… · web viewthe word "olmec" also refers to the rubber balls used for their ancient...

Unit 7:Post-Classical Civilizations: Mesoamerica

Name: _________________________________________________ Teacher: _____________________________

IB/AP World History 9 Commack High School

Please Note: You are responsible for all information in this packet, supplemental handouts provided in class as well as your homework, class webpage and class discussions.

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ____________Pre-IB/AP World History 9 Commack High School Unit 6: Mesoamerica

Mesoamerican Civilizations Timeline

Name: ___________________________________ Date: __________________ Period: ______________

Pre-IB/AP World History 9 Commack High School Unit 6: Mesoamerica

The Civilizations of America: Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Inca

I . Civilizations of America A. While ____________________ civilizations were developing in the Mediterranean & Asia…advanced societies were developing in

____________________ in the ______________________

1. During the _________________, prehistoric nomads migrated across the _________________________ between Asia & America

2. During the Neolithic Revolution, these nomads settled into _____________ villages; some of which became advanced civilizations

B. The first American civilization were people known as the _____________ in an area known as ________________________________

1. The Olmecs are often called the “________________________________” because they influenced other Mesoamerican societies

2. The Olmecs developed a strong _______________ network in Mesoamerica that brought them great _______________________

a. The Olmecs used their wealth to build large stone _________________ & __________________ to honor their leaders & gods

b. Olmec trade allowed them to ________________ their __________________ to other Mesoamericans

3. For __________________________ reasons, the Olmec civilization ____________________ by 400 B.C. but their cities & symbols influenced later cultures, especially the _________________

II. Mayan, Aztec, and Incan Empires A. Mayans 1. Rise of the Empire: While the Olmecs were in decline around 400 B.C.,

the ________________________ were evolving & borrowed many Olmec ideas

2. Government: Mayans were _______________________ into individual __________________________ ruled by king-gods

3. Economy: The Mayan economy was based on ____________ & ____________________maize, beans

4. Society: (1) _______________________; (2) Nobles, priests, warriors; (3) Merchants & artisans; (4) __________________

5. Religion: Mayans were polytheistic & offered their ________, food, & sometimes __________ sacrifices to please the gods

6. Technology: Mayans invented a __________________ based on pictures called _________________, an accurate 365-day _______________________________, & advanced temples

7. Decline & Fall of the Empire: Around 800 A.D., the Mayans _______________________ declined perhaps due to warfare among Mayan city-states & over-____________________

B. Aztecs1. Rise of the Empirea. After the decline of the Mayans, the ___________________ were developing in present-day ___________________

b. Around 1200, Aztecs arrived in Mexico & built their city ______________________________________________ in 1325

2. Government: The Aztecs formed a massive ___________________, controlled it through 38 _____________________, & received tribute from conquered peoples

3. Economy: They survived on _________________ & farming; they built “___________________________________” (chinampas)

4. Society: (1) Kings, (2) Nobility, (3) Commoners, (4) ________________

5. Religion: Aztecs worshipped many gods, especially the _________________ & made thousands of human ___________________ each year

6. Technology: Like the Mayans, the Aztecs developed an accurate __________________ & built advanced ____________________

7. Decline & Fall of the Empirea. Around 1500 A.D., the Aztecs began to ________________; a century of ________________ rule over the provinces & millions of

human sacrifices led to ____________________

b. But, the true demise of the Aztecs came when the _________________________ discovered America & conquered the Aztecs

C. Incas 1. Rise of the Empire: a. While the Aztecs ruled Mexico, the __________ began to dominate the area of the Andes Mountains of ___________ America

b. Many Incan cities like _________________________ & Cuzcu were built in the ________________________

2. Government: a. Like the Aztecs, the Incas built a vast _____________________ which included 80 provinces

b. But, the Incas ruled with tolerance & _________________ their empire with roads, _______________, & a common language

3. Economy: The Incan gov’t ___________________ the economy & required all citizens to ___________ for the good of the empire

4. Society: (1) King, (2) Nobility, (3) Ayllu (____________________)

5. Religion: The Inca were ________________________ & offered llamas & food (but not ___________________) to the gods

6. Technology: Inca innovations included _______________, a means of record keeping involving ____________________________ as well as an extensive system of _______________ & suspension ____________________

7. Decline & Fall of the Empire: In the 1520s, a ________________________ divided & weakened the Incan Empire; Ten years later ________________________ conquistadors conquered the empire

Review Activity: Place the number in the appropriate box(es) in the chart

Olmecs Mayans Aztecs Incas

Descriptions of American Civilizations:1. Historians are not sure why they collapsed 2. Kings ruled over city-states, not a unified empire3. Had a large empire with roads for sending messages 4. Had thriving trade 5. Government controlled trade and farming6. Built religious temples7. Worshipped many gods8. Sun god was most important9. Used human sacrifice and bloodletting as a part of religion10. Warriors were in the noble class, followed by commoners, slaves were at the bottom of society11. Emperor was at the top, but all people within the empire were taken care of 12. Had writing based on glyphs13. Used quipu to keep records14. Built chinampas for farming15. Built large carved head statutes

MYSTERY OF THE OLMECBy MICHAEL D. LEMONICK Sunday, June 24, 2001

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More than 1,500 years before the Maya flourished in Central America, 25 centuries before the Aztecs conquered large swaths of Mexico, the mysterious Olmec people were building the first great culture of Mesoamerica. Starting in 1200 B.C. in the steamy jungles of Mexico's southern Gulf Coast, the Olmec's influence spread as far as modern Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica and El Salvador. They built large settlements, established elaborate trade routes and developed religious iconography and rituals, including ceremonial ball games, blood-letting and human sacrifice, that were adapted by all the Mesoamerican civilizations to follow.

And then, about 300 B.C., their civilization vanished. No one knows why. But they left behind some of the finest artworks ever produced in ancient America, the most spectacular of which will be on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington starting next week. Titled "Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico," the exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of Olmec artifacts, ranging from palm-size jade carvings to a 10-ton, monumental stone head. For the next four months, visitors will be able to see treasures that have never before been permitted to leave Mexico. "It's amazing," says one of the show's curators, Peter David Joralemon of Pre-Columbian Art Research Associates in New York City. "The only major Olmec objects left in Mexico are the ones that are too fragile to travel."

For historians the artworks are much more than gorgeous museum pieces. If the Olmec ever had a written language, all traces of it have disappeared. Even their bones are gone, rotted long ago in the humid rain forest. Virtually everything that scholars know about them is based on the remains of cities and on comparisons between their artifacts and imagery and those of later civilizations. It isn't surprising, therefore, that while the experts have plenty of theories about the Olmec's origins, social structure and religion, few of these ideas are universally accepted.

What scholars do know is that the ancestors of the Olmec, like those of all Native Americans, were Asian hunter-gatherers who crossed into the Americas at least 12,000 years ago, at the end of the most recent ice age. Bits of ancient garbage and the remains of mud buildings hint that by about 2000 B.C., some of their descendants had settled in what is now the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco, living in small fishing villages along the region's rivers.

By then, says Richard Diehl, an Olmec expert at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, "we know that they had adapted to the environment and probably supplemented their diet with cultivated plants, such as maize and beans. And we know they became more and more dependent on agriculture, perhaps because the population was increasing."

But archaeologists don't know what transformed a society of farmers into the class-based social structure of the Olmec, with their leaders and commoners, bosses and laborers, artisans and priests. Diehl theorizes that it was population pressure and that as the pre-Olmec villages grew, they naturally stratified. "A new elite class probably asserted its leadership through charisma, control of trade networks and control of people, all of which led to the evolution of a complex society and, eventually, the art style we call Olmec."

