1. The Olmec, Maya, and Aztec

2. Vocabulary
Intercropping – Grow a crop among plants of a different kind, usually in the space between rows.

3. Maize – British term for corn.
Vocabulary
Maize – British term for corn.

4. Causeway – A raised road or track across low or wet ground.
Vocabulary
Causeway – A raised road or track across low or wet ground.

5. Vocabulary
Chinampas – A type of Mesoamerican agriculture which used small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico.

6. Conquistador – A Spanish conqueror.
Vocabulary
Conquistador – A Spanish conqueror.

7. Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica refers to a geographical and cultural area which extends from central Mexico down through Central America.
The term “Meso” means middle in Greek. (Middle America)
Several Ancient Civilizations developed in this area, including the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec

8. Mesoamerica

9. The Original Olmec

10. Olmec Civilization
The Olmec civilization existed from 1300 BC to about 400 BC.
The Olmec are believed to be the earliest civilization in the Americas.
The Olmec people established a civilization in the area we know today as southern Mexico.

11. Map of Olmec Empire:

12. The “Mother Culture”
Many historians consider the Olmec civilization the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica.
A mother culture is a way of life that strongly influences later cultures.
The Olmec empire led to the development of other civilizations, such as the Maya and the Aztec.
Great Britain could be considered a “mother culture” to the United States, Canada, and Australia

13. Olmec Daily Life
The Olmec were very good at farming. They used a method known as intercropping, using corn, beans and squash
They lived in villages near rivers and also fished for food.
Intercropping used maize, beans, and squash to support each other. This method provided a steady stream of food since the three were harvested at different times of the season.
Olmec people also were good at making pottery and weaving.

14. Olmec Daily Life
The Olmec played a game called “pok-a-tok” where, you must shoot a rubber ball through a stone ring without using your hands or feet.
Huge ball courts built by the Olmec suggest that the game was popular with spectators.

15. Olmec Art
The Olmec carved large heads from basalt, a type of volcanic rock.
What the giant stone heads represent or why the Olmec built them is a mystery.

16. Olmec Technology
The Olmec used an early form of glyph writing to record events, dates, and to tell stories.
Glyphs are pictures that represent words.
They were incredible astronomers.
They developed a calendar that was amazingly accurate for its time.

17. Olmec Trade
It is believed that the Olmec did not focus on warfare and conquest, but instead, influenced other cultures mainly through trade.
Most Olmec cities served as trade centers.
They mainly traded for luxury items such as precious stones. Knowledge and ideas were also exchanged at these trade centers.
As a result, the Olmec culture spread throughout much of Mesoamerica.

18. Olmec Religion
The Olmec worshiped several gods (fire god, corn god) but their main god was the jaguar god.
They believed that the jaguar god brought rain.
Pyramids built in the center of their cities were probably used for religious reasons.

19. 400 BC–900 CE (AD) Southern Mexico & Central America
The Mysterious Maya
400 BC–900 CE (AD)
Southern Mexico & Central America

20. Maya Civilization
The Maya civilization existed from 400 BC to about 900 CE (AD).
At its peak, the Maya civilization covered the Yucatan Peninsula and stretched down to the northern parts of El Salvador and Honduras.
This area had natural barriers, such as mountains and water, that helped to protect the Maya civilization for 1300 years.

21. Discovering the Maya
To find the ruins of ancient Maya cities hidden deep in the rainforest, archaeologists had to travel on foot.
An archaeologist is a scientist that looks for and studies evidence from long ago.
Teacher’s notes: Maya is the name of the people and their civilization. Mayan is the language.

22. Maya Farming Like the Olmec, the Maya were expert farmers.
They grew several crops but
their main source of food
was maize
Because there was plenty of food, the Mayan population grew.
Over time, some Mayan farming villages grew into great cities.
Teacher notes: The development of Mayan society was similar to the development of Olmec society. As farming thrived in the Maya homelands, the Maya were able to grow more food. With more food, the Maya became healthier and their population grew. In time, some Mayan farming villages grew into great cities.

23. Maya Cities The Maya were master builders.
They did not have metal tools—they used stone, bone, and wood tools to build hundreds of magnificent cities.
Teacher notes: The development of Mayan society was similar to the development of Olmec society. As farming thrived in the Maya homelands, the Maya were able to grow more food. With more food, the Maya became healthier and their population grew. In time, some Mayan farming villages grew into great cities.

24. Maya Cities Lamanai Tikal Chichen Itza
Teacher notes: Tikal is in modern Guatemala, Lamanai is in Belize, Chichen Itza is in Mexico
Chichen Itza

25. Maya Cities
Cities were religious and academic centers, used for studying art, mathematics, architecture, medicine, and music.
Every Maya city had:
an open-air plaza where people could gather (aka marketplace)
at least one huge pyramid
a temple
a palace for their ruler
A pok-a-tok court
People came to town to shop, to worship, and to watch ball games.

26. Maya Cities Two of the largest cities were
Tikal (tee-KAHL), located in the present-day country of Guatemala. It’s population was about 50,000.
Copan (ko-PAHN), located in the present-day country of Honduras
QUESTION: What were three things you could find in every Maya city?

