of the
Ancient Indian Tribes
of the
Americas
http://www.prynearson.com/azteccircle.jpg
Ancient Tribes
of the
Americas
Aztec
Maya
Where were these ancient Indian tribes located?
http://www.socialstudieswithasmile.com/mainpage.html
Inca
The Aztec empire was located in the Valley of
Mexico, which is the central part of the country.
This area was surrounded by tropical rain forests,
but the high altitude gave the region a mild
climate.
http://kellogg.nd.edu/outreach/images/1ancient.gif
http://sites.google.com/site/grossfrogs/Home/maya-aztec-and-inca
The capital of the Aztecs was Tenochtitlan, one of
their greatest cities.
It was founded on an island in Lake Texcoco, the
site of Mexico City, the modern capital of Mexico.
The Aztecs had one of the most
advanced civilizations in the western
hemisphere by the time Columbus
made his 1st voyage to the Americas.
By the early 1400s, they gained
control of their region and formed
numerous city-states that had their
own government and distinct culture.
The 3 major city-states Tenochtitlan, Texaco, and
Tlateloco – formed an
alliance that became the
Aztec Empire.
http://apworld.wikispaces.com/Compare+the+Incas+and+Aztecs+in+terms+of+economic+exchanges
Nahuatl was the language spoken by the Aztecs. Many words used today
came from this ancient language, such as tomato, avocado, chocolate, and
Mexico.
This made
their writing
limited in
what it could
express.
Some
Pictures
represented
ideas; others
stood for
sounds.
The Aztecs
did develop
a form of
picture
writing.
However,
they did not
develop
an alphabet.
http://www.ladyria.us/myspace/space3/maya_calendar.jpg
Aztec Society consisted of four main social classes.
These 4 social classes were Nobles, Commoners, Serfs, and Slaves.
Nobles were the upper class who owned the land.
Commoners farmed the land or made crafts and
gave tributes to the nobles in return for protection.
Serfs simply farmed the land for the Nobles
formed the third class.
Slaves were the lowest class. They had either
been captives in war, criminals, or citizens who
were unable to pay their debts.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://history.missouristate.edu/jchuchiak/aztecs40.gif&imgrefurl__
The greatest Aztec emperor,
Montezuma I, ruled from 1440-1469.
He expanded the empire from the
Atlantic to the Pacific coasts and from
Central America to what is now
Guatemala.
http://handmade-chocs.co.uk/images/Montezuma1.gif
His grandson, Montezuma II, became
emperor in 1502.
He ruled the empire at its peak and at its
fall.
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/58/19358-004-EE106B7C.jpg
The fall of the Aztec empire came when Spaniards, under the leadership of
Hernando Cortes, invaded Mexico in 1519 in search of gold.
http://www.myloc.gov/Exhibitions/EarlyAmericas/Interactives/Paintings/html/images/painting6_detail2.jpg
Many other small city-states helped the Spanish
destroy the Aztec empire in 1521.
The culture of the Mayan Indians spread throughout
southern Mexico and Central America.
http://www.incois.gov.in/Tutor/science+society/maps/maya.gif
Their empire included the Yucatan Peninsula to the
north as well as today’s countries of Guatemala,
Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras.
http://kellogg.nd.edu/outreach/images/1ancient.gif
http://sites.google.com/site/grossfrogs/Home/maya-aztec-and-inca
Early Mayan settlements were fishing villages
along the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
They moved inland once they learned to plant crops. This land
included rugged highlands as well as dense swamps.
The Maya built many great cities and majestic
pyramid temples.
http://history.howstuffworks.com/central-american-history/mayan-calendar.htm/printable
Tikal, the largest Mayan city, may have had a
population of 100,000 or more.
Mayans had straight black hair, and many painted
their bodies red, blue, or black.
The Mayan people were short. The average
height for a man was around 5 feet, while
women were about 4 feet 8 inches tall.
http://www.beforebc.de/Made.by.Humankind/Real.People/02-17-100-27-00-97-001-20-10-01.jpg
Many Mayans valued crossed eyes.
They would tie objects from their
infants’ foreheads to encourage their
eyes to cross. Some would even tie
boards to the heads
of their children to flatten their
foreheads.
http://www.mayacopan.info/images/4-crosseyes.gif
The Maya had three major eras: the pre-classic,
the classic, and the post-classic.
The pre-classic era lasted from about 2,500 B.C.
to A.D. 250. The classic era continued from
A.D. 250 to A.D. 900.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Maya.png
http://www.crystalinks.com/dresden_codex.jpg
During the classic era, the Mayas developed an
advanced mathematics and astronomy system
as well as a writing system.
The post-classic era began with the collapse of the Mayan empire and lasted until
the Spanish Conquest in the 1500s.
Christopher Columbus met some Mayan traders on one of his voyages in 1502.
This was the only ancient Indian tribe of the Americas that he had contact with.
http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/student/fitch1/tikal1.jpg
One of the world’s greatest mysteries is what happened to the Mayan culture. The
Mayans suddenly left their great cities and scattered throughout the countryside.
No one knows exactly why the great Mayan civilization ended.
The early history of the Incas is a mystery.
Since they never developed a
system of writing,
we must rely on the writings of their
Spanish conquerors.
At its peak, the Incan
empire spread
through parts
of what are now
Peru, Ecuador, Chile,
Bolivia, and
Argentina.
http://www.peru-travel-confidential.com/image-files/inca-civilization-map.jpg
http://kellogg.nd.edu/outreach/images/1ancient.gif
Legend says that the Incas
probably began as one of many
small tribes in the
Andes Mountains.
http://z.about.com/d/archaeology/1/7/T/m/AA10_Inca_Gold_Figurine.jpg
One early story of the Incas is that the sun god
created the first Incan, Manco Capac,
and his sister. The god told them to go
establish a city and teach other Indians.
Manco Capac and his sister found the
city of Cuzco, which became the capital
of the Incan empire.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005121/citetemp.html
The Incan empire was so large that they built a system of roads that stretched
over 12,000 miles.
This great
road system
was used for
pedestrians,
not wheeled
vehicles.
Only the road
system of the
ancient
Romans was
equal to that
of the Incas.
The Incan
road system
covered
terrain that
included
desert, fertile
valleys, some
rain forests,
and the Andes
Mountains.
http://archaeology.about.com/od/iterms/qt/inca_road.htm
The Incas also developed a counting system that used a base of ten.
They used a cord called a “Quipus” to remember the numbers.
The “Quipus” had a main cord that
was about two feet long.
They tied many colored strings to the
main cord, and each string had knots
tied in it.
The color of the strings and the
distance between the knots had
special meanings.
http://en.amigosprecolombino.es/activities/categories/courses_and_conferences
The llama was an important animal for the
Incan civilization.
http://pages.pomona.edu/~glg04747/51b/thumbs/images/inc_07.jpg
The llama was tamed and used for
transportation of men and materials.
It also provided the Incas with
wool and food.
http://www.downtheroad.org/Publishing/2DTR_in_S_America/Best_Pictures/orig_pictures_files/05-29.JPG
The Incan Empire was at its peak when the Spanish arrived.
http://www.mainlesson.com/books/morris/samerican/zpage084.gif
Spaniard, Francisco Pizarro, led Spanish invaders against the Incas
and their king, Atahualpa. The Spanish conquered the empire after a series of
fierce battles in 1533.