Transcript Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Peoples and Civilizations of the
Americas,
600 - 1500
AP World History
I. Classic-Era Culture and Society
in Mesoamerica, 200-900
A. Teotihuacan
• Large Mesoamerican city with a population of about
150,000.
• 700 years before and 37 miles from Tenochtitlan.
• Had pyramids and temples where human sacrifice was
carried out.
• Forced relocation of farm families and agricultural
innovation such as irrigation and chinampas.
• Apartment-like stone buildings housed commoners and
elites lived in separate residential compounds and
controlled the bureaucracy, taxes, and commerce.
• Ruled by alliances of wealthy families.
• Collapsed around 650 C.E. probably by
mismanagement of resources and conflict within the
elite or invasion.
The city of Teotihuacán (200 B.C.E.) contains the largest preColumbian pyramid structures in the Americas. It is also known
for large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and
numerous colorful, well-preserved murals.
Ruins of Teotihuacán (200 B.C.E.) from the vantage of the
Pyramid of the Moon.
The Teotihuacán ruins of the Pyramid of the Moon.
B. The Maya
• Never formed a unified kingdom.
• Increased agricultural productivity by draining swamps,
building elevated fields, terraced fields, and managed
forest resources.
• Large city-states.
• Believed cosmos consisted of three layers, the
heavens, human world, and the underworld.
• Rulers and elites communicated with the other worlds.
• Fought for captives, not for territory. Elite captives were
sacrificed and commoners were enslaved.
• Mayan women held no political power but participated
in the bloodletting rituals.
• Technological developments included the Mayan
calendar, mathematics, and the Maya writing system.
• Reasons for fall include disruption of trade,
Geographic area of Mayan civilization in modern day
Guatemala.
Mayan funerary Temple of the Great Jaguar within The Great
Plaza of Tikal (745 C.E.)
Residence ruins from Mayan Tikal.
Mayan rain deity, Chaac, with his lightning axe that strikes the
clouds and produces thunder and rain.
Chief Mayan deity, Kinebahan, “eyes and mouth of the sun" is
the Great God without form, existing only in spirit.
On the winter solstice of Dec. 21, 2012, the Maya's "Long
Count" calendar marks the end of a 5,126-year era. On this
date, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky
Way for the first time in 26,000 years.
II. The Post-classic Period in
Mesoamerica, 900-1500
A. The Toltecs
• Central Mexico and built civilization based on
Teotihuacan.
• Capital at Tula was ruled by dual kings but were
destroyed by invaders around 1156 C.E.
Geographic location of Toltec cities in modern day southern
Mexico. Tula, Hidalgo (#6) was the capital.
Toltec carvings usually depicted warriors or
some type of warfare.
Ruins of the Toltec capital in the city of Tula, Hidalgo.
B. The Aztecs
• Migrated to the lake Texcoco area and established the
cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco.
• Females maintained control of household and market.
• Established irrigation and chinampas, but also received
food from tribute.
• Goods were exchanged through barter.
• Worshipped a large number of gods, but the most
important was Huitzilopochtli, the Sun god. He was
appeased by sacrifice with human hearts.
Geographic relationship between the Aztecs and Mayans.
(Notice: The Aztecs conquered the Toltecs)
Examples of the Aztec class system.
Depiction of a royal Aztec procession.
Depiction of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in
the middle of Lake Texcoco.
Example of Aztec sacrifice to the god Huitzilopochtli, the god of
war and the sun. He required a daily diet human parts in order
bring sun’s warmth to the world.
III. The Northern Peoples
A. Southwestern Desert Cultures
• The Hohokam established extensive irrigation systems in
the Salt and Gila valleys around 1000 C.E.
• The Anasazi constructed Kivas in the American southwest.
• The Chaco Canyon community engaged in trade, hunting
and irrigated agriculture and exerted some political and
religious dominance over the area but declined due to
drought, overpopulation, and warfare.
Early Native American geographic areas in the southwest
part of modern day United States and Mexico.
Anasazi cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.
B. Mound Builders: The Mississippian
Cultures
• The Hopewell culture came out of the Adena
culture and was based in the Ohio Valley.
• The major Hopewell centers were ruled by chiefs
and they served as priests and managed secular
affairs such as long distance trade.
• The Hopewell built large mounds both as burial
sites and as platforms upon which temples and
residences of chiefs were constructed.
