MAYA, AZTEC, INCA CIVILIZATIONS

THE MAYANS• Civilization begins

around 2000 BCE, but Classical Period of civilization is 250 – 900 CE• Located in the Yucatan

peninsula in Mexico• Covered highlands in

the mountains, lowlands that were covered in thick jungle

ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE MAYANS• Cities – archaeologists

have found over 50• Government broken up

into independent city-states• Alliances, trade, and wars

between these• Government of all city-states

centered around religion – a theocracy

• Built large stone pyramids in cities

• Cities also had ball courts for games

ADVANCES BY THE MAYANS

• Math – math system that included zero• Own number system similar to Egyptian• Calendars – used to time agricultural season

properly• One calendar for religion, one based on the sun• Writing system – most advanced in Western

hemisphere at the time

COLLAPSE OF THE MAYANS

• Mysterious – no one really knows why civilization collapsed• Cities emptied out in the late 800s• Possibilities include war, overfarming, population

growth, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47kRdCLALgo – Mayan calendar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA8Bjzj-aLs – human sacrifice

AZTECS• Begins around 1200 CE• In Mexico, as well –

northwest of Mayans• Extremely hot and dry• Lots of valuable resources and

fertile soil• Obsidian – volcanic glass that

was valuable in trade• Extremely religious – a

theocracy• Worshipped gods like

Quetzacoatl (serpent god) or sun gods

• Religion dictated everyday life – everything centered around it

CONQUERORS• Aztecs were an empire

– looking to expand• Forced conquered

people to pay tribute (taxes)• Slaughtered villages

when they failed• Many conquered

people were used in human sacrifices

CITY BUILDERS• Aztecs built cities in

what they felt were important religious sites

• Most famous was Tenochtitlan • Population between

200,000 and 400,000• Built on an island – very

advanced bridges built to get to island

• City was completely planned out

FALL OF THE AZTECS• 1502 – many tribute

states revolted – tired of huge taxes, human sacrifices

• Leader at the time was Montezuma II – tried easing the taxes, but not enough

• Eventually, Spanish conquerors arrive in search of God, glory, and gold – wipe out Aztecs

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nS6MpVbB_g - Tenochtitlan

INCAN CIVILIZATION• Begins around 1200 in

Andes Mountains in western South America• Believed their ruler

was a descendant of their sun god

INCA EMPIRE• Empire stretches for

2,500 miles over Andes Mountain range – one of biggest mountain ranges in the world

• Government had complete control over people• Complete control over

economy – distributed goods to people

• Very little trade – positives and negatives of this?

CITIES• Cities built high up in

mountains• Carefully planned,

connected by roads• Famous cities include

Cuzco, their capital, and Machu Picchu• Cities were carefully

planned

MACHU PICCHU• Famous city that was

re-discovered in early 1900s• Built high up in the

Andes – a resort town for high class members of society• Carefully planned• Many of the ruins have

been reconstructedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2YBVlgqqco

WHY DO THEY DISAPPEAR?• Disease – smallpox

wipes out large part of civilization• Civil war – weakens

entire empire• As civil wars are going

on, Spanish arrive, finish off civilization