The Maya

Questions
What features characterized preColombian Mesoamerican society? What explanations have been given for the collapse of Mayan civilization?

Chronology
Preclassic era: 1800 B.C. - A.D. 250
Olmecs

Early Classic era: A.D. 250 600.

The domination of Teotihuacan

Late Classic era: A.D. 600 800.

Reign of Pacal at Palenque Reign of 18 Rabbit at Copan

Terminal Classic era: A.D. 800 925.

Collapse of great Maya cities

Maya Society
Kings
quetzal

Nobles
Scribes

Warriors Peasants
Maize Slash and burn agriculture Intensive agriculture

Maya infancy and aesthetics

Ritual and Nobility

Aztec Sacrifice

Left: Chacmool Below: Altar Q, Copan

The Ball Game

Xibalba
1 Hunaphu and 7 Hunaphu Blood Girl Hunaphu and Xbalanque

The ball game as religious ritual The ball game as reflection of social order

Astronomy and Warfare

The Calendar Round
260 Day Cycle 365 Day Cycle Long Count

Maya kings preferred to conduct battles on propitious days Victory in battle meant capturing and executing prisoners

Lintel 8, Yaxchilan

Politics and Power in the Classic Age

Pacal Great Sun Shield (r. Palenque 615-683)
Temple of Inscriptions

18 Rabbit (r. Copan 695738)

18 Gopher-Provider Hieroglyphic Stair Quirigua

War as sign of power Building as sign of power

18 Rabbit

Left: Pacal, ruler of Palenque Above: Temple of Inscriptions

The Collapse of Maya Civilization

During the Terminal Classic Period (800-925), the Maya abandoned most of the great city sites.
A.D. 909 Last Long Count date recorded anywhere

What happened?
Increasing noble power Overpopulation Ecological damage to the lowland farmlands
The Ruins of Palenque

What was the Aztec Empire like?

Look at the following pictures about the Aztec Empire and fill in the work sheet provided by your teacher.

The Aztec Empire

The Aztec Empire is part of Mexico today. According to Aztec legend, the gods told the nomadic people who had entered the Valley of Mexico to search for an eagle peached on the top of a cactus. The eagle would be holding a snake in its beak. When they saw the sign on a swampy island in Lake Texcoco they established the city of Tenochtitlan

Mexicos Flag

Tenochititlan
Tenochititlan was linked to the mainland with causeways. It had an aqueduct to ensure a fresh water supply and sewers carried waste materials away.

Tenochititlan
Over the years Tenochititlan grew into a great city with open plazas and market places.

Tenochititlan
"The city has many squares where markets are held and trading is carried on.There is one square where there are daily more than 60,000 souls, buying and selling, and where are found all the kinds of merchandise produced in these countries, including food products, jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, copper, zinc, bones, shells, and feathers

Food and work

The Aztec used a lot of herb and prayer in their medicine. The Aztec also developed a writing system with pictographs that gave a image of the story.

Aztecs ate corn and beans. Tortillas grilled and dipped in tomatoes. They also ate pancakes stuffed with tadpoles.

The Aztec Calendar

Their Calendar was very sophisticated for their time. It consisted of 360 days a year, over 18 months, excluding five days for sacrifice. It is approximated that this calendar was used 100 year before the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar we use today.

Montezuma
Montezuma was the Emperor of the Aztecs in the Sixteenth Century. He was a conquering king who often went to war with his neighbours. He kept the gods on his side by making human sacrifices to the gods.

Human Sacrifices
According to some accounts Montezuma sacrificed tens of thousands of prisoners at a time. Each had to be individually killed. The usual method of sacrifice was to open the victims chest, pull out his heart while he was still alive and then knock the victim down the temple stairs. The temple stairs were covered in blood.

The Aztec Temple

Huitzlopochtli
Huitzlopochtli:the sun and war god. He battled the forces of darkness each night and was re-born each morning. There was no guarantee the sun would win, so human sacrifices were made.

Quetzelcoatl
Quetzelcoatl was a former white skinned and bearded priest. He came from the east and promised to return. The god of civilisation and learning.

The Inca

Machu Picchu

Geography
The Inca people lived in the Andes Mountains in present-day Peru. Their empire, centered around the capital of Cuzco, became the largest in

Pachacuti was the greatest Incan leader. He and his son, Topa, built the largest empire in the Americas. Pachacuti united his empire by : creating a strong central government. requiring all people to learn the Quechua language. building a system of roads.

Farming Practices
The Inca developed agricultural techniques such as terraced farming.

The Incan ruins at Machu Picchu are some of the best preserved examples of Incan Architecture.

Stones cut by masons were very precise and stacked together with no mortar.

A quipu is a rope with knotted cords used to keep records.

The Conquest of the Aztecs and the Incas

The Aztec Empire

Atzlan: The original homeland of the Aztec peoples in Northwest Mexico

The Aztec Empire

Chief Tenoch: chief who led the Aztec people out of Atzlan to Lake Texcoco after receiving a vision from Huitzilopochtli

Aztec Empire
Huitzilopochtli
Principle god of the Aztecs, Sun God Required Human Sacrifices

The Aztec Empire

Lake Texcoco: a swampy lake in central Mexico where the Aztecs built the capitol of Tenochtitln

The Aztec Empire

Chinampas: artificial islands made by piling up mud from the lake bottom

The Aztec Empire

Chinampa s

The Aztec Empire

The Aztec Empire

Conquest of the Aztecs

Hernan Corts: Spanish conquistador who founded Vera Cruz and conquered the Aztecs in 1519

Conquest of the Aztecs

Conquistadors: We came here Spanish word for to serve God and conqueror/ the King and explorers who also to get rich. - One of Corts men expanded the Spanish domain in the New World

Conquest of the Aztecs

Assimilation: to take something in and make it part of the thing it has joined
Aztecs made the smaller tribes they conquered worship their gods and take up their culture This did away with the original culture of the people they had conquered

Conquest of the Aztecs

Cempoala Indians: one of the smaller tribes that had been conquered by the Aztecs and forced to pay high taxes and provide human sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli
They joined Corts and his men on their way to Tenochtitln They fought the Aztecs with Corts

Conquest of the Aztecs

Montezuma: god-like ruler of the Aztecs
Taken prisoner by Corts Killed in the Aztec revolt of 1520

Conquest of the Incas

Francisco Pizarro: Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incan Empire in 1533

Conquest of the Incas

Incas : Highly civilized nation of people who lived in the mountains of Peru at the time of the Spanish invasion

Conquest of the Incas

Atahuallpa: ruler of the Incas at the time of the Spanish invasion

Conquest of the Incas

Conquest of the Incas