The Ancient Empires of
Mesoamerica
•Mesoamerica is the name given to the area of
land from central Mexico to Costa Rico.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ANCIENT
MESOAMERICAN EMPIRES
• FOOD SURPLUS MADE GROWTH AND
SPECIALIZATION POSSIBLE
• CITY BUILDING ON A HUGE SCALE
• COMPLEX SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS LIKE
GOVERNMENT, SOCIAL CLASSES, AND
RELIGION
• SPECIALIZATION OF SKILLS, LIKE FARMERS,
SOLDIERS, PRIESTS, ARTISANS, AND CRAFT
WORKERS
OLMEC
• CONSIDERED THE MOTHER SOCIETY OF
OTHER LATER MESOAMERICAN CULTURES
•
•
•
•
1. BUILT LARGE BUILDINGS
2. PYRAMIDS
3. JAGUAR MOTIF
4. POTTERY AND SCULPTURE
• LIVED IN DENSE JUNGLE ALONG RIVERBANKS
NEAR THE GULF OF MEXICO
• SOCIETY BEGAN ABOUT 1200B.C.
• DISSAPEARED AROUND 400B.C.
MYSTERIES OF THE OLMEC
• EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE OLMEC IS
BASED ON HYPOTHESIS, SPECULATION, AND
CONJECTURE
THE OLMEC ARE FAMOUS
FOR THEIR HUGE STONE HEADS THAT
WEIGH FROM 20 TO 40 TONS.
THE OLMEC DID NOT HAVE ROADS, THE
WHEEL, OR METAL TOOLS.
HOW DID THEY CARVE THEM?
HOW DID THEY MOVE THEM?
WHO DO THEY REPRESENT?
THE OLMEC MAY HAVE HAD CONTACT
WITH PEOPLE FROM OTHER
CONTINENTS
OLMEC HEAD
MAYA
• FLOURISHED IN YUCATAN
PENNINSULA BETWEEN 1500
B.C. AND 900 A.D.
• PEAK OF CIVILIZATION WAS
AROUND 250 A.D.
• THE MOST COMPLEX AND
SOPHISTICATED OF THE
MESOAMERICAN EMPIRES
• RELIED ON FARMING AND
BUILT BIG CITY STATES
• FREQUENTLY FOUGHT WARS
WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS
• MAJOR CITIES WERE TIKAL
AND PALENQUE
MAYA FACTS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
THE MAYA BUILT HUNDREDS OF LARGE PYRAMIDS
THEY HAD AN INDEPENDENT WRITING SYSTEM MADE OF SYMBOLS CALLED
GLYPHS
THEY LEFT BEHIND ABUNDANT WRITTEN TEXTS, CALLED CODEX, WHICH WERE
WRITTEN ON BARK AND FOLDED OVER.
TEXTS WERE LATER BURNED BY SPANISH PRIESTS
THEY WERE VERY SKILLED IN ASTRONOMY
THEY HAD A WIDE TRADING NETWORK
THEY DEVELOPED TWO COMPLEX CALENDARS, ONE SOLAR BASED AND ONE
MARKING RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
THEIR CALENDAR SEEMS TO PREDICT THAT THE WORLD WILL END ON 12/23/2012.
PLAYED A BALL GAME SIMILAR TO BASKETBALL AND HANDBALL. THE LOSERS
WERE PUT TO DEATH
RELIGION INVOLVED HUMAN SACRIFICE
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MAYA?
• AROUND 900 A.D. THEY BEGAN
TO ABANDON THEIR CITIES
• EVIDENCE SEEMS TO SHOW THAT
OVER CLEARING OF JUNGLE
LANDS FOR FARMING AND CITIES,
AND CLIMATE CHANGE, LED TO
CROP FAILURES
• OVERPOPULATION AND DEFEATS
IN WARS MAY HAVE PLAYED A
ROLE
• PEOPLE MAY HAVE LOST FAITH IN
THEIR RULERS AND ABANDONED
THE CITIES
• DECENDANTS OF THE MAYA STILL
LIVE IN THE REGION TODAY
MAYAN PYRAMID OF KUKULKAN
AZTEC
• LOCATED IN CENTRAL
MEXICO WHERE
MEXICO CITY IS TODAY.
• EMPIRE GREW FROM
1168 TO 1521
• FOUNDED THEIR
CAPITAL CITY,
TENOCHTITLAN
BETWEEN 1300 AND
1375
AZTEC FACTS
• POPULATION OF TENOCHTITLAN
REACHED 300,000
• BUILT ON ISLANDS IN A LAKE
• AZTEC WERE VERY
BLOODTHIRSTY AND WARLIKE
• DEMANDED TRIBUTE OF GOLD,
GOODS, AND SLAVES
• POLYTHEISTIC RELIGION BASED
ON HUMAN SACRIFICE
• ENSLAVED OTHER TRIBES AND
CUT OUT THEIR HEARTS WHILE
THEY WERE STILL ALIVE
• PRIMARY SOURCE
• “Moctezuma and the Aztec have
oppressed us much, they have
overwhelmed us. We are up to
our noses in the anguish and
affliction they have given us. He
demands everything from us in
tribute… The Aztec is an inhuman
being. He is very perverse… The
Aztec are extremely bad. There is
nobody who can surpass the
Aztec in evil.”
• Otami indian native.
AZTEC RELIGION
The god Huehueteotl. The most
brutal human sacrifices were made
to this god.
HUMAN SACRIFICE
INCA
• The Inca lived in the
Andes Mountains
• At its peak around
1500, the Inca empire
spread 2,500 miles
from Chile to Ecuador
• Sophisticated farming
and irrigation supported
12 million people
INCA FACTS
• The Inca built more than 14,000
miles of roads, but they did not
have the wheel. All travel was
done on foot.
• Kept records by counting on
knotted ropes called quipus
• Very wealthy, sophisticated
society with art, theatre, music,
and social classes
• The descendants of the Inca
make up about 45% of the
population of Peru today.
REFLECTION
CHOOSE ONE AND WRITE A REFLECTION ON IT
Reflection A
Reflection B
Thinking about the societies we have
talked about, Olmec, Maya, Aztec
or Inca, choose one and imagine
you are twelve years old and
living in that society. Write a
reflection of what you think your
daily live would be like. What
would you do? Would you like
living then? Why did you choose
that society?
Imagine the year is 1500. You are a
member of a tribe of people who
live just outside the Aztec Empire.
How do you think you would feel
about the Aztec? Explain why you
feel that way.