160 CHAPTER 6

Ancient Civilizations of Latin AmericaMany ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptian, developed in river valleys and thrived there. The rivers provided water for both irriga-tion and transportation. In Latin America, however, some ancientcivilizations flourished far from rivers. For example, the Maya ofMexico and Central America built cities in dense jungles. TheAztec of Mexico constructed their capital on a swampy island.The Inca of South America built cities high up in the Andes.

TERMS & NAMEShieroglyphchinampaMachu PicchuHernán CortésMontezuma IIFrancisco Pizarro AtahualpaColumbian Exchange

The ancient cultures of LatinAmerica established civilizations in challenging geographic settings.

These cultures serve as models forhow successful civilizations develop.

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW

EL MIRADOR, GUATEMALA, 200 B.C.—In El Mirador

today, a council of the city’s leaders made a major

announcement. Next month, construction will begin

on a massive building complex for the city’s center.

The plans include an enormous pyramid made

of three smaller pyramids

sitting atop a large stepped

platform. The council

expects to employ thousands

of people to cut and carry

the stone slabs that will be

used to build the structure.

The project is expected

to take many months to

complete.

Ancient LatinAmericaAncient LatinAmerica

TAKING NOTES

Location

Dates

Maya Aztec

Use your chart to take notes about Latin America.

Place • An artist made

this drawing to show

what El Mirador’s

three-part pyramid

will look like. �

Image not available for useon this CD-ROM. Pleaserefer to the image in thetextbook.

The MayaIn the areas that are today southern and easternMexico, western Honduras, Guatemala, ElSalvador, and Belize, the ancient Maya built awidespread civilization. Small Maya communi-ties existed as early as 1600 B.C. From A.D. 250to A.D. 900, the Maya established one of LatinAmerica’s most important civilizations.

Maya Intellectual Advances The ancient Mayastudied math and astronomy extensively. TheMaya were among the first civilizations in theworld known to understand the advanced math-ematical concept of zero. They also had an intricate calendar system that included a 260-day calendar of sacred days, a 365-day calendarbased on the sun’s movement, and a calendarthat measured the number of days that hadpassed since a fixed starting point.

The Maya established the best-developed writ-ten language in ancient Latin America. The basicunits of the writing system were symbols calledhieroglyphs, or glyphs. Each glyph represented a word or a syllable.The U.S. lawyer John Lloyd Stephens, while traveling through theMaya area in the 1800s, described his awe at seeing the glyphs andnot being able to read them because no one had yet deciphered them.

Maya Agriculture Farming was essential to Maya life. Using amethod called slash-and-burn agriculture, the Maya cut down andburned trees, planting crops in their place. After a few years, they letthe forest grow back, so the soil could regain its nutrients. Later thearea could again be cut, burned, and farmed.The Maya also built upridges of farming land on floodplains. The floodplains were richwith nutrients, and the ridges kept the crops from getting too wet.

Latin America: Its Land and History 161

Many of the Maya hieroglyphshave now beendeciphered.

Culture • The Mayaoften carved hiero-glyphs on stonemonuments. �

A. DrawingConclusions Howdoes having a system of writing help a civilizationsurvive?

A VOICE FROM LATIN AMERICA

These structures . . . these stones . . . standing as they do inthe depths of a tropical forest, silent and solemn, strange indesign, excellent in sculpture, rich in ornament . . . theirwhole history so entirely unknown, with hieroglyphicsexplaining all, but perfectly unintelligible.

John Lloyd Stephens

Decline of Maya Civilization Around A.D. 900,the Maya way of life began to change. Forunknown reasons, the construction of massivetemples and stone monuments stopped. Citieswere abandoned. However, the Maya people didnot disappear—they just spread out. More than6 million Maya people still live in Guatemala,Belize, and southern Mexico and speak dialectsbased on the languages of their Maya ancestors.

The AztecWhere modern Mexico City now stands, thewaters of Lake Texcoco once lapped the shoresof an island city called Tenochtitlán (teh•NOHCH•

tee•TLAHN). With as many as 200,000 inhab-itants, Tenochtitlán served as the capital of theAztec Empire.