It's a plausible scenario, at least. But whatever the reason, Olmec society was in full flower by 1200 B.C., at a place known as San Lorenzo, on a fertile plain overlooking the Chiquito River. Like all the known Olmec sites, San Lorenzo is much less impressive than the Mayan cities that dot the Yucatan peninsula to the east. One reason: it supported only a few thousand people, rather than 100,000 or more. The major buildings and plazas were little more than earthen mounds covered with grass, lacking any sort of masonry facade and probably topped with pole-and-thatch houses.

The sites were also built on a fairly modest scale: the Great Pyramid at La Venta, a site that arose around 800 B.C., is just 100 ft. high, about half the size of the tallest Mayan pyramid at Chichen Itza. Still, each Olmec site was laid out according to a preconceived plan, a fact that reflects both the people's religious beliefs and a fairly sophisticated knowledge of engineering. All the mounds at La Venta, for example, are oriented precisely 8 degrees west of north.

San Lorenzo shows clear evidence of class structure, according to Ann Cyphers, an Olmec scholar at Mexico's National Autonomous University, with more elaborate housing for the upper classes and simpler accommodations for the middle class and the poor. There were also, observes Cyphers, workshops for producing artifacts, and irrigation and drainage systems. "All these things show a society of great complexity," she says.

That complexity, however, may not have extended to Olmec politics. Rather than a single, unified state, says one school of archaeological thought, the Olmec were little more than a glorified collection of chiefdoms. Indeed, Diehl prefers the term Olman instead of Olmec to avoid implying that there was a single linguistic or political entity. "There just isn't any evidence for this," he insists. "There were probably a number of different populations, forming groups that rose and fell over time and shifted alliances. I don't think there was any political integration." No one knows whether the major cities--San Lorenzo, La Venta and Tres Zapotes--traded with one another, or even co-existed.

Art historians and archaeologists agree, however, that the Olmec produced the earliest sophisticated art in Mesoamerica and that their distinctive style provided a model for the Maya, Aztec and other later civilizations in the region. According to Joralemon, small-scale Olmec objects made prior to 900 B.C. tend to be ceramic, whereas later pieces were often fashioned of jade and serpentine, rare materials that required great skill to carve. The vast majority of Olmec artifacts are sculptures--figurines, decorated stone stelae, votive axes, altars and the like--some of which were polished to a mirror-like shine.

Human figures from the earliest period tend to wear simple, understated costumes, while later ones are more embellished. The purpose of the objects changed as well. The ceramics were simply sculptures, while the jade pieces were often intended for rulers to wear. Explains Joralemon: "They were clearly a display of personal wealth, an indication of status and prestige"-- evidence, he suggests, that the society may have been growing increasingly stratified.

Recurring images in Olmec art--dragons, birds, dwarfs, hunchbacks and, most important, the "were-jaguar" (part human, part jaguar)--indicate a belief in the supernatural and in shamanism. Olmec-style human figures typically have squarish facial features with full lips, a flat nose, pronounced jowls and slanting eyes reminiscent (at least to early travelers in the region) of African or Chinese peoples. Archaeologists have found household objects as well, but they tend to be broken. As a result, laments Joralemon, "we know relatively little about the common Olmec."

The most famous Olmec artifacts are 17 colossal stone heads, presumed to have been carved between 1200 B.C. and 900 B.C. Cut from blocks of volcanic basalt, the heads, which range in height from 5 ft. to 11 ft. and weigh as much as 20 tons, are generally thought to be portraits of rulers. Archaeologists still have not determined how the Olmec transported the basalt from quarries to various settlements as far as 80 miles away--and, in San Lorenzo, hoisted it to the top of a plateau some 150 ft. high. "It must have been an incredible engineering effort," Joralemon says. "These people didn't have beasts of burden, and they didn't have wheels. We don't know if they floated the blocks on rafts or traveled over land."

There is still hope that archaeologists can solve this mystery, as well as dozens of other unanswered questions about the Olmec. Most of the sites have barely been studied, and with good reason. Annual floods smother the land with thick layers of silt that dry into impenetrable clay. What's more, says Diehl, "about 80% of the entire Olmec territory in southern Mexico has been converted in the past 20 years from jungle to cow pastures and sugar-cane fields. There's so much vegetation on the surface that you can't just pick up pottery. Generally, you can't even see the ground." Beyond that, the hot, humid climate makes the work extremely unpleasant.

Still, in the past five or 10 years’ researchers have managed to uncover a number of key sites, including the monument-strewn ruins of Teopantecuanitlan in the Mexican state of Guerrero, and the sacred shrine at El Manati, whose murky springs yielded the first examples of wooden Olmec statuary and the earliest known evidence of child sacrifice in Mesoamerica. Heat and hardship notwithstanding, the prospect of understanding the still shrouded origins of Mesoamerican civilization--and the haunting beauty of the items on display at the National Gallery…


Mesoamerica: Geographic Setting

During the last ice age, large amounts of ocean water froze into thick ice sheets. A land bridge between Siberia and Alaska was created as the ocean levels dropped. Across this bridge, groups of Paleolithic hunters in Asia followed herds of bison and mammoths into North America. Over the following centuries, the nomadic hunter-gatherers in North American migrated eastward and southward. These first Americans settled in many different regions and had to adapt to a variety of climates and landforms, including woodlands, fertile plains, mountain ranges, and thick forests.

Slowly, between 8500 B.C. and 2000 B.C., important changes occurred. Groups of Americans learned to cultivate crops. They began to domesticate animals, perhaps in response to the disappearance of large mammals. Neolithic farmers in Mexico raised a variety of crops, including corn, beans, sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and squash. Farmers in South America domesticated llamas and other animals that were valued for their wool.

In the Americas, as in Africa and Eurasia, this agricultural revolution had a major impact on the population. Farmers settled into village that sometimes developed into large religious centers, which could then grow into major cities. The first great American civilizations developed in Mesoamerica (also called Middle America), the region that includes Mexico and Central America.

Pre-Columbian Civilizations in the Americas

Civilizations that emerged in Mesoamerica are called pre-Columbian because they existed before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. The earliest of these major American civilizations was the Olmec Empire, which developed along the Gulf coast of Mexico and lasted from around 1400 B.C. to 400 B.C. The Olmecs built pyramid-shaped temples, invented a calendar and a system of writing, and were very religious. Through trade links, their influence extended over a large area, and characteristics of their civilization were common in later Mesoamerican civilizations.


How did the Olmec Civilization lay the foundation for all Mesoamerican civilizations? Objective: Describe the geographic features in the Olmec civilization and explain how the Olemc adapted to their environment to meet the needs of their people and impacted later civilizations.

Olmec civilization existed between 1500 BCE through 100 BCE.

Olmec architecture includes public-ceremonial buildings which were typically earthen platform mounds. On these mounds or pyramids elaborate religious rituals involving priests and rulers impressed commoners.

Rulers came to be associated with the gods through bloodletting and human sacrifice. Olmec gods had a dual nature (male/female or human/animal). Sculptures show rulers and shamans (priests) able to transform themselves into powerful animals such as the Jaguar.

An important feature at the Olmec centers were drainage systems. There were aqueducts used to provide drinking water.

The word "Olmec" also refers to the rubber balls used for their ancient ball game. A recent discovery of several rubber balls at Olmec sites confirms that the game was played by the Olmec. The Olmec were perhaps the originators of the Mesoamerican

ballgame.

Shamans and healers provided practical advice about the periodic rains essential to agricultural life. They were responsible for developing a form of writing that may have influenced the Maya. From their close observation of the stars, they produced a calendar that was used to organize ritual life

Artifacts of Olmec calendar, number and writing system.

