Maya, Aztec, and Inca

Civilizations
Mesoamerica






Mesoamerica = Mexico & Central America
Mesoamerica
Some of the earliest civilizations in the
Americas developed in Mesoamerica

The Maya and Aztec lived in the
Mesoamerican region
How did people first get to the
Americas?
Theory #1 = Bering land bridge

Humans migrated into North America
from Asia by crossing over a land bridge
between Alaska and Siberia


How did people first get to the
Americas?
Theory #2 = Coastal migration

Humans migrated to the Americas by
crossing the seas, most likely the Pacific
Ocean, and settling along the western coasts
of the Americas
Where did the ancient live?
The Maya were concentrated on and
around the Yucatan Peninsula in central
America.


Maya Political Structure
The Maya were NOT AN EMPIRE and NOT
UNITED politically

Maya civilization was made up of city-
states

Each city-state had its own ruler
Maya Religion
The Maya were polytheistic
The Maya practiced human sacrifice

Maya Architecture
The Maya built towering temples and elaborate
palaces

Atop the temples, priests performed religious
ceremonies and sacrifices while people watched
from the plazas below

Ceremonial platforms, temples, pyramids,
observatories, ball courts all built by the Maya


Advances in learning
The Maya created a writing system of
hieroglyphics

Advances in learning
The Maya created a set of numerals
Also developed a 365-day calendar

What happened to the Maya?
The Maya abandoned many of their cities
around 900 A.D.

Archaeologists DO NOT KNOW WHY Maya
civilization declined

BUT

Maya today
more than 2 million Maya people live in
Guatemala and southern Mexico today.

http://www.watchknow.org/Video.aspx?Vide
oID=12203

This National Geographic video shows the Mayan Pyramids.
It is part of the series Lost Temples and it tries to give an
answer to the question "Why did the Maya abandon their
magnificent city of Chichen Itza?" There is reference to
Maya culture.
Aztecs



Where did the Aztecs live?
The Aztecs lived in what is known as the
Valley of Mexico in central Mexico.

Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the
Aztec Empire.

Legend of Tenochtitlan
The gods told the Aztecs to search for an
eagle holding a snake in its beak perched
atop a cactus. This is where they were to
build their capital city. The Aztecs saw
this sign on a swampy island in lake
Texcoco.
Legend of Tenochtitlan
How did the Aztecs build a city in
the center of a lake?
Tenochtitlan was built on an island
It was connected to the mainland by
causeways leading north, south, and
west of the city.
The city was interlaced with a series of
canals, so that all sections of the city
could be visited either on foot or by
canoe.
Tenochtitlan
Today, Tenochtitlan is
Mexico City


Government
The Aztecs created an empire through
conquest
Conquered people and local rulers had to
pay tribute to the Aztecs
The Aztecs had an emperor
The Aztec Emperors main job was to lead
in war
Religion & Mythology
Aztecs were polytheistic
Huitzilopochtli was
the main Aztec god.
(weets se lo poch tlee)
The Aztecs built massive temples and
pyramids dedicated to their gods

Religion & Mythology
Pyramid of the Sun

Pyramid of the Moon

Human Sacrifice
Human sacrifice was a common practice of the Aztecs.

For the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan
in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed 84,400
prisoners over the course of four days.

To give the sun strength to rise
each day, human sacrifices were
offered.

What happened to the Aztecs?
Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes
conquered Tenochtitlan and defeated the Aztecs
in 1521.

Engineering An Empire
http://www.watchknow.org/Video.aspx?Vide
oID=6255

What the Ancients Did For Us
http://www.watchknow.org/Video.aspx?Vide
oID=10964


Inca

Where did the Inca live?
The Inca controlled an empire in the Andes
Mountain region of South America.

Government
The Sapa Inca (emperor) had absolute power.

The emperor claimed to be the son of the sun.

The emperor was also the empires religious
leader.

The empire was divided into four regions with
the capital at Cuzco.
Uniting the Empire
The Inca built a massive road network
through mountains and across rivers and
gorges.

Stonework
The Inca constructed stone temples without
using mortars yet the stones fit together so well
that a knife would not fit between the stones.

Religion
The Inca were polytheistic.
The primary god was Inti, the sun god.

Religion
Inca believed in reincarnation.
The Inca practiced cranial deformation.
-They achieved this by wrapping tight cloth
straps around the heads of newborns to alter
the shape of their soft skulls into a cone-like
shape.
Medical Advances
The Inca performed successful skull
surgery.

The Inca also used medicines to make
patients unconscious during surgery
Organization
Each family in a community was assigned
a specific job.

Government officials arranged marriages.

The government organized mandatory
public service building projects.
What happened to the Inca?
Civil war in the empire broke out...

AND

Smallpox spread, killing much of the
Inca
Fall of the Inca
BUT ultimately, it was Spanish conquistadors led
by Francisco Pizarro that brought about the
fall of the Inca Empire.
Inca Video Clip

http://www.watchknow.org/Video.aspx?Vide
oID=2301