Meso-Americans, Aztecs, Incas & Mayans, oh my!

The Beginning• N & S America connected by a land bridge (Beringia)

• Cross at end of Ice age (40,000-10,000 bc), following animals (probably on foot, some in boats)

• Bridge disappears 12,0000-10000 bc due to melting glaciers and rising waters

• 7000 BC. Begin farming, raise plants in Central Mexico

• 5000 BC raise maize, squash, gourds, chilies, beans, avocados

• Create more advanced farming methods

• Experience pop growth, permanent settlements, specialized skills in arts & crafts

Meso-America

Meso-American Geography• From C Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua & Costa Rica.

• Hot humid w/ swamps & jungles.• Giant trees formcanopies, little sunlight on floor,100 inches of rainper yr w/ severe flooding

• Salt & tar deposits, clay for pottery, wood & rubber from rainforest

• Hills provide stone, rivers for transport, flooding for farming

Olmecs• Olmecs emerge around 1200 BC along Gulf coast of Mexico

• San Lorenzo, built 1150 BC, oldest site. It has earthen mounds, courtyards & pyramids, w/ giant stone heads weighing up to 44 tons!

• La Venta-900 BC: 100 ft high mound of earth, mud & clay.

• Religious center? Worship jaguar spirits (rain, fertility, & earth)

• Create a large trade network (N to Mexico City, S

to Honduras).• SL collapses

900 BC & LV

in 400 BC

Zapotecs!

Zapotecs• SW Mexico: Rugged mtns, in area where 3 valleys meet to form Oaxaca Valley.

• Fertile soil, lots of rainfall, mild climate

• villages scattered

thru valley

• 1000 BC: San Jose Mogote dev as power center. Platforms, temples & huge sculptures individual homes had hearths & stone mortars, used

pottery, food stored in pits

outside home, w/ burials nearby,

trade w/ Olmecs

• 500 BC. Build Monte Alba, 1st urban center in Americas (25,000 people)

• Giant plaza paved w/

stones, stone pyramids,

temples & palaces

• Observatory, had a

calendar & writing systems

• Disappear 700 AD?

• Olmec contributions: art styles, jaguar motif, ritual ball games, & ruling class

• Zapotecs:

hieroglyph

writing system,

calendar based

sun, urban

centers

Nazca• Andes Mtns stretch for 4500 miles, 20,000 feet. Steep & rocky. Hot, dry days, & cold nights

• Narrow coastal plain runs btw Andes & Pacific.

• Atacama Desert has little rain, a few rivers

• 3600-2500 BC: villages est

• 200-600 AD settle on coast of Peru.

• Develop irrigation

systems,

underground canals

• Beautiful pottery

Nazca Lines

• 1000 drawings of plants,

animals humans, etched

on plains

• Only seen from air. Why?

*Drawn for sky or mtn gods?

*Map out underground water

sources?• (survive due to 20 minutes of rain per year!)

• Don’t write!

• The Pampa is covered w/ a layer of dark colored stones that have been baked into a lighter colored and relatively soft sediment. To make their lines and drawings, the Nazcans simply cleared away the darker top layer to reveal the lighter sediment leaving the cleared stones along the edges of the lines which helped to increase their contrast.

• Wooden stakes have been found marking out the lines and these suggest that the Nazcans drew their long and very straight lines using the following simple method: two stakes are placed a long way apart with a rope stretched taut between them along which the first part of the line is drawn. A third stake is then placed a similar distance away from the second so that it is visually in line with the the first two. The rope is then stretched between these two stakes and the line is continued along it. This can then be repeated for as long as the line needs to be.

Moche1.100-700 AD on N coast of Peru

2. Used rivers to build irrigation systems to plant many crops: corn, beans, potatoes, squash, peanuts

3. Lots of gold

4.Great ceramic artists,

showing daily life, soldiers,

instruments, weaving

5. What happened to them?

Mayas

• S. Mexico to N. Cen America

• Lowlands: dry scrub forest on Yucatan Peninsula, dense jungle in S.E Mexico &

N. Guatamala.

• Highlands: Cool,

cloud covered

mtns, from S Mexico

to El Salvador

MAYANS! Don’t write!• 250 AD, influenced by Olmecs

• 250 AD-900AD aka Classical period

• Built Tikal, Copan, Palenque, Tulum& Chichen Itza

• All independent city states ruled by god king. Centers for religion & trade

• Each city had giant pyramids, temples, palaces, stone carvings, & ball courts (playing game kept up sun/moon & rain

cycles)

