1. The Mayan People The Aztec The Inca
Chapter 16 Sections 2 and 3 on the Rise and fall of Mesoamerican and South American tribes
The Mayan People
The Aztec
The Inca

2. Key vocabulary
quipu- a rope with knotted cords of different lengths and colors that the Inca used to keep records. ( see page 599 picture and primary source)
Igloo- dome-shaped homes made of blocks of ice and snow where the Inuit people of the far north lived.
Adobe- a type of home using sun-dried mud brick where the people of the Southwest lived.
Confederation- a type of government that was set up by the Eastern Woodland tribes that linked several groups together.

3. Key People Pachacuti- an Incan leader who’s name means “earthshaker.”
Iroquois- a native american group from the Eastern Woodlands who formed the Iroquois League to end fighting among themselves.

4. Key Places
Petan- a flat region in present day Guatemala where the Maya settled.
Tenochtitlan- Aztec city which means “place of the prickly pear cactus.” (see page 586 picture of the layout of the city)

5. The Maya
In 1839 Stevens and Catherwood found the ruins of the Maya people.
The ancestors of the Maya live in present day Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize.
The Maya chose their flat land with dense forest in present day Guatemala. ( Peten)
The organized Mayan culture built up cities and fields in the Peten.
A major accomplishment!!!
The Maya set up city-states with a ruler providing leadership and military service.
City-States often fought with one another.

6. Life in the Mayan Cities
Rulers believed that they were descended from the sun and ruled as god-kings.
The Mayan people were to serve them and to build huge monuments to honor them.
One way of serving the god-kings was human sacrifice.
The Mayans battled for captives!!
The Mayan priests would sometimes offer these captives to the god of rain and sunlight known as Chac.

7. Life in the Mayan Cities continued
Gods controlled everything!!
Religion was the core of Mayan life.
A huge pyramid with a temple at the top towered over each city.
Strict social class
Royalty married from city-state to city-state which helped to create alliances and strengthened trade.
Women played a crucial role in Mayan city-states and some even served as all powerful queens.

8. Mayan Science, Writing, and Sports
The Mayan kings and queens turned to the priests for advice about the gods.
The priests studied the movements of the sun, stars, and moon to reveal the gods plans.
They developed the 365-day calendar to keep track of the heavens, to predict eclipses, to schedule religious festivals, planting, and harvests.
They also developed a system of math based on the number 20.

9. Mayan Writing Invented a written language to record numbers and dates.
Used symbols to represent sounds, words, and ideas that nobles could only read.
After the collapse of the Mayan civilization no one could determine what the symbols meant. ( some scholars are trying)

10. National Geographic Sports and Contest Mayan Ball Game
Mayan city-states had ball courts.
In a Mayan ball game, teams of 2 or 3 players tried to drive a hard rubber ball through a decorated stone ring.
Players wore helmets, gloves, knee and hip guards made of animal hide to protect themselves against the ball.
They could not use their hands or feet to throw or bat the ball.
The stone ring was placed 27 feet above the ground on a large rectangular field.
Mayan players had to have remarkable skill to score!!
Making a goal was so rare that when a player scored, the crowds would reward the player with clothing and jewelry.
The Mayan sporting contest was also had religious meaning as well as deadly consequences.
The losing team was sacrificed to the gods in a ceremony after the game.

11. Collapse of the Maya
The Mayan city-state of Teotihuacan started to decline in A.D. 600.
By A. D. 750 the city had been destroyed.
No one is sure why but these are some of the theories;
Overpopulation
A long drought or period without rain
Poor people rebelled against the rich rulers

12. The Aztec
Captured Tula from the Toltec (northwest of present Mexico city) about A.D and took control of trade and built a huge empire.
The Toltec king thought he could rid the warrior nomads by granting them snake infested land but instead they ate them and built a huge kingdom.
Aztec Legend- page 586
Named their new city Tenochtitlan.

13. The Aztec Government
Well organized government that was guided by the gods through the priest.
Told to build a great city- Tenochtitlan where workers toiled day and night.
Built floating gardens
Dreamed of conquest and wealth
Strong kings who claimed descent from the gods and were chose by warriors, priests, and nobles picked each king from the Royal family.
Most of the time they chose the kings son but not always.
A king was expected to bring glory to the Aztec and to lead his troops in battle.

14. Life in the Aztec Empire

15. Life in the Aztec Empire
The Aztec saw death as honorable.
Those worthy of an afterlife included;
Soldiers who died in battle
Captives who gave their lives in sacrifice
Women who died in childbirth
Others went to the “land of the dead” the lowest level in the afterlife

16. Life in the Aztec
At a very early age children learned about the glories of war and their duties as an Aztec.
According to the god Huitzilopochtli who spoke through the priest, “ We shall conquer all the people in the universe” led to the inspiration of building the huge pyramid (known as the Great Pyramid) in the city of Tenochtitlan.
Thousands were sacrificed at the Great Pyramid.

17. Collapse of the Aztec
A Spanish noble named Hernan Cortes along with his followers attacked the Aztec killing 6,000 people and took over the city in 1519.
Cortes took the Aztec leader named Montezuma as a hostage so the people would not rebel.
Cortes orders the Aztec to stop human sacrifice which results in rebellion.
Montezuma is killed in the fighting and the Spanish are outnumbered.
The Spanish fought their way out of the city and hid in the hills with their allies.
Then….. Smallpox disease hit and greatly weakened the Aztec
In June 1521, the Spanish destroyed the Aztec capital.

18. The Inca
Settled in South America in the Andes mountain ranges of present day Peru.
Built up the largest empire in the ancient Americas.
Cuzco was the Incan capital founded in A.D

19. Life in the Inca Empire
Pachacuti was the highest Incan god who took his name from the god Pachacamac who was lord of the earth.
His name means “ Earthshaker.”
Pachacuti and his son Topa built the largest empire which stretched north to south about 2, 500 miles.
Pachacuti created a well organized government by taking local rulers sons to Cuzco for training.
He required people to learn the language of Quechua and designed a system of roads of 25,000 miles.

20. An Organized Society
The Inca believed that the sun god Inti protected the Cuzco capital.
The Incan rulers were called “ sons of the sun.”
Rulers wives were known as Coyas

21. Incan Society

22. Inca Society
They further divided society into 12 categories which allowed for every ONE to have a job.
Every man, woman, and child over 5 years old had work to do.

23. Incan Culture
The Inca rarely committed humans for sacrifice- only in times of crisis where children were given to the gods for their purity.
Built large works made of stone by skilled engineers.
Built Machu Picchu which was a retreat for Incan kings.
Developed a way to record math calculations using the quipu.

24. Collapse of the Inca
By the 1530s, the Inca was threatened by smallpox and Francisco Pizzaro.
The Incan leader Atahualpa was captured by Pizzaro, but ended up being tried and sentenced to death.
Pizzaro was made the governor of Peru in which he chose the new Incan ruler who would have to answer to him
Opened South America to Spanish rule.