ANCIENT AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS

MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS

• Highly advanced• Complex writing systems• Each civilization covered hundreds of miles• Millions of people• Lasted for centuries• NOT peaceful civilizations

THE OLMECS

• 1500 - 300 B.C.• Developed in present-day Mexico,

Guatemala, and Honduras• Created cities with thousands of people• Known for their stone monuments and

drainage system

THE MAYANS

• 1000 B.C. – 800 C.E.• Present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras,

Belize• Population of about 2 million people• Skilled in mathematics• Astronomy• 365-day calendar• Giant stone pyramids

• Complex system of writing• Hieroglyphics

• Network of roads for trade

MAYAN RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT

• Mayan government was a Theocracy• Theocracy: Society ruled by religious leaders• Mayans believed that the gods controlled everything

that happened on Earth• Astronomy was used to understand the gods

• The pyramids were used to perform rituals to please the gods

THE AZTECS

• 1325 C.E. -1521 C.E.• Built in central Mexico• Capital: Tenochtitlan• 150,000-200,000 people• Modern-day Mexico City

• Strongest military of the Mesoamerican civilizations• 1400s: Conquered nearly all of its neighbors

• Aztec society was centered on religion• The location of Tenochtitlan was picked they saw a sign

from their gods• Practiced human sacrifice to please the gods• Warfare was important to capture prisoners for

these human sacrifices

TENOCHTITLAN

THE INCAS

• Largest of the Mesoamerican civilizations• 9 million people

• Western highlands of South America• Capital: Cuzco• Founded in 1200 C.E.

• By the 1400s, Incan Empire stretched 3,000 miles, from present-day Colombia to northern Argentina and Chile• 10,000 miles of roads

• No written language

INCAN MILITARY

• Empire was built by the military• All men 25-50 could be drafted• Conquered regions could participate in

government if they did not resist• All land belonged to emperor

INCAN EMPIRE

MACHU PICCHU

NORTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS

HOHOKAM

• 300 C.E. – 1300 C.E.• Present-day Arizona• System of irrigation• Pottery, carved stone, shells• Shells?• Traded with coastal people

HOHOKAM

ANASAZI

• 1 C.E. – 1300 C.E.• Developed where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and

New Mexico meet (Four Corners)• Great stone dwellings, known as Pueblos• Built cliff dwellings• Mesa Verde (Colorado)

• Complex road system

ANASAZI

MESA VERDE

THE MOUND BUILDERS

• Central North America• Pennsylvania to Mississippi River Valley

• Built giant mounds• Burial chambers, temples

• Trade networks

• Mississippians: built Cahokia (Illinois)• 16,000 people• 100 ft high mound, Monks Mound

MOUND BUILDERS

THE IROQUOIS

• Near Canada and northern New York• 5 Iroquois nations made up the Iroquois

League• Seneca• Onondaga• Mohawk• Oneida• Cayuga

• Women held important role in society• Owned land, elected men to serve on league

council

IROQUIOS