• 1000s live around

city center

Don’t write! The game was a combo of volleyball, basketball, &

soccer. The ball was not allowed to touch the ground & bounced off the walls of the court and the players themselves. The ball was allowed to bounce off the player's elbows, hips, knees, or head, but using their hands was an illegal move. the goal in which you scored your points was very small. Points were scored by directing the ball through a stone circle hoop. It is also believed you scored points by hitting particular posts & markers situated along the ball court. Players came dressed in elaborate costumes & the ball was made of heavy rubber (about 9 lbs)

Agriculture & trade• City-States linked thru trade

• Exchange salt, flint,feathers,shells, honey, craft goods (cotton textiles, jade ornaments)

• Cacao used as money

• Raised maize, beans, squash (use slash & burn farming, hills side terraces & raised beds above swamps)

Mayan Social Hierarchy

King

Nobles : (priests warriors)

Merchants, skilled artisans

peasants

Mayan Religion

• Polytheistic: worship corn, death, rain, & war gods, some evil or good or both (up to 160!)

• Gods associated w/ 4 directions & colors :

White- n Blue- w

Yellow-s Red- e

Green center

Mayan Gods & Goddesses

• Chac Kukulcan Ix

Chel

• Pray, offer food, flowers,pierceskin, cut bodies to offer blood

• Human sacrifice of prisoners into cenotes (deep water filled pit)

The Mayan Calendar (Don’t write!)• Each day was a living god. Time was a burden carried on

back of the god. At end of each day, month or year, another god picked it up

• The day was lucky or unlucky based on nature of god. A calendar was needed to track days to predict it.

• One calendar had a 260 day yr, 13

20 month days

• Another had 365 day yr, w/ 18 20

month days & they meshed together

like cogs

• Developed based on observation of

sun, planets, & moon

Mayan Mathematics!!!*Concept of 0, base system of 20 (see shell dots)

• 365 day calendar

Language• Most advanced in Americas

• 800 glyphs- symbols, words & syllables, carved in stone or in CODEX, (bark paper books) (3 left)

• Popul Voh- story of creation. They also recorded

history & events.

• Don’t write!!!

• 800s: abandon cities, Toltec's take over, destroy.

• Warfare btw

city-states

• Damage to

environment

from S & B

farming may

have hurt the

empire

TOLTECS AND MORE!

• Valley of Mexico- mtn basin 7500 feet above sea level, w/ large shallow lakes at center. Fertile soil, lots of resources

• Teotihuacan- founded 100 AD by? –Had 150,000 - 200,000 people

• Multi-ethnic city w/ a central ave, w/ 20 pyramids for gods, 200 ft tall Pyramid of the Sun

• Center of trade network w/ (trade obsidian)

• Art & religion influence areas

• no conquering.

• Falls 750 AD due to: Invasion? Drought? Conflict?

TOLTECS

• 900 AD: Toltecs founded Tula. Built pyramids & temples.

• Very warlike, worship

war gods, give blood

sacrifice, conquest

• Topiltzin tries to change religion & get rid of sacrifice.

• Ask people to worship Quetzalcoatl, (feathered serpent) but people rebel.

• He & followers forced out to Yucatan peninsula (influence the Mayas)

• Decline & gone by 1200

• DON’T WRITE!!! Topiltzin & Quetzalcoatl become legend. After their exile, they traveled east on raft of snakes, crossing the sea, to one day return, bringing peace. (Light skinned w/ beard, will cause a problem later) Quetz was tied to the year Ce Acatl (One Reed), which correlates to the year 1519, an important date!!!!)

AZTECS

Aztecs• 1200 AD: poor nomads from deserts of N Mexico wander & work as soldiers for hire from surviving Toltec cities

• Huitzilopochtli, god of war, sacrifice & sun tells Aztecs to found a city (look for eagle

on a cactus on a lake with a snake in its mouth)

• Find Lake Texacoco & build Tenochtitlan

• 1428: Tecoco & Tlacoan form alliance & gain control of neighbors. Eventually covers 80,000 sq miles. Divide into 38 provinces w/ pop of 5-15 mil.

• Power based on

tribute

thru conquest

• Local rulers & religion left in. Pay gold, maize, cacao, jade to Aztecs who kill those who don’t pay

SOCIETY

Tenochtitlan• Island site. 3 raised roads over water to travel to mainland

• Small cities ring island

• Streets connect to city center

• Canals cross underneath

• Massive walled complex,

w/ 45 public buildings)

temples, ball courts,

govt buildings)

• Palace of 100 rooms

• DON’T WRITE!!!! city divided into 4 zones or campan, each campan was divided into 20 districts (calpullis,) & each calpulli was crossed by streets or tlaxilcalli.

