Mesoamerican Cultures: Maya, Aztec,

Inca

Global History: Spiconardi

Maya Periods

Pre-classic: (c. 2000 BC to 250 AD) Classic: (c. 250 AD to 900 AD) Post-classic: (900 AD to 1500s AD)

Maya Location:

Modern day southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras

Maya Social Structure

King

Nobles: Priests & Warriors

Merchants

Peasants

Slaves

Maya Religion

Believed each day was a living god Had to please the gods via sacrifice

Piercing of bodies with needle Also done to show fierceness of a warrior

Flowers & incense

Maya Religion (Con’t.)

Human Sacrifice Sacrificed prisoners of war, slaves, and children

Children were preferable as they were pure Victim painted blue, had chest cut open, and heart

removed Drug Use

Smoked a strong tobacco w/hallucinogenic effects Drank fermented water, honey, and tree bark drink

Maya Farm, Trade, and Agriculture

Slash-and-burn farmingSlash-and-burn farming clear land by burning current vegetation and planting new crops in the ashes

No Formal Currency…Used the cocoa beans as $

Counterfeit cocoa beans Some merchants would remove the cocoa from the

bean and refill it with wax

Maya Achievements

Hieroglyphic symbols Only Mesoamerican

culture to have a complete writing system

Concept of zero & counting system

Calendar Only .0002 days short;

extremely accurate Predicted the end of

the world 12/2012

Mesoamerican Ballgame

Maya: Collapse TheoriesNon-ecological

Overpopulation? Peasant revolts? Foreign invasion? Disruption of key

trade routes?

Ecological 200 year drought? Overuse of slash &

burn? Disease?

The Aztec

Aztec Tenochtitlan

A group of people first known as the Mexicas, later the Aztecs, found the city of Tenochtitlan (modern day Mexico City) in 1315.

Tenochtitlan became an urban center that was larger than European capitals

Dubbed the “Venice of the New World”

Aztec Tribute System

The Aztecs ruled their empire by indirect means

Instead of exerting their supreme authority on conquered people, they demanded tribute.

Conquered leaders were even restored to their positions

i.e. feathers, greenstones, cloth, firewood, and food

Aztec Cocoa Plant

Like the Maya, the Aztec used cocoa as currency

20 beans a year could support a commoner A man could sell his daughter as a sacrifice or sex

slave for upwards of 500 beans Beverages

First accounts of chocolate beverages were noted by the Spanish

Thickened with maize flour and seasoned with a chilies

Aztec Social Structure

Nobility Not hereditary. Being born to

noble parents did not necessarily mean you would become a noble

Peasants Very few farmers. Mostly artisans

and warriors. Slaves

Prisoners of war, criminal punishment, or payment of a debt

Aztec Social Structure

Like the Maya, Aztecs also intoxicated themselves, but… ONLY ELDERS WERE ALLOWED TO GET DRUNK

Aztec: Social Structure Education

From ages 0-14, parents guided education

At age 15, both boys and girls (of all classes) went to school

Aztecs were one of the first civilizations to require all children go to school.

The Schools Telpochcalli

Military training Calmecac

Taught writing, astronomy, theology, etc.

But girls were taught domestic skills & religion.

Not taught to read or write.

Aztec Religion

As an agricultural people, the Aztec depended heavily on the forces of nature and worshiped them as gods

The Aztec believed that the benevolent gods must be kept strong to prevent the evil gods from destroying the world

Human Sacrifice Victims of sacrifice were usually prisoners of war, some

Aztec warriors would volunteer for the more important sacrificial rituals

The god Tlaloc was believed to prefer children as sacrificial victims

Aztec Human sacrificeAztecs took human sacrifice to a new level. According to Ahuitzotl, over the course of four days the Aztec sacrificed some 84,000 people to dedicate the new Great Pyramid.

Aztec Agriculture

Tenochtitlan was constructed on swamp land not suited for farming

ChinampasChinampas “floating gardens;” artificial islands made of soil and reed mats that were placed in Lake Texcoco

Aztec Spanish Conquest

In 1519 Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés and more than 500 Spaniards landed in eastern Mexico in search of land and gold

Kidnaps Aztec leader Montezuma for a gold ransom

Conquered all of the Aztec by 1525

1/3 of population killed Mostly from small pox

Survivors forced into labor mining for gold or working on the estates of the Spaniards

Inca Government

The Emperor owned all people, land, & resources Government had complete control over the economy

Farmers worked on cooperative farms Early form of socialism/communism

Massive bureaucracy For every 10,000 people there were 1,331 government

officials Mita special tax, but in the form of labor NOT money

All able bodied citizens required to work for the government for a set number of days per year

Inca Religion

Worshipping of sun played a major role in the religion

Emperor seen as the son of the sun god Human Sacrifice?

Only on the rarest occasion; usually children or virginal women who dedicated lives to worshipping the sun

Most of sacrifices were guinea pigs and llamas

Inca Religion

Believed in reincarnation Moral Code: “ama suwa, ama llulla, ama

quella” Do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy Those who followed those rules went to live in the

Sun's warmth while others spent their eternal days in the cold earth

Practiced cranial deformation

Inca Achievements

Massive Road System Connected all the people of the Incan Empire All roads led to the Capital of Cuzco

Machu Picchu Served as religious city and fortress during the

Spanish conquest Could only be reached by bridges over rivers 1,950

feet in the air

Machu Picchu

Inca Achievements

Terrace farming What other cultures

that we have studied this year have used this method?

Quipu a series of knotted strings used by Incan officials for keeping records

Incans did not have a writing system or advanced calendar

Inca Spanish Conquest

Conquered by Pizarro in 1532 Despite getting the ransom of

gold and silver he demanded, Pizarro killed Incan ruler

Spanish ruled Inca harshly Destroyed traditional culture

and farming methods Forced them to mine gold and

silver