ANCIENT AMERICANS
Centennial Middle School
When I call a place civilized, what does that
mean to you?
CIVILIZATION:
An advanced culture
Builds other cities
Has a well-organized government
A system of social classes
Specialized jobs
A complex religion
A method of record keeping
NORTH AMERICAN
ANCIENTS
HOHOKAMS
MOUND BUILDERS
ANASAZIS
HOHOKAMS – PRESENT DAY PHOENIX
- Brought water in hand dug canals more than 6 miles
-Ten feet deep, fifty feet wide
Agriculture- corn, beans, squash, agave, cotton and tobacco
Pottery – technical advancement - Copper bells in wax molds
Sometime between 1100 to 1200 they stopped functioning as a village.
About 1300 they melted into the culture of the Salado.
MOUND BUILDERS - GULF OF MEXICO TO THE OHIO
AND MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEYS
Earliest mounds in the United States at Watson Brake near Monroe, LA.
The purpose of these mounds is unclear.
It is believed the are mainly for religious structures used as burial mounds.
Many tribes contributed to this culture stretching from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys over many years, some back as
far as 2500 BCE.
The Great Serpent Mound- 1348 feet long, three-foot
high prehistoric effigy mound in Ohio. Believed to have been built
Around 1070.
ANASAZIS- SOUTHWEST (NEW MEXICO)
Lived in large multistoried houses
Sun-dried stones –adobe
Cliff-dwellers
Farmers, but traded with other tribes
By late 1200 Anasazis abandoned their homes- drought?
MAYANS
3,000 years ago
Lived in Mexico and in Guatemala
The Mayans settled in a swampland that
bred mosquitoes and diseases.
3 GREAT CITIES
Tikal
Copan
Palenque
TEMPLES
http://www.crystalinks.com/mayanarch.html
PRIESTS
The highest members of society
Only ones allowed to perform religious
ceremonies
Good harvests
Victorious in battle
SOCIAL CLASS
Priest
Nobles, Government officials, and Warriors
Peasant Farmers
Slaves
AN ACADEMIC CIVILIZATION
Studied math and astronomy
Created an accurate calendar with 365 days
Calendar included 19 months
RECORD KEEPING
Wrote in HIEROGLYPHICS
use pictures to represent words and ideas
wrote on stone tablets or paper made from bark
Misc. Information
Physical Beauty
Sloping forehead
Crossed eyes
Sport
Religion
WHAT HAPPENED?
In 850 A.D. the Mayans left their cities
The Mayan language is proof that some of
them did survive
AZTECS
Finding a Home
TENOCHTITLAN
Capital of the Aztec empire
Built on an island of Lake Texcoco
City grew from wars
Currently Mexico City
SUN GOD
Sun battled every morning to rise
“Warriors of the sun”
Worshipped the Sun God through human
sacrifice
INCAS
Incan Social Structure
Inca
Royal Family
Tribal Heads
Common People
BUILDERS
Built stone temples and forts
No machines
Manual labor
Ropes
Wooden rollers
Great builders of Roads
Incan Roads
A FAMILIAR GOD
Who was the main god that the Aztecs
worshipped?
Sun God
Incas worshipped the Sun God also
Believed the emperor was related to the Sun
God
GOLD
Honored the Sun God
“Sweat of the Sun”
Decorated palaces, temples
Nobles and priests wore it
Advancements / Lifestyles
Medicine
Surgery
Writing
Punishment
THE END OF THE INCAS
1531 Spain comes
Francisco Pizarro
Kidnapped the emperor
Spain is in control in by the 1560s.
REVIEW
What civilizations emerged in present-day
Mexico?
Mayan and Aztec
Where did the Incas build their civilization?
Andes Mountains
West coast of South America
What was the god worshipped by two of the
civilizations that we talked about today?
Sun God
Which two civilizations were they?
Aztec and Incan
How did the Aztecs worship the Sun God?
Human sacrifice
Which country’s flag represents the story of how
the Aztecs found their home?
Mexico
Name the three symbols found on the flag.
Eagle
Cactus
Snake
Name one of the two reasons why the
Mayan priests would perform ceremonies.
Good harvest
Battle Victory