Olmec, Toltec, Moche & Nazca
The Ice Age

From around 100,000 BC to around
8,000 BC thick ice sheets covered parts
of Europe, Asia, and North America
The Ice Age
After the people spread out …

The Olmec
 1,400 – 400 BC

The Moche
 200 – 750 AD

The Nazca
 250 – 750 AD

The Toltec
 900 – 1,100 AD
Olmec

The Olmec people lived in Central
America, covering a vast area.
Olmec
They settled mostly around the
Coatzacoalcos River system
 They were excellent farmers, having
domesticated maize, beans, squash,
sweet potato, avocado, cacao,
sunflower & cotton.
 They also ate of the abundant fish,
turtles, snakes, mollusks, birds, peccary,
opossums, raccoons, rabbits & deer.

 Dog was the most plentiful protein source!
Olmec

The Olmec were known for their
intellectual developments.
 They were the first to develop the concept of




zero.
They invented the first writing system in the
Americas.
They extracted latex from the rubber tree.
They took part in long-distance trade.
They developed sophisticated mathematics
and calendar systems.
Olmec Art

The Olmec people were excellent
potters, stone workers and carvers.
Notice the details in the face,
and the overall realism of this
figure.
Olmec Art

The Olmec people were excellent
potters, stone workers and carvers.
The elongated skulls were a
symbol of the upper classes,
and were achieved by
reshaping the skulls of infants.
Olmec Art

The Olmec people were excellent
potters, stone workers and carvers.
This carved stone shows the
serpent god above an Olmec
king.
Olmec Art

The Olmec people were excellent
potters, stone workers and carvers.
This shows another stone
carving of an Olmec king.
Olmec Art

The Olmec people were excellent
potters, stone workers and carvers.
This illustration shows numbers on a
monument, showing the Olmec
numbering system.
Olmec Art

The Olmec people were excellent
potters, stone workers and carvers.
This is a mask carved from a solid
piece of Jade. The Olmec jade
source, long a mystery, has recently
been located in Guatemala.
Olmec Art
The most famous works of Olmec art
are the giant stone heads. So far, 17
heads, depicting Olmec kings, have
been found.
 These heads are up to 15 feet tall.

Nazca
Nazca
Little is known about the Nazca people.
 The Nazca were excellent potters and
weavers.
 The dry climate has preserved their
work for hundreds of years.

Nazca
The pottery is smooth with
baked on colors and
illustrations
Nazca
This pottery figure shows a
total solar eclipse!
Nazca
The woven pieces show
spirits and gods.
Nazca

The dry climate also
preserved the bodies of
their dead.
Nazca

The Nazca also built pyramid structures.
Nazca
The Nazca are best known, however, for
the markings on the floor of the desert.
 These markings, intersecting lines,
pictures, and geometric shapes are
sometimes miles long, and are only
visible from the air.
 The drawings can be up to 1000 feet
long.

Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Nazca
Moche
Further north in Peru, the Moche lived at
roughly the same time as the Nazca.
 The Moche were known for their metal
work, pottery, and ritual sacrifices.

Moche
The Moche also built pyramids
Moche
This shows a moche living
quarters, and a burial chamber
Moche
This shows an intact burial
excavated at a Moche site.
Moche
This is a pottery duck
drinking flask
Moche
The Moche made
detailed realistic
images of their
kings
Moche
The Moche made
detailed realistic
images of their
kings
Moche
The Moche made
detailed realistic
images of their
kings
Moche
These are musical instruments, a
trumpet and a flute.
Moche
The Moche made
frightening masks
of their gods
Moche
They also crafted fine
jewelry of copper,
silver and gold.
Moche
These were inlaid gold
ear ornaments.
Moche
A ceremonial silver and gold
mask.
Moche
A gold ornament
showing a god
performing a ritual
beheading.
Toltec
Much later, and further north, the Toltec
people were inhabiting central Mexico.
 The Toltec were also master builders,
and built cities rivaling any in Europe.

Toltec

The Toltec ceremonial capital,
Teotihuacan, and the cities of Kukulkan
and Tula, were population and cultural
centers of the Toltec civilization.
Toltec

Tula is known for the warrior columns.
Toltec

Tula is known for the warrior columns.
Toltec

Tula is known for the warrior columns.
Toltec
Teotihuacan is a city that was the 6th
largest in the world in around 500 AD
 It had a population of around 120,000 to
200,000 people.

Toltec
Teotihuacan was built
along the 2 mile long
“Avenue of the Dead.”
It was anchored by the
Pyramid of the Moon
and the Temple of
Quetzalcoatl, and
flanked by the gigantic
Pyramid of the Sun.
Tour of Teotihuacan
Toltec
Overhead view of Teotihuacan
Toltec
The Temple of Quetzelcoatl
Toltec
The Temple of Quetzelcoatl
Toltec
The Temple of Quetzelcoatl
Toltec
The Pyramid of the Moon
Toltec
The Pyramid of the Moon
Toltec
The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest in
the Americas.
 It is 738 by 738 feet at the base and
stands 207 feet tall.

Toltec
The Pyramid of the Sun
Toltec
Teotihuacan -- Temple of the Sun
Later …

After these civilizations declined, we will
learn about the rise of the Maya, Inca
and Aztec civilizations.