• 3 main streets crossed the city, each leading to one of the three causeways to the mainland; (wide enough for 10 horses).

• calpullis were divided by channels used for transportation, w/ wood bridges were removed at night.

• Main market place (20,000 traders)

• 45 public buildings (schools, temples, govtbuildings, rack of skulls, platforms for sacrifice!)

• Grow avocados, beans, chilies, corn, squash, tomatoes, many grown on chinampas

• barter items & foodstuffs: gold, silver, & other precious

stones, cloth &

cotton, animal

skins, wild game

& woodwork

Religion• 1000s of gods, adopted

from others (Quetzacoatl)

• Elaborate public ceremonies w/ offerings. Rituals,dramas, songs, dances, masked performances

• Huitzilopochtli makes sun rise & set. Battles evil nightly & needs human blood for strength or sun would not rise, all life perish

• 1000s sacrificed each year. Heart carved out, most POWs. Often

purpose of conquest was to get

victims*The victim was taken to the top of the

temple & laid on a stone slab by 4 priests.

His abdomen was sliced open by a 5th priest

w/ a ceremonial knife made of flint. This

cut went through the diaphragm. Then,

the priest would grab the heart out of the

victim while it was still beating. The heart

was placed in a bowl held by a statue of

the honored god while the body was

thrown on the temple’s stairs & the head

would be placed on display. The rest was fed

to the zoo

He told the Aztecs where to build their city. He was the Sun god who they fed with human sacrifice.He was the god of war. Sacrifice

• God of the night sky. Knows all the deeds & thoughts of men, challenge warriors. Protector of slaves. Reward good doers with wealth & fame, punish bad people with sickness . Each year in the 5th month, one prisoner was chosen to live in luxury & pretend to be Tecat. 4 beautiful girls dressed as goddesses live with him. On feast day, he was sacrificed!

• According to the Aubian Codex, the Aztecs originally came from a place called Aztlan. They lived under the ruling of a powerful elite called the "Azteca Chicomoztoca". Huitzilopochtli ordered them to abandon Aztlan and find a new home. He also ordered them never to call themselves Aztec; instead they should be called "Mexica." Huitzilopochtli guided them through the journey. For a time, Huitzilopochtli left them in the charge of his sister, Malinaloxctili,, but the Aztecs resented her ruling and called back Huitzilopochtli. He put his sister to sleep and ordered the Aztecs to leave the place. When she woke up and realized she was alone, she became angry and desired revenge. She gave birth to a son called Copil. . When he grew up, he confronted Huitzilopochtli, who had to kill him. Huitzilopochtli then took his heart and threw it in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Many years later, Huitzilopochtli ordered the Aztecs to search for Copil's heart and build their city over it. The sign would be an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a precious serpent. The Aztecs finally found the eagle, who bowed to them, and they built a temple in the place, which became Tenochtitlan

• 1502: Montezuma II weakens empire. More sacrifice tribute needed, so areas rebel. He makes concessions, but doesn’t work

• Aztecs see omens every where.

•

• Hernan Cortes lands in Mexico, a Sp conquistadors search for gold, god & glory

• Looking for land to claim more colonies.

• Hears about

Aztec wealth,

marches

into mtns

• Makes friends w/ Aztec enemies along way

• 600 men reach

Tenochtitlan.

Montezuma

thought he was

a god, gave him

share of Aztec

gold, wants more.

• 1520: Cortez’ men kill warriors & chiefs at a religions celebration. Rebel & drive sp out.

• 1521: comes back, defeats Aztecs. Why did he win?

1. superior weapons: musket cannon

2. Help from native groups who

hate Aztecs

3. Disease: mumps, small pox,

typhus no immunity

Incas

• High plateaus of Andes. Wander & settle in Valley of Cuzco. Est 1200 AD

Don’t write!!!!

• Belief in ruler descended from Sun God Inti (who brings in prosperity and greatness)

• Leader must be 1 of 11 noble lineages from sun god

*The Incas were known as the "Children of the Sun".

• 1438: Pachacati conquered all of Peru. Eventually empire stretches 2500 miles along w coast (land of 4 quarters)

• 80 provinces, of nearly 16 mil people

• powerful military used only when needed. Diplomats offered chance to surrender, but keep own

customs & rulers in

exchange for loyalty.

Even if fight, still

try to get loyalty

Strong Central GovernmentSAPA INCA

Supreme Council (4 men)

Provincial Governors

Officials(army officers, priests, judges,& others from the noble class. Special privileges)

Tax collectors. (1 tax collector for every ayllu)

Workers:

( family units called ayllus)

Don’t Write• Tax requirements were high. Women

were expected to weave a certain amount of cloth, while men had to mine or serve in the army. Taxes were expected to be paid by commoners. If the commoners didn't have money, they'd pay with service on state projects or make items to sell such as thread or hand-

woven cloaks. People could also pay the

government by giving a portion of their

yearly crop to the collectors for

storehouses instead.