In the statue a shaman is transforming himself into a Jaguar.

Take Notes as you read!

Dates for Olmec:

Explain 3-4 Religious practices:

Explain 3-4 achievements of

the Olmec civilization.

and

Who came before the Inca?Mochia Society (coastal deserts of modern day Peru) 300-700 CE

There is archaeological evidence for the labor tax that the Inca use too. Murals at the site show scenes of human sacrifice and hair pulling. The Inca also practiced the mummification of human sacrifices.

Nazca Civilization : Coastal Desert of Peru These lines, which were scratched on the surface of the ground between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500, are among archaeology's greatest mysteries.

Moche monkey pot

-- Peru.

Mummy from coastal Moche, with 2.1-meter-

long hair

Answer the following Questions:

The Inca did not build their empire till 1400s. What are the names of two civilizations before the Inca?

Where did these civilizations exist?

What are TWO cultural practices of the Mochia?

Critical Thinking Question:

Why do you think the Nazca civilization drew their huge drawings in the desert? (they are size of 2-3 football fields).


THE OLMEC CIVILIZATIONORIGINS, LOCATION AND WHAT WE KNOW:The mysterious Olmec civilization prospered in Pre-Classical Mesoamerica from c. 1200 BCE to c. 400 BCE and is generally considered the forerunner of all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya and Aztecs. Centered in the Gulf of Mexico (now the states of Veracruz and Tabasco) their influence and trade activity spread from 1200 BCE, even reaching as far south as present-day Nicaragua. Monumental sacred complexes, massive stone sculpture, ball games, chocolate drinking and animal gods were features of Olmec culture which would be passed on to all those who followed this first great Mesoamerican civilization.

The Olmec civilization presents something of a mystery, indeed, we do not even know what they called themselves, as ‘Olmec’ was their Aztec name and meant ‘rubber people’. Due to a lack of archaeological evidence their ethnic origins and the location and extent of many of their settlements are not known. The Olmecs did, however, codify and record their gods and religious practices using symbols. The precise significance of this record is much debated but, at the very least, its complexity does suggest some sort of organized religion involving a priesthood. The Olmec religious practices of sacrifice, cave rituals, pilgrimages, offerings, ball-courts, pyramids and a seeming awe of mirrors, was also passed on to all subsequent civilizations in Mesoamerica until the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century CE.

PROSPERITY/ECONOMICS:Olmec prosperity was initially based on exploiting the fertile and well-watered coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico to grow such crops as corn and beans (often twice-yearly) which allowed for an agricultural surplus. They also, no doubt, gathered the plentiful local supply of plant food, palm nuts and sea-life, including turtles and clams. By c. 1200 BCE significant urban centers developed at San Lorenzo (the earliest), La Venta, Laguna de los Cerros, Tres Zapotes and Las Limas. San Lorenzo reached its peak of prosperity and influence between 1200 and 900 BCE when its strategic position safe from flooding allowed it to control local trade. Typical Olmec trade goods included obsidian(volcanic glass), jade, serpentine (a dark green mineral found in rocks used as a source of magnesium or decorative rock), mica (a mineral), rubber, pottery, feathers and polished mirrors of magnetite (mineral that is a natural magnet). Evidence of San Lorenzo’s high culture includes the presence of mound structures, possibly an early ball court, carved drains through one of the man-made mounds and the Red Palace structure with painted red floors and workshops. Around 900 BCE the site of San Lorenzo displays evidence of systematic destruction whilst

Answer the following Questions:

The Inca did not build their empire till 1400s. What are the names of two civilizations before the Inca?

Where did these civilizations exist?

What are TWO cultural practices of the Mochia?

Critical Thinking Question:

Why do you think the Nazca civilization drew their huge drawings in the desert? (they are size of 2-3 football fields).

Pyramid Tomb With Human Sacrifices Found National Geographic - May 19, 2010

Archaeologist Lynneth Lowe and a worker clean the skull of an elite individual found in a tomb atop a three-story-tall pyramid in Chiapa de Corzo (map), Mexico. The 2,700-

year-old site is the oldest known pyramid tomb in Mesoamerica, which roughly encompasses modern-day Mexico and Central America, according to archaeologists

who announced the discovery.

One of the three buried Mosaics or Pavements from La Venta, consisting of nearly 500 blocks

of serpentine.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Venta

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Venta

La Venta, conversely, began to flourish, and becoming the new capital, it eventually supported a population of some 18,000.ORGANIZATION:The three sites of San Lorenzo, La Venta and Laguna de los Cerros all had a bilateral symmetry in their planning and at La Venta the first pyramid in Mesoamerica was constructed. It is the pre-meditated architectural layout of the religious centers of these settlements that is most striking, for example, at La Venta the buildings are placed symmetrically along a north-south axis with four colossal heads facing outwards at key points, seemingly acting as guardians to the complex. A huge ceremonial step pyramid (now a shapeless mound), sunken plaza once lined with 2 metER high basalt (volcanic rock) columns, and two smaller pyramids/mounds provide features that would be copied time and again at the major sites of later Mesoamerican cultures with whom equal attention was paid to the precise alignment of buildings. La Venta, as with San Lorenzo, suffered systematic and deliberate destruction of its monuments sometime between 400 and 300 BCE.

COLOSSAL STONE HEADS AND CAVE CARVINGS:The most striking legacy of the Olmec civilization must be the colossal stone heads they produced. These were carved in basalt and all display unique facial features so that they may be considered portraits of actual rulers. The heads can be nearly 3 m high and 8 tons in weight and the stone from which they were worked was, in some cases, transported 80 km or more, presumably using huge balsa river rafts. 17 have been discovered, 10 of which are from San Lorenzo. The ruler often wears a protective helmet (from war or the ballgame) and sometimes show the subject with jaguar paws hanging over the forehead, perhaps representing a jaguar pelt worn as a symbol of political and religious power. The fact that these giant sculptures

depict only the head may be explained by the belief in Mesoamerican culture that it was the head alone which bore the soul. Another permanent record of the Olmecs is found in rock carvings and paintings. Often made around cave entrances they most typically depict seated rulers, as for example where a figure wears a green bird suit and where another ruler sits on her throne surrounded by a maize landscape. At other sites there are also paintings of cave rituals.

INFLUENCES ON LATER CIVILIZATIONS:

The Olmecs influenced the civilizations they came into contact with across Mesoamerica, particularly in sculpture in ceramic and jade and objects featuring Olmec imagery have been found at Teopantecuanitlan, 650 km distant from the Olmec heartland. In addition, many deities featured in Olmec art and religion such as the sky-dragon (a sort of caiman creature with flaming eyebrows) and the feathered-snake god, would reappear in similar form in later religions. The snake-god especially, would be transformed into the major gods Kukulcan for the Maya and Quetzalcoatl for the Aztecs. This artistic and religious influence, along with the features of precisely aligned ceremonial precincts, monumental pyramids, sacrificial rituals and ball-courts, meant that all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures would owe a great deal to their mysterious forerunners, the Olmecs.


Where is the Evidence?Complete the graphic organizer below using the information provided.

Olmec Civilization

Dates & Location

Social Stratificatio

n

Organized Religion

Organized Political

Structure

Cultural Achievemen

ts

How did these people

adapt to and adjust

their

environment?


How did the Mayan Civilization lay the foundation for all Mesoamerican civilizations?

Objective: Describe the geographic features in the Mayan civilization and explain how the c adapted to their environment to meet the needs of their people and impacted later civilizations.

