Transcript Pre-Columbian Civilizations in the Americas

By: Mr. Mark Gonzalez
Grace Christian Academy
The Aztecs
Which native group founded
the city of Tenochtitlan?
 The Aztecs
Name of lake located
on
 Lake Texcoco
Tenochtitlan: The “Venice” of the
Americas
What did the Aztecs use to take
control of most of central Mexico?
Alliances and
conquest
What did the conquered
people of the Aztecs pay?
tribute
In return for tribute paid, what did
the Aztecs allow the people they
conquered?
Local control
Describe the Aztec
capital of Tenochtitlan
Had many temples and public
buildings for religious ceremonies
Causeways (raised roads)
Aqueducts brought fresh water
Canals, wide streets, markets
Ruins of the City Center,
Tenochtitlan
Aztec Chinampa or Floating
Garden:
15ft. to 30ft. wide
Tenochtitlan - Chinampas
Aztec Writing
Aztec Math
Aztec Codex
(15c Manuscript)
Who was part of the Aztec
class line
A. Emperor-at the top, all powerful
Hereditary nobles
Warriors
Commoners
Slaves
Who was the most important
of all the Aztec gods?
Huitzilopochtli (sun god)
What did the Aztecs believe this god
needed in order to make the sun rise
each day?
Regular
offerings of
human blood
What did Aztec priests carry
out on a massive scale?
 Human Sacrifice
Wall of Skulls, Tenochtitlan
Aztec Gold
Break for video-The Aztec Empire
(New World)
What Empire located in the Andes
Mountain region included about 16
million people?
Along the Andes Mountains and west
coast of South America-stretched
2,500 miles north to south
Lands of the Incas
Who was the Sapa Inca?
God-king of the Inca
What was his power?
Absolute power-owned everything
How did the Incan people
know what to produce?
The people produced what the
government told them to for the
common good
the Inca fortress city of
Machu Picchu difficult to
take
 A fortress city built
upon a mountain
top- could only
reach by crossing a
bridge
 If enemies came
near, the bridge
could be removed
Incan Suspension Bridges
Incan Terrace Farming
How did the Inca keep record
despite having no written
language?
1. Quipu-set of knotted strings
Who was the sun god the
Inca worshipped?
Inti
Who was considered a
descendent of this sun god?
The Sapa Inca (emperor)
Pachacuti was the
1st Sapa Inca
What linked all parts of the
far-flung Incan empire?
An excellent road system
How were reports swiftly
carried from one end of the
empire
to the other?
Relay runners
What weakened both the Incan and
Aztec Empires in the early 1500s and
left them vulnerable when the Spanish
arrived?
1. Discontent
2. civil war
Maize in Incan Pottery
& Gold Work
Over 100 Different Types of Potatoes Cultivated
by the Incans
Produce from a Typical Incan
Market
Incan Mummies
Inca Gold & Silver
Video-The Incan Empire-Plague
episode