Aztec Origins The Aztec were composed of anumber of tribes of wandering warriors. Ofthese, the Mexica (MEH•hee•KAH) were domi-nant. Mexico took its name from the Mexica.During the 1200s, the Aztec gradually grew innumbers and military strength until they con-trolled the region. They dominated until theearly 1500s, when the Spanish conquered them.

Aztec Warfare and Religion The Aztec Empire centered on war-fare. All able men, including priests, were expected to join the Aztecarmy, for two reasons. The first was to maintain a powerful empire,but the second was religious. The Aztec believed that anyone whodied in battle had the great honor of dying for Huitzilopochtli

(WEE•tsuh•loh•POHCH•tlee), the Aztec god of war.

Aztec Agriculture The Aztec held great powerover their empire. One reason for their success

was that the island location of their capital pro-tected them from attack. However, much ofthe island was marsh, posing a major challengeto farming. The resourceful Aztec built float-ing gardens, called chinampas (chee•NAHM•

pahs), on which they grew crops. First, theypiled up plants from the water. Then they

anchored these rafts between trunks of willow trees.

Culture • Thisstone carvinghonors the Aztecsun god, whoseface is shown in the center. �

Colossal Olmec Heads Mexico’soldest known civilization is calledthe Olmec, which flourished fromabout 1200 to 600 B.C. The Olmecare famous for the colossal heads(like the one shown below) thatthey carved from a type of stonecalled basalt.

Thought to be portraits of Olmecrulers, some of these heads standover nine feet tall. Each weighs thou-sands of pounds. All of Mexico’s laterNative American cultures were influ-enced by the Olmec. However, onlythe Olmec produced these giantstone monuments.

162 CHAPTER 6

Finally, they heaped the lake’s fertile mud on the piles to createplots for farming. The Aztec grew many crops, such as maize,beans, squash, avocados, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers. Theyalso raised turkeys, ducks, geese, and dogs for food.

The IncaAround 1400, high in the Andes of Peru, a group of people calledthe Inca rose up to conquer the people of the surrounding areas.From their capital, Cuzco, the Inca soon ruled a huge empire thatincluded parts of what are now Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia,northern Chile, and northwestern Argentina.

Inca Agriculture To farm on the steep mountainsides, the Incabuilt stone terraces. These gave the Inca large areas of flat land tofarm. The terraces also helped prevent erosion of the soil. In thedesert lands to the west, the Inca built irrigation canals to watertheir crops. Some of these canals spanned entire valleys. Becauseof terracing and irrigation, Inca farmers were able to grow cropssuch as potatoes, maize, and a grain called quinoa.

Latin America: Its Land and History 163

Willows

Mud Plants

Crops

Aztec Chinampas

Human-EnvironmentInteraction •This infographicshows how theAztec built andfarmed the chinampas. �

1. Analyzing MotivesWhy did people living in theAndes need to build terracesand canals?

2. Recognizing EffectsWhat role did agricultureplay in the building andmaintenance of the IncaEmpire?

THINKINGTHINKINGTHINKING

Critically

Andean AgricultureLong before the rise of the Inca Empire, people living in theAndes had learned to farm the steep valley walls by buildingterraces into the sides of the mountains. They had also learnedto build canals, many of them lined with stone, to carry water to their crops. The Inca improved and expanded the existing terraces and canals until they could feed 15 million people, with enough food left over to put away stores for three to seven years.

In the Andes, valley wallsrise as high as 10,000 feetand temperatures can spana 55-degree range.

The Inca grew maize, hundreds of kinds of potatoes,and many other crops. Farmers had to plant cropsadapted to many different climates because of thegreat variations in altitude and temperature.

Workers directed by royalarchitects built stone retainingwalls. Inside the walls, they placedlayers of stone, clay, gravel, andtopsoil. This combination allowedwater to slowly work its way tolower terraces.

The Inca had few farm tools. The mostwidely used was the taclla, or diggingstick. It consisted of a pointed hardwoodpole with a footrest for pushing the tool into the ground. Some tacllas hadmetal tips. The other main tools werehoes and clubs.

164 UNIT 3 Latin America

Inca canals stretched formiles. They were oftenlined and covered withstones. Some were cutthrough solid rock.