LIFE AT THE MAYA COURTDominated by the king, the Maya court was the focus of religious and political life. Within palace chambers and behind swag curtains, the king ruled from his throne, where he reclined on jaguar pelts in settings often prepared for feasts, with plentiful tamales, pots of frothy chocolate drink, and flowers. Dwarfs and hunchbacks served as his trusted counselors, while musicians played wooden trumpets and horns made from conch shells. The Maya commissioned finely crafted works to furnish their palaces and attest to their sovereignty--among them carved thrones and throne backs, where a king might reign supported by depictions of ancestors or gods. Figural mirror holders served as “perpetual servants” who revealed the king’s dazzling but fractured image in polished mosaic mirrors. The king’s scepter took the form of a powerful god of lineage and lightning. Although rare, artists working in stucco achieved realistic portraiture that captures age and wisdom.Painted cups and vases for the elite depict scenes of court life, while clay figurines portray members of society that attended the king. Representing servants, dwarfs, hunchbacks, musicians, messengers, and priests, along with elegantly dressed women, these figurines all come from tombs, where they also served their lords in death.

THE DIVINE COURTAt the heart of ancient Maya religious belief lies maize, the staple food of the New World, personified by the Maize God. The mythic story of the god of maize mirrors the annual planting and harvesting of the corn on which all Maya civilization depended. Like the maize plant, the Maize God was decapitated at harvest time but was reborn--fresh, young, and beautiful--at the beginning of each new growing season. The Maize God was thus a metaphor for life and resurrection.At court, lords and ladies often portrayed themselves as incarnations of the handsome Maize God. Mothers strapped infants to cradle boards, gently molding their foreheads into the shape of tapered maize cobs. The Maya elite wore their thick, straight hair gathered in upswept hairdos that echoed the lustrous corn silk of the maize plant. For their formal costumes, they relied on two precious materials: jade and feathers. Adorned in jade jewelry and bedecked with headdresses of green quetzal feathers, rulers became one with the verdant, life-giving Maize God.

The Maize God was the preeminent deity in a pantheon that also included the god of cacao, or chocolate, and the underworld god of trade. Unlike maize, a necessity, chocolate was a luxury and the basis for a special drink favored at court. The god of trade, also associated with luxury, was an old and ruthless trickster made rich by his control of commerce and tribute. Maya rulers emulated his luxurious palace, where he is depicted sitting on a throne covered with a jaguar pelt and wearing the richest of costumes--valued goods garnered in his role as the merchant god.

WOMEN AT COURTTo a degree unprecedented in the ancient New World, Maya women played a prominent role at court. Though few became rulers in their own right, women held positions of substance and power as wives and mothers of kings. By the seventh and eighth centuries women had risen to a public role, commanding wealth and prestige. They appear as solo actors on stone monuments, wielding symbols of supernatural and temporal power and wearing the beaded jade costume of the Maize God, a costume that both men and women wore to demonstrate powers of life-giving regeneration.In one extraordinary example, Lady Xok, principal wife of the king of Yaxchilan, dedicated a series of lintels to span the doorways of a building on the city’s plaza. Reunited here for the first time since the 1880s, these carved panels depict Lady Xok playing a central role in ritual life: conducting blood sacrifice, communicating with a venerated ancestor, and dressing her husband for battle. Recent excavation of burials--perhaps those of Lady Xok and her husband--within this building has yielded sharp perforators (awls) for bloodletting that bear Lady Xok’s name. The shedding of royal blood was an act of supreme sacrifice to gain the gods’ favor and thus perpetuate the cycle of human life.Women addressed their prayers to Chak Chel, the patron deity of childbirth. Divine midwife and guarantor of fertility, she was also the patron of spinning and weaving, an important source of wealth for the Maya. In contrast to the elderly Chak Chel is the youthful Moon Goddess who is often portrayed in the role of seductress.

WORD AND IMAGE IN THE MAYA COURTWriting is a hallmark of Maya civilization. Of the many Mesoamerican societies, from the Olmec to the Aztec, only the Maya developed a complete system of writing that represents the equivalent of speech. With more than five hundred hieroglyphs--phonetic or pictorial signs for sounds or words--Mayan writing long eluded modern attempts at decipherment.By 1900 the elaborate calendar of the Maya had been deciphered and a correlation between it and the Christian calendar established. Beginning in the 1950s, and especially in the past two decades, scholars have made enormous strides in decoding Mayan glyphs. Much of Mayan writing can now be read, reproducing the sound and syntax of an Image: Cylinder vessel with flower motifs (The pictorial quality of

Mayan glyphs meant that scribes were by necessity artists. Many scribes and artists came from the elite ranks; the specialized skills for the making and inscribing of fine things belonged to particular families and their workshops. Teams of sculptors

produced large stone works, while a single artist painted any given Maya pot. Artists sometimes signed their work, as in the

case of the "Fleur-de-lis vase."

archaic language no longer spoken today. This writing system saw its highest achievement in the seventh and eighth centuries AD.

Although no examples from the first millennium AD survive, books--screenfold manuscripts painted on fig bark paper--were a commonplace; their illustrations may have resembled the finely painted images on ceramics in this gallery. Such flourishing art production required wealthy patrons--not just the king, but warlords, noblemen, and noblewomen.

THE COURT AT WARFor decades, when calendars were the only Maya documents that had been deciphered, scholars erroneously theorized that the ancient Maya were peaceful timekeepers or stargazers ruled by astronomer-priests. The discovery of new works of art and advances in understanding the written language revealed that, to the contrary, warfare was common. Maya city-states went to war to take over trade routes, gain special access to precious goods (especially jade, cacao, and feathers), and probably, by the late eighth century, just to get a share of diminishing resources, especially foodstuffs and construction material. Over the centuries, grim rivalries developed. The cities of Palenque and Tonina scrapped with one another for years, each claiming at least temporary victories.

Warfare took place twice for the Maya, once in the chaotic setting of battle, and a second time in court, where victories were reenacted in carefully scripted ceremonies. Wearing jaguar pelts and leather jerkins, warriors marched live captives, bound and stripped of their finery, back to the palace, where they were presented to the king and subjected to painful rituals.Stone sculptures, figurines, and painted vessels convey the physical pain of war, the pathos of prisoners, and the power of kings as warriors. Relief sculptures of prisoners were set up in courtyards, providing a backdrop for later reenactments of victories. In some cases these reliefs served as the risers or treads of staircases, where the victors would trample them in perpetuity, as at Tonina. The Tonina lords depicted many captives from the Palenque region, but one trophy outshone them all: In 711 they captured the king himself, who is depicted in bondage in the relief above.

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ____________ Pre-IB/AP World History 9 Commack High School Unit 6: Mesoamerica

Life as a Mayan Directions: In the space below, please create a storyboard or comic strip that represents life in the Mayan Civilization. You can focus on one particular PERSIAN aspect or you can incorporate some information from all aspects. Be creative!

The Mayans – Legacy and ImpactDirections: Please watch the following clips regarding the Mayans from Engineering an Empire. As you watch, please list any of the following you see.

Important People

Important Places

Important Achievements

MAYAN AMUSEMENT PARKTask: Using the markers and paper, please create a Mayan themed amusement park. Rides and booths based upon themes, achievements, and structures of the Mayans.

Mayan TimelineDirections: Please place the appropriate letters in order using the organizer below.

A. Reign of K’inich Janaab’ Pakal great leader of Palenque in the tropical rain forest of the present-day Mexican state of Chiapas.

