THE MAYA (MAYANS)
They were powerful and dominant
from the 200s-900s. Although
they weren’t as powerful
after the 900s, they were still
around until the 1500s when
the Spanish arrived and
conquered the region
Class Structure…
Mayan Hierarchy
1 On top: Ruler, his family, Royal court, & priests
2 useful architects, merchants, and craftsmen
3 Commoners like artists, traders & minor officials,
4 Farmers (who lived outside cities in villages & fields)
5 Bottom: Slaves (Ppentacob)
Where did Mayan slaves come from?
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Born into slavery,
As punishment for crime (since there were no jails)
Captured as prisoners of war
Orphans became slaves also
• Slaves had to grind corn, work the most dangerous and
heaviest construction jobs, carried goods long distances
between the highlands and the coast, or paddled canoes
Family Life… Names in Mayan society were very important. Newborns
were presented by grandparents in a ceremony & given 3 names:
1st Name - Private Name, which was given at the ceremony.
2nd Name - Nickname, used by everyone.
3rd Name – Last name from parents.
Mayan girls were to get married at age 14 and men at age 18. These marriages
were arranged by a matchmaker and groom's parents. The bride's family paid a
dowry to the grooms' family. The wedding day was set by the priest and the
wedding was held in the brides home. The wedding would be finished with an
exchange of gifts and a feast. Newly weds would live with the bride's family for
a year before starting their own household.
Mayans lived in extended family units in village compounds. The extended
families were combined into larger groups called lineages and lineages usually
larger units called clans.
(use this to answer question #19 )
Beauty…
• To the Mayans, beauty
meant looking like a cat.
Therefore, they
considered a flattened
forehead and crossed
eyes to be signs of
physical beauty.
• So infants in Mayan
society strapped
wooden frames to their
heads elongating their
skulls. Also an object
was dangled above
their eyes to cause
them to cross.
Blue was a
symbolic color for
the Maya since it
symbolized death,
war, & sacrifice.
Warfare…The most common pattern of Maya warfare was simply
a bunch of raids where they rapidly attacked and retreated. It was
usually done by relatively small numbers of nobles and was done
for ceremonial purposes, like human sacrifice
Beliefs…
The Maya were a deeply religious people. They believed in many gods. All
events centered around their religious beliefs. They wanted to stay in favor with
the gods. In their belief system, the gods would bring the rain, heal the sick,
bring plentiful harvests, and ensure the health and safety of the people if they
were honored. If the gods were angry, they would send drought, famine and
disaster to the people.
Kings would also give blood offerings
(considered very sacred). Noble
women would also practice bloodletting by pulling a rope with broken
glass and thorns through a hole in
their tongue. Human sacrifice was
often practiced. No, they didn’t use
animals in their religious ceremonies.
Art, language, Architecture…
The complex pictures of Maya glyphs are like no other writing system. All of our
words are formed from various combinations of 26 signs (Alphabet)
By contrast, all Maya words are formed from various combinations
of nearly 800 signs, and each sign represents a full syllable
so that list of signs is called a Syllabary, not an Alphabet.
= “ONE”
= “FIVE”
= “ZERO”
The Mayans
would put one finger
in clay for “one”, a
side of the hand for
“five” and a fist for
“zero” or “twenty”.
What did they eat?
They were known as people
of the corn but they also ate:
Maize (corn)
berries
mangos
bananas
beans
tomatoes
avocados
cilantro
doves
monkies
rabbits
armadillos
tapirs
Fish
sea turtles
The Maya had many farming techniques, including
‘Terrace Farming’, where sides of hills were cultivated like
giant steps. They did not practice farming with floating
gardens called ‘Chinampas’.
The Maya built
massive Temples, many
of which can still be seen
today
Were they conquered by the Spanish?
The Mayan Empire declined in the 900s, but there were still a few
Mayan colonies around when the Spanish, led by Hernan Cortes,
conquered in the 1500s.
The Aztec Empire
1200s - 1521
(use this to answer questions #8 & #9)
Aztec social structure…
society was divided into 3 social classes;
NOBLES
PEASANTS
and SLAVES
nobility = (pilli)
Aztecs had social
mobility (they could
move up in class &
rank…
Anyone could
challenge the ruler
at any time, but
there were rules &
regulations…
peasantry (macehualli or ‘people’)
slaves.
Aztec Family life…
In the context of the
family, men and
women played distinct
roles.
Aztec women married
at about 16 (men about
18).
In school boys were
taught arts and crafts,
Girls were taught to
cook and other
necessities.
Aztec Warfare & religious beliefs…
War was a very important activity. They
believed that the gods had sacrificed
themselves for mankind, that their blood had
given man life, and that the Sun was
nourished with the blood of human hearts.
This belief led them to sacrifice prisoners at
their temples. They didn’t have jails.
They believed that war was required to
provide food & energy for the sun so that it
could continue on its course. They believed
when the 4 original gods decided to create
the sun they 1st had to create war so that the
hearts and blood needed by the sun would be
available. No, they didn’t use animals in their
ceremonies.
