Mayas Aztecs Incas

8/4/2019 Mayas Aztecs Incas

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The Maya


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Questions

What features characterized pre-

Colombian Mesoamerican society?

What explanations have been given forthe collapse of Mayan civilization?


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Chronology

Preclassic era: 1800 B.C. - A.D. 250 Olmecs

Early Classic era: A.D. 250 600. The domination of Teotihuacan

Late Classic era: A.D. 600 800. Reign of Pacal at Palenque

Reign of 18 Rabbit at Copan Terminal Classic era: A.D. 800 925.

Collapse of great Maya cities


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Maya Society

Kings

quetzal

Nobles

Scribes

Warriors

Peasants

Maize

Slash and burn agriculture

Intensive agriculture Maya infancy and aesthetics


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Ritual and Nobility


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Aztec

Sacrifice


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The Ball Game

Xibalba 1 Hunaphu and 7

Hunaphu

Blood Girl

Hunaphu andXbalanque

The ball game asreligious ritual

The ball game asreflection of socialorder


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Astronomy and Warfare

The Calendar Round 260 Day Cycle

365 Day Cycle

Long Count

Maya kings preferredto conduct battles onpropitious days

Victory in battle meantcapturing andexecuting prisoners


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Lintel 8, Yaxchilan


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Politics and Power in the Classic Age

Pacal Great Sun Shield

(r. Palenque 615-683)

Temple of Inscriptions

18 Rabbit (r. Copan 695-

738) 18 Gopher-Provider

Hieroglyphic Stair

Quirigua

War as sign of power Building as sign of power

18 Rabbit


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The Collapse of Maya Civilization

During the Terminal

Classic Period (800-925),

the Maya abandoned

most of the great city

sites. A.D. 909 Last Long Count

date recorded anywhere

What happened?

Increasing noble power Overpopulation

Ecological damage to the

lowland farmlands

The Ruins of Palenque


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What was the Aztec Empire

like?Look at the following pictures about the

Aztec Empire and fill in the work sheet

provided by your teacher.


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The Aztec Empire is part of Mexico today.

According to Aztec legend, the gods told the nomadic people who had

entered the Valley of Mexico to search for an eagle peached on the top of a

cactus. The eagle would be holding a snake in its beak. When they saw thesign on a swampy island in Lake Texcoco they established the city of

Tenochtitlan

The Aztec Empire

Mexicos Flag


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Tenochititlan

Tenochititlan was linked to the mainland with causeways. It had anaqueduct to ensure a fresh water supply and sewers carried waste materialsaway.


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TenochititlanOvertheyears

Tenochititlangrew into agreat city withopenplazasand marketplaces.


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Tenochititlan

"The city has many squares where

markets are held and trading is carried

on.There is one square where there are

daily more than 60,000 souls, buying andselling, and where are found all the kinds

of merchandise produced in these

countries, including food products, jewelsof gold and silver, lead, brass, copper,

zinc, bones, shells, and feathers


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Food and work

Aztecs ate corn and beans.

Tortillas grilled and dipped in

tomatoes. They also ate pancakes

stuffed with tadpoles.

The Aztec used a lot of herb and prayer in their medicine. The

Aztec also developed a writing system with pictographs that gavea image of the story.


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The Aztec Calendar

Their Calendar wasvery sophisticated for

their time. It consisted

of 360 days a year,

over 18 months,excluding five days for

sacrifice. It is

approximated that this

calendar was used 100year before the

Gregorian calendar,

which is the calendar

we use today.


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Montezuma was the Emperor of the Aztecs in the Sixteenth Century.

He was a conquering king who often went to war with his neighbours.He kept the gods on his side by making human sacrifices to the gods.

Montezuma


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Human Sacrifices

According to some accounts

Montezuma sacrificed tens

of thousands of prisoners at

a time. Each had to be

individually killed. The usualmethod of sacrifice was to

open the victims chest, pull

out his heart while he was

still alive and then knock thevictim down the temple

stairs. The temple stairs

were covered in blood.


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The Aztec Temple


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Huitzlopochtli

Huitzlopochtli:the

sun and war god.

He battled the

forces of darknesseach night and was

re-born each

morning. There was

no guarantee thesun would win, so

human sacrifices

were made.


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Quetzelcoatl

Quetzelcoatl was a former whiteskinned and bearded priest. He

came from the east and promised

to return. The god of civilisation

and learning.


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The Inca

Machu Picchu


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Geography

The Inca peoplelived in theAndesMountains inpresent-dayPeru. Theirempire,

centered aroundthe capital ofCuzco, became

the largest in


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Pachacuti was the greatest Incan leader.

He and his son, Topa, built the largest

empire in the Americas.

Pachacuti united his empire by :

creating a strong central government.

requiring all people to learn the Quechualanguage.

building a system of roads.


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Farming Practices

The Inca developed agriculturaltechniques such as terraced farming.


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The Incan ruins at Machu Picchuare some of the best preserved

examples of Incan Architecture.


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Stones cut by masons were veryprecise and stacked together with no

mortar.


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A quipu is a rope with knotted cords usedto keep records.

Th


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The

Conquest of

the Aztecs

and the Incas


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The Aztec Empire

Atzlan: The original homeland of

the Aztec peoples in Northwest

Mexico


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The Aztec Empire

Lake Texcoco: a swampy lake in

central Mexico where the Aztecs

built the capitol ofTenochtitln


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The Aztec Empire

Chinampas: artificial islands

made by piling up mud from the

lake bottom


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The Aztec Empire

Chinampas


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The Aztec Empire


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The Aztec Empire


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Conquest of the Aztecs

Hernan Corts:

Spanish

conquistador whofounded Vera Cruz

and conquered the

Aztecs in 1519


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Assimilation: to take something in

and make it part of the thing it has

joined Aztecs made the smaller tribes they

conquered worship their gods and take

up their culture This did away with the original culture of

the people they had conquered


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Cempoala Indians: one of the

smaller tribes that had been

conquered by the Aztecs and forcedto pay high taxes and provide human

sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli

They joined Corts and his men on

their way to Tenochtitln

They fought the Aztecs with Corts

C t f th A t


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Conquest of the Aztecs Montezuma: god-like ruler of the

Aztecs Taken prisoner by Corts Killed in the Aztec revolt of 1520


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Conquest of the Incas

Francisco

Pizarro:

Spanish

conquistador

who conqueredthe Incan

Empire in 1533


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Incas : Highly civilized nation of

people who lived in the mountains

of Peru at the time of the Spanishinvasion


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Atahuallpa:

ruler of the

Incas at the

time of the

Spanishinvasion



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C t f th I


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Documents

Mayas Aztecs Incas