HOOK In what ways do the huge buildings at Chichen Itza show how the Mayan people felt about their gods? At certain times of the day it looked as if a writhing serpent was crawling up the steps

What conclusions might someone make about U.S. culture from viewing the heads of the presidents at Mount Rushmore?

SWBAT Explain and describe the key features of the Mesoamerican civilizat ions. Understand how Mesoamerican cultures shared ideas about gods and astronomy.

BERINGIA Beringia is a fancy way of naming the Bering Land Straight that once connected the northeast Asian continent to the northwest American continent. This natural bridge lasted approximately 15,000 years. Why did people travel across the land bridge?

This region shared cultivating corn, the building of pyramids, a 260 day calendar, an important ritual ball game, & a belief in the role of human blood in sustaining the gods & the universe.

Earliest known of the Mesoamerican civilizations Perhaps the best- recognized Olmec art is the enormous helmeted heads. There have been 17 colossal heads unearthed to date. Not united politically (unusual for ancient civilizations) Highly developed astronomy - used to predict agricultural cycles and please the gods Polytheism; religious rituals important, shamans as healers Writing, calendars, ritual ballgames, irrigation and drainage canals Well-developed agriculture based on maize, beans and squash—no large domesticated animals

Constructed fortified cities and palace complexes, which included terraced pyramidal shrines for rituals and burial of rulers All buildings having to do with beginning of life faced east, while those related to death faced west. Ceremonial games are played in a ballpark. One of the teams is sacrificed to the sun god. Bloodletting of Mayan nobility was believed to appease the gods and to prove the legitimacy of the rulers. Mayans produced a written language made up of hieroglyphs. Unfortunately, most records of Mayan literature were destroyed by Spanish missionaries and colonial settlers. Mayans developed a calendar and recorded their astronomical observations on temple facades, which may have served as observatories.

A conquering tribe of people, the Aztecs created an enormous empire Tenochtitlán (“Place of the Gods”) is their capital (present day Mexico City) Aztecs were skillful engineers, created roads, canals, aqueducts, pyramids, temples, and palaces Believed in a pantheon of gods; particularly important was the sun god Expanded trade networks

The Inca consolidated lands and imposed their authority on other peoples to create an empire that extended almost 3,000 miles from Ecuador to Chile (climates varied from tropical to polar) Inca built a network of roads to link the cities of the empire and to encourage trade The sun cult dominated religious life Gold and silver were used for ceremonial purposes Temples and fortresses were built