Inca Weaving The Inca had no formal written language, but theyused weaving as a means of representing ideas. Using wool shearedfrom llamas and alpacas, as well as many colorful plant dyes, the Incawove images into the fabrics they wore and traded. Concepts relatedto the passing of seasons, agricultural practices, and history were allrepresented in the weavings. In Peru today, Edwin Sulca Lagos isfamous for his Inca-inspired weavings. This one is covered in designsfrom the Inca calendar.

THINKING CRITICALLY

1. HypothesizingWhat sorts of images might the Inca have used to convey conceptssuch as time or seasons?

2. Identifying ProblemsWhat risks did the Inca face by recording ideas only on fabric?

Communicating Across the Inca Empire Stoneroads were a major technological feat of the Inca.These roads are still in use today. Having no writ-ten language or knowledge of the wheel, Incarulers ordered roads built on which runners car-ried verbal messages to distant places.The runnersworked in relay teams stationed along the roads.One runner told the message to the next.Messages could travel 150 miles a day along thestone roads. This system of communication was important to theInca because their empire spread out over thousands of miles.

Inca Stonework The Inca are known for their stonework. Theyerected many massive buildings, some with stones weighing asmuch as 200 tons. Wooden rollers were used to move these heavystone blocks. The most remarkable of Inca stonework is the cityof Machu Picchu (MAH•choo PEEK•choo), which still standsalmost 8,000 feet above sea level. The walls of Machu Picchuwere constructed so that they appear to emerge from the moun-tainsides. Around them, terraces connected by stairways rundown the steep slopes. (See photograph on pages 140–141.)

Latin America: Its Land and History 165

B. RecognizingEffects How didbuilding stoneroads improve theability of the Incarulers to control alarge region?

Culture •The Inca keptrecords bytying knots in aseries of stringscalled quipu(KEE•poo). �

For more on Inca weaving, go to

CL AS SZONE .COM

RESEARCH LINKS

166 CHAPTER 6

Imagine you live in Tenochtitlán and have spent the day constructing chinampas.Write a letter to a friend describing the process.

SECTION ASSESSMENT

Terms & Names1. Explain the signifcance of: (a) hieroglyph (b) chinampa (c) Machu Picchu (d) Hernán Cortés

(e) Montezuma II ( f ) Francisco Pizarro (g) Atahualpa (h) Columbian Exchange

Using Graphics2. Use a chart like the one below to

list effects of the Spanish arrivingin Latin America.

Main Ideas3. (a) Describe the writing system

that the Maya developed.

(b) How did the Inca pass impor-tant messages across great distances?

(c) What was the ColumbianExchange and how did it work?

Critical Thinking4. Recognizing Effects

How did the Maya, Aztec, and Incadevelop agricultural methods thatresponded to the environments inwhich they each lived?

Think About◆ physical surroundings◆ available resources

1.

2.

3.

4.

Effects of Spanish Arrival in Latin America

Culture •Montezuma IIwas a greatwarrior whowas fearedthroughout theAztec Empire. �

The Spanish in Latin AmericaUntil about 500 years ago, Latin America was populatedsolely by Native Americans. In the 1500s, the Spanish arrivedin the region. One famous Spanish soldier, Hernán Cortés(ehr•NAHN kawr•TEHS), captured the Aztec ruler,Montezuma II (MAHN•tih•ZOO•muh), in 1519. Heclaimed the Aztec Empire for Spain in 1521 and renamedit New Spain. A decade later, another Spanish soldier,Francisco Pizarro, defeated the Inca ruler, Atahualpa(AH•tuh•WAHL•puh), and claimed Atahualpa’s empire forSpain.

Time of Change Once in control of Latin America, the Spanishenslaved many Native Americans and forced them to do labor,such as mining silver.The Spanish also worked hard to convert theNative Americans to Christianity.

Latin America and Spain also exchanged culture. Ships carryingLatin American goods sailed to Spain. The Spanish soon begangrowing corn, peppers, and tomatoes—crops they had never seenbefore. Manufactured products from Spain, especially textiles, werealso shipped to Latin America. So were foods and animals, such aspeaches and pigs. This trade was part of the Columbian Exchange,or the exchange of goods and ideas between European countries andtheir colonies in North and South America.