B. Europeans make their first contact with the Maya.

C. Writing develops in the Maya area.

D. Chichen Itza dominates northern lowlands.

E. Mayan Preclassic Period begins

F. The Spanish infiltration of Maya region begins

G. Chak Tok’ Icch ’Aak, prominent king and ruler of Tikal was overthrown and killed.

H. Areas like Copan and Tikal are abandoned.


Directions: Please read this article about the Mayan collapse and then complete an OPVL based on the source (OPVL template is on the page following the article).____________________________________________________________________________________________

Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse? A New Study Points to Deforestation and Climate Change

A severe drought, exacerbated by widespread logging, appears to have triggered the mysterious Mayan demiseBy Joseph Stromberg

SMITHSONIAN.COM AUGUST 23, 2012

Image: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/files/2012/08/Tikal-small.jpg

Bustling Mayan cities such as Tikal, in present-day Guatemala, were likely abandoned due to a combination of deforestation and drought. Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Shark

It’s long been one of ancient history’s most intriguing mysteries: Why did the Maya, a remarkably sophisticated civilization made up of more than 19 million people, suddenly collapse sometime during the 8th or 9th centuries? Although the Mayan people never entirely disappeared—their

descendants still live across Central America—dozens of core urban areas in the lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula, such as Tikal, went from bustling cities to abandoned ruins over the course of

roughly a hundred years.

Scholars and laypeople have proposed countless theories accounting for the collapse, ranging from the plausible (overhunting, foreign invasion, peasant revolt) to the absurd (alien invasion, supernatural forces). In his 2005 book Collapse, though, Jared Diamond put forth a different sort of theory—that a prolonged drought, exacerbated by ill-advised deforestation, forced Mayan populations to abandon their cities. That hypothesis has finally been put to the test with archaeological evidence and environmental data and the results published this week in a pair of studies.In the first study, published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Arizona State University analyzed archaeological data from across the Yucatan to reach a better understanding of the environmental conditions when the area was abandoned. Around this time, they found, severe reductions in rainfall were coupled with a rapid rate of deforestation, as the Mayans burned and chopped down more and more forest to clear land for agriculture. Interestingly, they also required massive amounts of wood to fuel the fires that cooked the lime plaster for their elaborate constructions—experts estimate it would have taken 20 trees to produce a single square meter of cityscape.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/files/2012/08/Tikal-small.jpg

The central Yucatan lowland, site of most major Mayan cities, was abandoned due to the stresses of deforestation and drought. Image via Barbara Trapido-Lurie/Arizona State UniversityThe other study, published by researchers from Columbia University and elsewhere this week in Geophysical Research Letters, applied quantitative data to these trends. Using population records and measurements from current forested and cleared lands in the region, they constructed a computer model of deforestation in the Yucatan and ran simulations to see how this would have affected rainfall.Because cleared land absorbs less solar radiation,

less water evaporates from its surface, making clouds and rainfall more scarce. As a result, the rapid deforestation exacerbated an already severe drought—in the simulation, deforestation reduced precipitation by five to 15 percent and was responsible for 60 percent of the total drying that occurred over the course of a century as the Mayan civilization collapsed. The lack of forest cover also contributed to erosion and soil depletion.In a time of unprecedented population density, this combination of factors was likely catastrophic. Crops failed, especially because the droughts occurred disproportionately during the summer growing season. Coincidentally, trade shifted from overland routes, which crossed the heart of the lowland, to sea-based voyages, moving around the perimeter of the peninsula.Since the traditional elite relied largely upon this trade—along with annual crop surpluses—to build wealth, they were sapped of much of their power. This forced peasants and craftsmen into making a critical choice, perhaps necessary to escape starvation: abandoning the lowlands. The results are the ornate ruins that stretch across the peninsula today.The collapse is especially intriguing because it seemingly occurred at “a time in which developed a sophisticated understanding of their environment, built and sustained intensive production and water systems and withstood at least two long-term episodes of aridity,” says B.L. Turner, the lead author of the ASU study. In other words, the Maya were no fools. They knew their environment and how to survive within it—and still they continued deforesting at a rapid pace, until the local environment was unable to sustain their society.One of the lessons of these complementary studies, says climate modeler Robert Oglesby of the University of Nebraska, who worked on the second paper, is that our reshaping of the environment can often have unintended consequences—and we may not have any idea of what they are until it’s too late. For a present-day example, we can even look to another region where the ancient Maya lived, Guatemala, which is undergoing rapid deforestation. “There’s a tremendous amount of change going on in Guatemala,” said Oglesby. “They may be that much more vulnerable to a severe drought.”(Joseph Stromberg is a science reporter for Vox.com. He was previously a digital reporter for Smithsonian.)http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-did-the-mayan-civilization-collapse-a-new-study-points-to-deforestation-and-climate-change-30863026/

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ____________

Pre-IB/AP World History 9 Commack High School Unit 6: Mesoamerica

Directions: Please complete the OPVL evaluation below based on the article “Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse? A New Study Points to Deforestation and Climate Change”. You should attempt to answer the questions asked for each evaluative piece. You may have to use the website and do a bit of research on the author to gain a better perspective. Hint: Use the information from the Origin and Purpose to help you figure out the values and limitations.ORIGIN

When was this document written/created?

Who is the author/creator?

What is the Point of View of the author and how does this affect his or her perspective?

PURPOSE

Why did the person write/create this document?

Who was the author’s intended audience?

Directions: Determine TWO values and TWO limits of the source. Make sure to support your choices with a detailed explanation of why they are values and limits.

VALUES: What reliable information about this time period/topic can we learn

from this document?

LIMITATIONS: What the source translated? By whom? What do we know about the author’s view and/or attitude that

can affect the reliability?1.

2.

1.

2.


Primary Source Investigation Directions: Read through the brief biography of Felipe Guáman Poma Ayala and examine his images below, then write down what you see in the images(just your observations) and what you infer about the Inca Empire based on each drawing.

About the Author: Guáman Poma was an Incan man who was born in 1535, just after the Spanish conquered the Incan empire. He wrote a 1,189 page book entitled El Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno, or “The First New Chronicle and Good Government.” The book was intended for King Philip II of Spain to explain to him the history of Andean civilization and to show the king how the Spanish colonists had damaged the Inca way of life. In addition to text, Guáman Poma illustrated the book with 398 original drawings depicting Inca life and history, and Spanish cruelty. The images below come from El Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno.

Source: Adapted from “Felipe Guáman Poma de Ayala,” Encyclopaedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/247716/Felipe-Guaman-Poma-de-Ayala

What do you see? What do you see? What do you see?

Based on this image, what can you infer about the Inca Empire?



How did the Inca thrive despite their geography?Objective: Describe the geographic features in the Incan empire and explain how the Inca adapted to their environment to meet the needs of their people.

Examine the maps below and answer the questions the follow.

1. Which ocean separated the Incan Empire from Europe and Africa?

2. Where was the Incan Empire in relation to the Aztec Empire? Did they rule during the same time period?

3. Based on the maps, what geographic features were a part of the Inca’s natural environment?


Inca Empire (1438-1533) Statistics at its HeightDirections: Fill out the notes below based on the PowerPoint and class discussions. *sources dispute when the empire ended

Location:

Area covered:

Population:

Diversity: Ruled people from at least ____ ethnic groups with their own __________________, ________________, and ____________________.

GeographyVarious climates and topography in the same empire.

Region Characteristics/Food

Pacific Ocean Coast

Andes Mountains

rugged terrain low temperatures prone to ____________ that cause _____________, __________________, and ____________.

