: Began in Cuzco, high in the Andes Mountains
Pachacuti expanded the Empire
Political Structure:
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Emperor (descendent from sun god)
Land was divided into 4 provinces
Tributes were paid in the form of labor tax
Lands were conquered and divided then distributed
(Emperor, people, & sun god)
Captured people were made to learn & use the official
language (Quechua)
Children of local leaders were educated in Cuzco and then
returned to their villages
Incan Civilization Political &
Economic Structure Cont’d
Economic Structure:
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People grew & created what they needed. Extra was collected
by the government & stored in case of disaster
Storehouses were along the highways
Everyone worked for the government & their own family
Labor tax-Everyone worked for the government a few weeks
each year
No trade (because government collected & redistributed it)
Command economy- no money, no credit-only small amounts
of local bartering
Social Structure:
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Emperor
Head Priest & Head of Army
Regional Army leaders
Temple priests, local army leaders, & skilled workers
Farmers, herders, soldiers
Slaves
Religion:
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Polytheistic
Mummification
Sacrifices-llamas, cloth, food, occasionally people
Achievements:
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Roads
Temples
Suspension bridges
Quipu (a type of calculation-never invented a writing system)
Jewelry
Calendar
Terrace Farming
Medicine
Domestication/use of llamas
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Spanish explorers came to conquer
lands
Interaction between Atahualpa &
Pizzaro
Incan swords were no match for
Spanish guns