Mayan, Aztec, and
Inca Project
Maya Empire
Maya Achievements/Innovations
The Maya created an
array of structures such as
palaces and pyramids. The
Maya found astronomy
and they made calendars.
They built tools and made
things for art.
Maya Art
Maya art was characterized
by stone sculptures,
architecture, ceramics, wood
carving and wall painting.
They were very skilled at
stone sculptures and
stonework. A lot of their
carvings were based off of
religion. Some carvings were
dedicated to royalty.
Maya History
The Maya people settled around
1800 B.C. They are indigenous to
Mexico and Central America. The
Mayans believe in life. That
nothing was ever born and that
nothing dies. The pyramids are
recognized as great mountains for
the gods. The Mayans have a game
called Poc-A-Toc. It was a very
popular game and they found it as
more than just a game. The saw it
as a symbol for human struggle.
Maya Religion
The Mayans believe in the cycles of
recurring cycles of creation and
destructions. They believed that when
people died, they thought they went to
the underworld through a cave. Death
from natural causes was dreaded by the
Maya people.
Maya Decline
The Mayan civilization
randomly disappeared.
Houses were randomly
abandoned. It was
mysteriously gone. Some
people think that they
exhausted the environment
to the point where they
couldn’t use the land
anymore.
Aztec Empire
Achievements/Innovations
The Aztecs were an American Indian people of central Mexico, best known as
the builders of an empire that quickly fell under Spanish control during the
years 1519 to 1521.
Accomplishments:
They were highly skilled engineers
They perfected the technique of making artificial islands
They constructed the first double aqueduct to bring fresh water to Tenochtitlan
They had a base 20 number system and a calendar with two cycles
https://learnodonewtonic.com/aztec-achievements
Art
Music: The Aztecs loved music. They played various
instruments such as flutes, shells, whistles, and drums.
They played their music for the gods and used it to
make requests such as asking the gods for rain or for
the harvest to be good.
Writing: The Aztecs wrote various poetry about
fishing and other things in their everyday life.
Sculpting: The Aztecs made many sculptures of
mostly their gods and important people in their
society.
https://www.ducksters.com/history/
aztec_empire/art.php
History
https://mayaazteccomparecontrast.weebly.com/
Religion
Main Gods- Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl,
Tezcatlipoca, and Chicomecoatl
Practices- Human sacrifices. The Aztec religion was mostly
based off of the sun, so they thought that human sacrifices
were necessary for the sun to rise each day.
Temples- Aztec temples were squareish pyramids with small
rectangular buildings on top.
Main beliefs- Aztecs believed that depending on how you
died determined your fate in the afterlife. If you died in
battle, you would be in heaven, while if you died by drowning
you would go to the underworld.
https://www.ducksters.com/history/azte
c_empire/religion_gods_and_mytholog
y.php
Decline
The Aztec empire fell mostly from the Spanish
conquest, which beat the Aztec empire by August 13,
1521. Other reasons for the Aztec’s decline is the loss
of population due to disease (from having a large
population in a city) and human sacrifices, which also
killed many Aztec people.
https://the-aztecempire.weebly.com/decline-ofcivilization.html
The Inca Empire
Achievements/Innovation
The Incas were very innovative for their
time. They used knots to represent
numbers and used color string to
categorize information. They also used the
base-10 system, so things like division and
fraction possible. A 14,000 mile long
network of roads were created. The incas
also used freeze-dried potatoes (chuno) in
case of food shortages.
Art
For the most part, Inca art created on its
own. It was however, influenced by the
early Chimu civilization. The Incas have a
symbol that is meant to represent its
imperial dominance. The pottery is
painted in a way to represent a part of
the Inca empire.
History
-1200’s first settled in the valley. Common beliefs and tradition unify people.
-1300’s moved to the northern coastal region.
-1438 Pachacuti takes the throne.
-1500 Inca empire stretched 2,500 miles
-1520 Empire is split in two.
-1529 Inca civil war starts
-1532 Spanish invasion, end of Inca empire.
Religion
The Inca religion focused on
aspects of the sky. This included
the sun, moon, stars , and
thunder. The primary go was
Viracocha, the sun god. Young,
unmarried women, Manakuna or
virgins of the sun, are full time
workers for Viracocha. Young
men, yamacuma, are also full time
workers. Llamas would be
sacrificed in exchanged for
goods. These good would be
distributed by the priest to the
people as a gift from god.
The Decline
The height of the Inca empire
was in the 1500’s. Huayna Capac
was touring Ecuador when
received a gift. When he opened
it, butterflies and moths came
out. This however caused Capac
to contract smallpox and die. The
kingdom was split in two among
his sons, Atahualpa and Huascar.
A civil war broke out when
Atahualpa tried taking the rest of
the empire. Because of the
weakness, the Spanish were able
to come in and conquer the
empire.
Sources/Citations
Mayan Sources
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/mayan-scientific-achievements
http://www.arthistory.net/mayan-art/
http://www.arthistory.net/mayan-art/
https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/maya/mmc03eng.html
Aztec Sources
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/aztec-achievements
https://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_empire/art.php
https://mayaazteccomparecontrast.weebly.com/
https://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_empire/religion_gods_and_mythology.php
https://the-aztec-empire.weebly.com/decline-of-civilization.html
Inca Sources
Sources /Citations
Inca Empire
https://www.ancient.eu/Inca_Art/
Chapter 16, section 4