Rainforest

Adapting to the Environment

Although the rugged Andes Mountains create extreme weather conditions and make transportation difficult, they have hidden advantages that Andean people learned to exploit. The difference in altitude between the peaks [created] wide variations in temperature and rainfall at different altitudes. The varying topography of the mountains creates a variety of ecological niches, which are zones stacked one on top of another where different types of animals and plants can survive. So, instead of having to travel hundreds of miles to arrive in a different climate, Andean people can walk as little as 60 miles to go from a tropical forest in the lowlands to the frozen tundra of the highlands….Plants with different planting and harvesting times can be grown at different altitudes. [Families farmed v]arious plots of land [at each altitude that] might be two or three days apart by foot.

This system, called a “vertical economy,” had many advantages in the harsh Andean climate. First, it gives a community access to a wide variety of foods and other products. Second, it protects them against the impact of harsh and unpredictable weather conditions—if frost or drought destroys the crop at one elevation, the community can fall back on the harvest in another ecological niche. Andean farmers also plant several

Based on the image and text above, identify two ways the Inca adapted to their environment to meet their needs.

(sometimes dozens) of varieties of one crop like potatoes in a single field so that at least some plants will survive the season’s unpredictable temperature and rainfall.

Source: Adapted from Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas, Carol P. Merriman. Dept. of Public Education Peabody Museum of Natural

History, Yale University. http://peabody.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/education/MP%20Social%20Studies%20curriculum.pdf

Watch a clip of the BBC documentary, “The Inca: Masters of the Clouds” (18:30-23:30) then examine the graphic below and answer the question at

the bottom of this box.

As you watch the video clip take notes on how the Inca modified their environment to meet their needs in the column to the right.

Video NotesHow the Inca modified their

environment to meet their needs?

Terrace Farming

In your own words, describe what terrace farming is and explain how using terrace farming benefited the Inca.

How did the Inca gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire?

Objective: Identify and describe methods the Inca used to gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire. Directions: Using information from Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas from the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, fill the chart below with information that identify the topics listed and answers this question regarding the topics:

How did the Inca gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire??Inca Hierarchy

(Section 8b, p. 14)The Mita System (Section 8f, p. 16)

Land Ownership (Section 8d, p. 15)

Quipu (Section 8g, p. 16-17)

Inca Religion (Section 8h, p. 17-18)


Inca RoadsWatch a clip of the Discovery documentary, “Machu Picchu Road to the Sky” (15:45-30:00), read the document below and examine the map below to the right, then answer the question at the bottom of this box.

...We can only marvel at the ability of the Sapa Inca [chief ruler] to control his vast domains, separated as they were not only by long distances, but by dramatic changes in altitude. Inca engineers developed a massive road system over some of the most rugged terrain on earth, a lattice [network] of highways and tracks that covered a staggering 19,000 miles (30,000 km). The Inca empire could never have been created without this communication system that carried important officials, government correspondence, entire armies, and all manner of commodities and trade goods. Road-building started long before Inca times, for earlier states like Chimor on the coast also needed to connect dense concentrations of farmers in widely separated valleys. But the Incas vastly extended the network...Anthropologist John Murra has called these roads the “flag” of the Inca state, for they were a highly visible link between the individual and the remote central government….

Source: Brian M. Fagan, Kingdoms of Gold, Kingdoms of Jade: The Americas Before Columbus, Thames and Hudson from the NYS Global History and Geography

Regents Exam, January, 2012.

Source: Adapted from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inca_road_system_m

ap-en.svg

1. What techniques did the Inca use to build the Inca roads?

2. What were the Inca roads used for?

3. How did the Inca roads help the government consolidate and maintain power?


Synthesis Task Objective: Identify and describe methods the Incans used to gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire.

Synthesis TaskTask: Using the information presented in this packet and your knowledge of global history, OUTLINE below an essay in which you:

Identify and describe methods the Inca used to gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire.


How were the Roman Empire and Inca Empire similar? How were they different?Objective: Compare and contrast the Roman Empire and the Inca Empire.

Directions: Think back to your study of the Roman Empire and fill in the chart below with information on the Romans and Inca.

Roman Empire Inca Empire

Geography

Time Period

Location

Size

Diversity of Population

Official Language

Methods of Consolidating

and Maintaining Power


How did the Aztec thrive despite their geography?Objective: Describe the geographic features in the Incan empire and explain how the Aztec adapted to their environment to meet the needs of their people.

Empires in the Americas Pre-1600


Directions: Watch The Aztecs: Engineering an Empire (1:25- 3:34) and answer the question below.

What does the story of the Aztec’s treatment of the tribal princess tell you about Aztec culture? What are you wondering about?

The Aztecs built their civilization on islands in

Lake Texcoco. Their capital was called Tenochtitlán.

+What are the advantages of building your civilization on

an island in a lake?

-What are the disadvantages of building your civilization on an

island in a lake?


How did Tenochtitlán go from an island to a full civilization?

Directions: Read and annotate the excerpt below. … The capital city, which may have had a population as high as 200,000 to 300,000 in the early sixteenth century, was a superb example of planned growth. By building out into the lake, the Aztecs consolidated and enlarged the original two islands which in turn were linked to the mainland by three large causeways. Fresh water was brought to the city from the mainland by aqueduct.…

Source: Jeremy A. Sabloff, The Cities of Ancient Mexico: Reconstructing a Lost World, Thames and Hudson from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents

Exam, January 2014

According to Jeremy A. Sabloff, what was one way building out into the lake benefited the Aztec Empire and its capital city of Tenochtitlán?

____________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

CLASS NOTES

Planned Growth is ______________________________________________________________________________________

Examples of other planned cities in global history:

Building Tenochtitlán

Directions: Watch The Aztecs: Engineering an Empire (3:10-10:27) and answer the questions below.

What challenges did the Aztecs face building their city Tenochtitlan on the islands in Lake Texcoco?

How did the Aztecs adapt to the difficulties of building a city in Lake Texcoco? What did they build? How did they build those structures?

How did the Aztecs move building materials?

ChinampasDirections: After watching from 19:25 to 21:21 in The Aztecs: Engineering an Empire, examining the document below on the left, and reading the document below on the right, answer the questions at the end of this table.

… Chinampas added both living and agricultural space to the island. Houses could be built on chinampas after they were firmly in place, and the plots were used to grow a great variety of products, from maize and beans to tomatoes and flowers. The Mexica [Aztec] built chinampas all around Tenochtitlan, like their neighbors in the freshwater lakes to the south. They were, however, constantly faced with the danger of flooding, which brought salty water across the chinampas and ruined the land and crops. Lake Texcoco accumulated minerals from the river water running into it, which caused the water to be brackish [mix of fresh and salt water]. In the mid-15th century, this problem was solved; a dike was built, separating the western section of the lake where Tenochtitlan was located and protecting the city from salty water and some flooding.…Source: Frances F. Berdan, The Aztecs, Chelsea House Publishers from the NYS

Global History and Geography Regents Exam, January 2014.

1. What challenges did the Aztecs’ environment pose for farmers?

2. What were chinampas?

3. How did the Aztecs build them?

4. How did the Aztec benefit from the chinampas?


How did the Aztecs gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire?Objective: Identify and describe methods the Aztecs used to gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire.

Directions: Read through each of the following documents, answer the questions that accompany them, and prepare to answer the question: How did the Aztecs gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire?

Document 1: Tenochtitlan, the Cactus RockCreating Allies With Neighboring Cities In 1440 the fifth chief of the Aztecs came to rule Tenochtitlan. The Mexica now dominated the whole of the Valley of Mexico, and had allied themselves with the neighboring cities of Texcoco (Tesh-koh-koh) and Tlacopan (Tlah-koh-pahn).

