Indicator 6-4.4
Aztecs
Mayans
Incas

MAYANS
 Yucatan
Peninsula in
Mesoamerica
 Tikal -> city
disappeared
 Chichen Itza
-> city
 System of
counting based
on 20
 Grew MAIZE
2600
BC250 AD
•Built temples to
Mayan Gods
•Codex- (folding
screen book Pg. 172)
•Aqueducts ( move
water)
•Accurate CALENDAR
•1st people who came
up with the idea of
zero
•practiced human
sacrifice (not a
contribution)
Mayans lived @ Yucatan
Peninsula
Mayan Pyramid
Mayan CODEX (book)
Less than 10 exist (destroyed by Spanish Explorers)

AZTEC
 Grew MAIZE
 In Mexico
▪ Tenochtitlan was the
capital city built on a
lake
*Conquered by the
SPANISH
CONQUISTADORS
led by
Hernando Cortes
*One weapon the
Spanish used to conquer
Native Americans was
diseases kike Small Pox
12th
Century
•Built pyramids &
temples
•Built roads
•Developed religion
based on a
belief In good and evil
practiced human
sacrifice (not a
contribution)
*CAUSEWAYS->earthen
bridges
*CHINAMPAS-> manmade islands
*Built a Great Empire
Aztecs lived @ Tenochtitlan
on Lake Texcoco
CHINAMPAS were man made islands
used for farming -> floating gardens
Tenochtitlan
CAUSEWAY
Aztecs built CAUSEWAYS (earthen bridges)
to the city of Tenochtitlan

Incas
 South America-
Peru
 Machu Picchu
(religious center)
 Cuzco (capital)
 Conquered by
Francisco Pizarro
-> SPANISH
CONQUISTADOR
*One weapon the Spanish
used to conquer Native
Americans was diseases kike
Small Pox
14381533 AD
•Developed complex
system of counting
QUIPU (NO writing)
•Beautiful works of art,
weaving, and metal
working
•ROAD SYSTEM - 14,000
miles of roads!
•Great STONEWORKERS
•Built largest EMPIRE in
the Americas!
The llama was used as a pack
animal to carry goods.
They also used the wool to make
clothing, blankets
NO Written Language!
Quipu -> used to keep records
Incans used terraces to grow potatoes, maize, and
peppers
Religious City
Machu Picchu
They were excellent stoneworkers!




Adena – E. part of USA
*built burial mounds
Hopewell – E. part of the USA
*built burial mounds
Mississippian – around the Mississippi River
* built temple mounds built for
religious purposes
Pueblo / Anasazi – lived in SW part of the USA
* known for their pueblos made of
stone or sun dried brick




All across the eastern United States are great mounds of
earth. Some shaped like domes, some like cones, and
some are built in the form of huge circles. The cultures
that built these mounds are known as mound builders.
One of the first groups of mound builders were called the
Adena.
The Adena culture developed in the Ohio River Valley but
spread in all directions.
The Adena thrived from 700 BC to 100 AD.



The mounds built by the Adena were burial mounds.
At first they were small hills of dirt built over the graves of
important people. As more people were buried in them,
new layers of dirt were added and the mounds grew.
The Adena were primarily hunters and gatherers but
developed agriculture to supplement their supply of food.
The Adena lived in small circular houses with log
frameworks. The framework of these houses is
called a wattle.
 The most impressive mound of the Adena is called
the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio. The mound of
earth ranges from 4 to 6 feet tall and 4 to 20 feet
wide.
 The Adena disappeared in 100 AD. No one really
knows why or how.

The Hopewell culture was very similar to the
Adena.
 They were hunters and gatherers and lived in
small houses out of materials they found around
them.
 The Hopewell lived in houses similar to wigwams,
dome-shaped frames of branches covered with
animal skins or woven mats.




The Hopewell thrived between 100
BC and 500 AD.
The Hopewell also lived in some of
the same places as the Adena did.
This is probably why their cultures
were so similar.
However, the Hopewell spread
over a far greater area. They also
farmed and built more and larger
mounds than the Adena.
The most striking difference is that
the Hopewell traded over a vast
area.
 Artifacts were found from as far
away as Florida, Canada, and even
the Rocky Mountains.
 These artifacts include elaborate
figurines, knives, jewelry and cups.
Historians believe that the
Hopewell was advanced enough to
have a specialization of labor with
artisans and craftspeople.
 The fate of the Hopewell remains a
mystery. They disappeared around
500 AD.




The Mississippian culture flourished after
700 AD in much the same place as the
Hopewell.
Like the Hopewell and Adena they built
mounds; however, they did not build
burial mounds. Instead they built temple
mounds.
These mounds were used
for religious and
ceremonial purposes.
Sometimes high ranking
priests lived on top of
them.
Just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis is
Cahokia. Cahokia is the largest temple mound site.
 There are 85 mounds built close together at this site. The
largest mound took more than 200 years to built. It
covers the size of 15 football fields and stands more than
100 feet high. (Larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt!)

The Mississippian culture relied on agriculture based
around maize. This allowed them to support a larger
population and to develop a specialization of labor.
 The Mississippian culture had no written language
or stone architecture.
 Scholars believe that a number of reasons made the
Mississippian Culture move, including drought,
deforestation or that the cities had become too
large to feed themselves.

The Anasazi is a Navajo
word for “the Ancient
Ones.”
 Anasazi culture thrived in
the Southwest from 500
AD to 1280. They
flourished in the shadows
of the rugged cliffs of the
Chaco Canyon.
 They are thought to be
the ancestors of today’s
Pueblo Indians.

The Anasazi are known for their architecture.
Around 750 BC they built pueblos, structures made of
stone or adobe bricks. (Adobe is made from sun dried
mud… remember Mesopotamia?)
 One pueblo that still stands today is called “Pueblo
Bonito” – “pretty village.”
 It is five stories tall with 800 rooms. It could over house
over 1,000 people!


The Anasazi were excellent farmers! Their fields were terraced
and watered with complex irrigation systems. Some people
believe that the Anasazi collected water that flowed over the
cliffs during hard desert showers.
 They created beautiful pottery, jewelry, and elaborate baskets.
They also had an advanced knowledge of astronomy.
 The Anasazi began to abandon their pueblos in 1280 after a 25
year drought. It is believed that they left their homes and moved
to other lands.
