Transcript Mesoamerican Civilizations

Mesoamerican Civilizations
Chapter 6
The Olmecs: 1500-400 B.C.
• They were located in the hot and swampy lowlands along the
coast of the Gulf of Mexico south of Veracruz.
• They had large cities that were centers for religious rituals.
Veracruz, Mexico
Olmec Civilization lay just to south on the coast.
Teotihuacán
Was the first major city in Mesoamerica
Arose around 250 B.C. and collapsed about 850 A.D.
May have had as many as 200,000 inhabitants at its height.
Has a main thoroughfare, known as the Avenue of the Dead, had two main temples.
The Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon.
Organized Government
Ruled by Priests
& Nobles
Religion
Polytheistic
Job Specialization
• Priests
• Farmers
• Traders
• Craftsmen/Artists
Arts/Architecture
Colossal Stone Heads
Most likely used to represent
their gods or rulers
Jade Figurines of
People & gods
Carvings of grinning
jaguars & serpents
Social Classes
HIGH
Priests & Nobles
LOW
Farmers & Commoners
Writing System
Hieroglyphics
carved
in
stone
Other Special Features
• Invented a calendar
• Considered the “mother culture”
of Mesoamerica
Mayan civilization 250 BC-900 AD
Location: Yucatán Peninsula
• Maya were found in the Yucatan Peninsula and Part of Guatemala
Government:
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Ruled by: A king
Group of: City-States-Each governed by a hereditary ruling class.
Built around a central pyramid
Abandoned their cities; historians do not know why.
Religion:
• Polytheistic
• Pyramid-Was topped with a shrine to the gods
Tikal, Guatemala
Economy
Based on
• Agriculture
• Trade
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Corn
Honey
Feathers
Precious metals
Cocoa
Arts/Architecture
Pyramids
&
temples
Social Classes
High:
Kings, nobles & scribes
Middle: Farmers, Merchants
Low: Slaves
Writing
Hieroglyphics carved on Stelae
• The Spanish destroyed most of the Mayan writings.
• They were not seen as having any value since they were
not Christian.
• Their language was not translated until the 20th
century.
Calendar
• Solar calendar
• 365 days
• Divided into 18 months with
20 days each with 5 extra
days at the end.
• A Lunar calendar
• Calendar based on the movement of
the Planet Venus.
• Sacred calendar
• 260 days and 13 weeks of 20 days
each.
The Mayan calendar says our present
world was created in 3114 B.C. AND the
current world would end on December 23
2012 A.D.
“I only had room to go up to 2012!”
“Ha! That’ll freak somebody out someday.”
Mayan Calendar Comics
End of the World? December 23, 2012
The AZTEC: 1300-1521 AD
Location: Valley of Mexico.
Capital City: Tenochtitlán (Present-day Mexico City)
Built up on rafts made from reeds & covered w/dirt on Lake Texcoco.
Known as “chinampas”
Political and Social Structure
By 1500 there were about 4 million people in the Aztec Empire.
Ruled by: An Emperor
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Was the supreme leader of the people.
Claimed he was Divine.
Social Classes
• Low: Commoners, indentured workers, slaves.
• Middle: Farmers &traders
• High: Emperor, nobles, priests
Job Specialization
• Men: Warriors
• Women:
– Wove textiles
– Raised children
– Served as priestesses
– Could own & inherit property
– Could enter into contracts
Religion
• Polytheistic
• Based on warfare
Huitzilopochtli
• Chief god
• He was the god of the sun.
• Offered human sacrifice to give him strength to battle the forces
of darkness each night so that he could rise each morning.
Quetzalcoatl: “The Feathered Serpent”
Believed he had left the valley of
Mexico, but promised to return in triumph.
Human Sacrifice
Each Aztec city contained a pyramid where they
practiced human sacrifice as a way to postpone
the end of the world.
Destruction of the Aztec: 1519
The subjugation of the people of the Aztec
Empire bred hatred & discontent among the
people. When the Spanish arrived they did
not have a difficult time finding allies to fight
the Aztec.
Spanish Conquistador: Hernán Cortés
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Came to the valley of Mexico in 1519 with 550 soldiers and 16 horses.
He was at first greeted by the Aztec Emperor Montezuma.
Later kidnapped the Emperor & made him a puppet.
The people rebelled & the Emperor was killed. The Spanish barely escaped.
Disease
• The Spanish returned several months later.
• Smallpox had nearly wiped out the Aztec population
• Cortés & Allies
– destroyed the Aztec capital
– subjugated the Aztec people.
Inca: 1300-1572 A.D.
Location
• Andes Mountains of South America
• Capital city: Cuzco
• Represented by Machu Picchu
Ruled by: Emperor Pachacuti
Unified the Inca & established the
Incan Empire
Economy
• high-altitude agriculture
Religion Polytheistic
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Organization of the Empire
• Incan state built on war.
• Conquered peoples were all taught the same
language.
• Governor, who answered to Emperor, ruled
each region
Culture
Women
• Expected to live at home -OR•
Be a priestess
Men
• Farmers
• Herders
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Llamas
Alpacas
• Both
• Must marry within their own social class
Writing System
Quipu-A system of knotted strings
used by the Inca to keep
records.
Accomplishments
Road System
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24, 800 miles of Road
Built roads to unify their people.
Roads made travel and communication throughout the empire more
efficient
Rest houses
Storage depots
Suspension bridges to span
ravines & waterways
Great Builders
Buildings made of stone held
without mortar.
Machu Picchu
City built at 8,000 ft above sea
level.
Factors Leading to Defeat: 1531 AD
• Disease
– Brought by the Spanish
– Smallpox devastates Incan population
• Spanish Conquistadors
– Francisco Pizarro
– Superior Weapons
• Civil War
– After the death of the Inca Emperor a civil war broke out
– Pizarro took advantage & defeated the people.
• Defeat
– 1535
– Lima established as the capital of the new Spanish Colony.