CIVILIZATIONS OF
THE AMERICAS
GLOBAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY – 9
SACHEM NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
Dr. Afxendiou
Central and South America
THE OLMEC CIVILIZATION
•Earliest known
Mexican civilization
•Agricultural society
•Influenced later
civilizations such as
the Maya
•Developed
ceremonial pyramid
shaped temples
•had system of
writing
•Developed religion
that was to
influence societies
that followed
1400 – 500 B.C.E.
Olmec artifacts – the Olmec heads
Mystery– Who were they? Why did they disappear?
Mayan Area
Mayan City-states
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Height of power 6th century A.D.
Ended 900s A.D.
Ruled by god-kings
Centers of religious ceremonies
Centers of trade
Large populations (10s of 1000s)
Had alliances and traded with each other
Mayan Social Structure
highly rigid, stratified
wealth gained from agriculture (slash and burn method)
KING
Nobles and Priests
Warriors
Merchants
Peasants
Slaves
Mayan Accomplishments
• Science – astronomy and mathematics (based
on 20)
• Calendar – 365 days
• Pyramids, palaces
Religion
•Polytheistic
•Sacrifices – own blood, captured enemies
Mayan numbers
Mayan temple
Aztec Civilization
1200-1521
Aztec Civilization
• Warrior people – had tributaries who had to
supply slaves for sacrifice and other payments
• Had many enemies among the surrounding
people
• Strong central government
• Rigid social structure
• Capital –Tenochtitlan- built on an island in a lake
• Ruler a warrior king
• Economic activity - Trade
– Farming – corn, beans, squash, peppers
• Written language
Aztec Religion
• Polytheistic
• Sun God also the
god of war could only
be worshiped with
human sacrifice and
offering of blood
• Quetzalcoatl – god of
learning and books.
Pictured as feathered
serpent or a paleskinned man with a
beard
• Elaborate
ceremonies
Aztec Achievements
• Calendar – similar to Mayan
• Physicians – able to treat a variety of wounds and
injuries, including setting broken bones and filling
cavities in teeth.
• Tenochtitlan, the capital, was well designed and
constructed
– Pyramid temple
– Aqueducts
– Causeways for travel
• Art – large stone carvings and colorful paintings
• Schools – reading and writing
– Records of their history
Aztec pyramid temple
The Incas
The Incas
• Capital – Cuzco
• Location - Andes
mountains
• Ruler believed to be
descended from the
sun god
• Empire controlled
about 16 million
people
Inca form of government
• Bureaucracy
• Strong, central government
• Government controlled all economic
activity
• Single official language
• Founded schools
• No writing system – oral tradition of
passing down history and literature; had
other system for record keeping
Inca Religion
• Religion reinforced the power of the state
• Worshipped key nature spirits like the sun, moon, the stars
and thunder
• Sacrifice of llamas
• Sacrifice of children
Inca Achievements
• Empire tied together through
a network of roads 14,000
miles long
• All roads led to the capital
• Relay runners, a type of
postal system, for
communication. Carried
messages across the empire
• Surgery and herbal remedies
• Quipu – accounting device –
set of knotted strings used to
record data
• Terrace farming -The cutting out of flat
areas (terraces) into near vertical slopes to allow
farming. Terrace farms appears as steps cut into a
mountainside. This adaptation allowed both the
early Chinese, and the Inca of Mesoamerica to
grow enough food for their large populations.