How they controlled an empire1.Central bureaucracy ( w/ people divided into units, all powerful Inca, strict laws, basic needs satisfied)

2.Single language : QUECHUA

3Communication (roads & runners)

4.Schools teach Incan ways

5.Service Tax (huge free labor force)

6.Govt regulates trade

7.Technology (terrace farming, surplus crops, irrigation systems

8.Clothing has specific colors, patterns for social classes

9.Built cities in conquered areas

10.All govt buildings have same architecture thru empire

11.All roads lead to Cuzco

12. Specialized Professions (engineers, metal workers, stone masons, other artisans)

12.Local admin left in hands of local ruler & keep traditional ways.

13. tribute in form of labor (mita)

14.All citizens work for state so many days a year (on farms, public works, make crafts for storage)

15. Like socialism; work for

state, provided for by state

• AYLLU: extended family group. Takes on large tasks, build canals, cut terraces, store food

Records:• No writing system, memorize

stories & history

• QUIPUS- knotted strings whose color & position kept accounting records (red: warriors, yellow: gold)

Religion

• Worship nature spirits

( sun god, the god of thunder, Moon, rainbows, mountain tops, stars, planets, etc)

• Mamakuna- virgins of the sun-help lead sun worship ceremonies, unmarried lifelong service, weave, teach, make beer

• Yamacuna: male workers, full time

• Don’t Write! Worshiped gods of nature - the sun god, the god of thunder, Moon, rainbows, mountain tops, stars, planets, etc.

• believed the gods could intervene to help you or hinder you.

• believed that the gods & ancestors could communicate through dreams, omens & signs, which priests interpret.

• Believe in afterlife & mummify dead. Mummies of dead rulers remained in their palaces & were treated as if they were still alive. were carried through the streets.

• Major religious festivals monthly

Cuzco

• Cuzco: the “Navel of the world” built w/ no wheel or iron tools. Engineers & stone masons used no mortar. Religious center

• Temple of the Sun in Cuzco most sacred. Decorated

in gold, (even garden w/

gold animals (sweat of the

sun) Walls thin gold

sheeting)

• Don’t Write!!!!

• 1520s: Hayan Copec tours Ecuador, opens box, moths & butterflies come out. Bad omen. He dies later

• Empire split btw sons, Atahualpa (Ecuador) & Huascar (rest). Ata kills Huascar

• Don’t Write!!!!! Quizquiz (Atahualpa's commander) led 100,000 men vs 60,000 of Huáscar’s. Very brutal war! Atahualpa's punishment? Rip out the hearts of the chiefs & force their followers to eat them, as well as killing babies in the wombs of pregnant women. It was partly due to the civil war that Pizarro won. First, the Incan armies were depleted from the civil war. Secondly, the Incas were not united as different groups supported different brothers. Plus, Atahualpa had Huáscarkilled so that he was not in a position to offer Pizarro a larger ransom of gold than Atahualpa was offering for his own release.

• 1532: Francisco Pizarro, SP conquistador leads 200 men into Andes. Met Atahualpa (who has 30,000 unarmed men). Ambush & crush,& kill Incas.

•

• Kidnap Atahualpa who offers room filled w/ gold, twice over with silver.

• Pizarro takes it,

strangles Atahualpa

• Sp conquer rest of

empire

Achievements of the Incas• Terrace Farming

• Freeze Dried Foods

• Use of Gold and Silver

• Marvelous Stonework

• Textiles

• Aqueducts

• Hanging Bridges

• Panpipes

• Systems of

Measurement (calendar, quipus)

Machu Picchu

Don’t Write

• Found in 1911.

• Palace? City? Home for Pachacati?

• Built around 1450 AD.

• Still a mystery

of it’s purpose

• http://educatoral.com/aztec_maya_inca_webq/webquestindex.html

• http://questgarden.com/69/60/9/080829054640/process.htm

• http://www.cumbavac.org/Aztecs_Incas_Maya.htm

• http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/images/azxipe.jpg&imgrefurl=http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/aztecgod.htm&h=259&w=219&sz=12&tbnid=ssF1gPw-XvJkjM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=95&prev=/search%3Fq%3Daztec%2Bgods%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=aztec+gods&usg=__kPKKtfR7pX4MLsTN39iA52pU_u0=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PIe-T9jKIumM6QHuyO1K&ved=0CBoQ9QEwBA