• The Hopewell sites were abandoned around 400
C.E., but the mound building was continued by the
Mississippian culture (700-1500 C.E.).
• The Mississippian chiefdoms were made possible
by increased agricultural productivity, the bow and
arrow, and expanded trade networks.
Mound Builder cultural sites around the Mississippi river.
Example of a Mound Builder site.
Mounds were used for burial temples and chief residences.
Recreation of the Mound Builders of Caohokia near modern
day east St. Louis Illinois. It is the home of the largest mound
constructed in N. America (100 ft high) and had a population of
about 20,000 (similar in size to Mayan cities)
IV. Andean Civilizations 600-1500
A. Cultural Response to Environmental
Challenge
• Andes, dry coastal plain, and Amazon forced inhabitants to
organize labor effectively.
• The clan (ayllu) held land collectively, and assisted each
other in production and to supply goods and labor to the
clan chief.
• The mit’a was introduced around 1000 and required each
ayllu to provide a set number of workers each year for
religious establishments, royal court, or the aristocracy.
• Work was divided along gender lines.
• The Andean region is divided into four different ecological
zones; the coast, mountain valleys, higher elevations, and
the Amazonian region.
Topography of modern day South America.
The Andes Mountains of modern day South America.
B. Moche
• North coastal region of Peru in about 200-700 C.E.
• Moche society was stratified and theocratic.
• Commoners supplied mit’a labor to the elite while
the elite military leaders and priests lived atop
large platforms and decorated themselves in
magnificent clothing.
• Moche artisans were skilled in the production of
textiles, portrait vases, and metallurgy.
• Decline can be attributed to a series of natural
disasters and pressure from the warlike Wari
people.
Major city sites of the Moche.
The Moche were the most accomplished ceramic
artists of the Americas. (Ceramic warrior)
An example of stone artistry on
structures at Pyramids at Moche.
C. Tiwanaku and Wari
• Civilization of Tiwanku was located in Bolivia.
• Urban construction consisted of large terraced
pyramid, walled enclosures, and a reservoir.
• Ruled by a hereditary elite.
• The Wari had contact with Tiwanaku, but was a
separate culture, was built without central
planning, with different techniques, and on a much
smaller scale than Tiwanaku.
Wari’s political formation emerged in the highlands of Peru.
Tiwanaku, near Lake Titicaca, are recognized as one of the
most important precursors to the Inca Empire.
The ruins of the city at Wari. It was surrounded by a large wall
and included a large temple at the center.
D. The Inca
• Inca empire grew out of the small chiefdom of
Cuzco.
• Key to wealth was its strong military and used it to
expand the traditional exchange system that
linked the Andes together.
• Inca left local rulers in place and took their heirs to
Cuzco. This created an imperial bureaucracy.
• Cuzco laid out in the shape of a puma and its
palaces were the scene of rituals, feasts, and
sacrifices of textiles, animals, tribute goods, and
the occasional human.
• Did not introduce new technologies, but made
more efficient use of existing technology to
increase the profits gained by trade. Technology
included astronomy, weaving, copper and bronze
metallurgy, and gold and silver working.
• When the elite fell into civil war in 1525, Inca
control over its vast territories weakened.
The scope of the Incan empire.
Trails through the Andean mountains (Incan empire).
Demonstrates the importance of the lama.
Machu Picchu (7,970 ft) - Built at the height of the Inca Empire
(1450 C.E.) and was never found by the Spanish and
consequently was not plundered and destroyed. Its inhabitants
were likely wiped out by smallpox before the Spanish arrived.
Ruins of Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire, contained
the home of the royal court and the state religion.
V. Comparative Perspectives
A. Political and Economic Comparisons
• The Aztec and Inca Empires shared similarities in the use of
powerful armies, strong economies based on large
workforces, and their dependence on organized government
and religious practices that connected secular rulers to the
gods.
• Distinctions were in their systems of distributing goods and in
their management of the empire.
• Aztecs used local leaders, while the Inca created a strong
central government administered by trained bureaucrats.
B. Imperial Comparisons
• Both the Aztec and the Inca were the last in a line
of successive indigenous populations organized
into strong empires from former collapsed
civilizations.
• The arrival of Europeans ended the cycle of crises
and adjustment in both regions.