A Brief Overview of Mesoamerica

MESOAMERICA A Brief Overview of Mesoamerican Civilizations

The Mayan Civilization •Who are the Maya? - The Maya consisted of groups of peoples who speak various forms of the Mayan language.

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Achievements: – Built more than 40 cities and in each city there were palaces, plazas, ball courts, and pyramids – Developed complex writing system using Mayan glyphs – Created book called codices (codex) – Developed mathematical system based on 20 numbers; invented number 0 – Great advances in astronomy – Created a Mayan calendar system (Ends Dec. 2012)!!!

Religion Polytheists -believe in many gods Quetzalcoatl – the god behind the Mayan prophesies for 2012

End of civilization: Mayans abused their land in trying to produce agriculture, and this lead to a lack of resources. Soil exhaustion, water loss and erosion were some of the consequences to the Mayans' chosen agricultural techniques. The Mayans also used a slash and burn method of clearing the forest in order to produce ground for crop growing. This extremely wasteful method created a lack of natural food for the local wildlife and forced migration and scattering.

Where did the Maya Live? The Maya settled in villages in the highlands and lowlands of Mesoamerica- what is now northern/southern Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan Peninsula in Southern Mexico .

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The Aztecs

Who are the Aztecs?

The Aztecs were nomadic tribe of hunters and gatherers. They settled on swampy areas around the lake Texcoco and built chinampas (floating gardens) •

Achievements: – – – – –

Built huge and unique structures /pyramids Built city Tenochtitlan in present day Mexico Writing systems: Glyphs Advances in Astronomy Aztec Calendar!!!

Religion: – Had many gods; – Huitzilopochtli (the sun god) was the most important – Conducted human sacrifice

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Causes for the Fall of the Aztec Empire: – Montezuma II demanded more taxes/sacrifice – Spanish conquistadores (Hernan Cortes) conquered weakened Aztecs – Spanish made alliances (friends) with Aztec’s enemies to defeat Aztecs together

What helped Cortes defeat the Aztec Empire?

• Cortes’s alliances with the Aztecs’ enemies.

Where did Aztecs live? They lived in what is now the northeast desert of Mexico and the Valley of Mexico. They built the city of Tenochtitlan.

The Incan Civilization •

Who are the Incas? The Inca civilization originated from a tribe in the Cuzco area of Peru. The Incas were one of the largest, richest and most powerful empires before pre-Columbian America as their territory covered a massive 2,000,000 km at its peak.

Achievements: – Created counting tool Quipu, a system of knotted and dyed string – Preserved history through oral traditions (telling stories to the next generation); had no written language – Spoke Quechua language – Built network of roads – Advances in Medicine: Blood Transfusions/early form of brain surgery.

Religion: -the Incas worshipped many gods such as the sun, the moon, wind, lightning, rain and all the other elements of the Earth. - All Incan emperors are believed to be descendents of Inti, the sun god!!!

End of empire: The Inca civilization came to an end due to the Spanish conquistadores led by Francisco Pizarro .The factors involved in the Inca civilizations downfall were the rebellions in newly conquered Inca territories, smallpox and the in-fighting for the throne between Huascar and his half brother Atahualpa.

Incan Leaders were believed to be descendants

of the Sun God.

Where did Inca live? Incans learned to live in the high and rugged terrain of the Andes Mountains, in what is now Peru. Incan capital is Cuzco, which means “navel” or “center”

On the map above, which letter indicates the location of the Aztec Empire? A. A B. B

C. C D. D

On the map above, which letter indicates the location of the Mayan Empire? A. A B. B

C. C D. D

On the map above, which letter indicates the location of the Incan Empire? A. A B. B

C. C D. D