How did creating allies with neighboring cities help the Aztecs gain, consolidate, and/or maintain power?

Marrying Pure Toltec BridesTheir chiefs had sought out princesses of pure Toltec descent as their brides, so that they could inherit the divine right to rule, which belonged to the descendants of Quetzalcoatl. The new ruler of the Aztecs was given the title of Huey Tlatcani (Ooeh-tlah-toh-ah-ni) or Great Speaker for the several tribes over whom he had dominion. His name was Moctecuzoma Ilhuicamina (Mock-teh-Koo-zoh-mah Eel-weeh-kah-mee-nah) , Noble Strong Arm, He Who Aims at the Sky.

How did marrying pure Toltec brides help the Aztecs gain, consolidate, and/or maintain power?

The Military During his reign the Aztec armies continued their conquests and were the first to reach the shores of the Mexican Gulf.

How did conquering land help the Aztecs gain, consolidate, and/or maintain power?

Rebuilding the Temple and Captive Sacrifices In 1484 the Great Speaker Tizoc (Tee-zohk), He who offers his own Blood to the Gods, laid the foundations for the rebuilding of the ancient temple to Huitzilopochtli. He took prisoners and sacrificed some to the god. [...] Tizoc died before the temple was completed. [...] When the great temple was dedicated, he took 20,000 captives and had them all sacrificed in four days by eight teams of priests.

How did rebuilding the temple and sacrificing captives help the Aztecs gain, consolidate, and/or maintain power?

Source: Silverio A. Barroqueiro, “The Aztecs: A Pre-Columbian History” Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1999/2/99.02.01.x.html

Document 2: Aztec Government Structure

Source: Based on information found on http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-government.html

How did the Aztec government structure solidify the power of the empire?

Document 3: The Aztec Tax Structure According to Michael E. Smith, archaeologist at

Arizona State UniversityIn an article entitled, “The Aztecs Paid Taxes, Not Tribute,” archaeologist, Michael E. Smith writes:

States interact with their subjects in two ways: they exploit people and they provide services. This has been true from the earliest states in Mesopotamia to the nation-states of today. Taxation is one of the primary means by which states exploit their citizens or subjects, and taxes provide the revenue for the services offered by states.

According to Smith, inhabitants and the states they lived in paid regular taxes to the Triple Alliance (Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan) that made up the Aztec empire. They made regular payments on specified dates according to the Aztec calendar. Some were paid once a year, others twice, and others four times per year. The taxes were collected by professional tax collectors and recorded in tax rolls.

The taxes were usually paid in cacao beans and cotton mantas (woven cloth), that the Aztecs used for money. Other goods supplemented the cacao beans and mantas based on the products produced in the region.

Source: Michael E. Smith, “The Aztecs Paid Taxes, Not Tribute,” from Mexicon, v. 35, 2014.

http://www.academia.edu/6578625/_The_Aztecs_Paid_Taxes_Not_Tribute_2014 According to Michael E. Smith, what are the two purposes of taxes?

How were taxes paid in the Aztec Empire?

This page from the Codex Mendoza depicts what cities in the Aztec empire owed the government in taxes. The towns are listed on the left and the mantas and other goods they owe in taxes are drawn on the right.

Source: Codex Mendoza, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Codex_Mendoza_folio_52r.jpg

The type of tax that a state, city, or town paid the Aztecs depended on their relationship with the government at shown in the chart below.

Aztec City StatesAreas conquered and governed by the Aztecs

Land Tax: Calpolli paid taxes in the form of cotton mantas, cacao beans, firework, and foodstuffs based on the amount of land they farmed. Farmers kept most of their crop but had to send some of it to the king

Rotational Labor: Calpolli members were required to work for the king or nobles. Women spun and wove textiles while men often supplied firewood, swept, and carried water.

Public Works Corvée: Calpolli gave the labor of their members up to assist with building projects directed by the Aztec government like building aqueducts or temples.

Military Corvée: All young males had to serve in the military. Market Tax: Government officials waited in guard huts at the market and took a portion of the goods as tax for being allowed to sell

goods in the market.

Conquest-StatesStates that were conquered by the Aztecs

Allowed to be rule themselves as they had before in exchange for military loyalty and taxes

Unconquered StatesStates that were unconquered by the Aztecs

received military support from the Aztecs in return for gifts

Source: Michael E. Smith, “The Aztecs Paid Taxes, Not Tribute,” from Mexicon, v. 35, 2014. http://www.academia.edu/6578625/_The_Aztecs_Paid_Taxes_Not_Tribute_2014

What is the difference between being an Aztec city-state and a conquered state?

How did their tax policy help the Aztecs gain, consolidate, and/or maintain power?

Document 4: Aztec Sun Sacrifices[The Aztecs believed that] all the time the sun was thirsting from the great internal heat. So he had to be nourished and cooled by offerings of the red cactus-fruit (which meant human hearts and blood). Only a very few had to be sacrificed to keep the sun moving in the sky, but the sacrifice must never be neglected or the human race would die from the fire caused by a motionless sun.

Source: Silverio A. Barroqueiro, “The Aztecs: A Pre-Columbian History” Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1999/2/99.02.01.x.html

According to this excerpt, why did the Aztecs make sacrifices to the sun?

Source: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/6758/#q=aztec

The Custom of Sacrificing the Heart and Offering It to the GodsThe Tovar Codex, attributed to the 16th-century Mexican Jesuit Juan de Tovar, contains detailed information about the rites and ceremonies of the Aztecs (also known as Mexica). The codex is illustrated with 51 full-page paintings in watercolor.[...] This illustration, from the second section, depicts a human sacrifice. An anonymous priest holding a spear presides over the sacrifice of a man whose heart is removed by an assistant. In the background, another assistant on the steps of a temple or pyramid holds an incense burner. The offering of the victim's heart to the gods satisfied the Aztec belief that the sun would rise again nourished by the hearts of men. Thexochiyaoyotl (Flower Wars) were conducted to capture prisoners for the sacrificial offerings needed for the gods.

According to the image and this excerpt, what can you infer about how sacrifices helped the Aztecs to gain, consolidate and/or maintain power?

It is estimated that approximately 20,000 people per year were sacrificed by the Aztecs. Captives were taken to the top of pyramids where, upon a ritual flat stone table, they had their chests cut upon and their hearts ripped out. Then the bodies of the victims were tossed down the steps of the pyramids. The scene to both the Spaniards of that time is truly gruesome. But it was not mere thirst for blood that motivated the Aztecs to engage in this mass ritual sacrifice. Critical to understanding the motivation behind the ritual sacrifices is the concept of “tonalli,” which means “animating spirit.” The tonalli in humans was believed to be located in the blood. This explains the gods’ hunger for the heart. Without this sacrifice, all motion stops, even the movement of the sun. So when the Aztecs made their sacrifices, as far as they were concerned, they were keeping the sun from halting in its orbit.

The victims of these ritual slaughters were usually warriors captured by the Aztecs in battles or tributes from vassal states in the form of humans offered up for sacrifice. This is why the Aztecs never fully

conquered many of the surrounding states. They needed a steady supply of ritual sacrifice victims. If they used their own people for sacrifice, then it could cause an uprising.

There was another reason for these ritual sacrifices---cannibalism. After the hearts were removed and the bodies tossed down the temple steps, the limbs were removed and later cooked. To the Aztecs, cooked human bodies were looked upon as great delicacies which explains why only Aztec royalty, not the common people, were allowed to engage in cannibalism. The favorite parts for the Aztecs to munch on were the hands and thighs. The Aztec emperor, Moctezuma, was reported to have been partial to cooked thighs served with tomatoes

and chili pepper sauce.