Aztec Warfare & religious beliefs…
The Aztecs murdered (sacrificed) at least 2
people every day, one in the morning and one
in the evening. Often they sacrificed many
more. It is estimated that the Aztecs
sacrificed 30,000 people per year. That is
roughly 82 per day or 5 per hour (from sun up
to sundown)…or one every 12 minutes!!! One
account describes 20,000 Aztec sacrifices in
a single day!
Aztec slavery…
Slaves also constituted an important class.
Some argue that it wasn’t even like real slavery.
First, Aztec slavery was personal, not hereditary: a
slave's children were free.
You could become a slave as punishment for a crime.
A slave could have possessions & even own other
slaves.
Slaves could buy their liberty, and slaves could be set
free if they were able to show they had been mistreated
or if they had children with or were married to their
masters.
Typically, upon the death of the master, slaves who had
performed outstanding services were freed. The rest of
the slaves were passed on as part of an inheritance.
Aztec art, language, and architecture…
The Aztec sculptures which adorned their temples and other buildings
were among the most elaborate in all of the Americas (to please the gods).
Many of the sculptures reflected their perception of their gods and how they
interacted in their lives. The most famous surviving Aztec sculpture is the large
circular Calendar Stone, which represents the Aztec universe.
Language… The Aztecs spoke a language called Nahuatl
(pronounced NAH what L). (Comanche, Pima, Shoshone and
others in North America also spoke Nahuatl). The Aztec used
pictographs to communicate through writing. Some of the pictures
symbolized ideas and other represented the sounds of the
syllables. Variations of this language are still spoken in some of
the more remote areas of Mexico in which the indigenous cultures
are still alive.
Agriculture…
Farming was the principal
activity. Much of Aztec life was
built around farming, which was
extremely necessary to feed the
growing population. Since the land
that the Aztecs farmed was not
fertile enough to grow enough food
to support the population, the
Aztecs were forced to invent
methods to increase productivity.
These methods included irrigation,
fertilizer, and even building
terraces on hills that were
previously not farmable.
Tenochtitlan = Mexico City
Agriculture…
Without many hills, terrace
farming was not widely practiced
by the Aztecs. Their most famous
invention were the chinampas.
Chinampas were floating gardens
built on swamps. The process of
making chinampas was a relatively
simple one. First, canals were built
through the marshes and swamps.
Then, the mud from the canals
was placed on mats, which were
made from weeds and straw.
Then, trees were planted at the
corners. When these trees took
root, they secured the chinampas
firmly in place. Once the floating
island was secure and useable,
the Aztecs used it to plant their
principal crop: corn.
Tenochtitlan = Mexico City
Modern-day Chinampas
They also grew various vegetables
(avocados, beans, chili peppers, squash, and
tomatoes), sometimes even flowers. After a crop
(usually corn) was harvested, the Aztecs had several
ways of dealing with it. One common way of
preparing corn was to mash it with a round grinding
stone (called mano) against a flat stone (called a
metate). From this process, the Aztecs got a corn
meal. This corn meal was used to prepare tortillas,
which was the main food of lower classes. The upper
classes also ate tortillas, but had other choices for
food, including: Turkeys, ducks, & geese.
The Aztecs had a population of 5,000,000 (25,000,000 counting their
conquered neighbors). Hernán Cortés & the Spanish had only 500 people. How
could 500 defeat 25,000,000? 4 reasons:
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1) Thanks to the Spanish most of the Aztecs died of smallpox
2) The Spanish Conquistadors were able to convince enemy tribes to join them to
overthrow the Aztecs
3) Cortes conquered the Nahuas and Tlaxcaltec (Tlaxcalans) first, converted many of
their women and married Malinche (Donna Maria), who spoke Maya and Nahuatl and
helped the Spanish with translation and valuable info
4) The Aztec warriors’ weapons were no match for Spanish arms
• By 1521, the Aztecs were completely overthrown
Hernan Cortes showed up on the shores of central Mexico with 550 men,
16 horses, 14 canons and a few dogs. They were greeted by messengers
from the Aztec ruler Montezuma. They had never seen white men,
horses, or canons before.
Fast Facts
1) Why did the Spanish conquer the Aztec and Inca? WEALTH
2) Which conquistador led the Spanish against the Aztec? CORTEZ
3) How were the two groups able to communicate? TRANSLATOR
4) Who did the Spanish get to help attack the Aztec? OTHER TRIBES
5) What happened in May 1521? SIEGED THE AZTEC CAPITAL
6) Which conquistador led the Spanish against the Inca? PIZARRO
7) How did Atahualpa respond to the monk/Bible? THREW IT DOWN
8) How did Pizarro respond to this? ATTACKED AND KILLED 5000
9) What are 5 reasons for the rapid conquest of the Inca & Aztec?
DISEASE, REBELLION, WEAPONS, CULTURE
10) What was the population of the Aztec in 1520? 25 million
12) What was the population of the Aztec in 1620? Less than 1 million