MESOAMERICA
A Brief Overview of Mesoamerican
Civilizations
The Mayan Civilization
•Who are the Maya? - The Maya consisted of groups of peoples who speak
various forms of the Mayan language.
•
Achievements:
– Built more than 40 cities and in each city there were palaces, plazas, ball
courts, and pyramids
– Developed complex writing system using Mayan glyphs
– Created book called codices (codex)
– Developed mathematical system based on 20 numbers; invented number 0
– Great advances in astronomy
– Created a Mayan calendar system (Ends Dec. 2012)!!!
Religion
Polytheists -believe in many gods
Quetzalcoatl – the god behind the Mayan prophesies for 2012
End of civilization:
Mayans abused their land in trying to produce agriculture, and this
lead to a lack of resources. Soil exhaustion, water loss and erosion
were some of the consequences to the Mayans' chosen agricultural
techniques. The Mayans also used a slash and burn method of clearing the
forest in order to produce ground for crop growing. This extremely
wasteful method created a lack of natural food for the local wildlife and
forced migration and scattering.
Where did the Maya Live?
The Maya settled in villages in the highlands and
lowlands of Mesoamerica- what is now
northern/southern Guatemala, Belize, and the
Yucatan Peninsula in Southern Mexico .
•
The Aztecs
Who are the Aztecs?
The Aztecs were nomadic tribe of hunters and gatherers.
They settled on swampy areas around the lake Texcoco and
built chinampas (floating gardens)
•
Achievements:
–
–
–
–
–
Built huge and unique structures /pyramids
Built city Tenochtitlan in present day Mexico
Writing systems: Glyphs
Advances in Astronomy
Aztec Calendar!!!
Religion:
– Had many gods;
– Huitzilopochtli (the sun god) was the most important
– Conducted human sacrifice
•
Causes for the Fall of the Aztec Empire:
– Montezuma II demanded more taxes/sacrifice
– Spanish conquistadores (Hernan Cortes) conquered weakened Aztecs
– Spanish made alliances (friends) with Aztec’s enemies to defeat
Aztecs together
What helped Cortes defeat the Aztec Empire?
• Cortes’s alliances with the Aztecs’ enemies.
Where did Aztecs live?
They lived in what is now the northeast desert of Mexico
and the Valley of Mexico. They built the city of
Tenochtitlan.
The Incan Civilization
•
Who are the Incas? The Inca civilization originated from a tribe in the
Cuzco area of Peru. The Incas were one of the largest, richest and most
powerful empires before pre-Columbian America as their territory covered a
massive 2,000,000 km at its peak.
Achievements:
– Created counting tool Quipu, a system of knotted and dyed string
– Preserved history through oral traditions (telling stories to the next
generation); had no written language
– Spoke Quechua language
– Built network of roads
– Advances in Medicine: Blood Transfusions/early form of brain surgery.
Religion:
-the Incas worshipped many gods such as the sun, the moon, wind,
lightning, rain and all the other elements of the Earth.
- All Incan emperors are believed to be descendents of Inti, the sun
god!!!
End of empire: The Inca civilization came to an end due to the Spanish
conquistadores led by Francisco Pizarro .The factors involved in the
Inca civilizations downfall were the rebellions in newly conquered Inca
territories, smallpox and the in-fighting for the throne between Huascar
and his half brother Atahualpa.
Incan Leaders
were believed to be
descendants
of the Sun God.
Where did Inca live?
Incans learned to live in
the high and rugged
terrain of the Andes
Mountains, in what is
now Peru. Incan capital
is Cuzco, which means
“navel” or “center”
On the map above, which letter indicates the
location of the Aztec Empire?
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
On the map above, which letter indicates the
location of the Mayan Empire?
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
On the map above, which letter indicates the
location of the Incan Empire?
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D