1. Early American Civilizations
Mesoamerican,
South American, and
North American civilizations

2. Arrival & Adaptation
Scientists accept that people originally migrated across a land bridge 25,000-10,000 yrs ago
Settlements in different areas all developed agriculture & domesticated animals

3. Common Crops & Domesticated animals
Common crops/animals in the Americas:
• maize (corn) • llamas
• beans • alpaca
• sweet potatoes
• peppers
• tomatoes
• squash

4. Mesoamerican cultures
Mesoamerica: the land which consists of modern day Mexico and the remaining countries of Central America
Olmecs: ( B.C.) first civilization of the Americas

5. Olmecs? Led by class of powerful priests and nobles
Ingenious builders and transporters of large stone statues each)
Economy focused on trade
“mother culture” of mesoamerica
Invented calendar & hieroglyphic language

6. Mayan Civilization 300 B.C.- 900 A.D. throughout the Yucatan Peninsula
Cleared land by burning and raised fields along rivers
NO EMPIRE! dominated by individually governed and occasionally rival city- states
Centers: Tikal (insets) & Calakmul

7. Mayan Structure Male ruler (mother temporary for young son)
Nobles / Military leader class
Scribes / Merchant class
Laboring farmers (the majority)
Slaves (captured in war)

8. Cultural Life of the Maya
Religious beliefs tied to nature:
sun = K’inich Ajaw (inset)
rain = Chac
creator = Itzamma
Animism: spirits residing in animals

9. Cultural Life of the Maya
Stelas: striking elaborately carved pillars (likenesses of rulers and their accomplishments 9

10. Cultural Life of the Maya
Temples atop pyramids where priests performed rituals and palaces for rulers
Scribes documented history - 3 books survived
Mysteriously abandon cities for villages prior to Spanish arrival (~900 A.D.) 10

11. Aztecs
Settle in the Valley of Mexico in response to a vision - Tenochtitlan
Lake Texcoco, site where the capital was built according to the prophecy of an eagle w/ a snake in its mouth (1325 A.D.)

12. Aztecs
chinampas: ingenious floating fields used to feed their population 12

13. Aztecs
Aggressive expansion during the 1400’s fueled their religious traditions of live sacrifice to their gods
IE: ‘Apocalypto’
Inset taken from an artifact 13

14. Aztec Religion
Nanahuatzin, story of the boy who stepped up for the moon (inset left)
Huitzilopochtli - patron god of the people (inset below)

15. Aztec Religion
Quetzalcoatl - a feathered serpent who ruled over the earth and water (left)
Tlaloc - the rain god (below)
Predecessors believed the gods had recreated the world many times and sacrificed themselves for the people 15

16. Andean cultures
Chavin: earliest settlement (~900 B.C.) of S. America contributed early art influence
Moche: northernmost civ which made advancements in fertilization and irrigation; also built an early system of roads w/ runners as messengers
• also adobe: clay & plant fiber building material
Nazca: people who etched the geoglyphs in the desert (mile long shapes ie: monkey photo)

17. The Incan Empire
~1100 A.D. the Incan civilization evolved into what would be called a dynasty
In 1483 A.D. Pachacuti Ines Yupanqui declares himself Sapa Inca - emporer
Cuzco becomes the capital in the shadow of Machu Picchu (likely a religious temple)

18. The Incan Empire Sapa Inca held absolute power
Citizens owned nothing so there was little trade; labor tax = conscription for building projects
Quipu: abacas like instrument based on knotting string (believe to be math and language) 18

19. Incan Empire (cont.)
Incorporated the Moche road structure and use of messengers
Ruled ~10 million at its height most likely twice the size of the Aztec civilization
Ayllu - local village leader who carried out gov orders (assigned jobs, set marriages, distributed resources)
Masters of terraced farming, metalwork, and weaving

20. Incan cultural features
Medical advancements: surgery performed on the skull w/ the use of anesthetics
Monthly religious holidays or festivals and the worship of Inti - sun god; orchestrated by the “Chosen Women”- a special group of spiritual attendants who elevated their status through participation in the program

21. Incan cultural features
Huayna Capac - last ruler whose death (sudden illness) in 1525 plunged the empire into civil war (amongst his sons)
Atahualpa (son who wins the civil war) is kidnapped by Pizarro in 1532 – what happens to him will be revealed winter tri…

22. North American Civilizations
Development characterized by adaptation to a variety of climates and environments
• artic • subartic
• northwest coast • california
• great basin • plateau
• southwest • plains
• southeast • northeast

23. Unique early tribes
Hohokam – (~300 BC – AD): “Vanished Ones” precede the Pima and Papago
advanced irrigation in SW to farm miles from the Salt & Gila rivers of AZ
Also constructed ball courts & temples like tribes of Mesoamerica

24. Unique early tribes
Anasazi - cliff dwellers of the SW – carved dwellings of up to 200 rooms as a place safe from raiders
Mesa Verde: largest cliff dwelling
Pueblo Bonito: largest pueblo – town built out of adobe, crescent shaped structure w/ a plaza & kiva

25. Unique early tribes
Anasazi  Pueblo Indians, who are eventually decimated by the Navaho & Apache
pueblo: Spanish word for buildings made of adobe & hand cut bricks
kiva - a religious chamber with a small hole in the floor indicating the birth of the tribe

26. Unique early tribes
Adena/Hopewell tribes of the Midwest that built the earthworks: heaps of soil used for burial mounds or defensive walls (ie: serpent mound in Ohio)
Cahokia – (~1100 AD) largest known center/city of ~20,000 along Mississippi in Illinois; sun-worship; later carried on by the Natchez

27. Advanced tribes of No. Am.
Inuit: survived and developed a unique culture in the most hostile environment of the New World: small bands, igloos and half submerged sod houses, and survival off animals (no agriculture)

28. Advanced tribes of No. Am.
Northwest: an environment of plenty
• potlatch: ceremony in which one gave away their wealth as a means of gaining status

29. Advanced tribes of No. Am.
Iroquois Nation: Dekanawidah (prophet) united 5 tribes, shared language, creating an economic force in the NE during the 1500’s
Longhouse: communal living