THE AMERICAS
600-1450
Toltec (900 AD – 1200 AD)
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Had own writing system
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Scientists have not
deciphered
Mythologized as great,
tall, good-looking
people
Quetazalcoatl vs.
Tezcatlipoca
Possessed a modest
state
950-1150 Toltecs build Tula
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Associated with fall of
Teotithuacan
Quetzalcoatl
By 1100 CE was largest
urban center in Mesoamerica
@ 10 sq kilometers; 35,000
people
Center for crafts
Long-distance trade
Influenced Maya
Destroyed in 1150 CE and
center of power in the
region shifts
Aztecs
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Originally northern
people with clanbased organization
Take advantage of
fall of Toltecs
Aztec social contract
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Social stratification
pronounced
Human sacrifice
Some area left
independent to create
war/human sacrifice
Religion and ideology
of conquest
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Worshipped large
number of gods incl.
Huitzilopochtli
1325-1519 build
Tenochtitlan: The
Foundation of Heaven
 Arrived in Valley of
Mexico in 1325
 Grew on reclaimed
swampland
 Thousands transported
for forced labor and
human sacrifice
Tenochtitlan: The Foundation of Heaven
Aztec Economy
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Tribute System
Chinampas
Merchants operated
all markets
Merchants distance
from and subordinate
to elite traded longdistance
State controlled all
trade
Andes - - > Inca
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Four ecological zones
 Coast
 Mountain
valleys
 Higher Elevations
 Amazon region
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Goods were
exchanged through a
network of trade
routes
1200-1230 Founding of Incan State
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Manco Capac consults
Inti
“big ears”
Moved to Cuzco
Married daughters of
elites to weaker
groups
Capac – aligned with
sun god
Inca – political and economic
organization
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Emperor almost
considered a god
Empire divided into
four great provinces
each ruled by a
governor
Priests and noblemen
influenced politics
Left local rulers in
place
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Economy based on
agriculture
Allyu – agricultural
village
Mit’a labor system
Inca – social organization
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Small communities aimed
at self-sufficiency
Men and women had
gender-specific, but
virtually equal jobs
Men: hunting, war,
government
 Women: wove, cared for
crops and the home
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Developed strong
professional military
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Split inheritance
Property passed though
men and women
Women did not serve as
head of ayllus
 Some women forced into
concubinage or given to
temples
 No distinct merchant
class
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Incan cultural achievement
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Did not introduce new
technology, but made
efficient use of existing
technologies
Proficient metallurgists
Used quipus
Developed
monumental
architecture and roads
Coastal South America: Chimu
(600 CE – 1470 CE)
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Come after Moche
Built irrigation and
water storage
Capital: Chan Chan
(see photo)
 10
Royal compounds
 Built admin. Centers
are far South as Lima,
Peru