Transcript Early Civilizations of the Americas

Chapter 2, Section 3
 Mayan
cities flourished for over 1,500
years.
 Civilizations: an advanced culture which
usually includes cities, well organized
government, complex religion, social
classes, specialized skills and jobs.
 Mayan civilization emerged roughly
3,000 years ago in the rain forests of
present day Mexico and Guatemala
 Most
Mayas lived in simple homes made
of mud walls.
 Wealth and powerful Mayas lived in stone
palaces in great cities like Tikal and
Copan.
 Mayan cities rose in many parts of
Mexico and Central America.
 Each city controlled its surrounding area
and had its own ruler.
 Rival
cities sometime fought but also
enjoyed times of peace.
 Roads cut through the jungle.
 Cities had huge pyramids with temples
on top.
 In theses temples priests performed
elaborate ceremonies to please Mayan
gods.
1. Priests
2. Nobles, government officials, and
warriors
3.Peasant farmers
4. Slaves, generally war prisoners.
 Studied
the heavens and tried to predict the
future to honor gods who they believed
controlled events such as harvesting, trade,
and hunts.
 They created an accurate 365 day calendar
 They developed an advanced number
system which included the number zero.
 Hieroglyphics: writing that used pictures to
represent words and ideas
 Mayan priests used hieroglyphics to record
their findings.
 About
850, Mayans abandoned their
cities and the jungle took over their land.
 Historians are unsure why the Mayans left
their cities
1. Peasants may have rebelled againt
rulers
2. Farming may have wore out the soil.
 Today more than 2 million people speak
Mayan languages.
 North
of the Mayan cities the Aztecs built
a powerful empire.
 Until 1300s the Aztecs were wanders
moving in search of food.
 Legend states that a god told the Aztecs
to look for an eagle perched on a cactus
with a snake in its mouth and build their
capital.
 Tenochtitlan: Aztec
capital built on an
island in Lake Texcoco.
 Built causeways or roads to connect the
island to the mainland.
 Farmers built canals and filled in parts to
create farmland.
 Created floating gardens which
harvested as many as seven crops a year.
 In
the 1400’s Aztecs expanded their
power by conquering neighboring
people.
 Riches from trade and conquers turned
Tenochtitlan into a bustling city.
 Marketplaces offered an abundance of
food.
 Drawbridges were created to raise in
case the city was attacked.
 Religion
was central to Aztec life.
 Men and women went to school to train to
become priests and priestesses
 Like the Mayas Aztec priests studied the
heavens and created calendars.
 Divided the year into 18 months.
 Calendars were used to predict when to
plant and harvest.
 Worship
the sun god.
 Called themselves “warrior of the sun”
 Aztecs believed the sun required human
sacrifice to ensure a successful journey
across the sky.
 Sacrificed tens of thousands prisoners of
war to please the gods.
 By
1500 the Aztecs ruled millions of people
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific
Ocean.
 Emperor had absolute power and was
treated like a god.
 Servants carried him from place to place
and when he did walk flower petals were
thrown at his path.
 Heavy taxes and human sacrifice fueled
revolts among neighboring people.
 Enemies of the Aztecs helped bring about
their defeat in the 1520’s.
 Far
south from the Aztecs, the Incas
united the largest empire in the
Americas.
 Cuzco: the Inca’s capital high in the
Andes Mountains.
 Incas ruled more than 10 million people.
 Incas
carved terraces into the steep
mountain sides.
 Huge stone walls kept rainfall from
washing soil away.
 Incas
perfected highly advanced
building techniques.
 Incas made elaborate building using
masonary skills and human labor.
 Their buildings have survived hundreds
of earthquakes.
 Some Inca building remain standing
today
 To
unit their huge empire, Incas built
complex road networks.
 19,000 miles of roads united their
empire.
 Teams of runners carried royal
commands and messages to nearby
villages where the next runner would
carry the message to next village.
 Treated
malaria with quinine
 Performed successful brain surgery.
 Discovered medicines to lessen pain
 Also
worshipped the sun
 To honor the sun Incas lined the temples
and palace walls with sheets of gold.
 They called gold the “sweat of the gods”
 Very little Inca gold has survived.
 In the 1530’s Spanish invaded the Incas
and melted down their gold to send back
to Europe.