Mesoamerican Cultures: Maya, Aztec,

Inca

Global History

Maya Social Structure

King

Nobles: Priests & Warriors

Merchants

Peasants

Slaves

Maya Religion

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

Piercing of bodies with needle Flowers & incense Human Sacrifice

Sacrificed prisoners of war, slaves, and children Victim painted blue, had chest cut open, and heart

removed Drug Use

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

Maya Farm, Trade, and Agriculture

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

No Formal Currency…Used the cocoa beans as $

Counterfeit cocoa beans Some merchants would remove the cocoa from the

bean and refill it with wax

Maya Achievements

Hieroglyphic symbols Concept of zero &

counting system Calendar

Only .0002 days short; extremely accurate

Predicted the end of the world 12/2012

Mesoamerican Ballgame

Aztec Tenochtitlan

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

Tenochtitlan became an urban center that was larger than European capitals

Dubbed the “Venice of the New World”

Aztec Religion

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

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

Human Sacrifice Victims of sacrifice were usually prisoners of war,

although Aztec warriors would sometimes volunteer for the more important sacrificial rituals

The god Tlaloc was believed to prefer children as sacrificial victims

Aztec Agriculture

Tenochtitlan was constructed on swamp land not suited for farming

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

Aztec Spanish Conquest

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

Kidnaps Aztec leader Montezuma for a gold ransom

Conquered all of the Aztec by 1525

1/3 of population killed Mostly from small pox

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

Inca Government

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

Farmers worked on cooperative farms Early form of socialism/communism

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

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

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

Inca Religion

Worshipping of sun played a major role in the religion

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

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

Most of sacrifices were guinea pigs and llamas

Inca Achievements

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

Machu Picchu Served as religious city and fortress during the

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

feet in the air

Machu Picchu

Inca Achievements

Terrace farming What other cultures

that we have studied this year have used this method?

Quipus series of knotted strings used by Incan officials for keeping records

Incans did not have a writing system or advanced calendar

Inca Spanish Conquest

Conquered by Pizarro in 1532