The Ancient Empires of South America

The Ancient Empires of Mesoamerica •Mesoamerica is the name given to the area of land from central Mexico to Costa Rico.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ANCIENT MESOAMERICAN EMPIRES • FOOD SURPLUS MADE GROWTH AND SPECIALIZATION POSSIBLE • CITY BUILDING ON A HUGE SCALE • COMPLEX SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS LIKE GOVERNMENT, SOCIAL CLASSES, AND RELIGION • SPECIALIZATION OF SKILLS, LIKE FARMERS, SOLDIERS, PRIESTS, ARTISANS, AND CRAFT WORKERS

OLMEC • CONSIDERED THE MOTHER SOCIETY OF OTHER LATER MESOAMERICAN CULTURES • • • •

1. BUILT LARGE BUILDINGS 2. PYRAMIDS 3. JAGUAR MOTIF 4. POTTERY AND SCULPTURE

• LIVED IN DENSE JUNGLE ALONG RIVERBANKS NEAR THE GULF OF MEXICO • SOCIETY BEGAN ABOUT 1200B.C. • DISSAPEARED AROUND 400B.C.

MYSTERIES OF THE OLMEC • EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE OLMEC IS BASED ON HYPOTHESIS, SPECULATION, AND CONJECTURE THE OLMEC ARE FAMOUS FOR THEIR HUGE STONE HEADS THAT WEIGH FROM 20 TO 40 TONS. THE OLMEC DID NOT HAVE ROADS, THE WHEEL, OR METAL TOOLS. HOW DID THEY CARVE THEM? HOW DID THEY MOVE THEM? WHO DO THEY REPRESENT? THE OLMEC MAY HAVE HAD CONTACT WITH PEOPLE FROM OTHER CONTINENTS

OLMEC HEAD

MAYA • FLOURISHED IN YUCATAN PENNINSULA BETWEEN 1500 B.C. AND 900 A.D. • PEAK OF CIVILIZATION WAS AROUND 250 A.D. • THE MOST COMPLEX AND SOPHISTICATED OF THE MESOAMERICAN EMPIRES • RELIED ON FARMING AND BUILT BIG CITY STATES • FREQUENTLY FOUGHT WARS WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS • MAJOR CITIES WERE TIKAL AND PALENQUE

MAYA FACTS • • • • • • • • • •

THE MAYA BUILT HUNDREDS OF LARGE PYRAMIDS THEY HAD AN INDEPENDENT WRITING SYSTEM MADE OF SYMBOLS CALLED GLYPHS THEY LEFT BEHIND ABUNDANT WRITTEN TEXTS, CALLED CODEX, WHICH WERE WRITTEN ON BARK AND FOLDED OVER. TEXTS WERE LATER BURNED BY SPANISH PRIESTS THEY WERE VERY SKILLED IN ASTRONOMY THEY HAD A WIDE TRADING NETWORK THEY DEVELOPED TWO COMPLEX CALENDARS, ONE SOLAR BASED AND ONE MARKING RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS THEIR CALENDAR SEEMS TO PREDICT THAT THE WORLD WILL END ON 12/23/2012. PLAYED A BALL GAME SIMILAR TO BASKETBALL AND HANDBALL. THE LOSERS WERE PUT TO DEATH RELIGION INVOLVED HUMAN SACRIFICE

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MAYA? • AROUND 900 A.D. THEY BEGAN TO ABANDON THEIR CITIES • EVIDENCE SEEMS TO SHOW THAT OVER CLEARING OF JUNGLE LANDS FOR FARMING AND CITIES, AND CLIMATE CHANGE, LED TO CROP FAILURES • OVERPOPULATION AND DEFEATS IN WARS MAY HAVE PLAYED A ROLE • PEOPLE MAY HAVE LOST FAITH IN THEIR RULERS AND ABANDONED THE CITIES • DECENDANTS OF THE MAYA STILL LIVE IN THE REGION TODAY

MAYAN PYRAMID OF KUKULKAN

AZTEC • LOCATED IN CENTRAL MEXICO WHERE MEXICO CITY IS TODAY. • EMPIRE GREW FROM 1168 TO 1521 • FOUNDED THEIR CAPITAL CITY, TENOCHTITLAN BETWEEN 1300 AND 1375

AZTEC FACTS • POPULATION OF TENOCHTITLAN REACHED 300,000 • BUILT ON ISLANDS IN A LAKE • AZTEC WERE VERY BLOODTHIRSTY AND WARLIKE • DEMANDED TRIBUTE OF GOLD, GOODS, AND SLAVES • POLYTHEISTIC RELIGION BASED ON HUMAN SACRIFICE • ENSLAVED OTHER TRIBES AND CUT OUT THEIR HEARTS WHILE THEY WERE STILL ALIVE

• PRIMARY SOURCE • “Moctezuma and the Aztec have oppressed us much, they have overwhelmed us. We are up to our noses in the anguish and affliction they have given us. He demands everything from us in tribute… The Aztec is an inhuman being. He is very perverse… The Aztec are extremely bad. There is nobody who can surpass the Aztec in evil.” • Otami indian native.

AZTEC RELIGION

The god Huehueteotl. The most brutal human sacrifices were made to this god. HUMAN SACRIFICE

INCA • The Inca lived in the Andes Mountains • At its peak around 1500, the Inca empire spread 2,500 miles from Chile to Ecuador • Sophisticated farming and irrigation supported 12 million people

INCA FACTS • The Inca built more than 14,000 miles of roads, but they did not have the wheel. All travel was done on foot. • Kept records by counting on knotted ropes called quipus • Very wealthy, sophisticated society with art, theatre, music, and social classes • The descendants of the Inca make up about 45% of the population of Peru today.

REFLECTION CHOOSE ONE AND WRITE A REFLECTION ON IT Reflection A

Reflection B

Thinking about the societies we have talked about, Olmec, Maya, Aztec or Inca, choose one and imagine you are twelve years old and living in that society. Write a reflection of what you think your daily live would be like. What would you do? Would you like living then? Why did you choose that society?

Imagine the year is 1500. You are a member of a tribe of people who live just outside the Aztec Empire. How do you think you would feel about the Aztec? Explain why you feel that way.