This scene might turn our stomachs but it must also be remembered that the Aztecs had no domestic livestock so the body leftovers (the hearts given to the gods were the main course) from the ritual sacrifices was a way for the Aztec royalty to obtain proteins and fats. Thus in the Aztecs we can see a mingling of religion and nourishment which resulted in human sacrifice.

AZTEC HUMAN SACRIFICE

1. Please explain at least two reasons why the Aztec’s practiced ritual sacrifice?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What was Cortez’s’ initial reaction when he discovered Tenochtitlan? What changed his opinion of the Aztecs?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Imagine you were an Aztec trying to justify human sacrifice to the Europeans, what are at least three arguments you would make to support your need for ritual sacrifice.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

http://www.essortment.com/all/aztecsacrifice_raif.htm



Obtained and edited from http://www.essortment.com/all/aztecsacrifice_raif.htm on 4/17/2009

Name _______________________________________ Date _________________________ Period __________Global History & Geography Pre-AP/IB Unit 7: Mesoamerica Aztec Empire

Engineering an EmpireAztec World

1. How come the world does not know much about Teotihualan?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why did the Aztecs build causeways?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How is Tenochtitlan geographically vulnerable? How was the fixed by Monteczuma?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What did the Chinapas allow the Aztecs to do?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. How were the Chinapas created?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Why do historians consider Ahuitzotol’s rule to be the Aztecs’ golden age?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. What was the significance of “precious water” to the Aztecs?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Why did some Aztecs want to trade with Cortes?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Why did Monteczuma’s warriors wear animal costumes? What was the role of the Aztec nights?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What did the Spainards think of Monteczuma’s palace?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. What are the remains of the Aztec Empire today?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Synthesis Task Objective: Identify and describe methods the Aztecs used to gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire.

Synthesis TaskTask: Using the information presented in this packet and your knowledge of global history, OUTLINE below an essay in which you:

Identify and describe methods the Aztecs used to gain, consolidate, and maintain power in their empire.

Collecting Evidence to Support ClaimsDirections:

Round 11. Each student takes a claim card from the center of the table.2. You will have 30 seconds to write down any evidence from what we’ve studied over the past two weeks to support

that claim. 3. After 30 seconds, everyone will pass the card to their right.4. We will repeat this process until each student has written on each card.5. Place all claim cards in the middle.

Round 26. The group facilitator will select a claim card and read it aloud to the group. 7. The group will have four minutes to discuss the claim card and put forth evidence to support the claim. All speakers

must use accountable talk stems. (“I agree with this claim because ....” , “One piece of evidence that supports this claim is....”, “Another piece of evidence to support this claim would be …”, “To corroborate the piece of evidence that he/she mentioned, another piece of evidence is…”)

8. After four minutes, students will use their evidence collection chart to list the evidence that supports the claim.9. Teacher will bring the class together to ask the groups which evidence they selected to support the claim. He/she will

record it on a class evidence bank that is written on chart paper. 10. We will repeat this process until each claim has been discussed and evidence selected.

.

Claim: The environment

shaped the growth of civilizations and civilizations shaped their environment.

9.8a

Claim: The availability of

resources shaped the growth of civilizations.

This growth also influenced their economies and

relationships with others.

9.8a

Claim: The use of trade

networks shaped the growth of civilizations.

This growth also influenced their economies and

relationships with others.9.8a

Claim: Belief systems influenced the

development of complex societies and civilizations.

9.8b

Claim and Evidence Graphic Organizer

Claim Evidence Exceptions (If there are any)

The environment shaped the growth of civilizations and civilizations shaped their environment.

The availability of resources shaped the growth of civilizations. This growth also influenced their economies and relationships with others.

Claim Evidence Exceptions (If there are any)

The use of trade networks

shaped the growth of civilizations. This growth also influenced their economies and relationships with others.

Belief systems influenced the development of complex societies and civilizations.


Mesoamerican PERSIAN ChartMaya: 300-900 Aztec: 1200s-1521 Inca: Pre 1400s-1535

GeographicDescription:

-Yucatan Peninsula-Rainforest

-Valley of Mexico-Swampland

-Andes Mountain-Modern day Peru to Chile-Terrace farming

Political:

-Capital: Tikel-Each village had their own ruling chief, priest and warriors due to rainforests-Ruled through city-states

-Capital: Tenochtitlan-Single emperor was chosen by council of nobles and priest (officials)-Warriors gained land and tribute for conquered towns

-Capital: Cuzco-Absolute rule under emperor –Inca was title and had divine status and believed to be son of Sun god-Gov’t controlled the people

Economic:

-Majority farmers-Men grew crops: maize (corn), bean and squash; Women covert it to food-Taxes paid by food- Traded honey, cocoa, and feathers -Agriculturally based

-Majority farmers-grew sim products as mayas-Converted swampland in farmland (Chinampas)-Wealth came from tribute and trade-Agriculturally based-merchants acted as spies-contacts with Mississippian cultures

-Farming-Trade(Gov’t controlled it)-POTATOES-Taxes-Gold and Silver mines-Had markets-Agriculturally based-Incan socialism to combat famine in parts of the empire

Religion:

-Polytheistic-Priest were high ranking-Human sacrifices (rationale was that the Americas lacked large domesticated animals that Eastern Hemispheric civs were sacrificing instead)-Temples

-Polytheistic-Priest held power-Main god = Sun god-Human sacrifices-temples

-Polytheistic-Priest held a lot of power-Main god = Sun god-Human sacrifices-temples

Social:

-Priest held great power-Women made the food and men cultivated them-Nobles managed public works, collected taxes and enforced laws

-Women (subordinate) were secluded in households and were skilled in weaving-Majority farmed-Warriors could obtain nobility-Merchant acted as spies

-Women wove cloths and took care of household-Men=peasant and herders-Nobility expressed by attire and custom-Many arranged marriages Incan socialism (mita)

Intellectual:

-Hieroglyphics-Books made of bark-365 day calendar-Concept of zero-Cleared dense rainforest-Raised fields to grow enough food by catching rainwater for irrigation- slash and burn-mathematics, astronomy (helped determined where priests placed temples)

-Chinampas (floating gardens)-Accurate calendars-Set broken bones and treated cavities-Stone causeways-Huge pyramid temples-Used herbs and medicine to cure fevers and wounds

-Irrigation system, terraces (step farming), road system-Road runners were messengers-Quipu (colorful knots) instead of writing system-Astronomy-Head surgery-Calendar

Art:-Paintings, carvings on walls of temples-Large palaces, temples and stone pillars (tallest structures in North America until 1900s)

-Aqueducts and canals were made-Stone causeways-Huge pyramid temples

-Pottery, painting, portraits, ceramics, gold work, instruments, costumes, architecture, gold work, wood carving

Decline:

-Cities were abandoned-Many possibilities what could’ve happened to them: overpopulation, warfare(external and civil) or revolts

-Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519-Had advanced technology and horses-Diseases: measles, small pox-Enemies of the Aztec joined him

-Francisco Pizarro subdued Incas iby1535-Advanced technology, military and horses-Diseases

Global connections/interactions

-Gupta with concept of zero and mathematics shows somewhat of a comparable thinking- used Hieroglyphics as Egyptians did

-Similar to Incas-Aqueducts like Romans as well as imperial conquest- used tribute system like Mongols

-Similar to Aztecs -roads comparable to Rome and China and Imperial conquests-Abbasid dynasty studied Astronomy

Taking into consideration their global isolation to the Eastern Hemisphere, the Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations were advanced.

… · web viewthe word "olmec" also refers to the rubber balls used for their ancient...

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