27. Maya Number System The Maya invented of the idea of the number zero.
This invention made the Maya’s calendar accurate.

28. Maya Calendar
The Maya calendar famously ended its Great Cycle of the Long Count at 11:11pm of December 21, 2012 (which coincides with the winter solstice). Because the Maya interpreted a new universe cycle would begin at this time, many people claimed it meant the end of the world.

29. Maya Religion
The Maya worshipped the gods of nature. Some of their gods were the god of Rain, god of Maize, and the god of Sun.  
They believed that without the help of these important gods, there would be no crops and everyone would starve.
To get help from the gods, the Maya fasted, prayed, and offered sacrifices.
Most sacrifices were animals but occasionally they did human sacrifices.

30. Maya Religion
The Maya had many religious ceremonies, performed by priest, on top of the pyramids.
Priests were the most powerful people in the Maya civilization.
The priests decided when to plant crops and when people could marry and to whom. Before doing pretty much anything, one had to ask for a priest’s approval.
Teacher’s notes: The Maya believed their priests could talk to the gods. This gave the priests incredible power.

31. The Legend of Mirrors
The Maya believed that one could communicate with a god by looking into a mirror.
Legend says…warriors going into battle wore mirrors on their backs. The idea was that if an enemy warrior tried to sneak up on a Maya warrior, a demon might reach out from the underworld and snatch the enemy.
Teacher’s notes: According to the Maya, demons were always trying to escape from the underworld into this world. The priests’ job was to make sure this did not happen. The Maya believed that looking into a mirror was a risk, because a mirror was a portal to all the gods, both in heaven and in the underworld. Since it was regarded as so dangerous, women were not allowed to look into mirrors. Only men could use mirrors, and many did each day to prove their bravery and to seek direction. These mirrors were made with highly polished obsidian or iron pyrite.

32. The Mysterious Downfall
Around 800 CE the Maya began to abandon their cities and their population declined.
The reasons for these events are still a mystery.
The demise of the Maya Civilization may have been caused by food shortages, disease, or wars.

33. The Awesome Aztecs

34. Aztec Civilization
The Aztec tribe lived in southern Mexico from about 900 CE (AD) to 1521.
In the 1100s the Aztec settled in the Valley of Mexico on the swampy shores of Lake Texcoco and on a small island in the lake.
The Aztec named this place Tenochtitlan (te noch tee TLAHN) and it eventually became the capital of their civilization.

35. Aztec Origins
The Aztec tribe believed that their gods could only be fed with human blood, which meant that they had to sacrifice humans.
Their neighbors didn’t like being sacrificed, so they combined armies to defeat the Aztecs and force them to leave.
The Aztec had a prophecy that their new home would be where an eagle on a cactus was eating a snake. They found it at Lake Texcoco.

36. School
To build Tenochtitlan into the city they wanted, the Aztec knew that they would need many engineers, builders, and other specialists.
To solve this problem, the Aztecs set up a system of public schools.
All Aztec children went to school where they learned Aztec history, religion, and a specialized profession.

37. Specialized Professions
Aztec children were trained to be a specialist in some area. Boys studied how to be farmers, traders, engineers, builders, astronomers, and doctors.
Students who became builders and engineers designed and built the amazing Aztec cities, including the capital city of Tenochtitlan.

38. Aztec Life
At first, live was hard on the swampy land, but the Aztec gradually built up the city.
They built causways and bridges to connect the island to the main land.
A causeway is a raised road or path usually built across a body of water.

39. Farming
To solve the issue of growing crops in a swampy area, the Aztec built chimampas.
Chinampas are “floating” gardens built on a series of rafts, which were anchored to the lake bed. They piled dirt on top of the rafts and grew crops on them.
The gardens were quite successful. The Aztecs grew chili peppers, squash, corn, tomatoes, and beans.
Teacher’s notes: The Aztecs created more useable land by filling in marshlands and swamps. They created even more by building dikes to hold back the water.

40. Chinampas = Aztec farming technique

41. Farming
To solve the issue of growing crops in a swampy area, the Aztec built chimampas.
Chinampas are “floating” gardens built on a series of rafts, which were anchored to the lake bed. They piled dirt on top of the rafts and grew crops on them.
The gardens were quite successful. The Aztecs grew chili peppers, squash, corn, tomatoes, and beans.
Teacher’s notes:

42. Tenochtitlan

43. Mexico City today
Mexico City was built on top of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. A major problem for the city today is that the lake bed under the city has a lot of sand and silt, causing earthquakes to shake the city more violently than it would otherwise.

44. Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun god.
Aztec Religion
The Aztecs believed that human sacrifice was necessary to feed their gods.
They believed that if their gods were not fed, they would not do their jobs.
Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun god.

45. War
War was an important part of Aztec life since the gods needed fresh human blood to continue.
The Aztec conquered over 400 cities in Mexico, primarily to use the captured people as sacrifices.
Since the Aztecs were always attacking their neighbors, it made sense for their neighbors to join the Spanish and attack the Aztecs.

46. The Fall of the Aztec
In 1521, Cortez the Spanish conquistador, around 500 soldiers, and some Aztec haters invaded and defeated the Aztec, ending their empire.
A conquistador is a Spanish soldier.
Tenochtitlan was destroyed and a new capital, Mexico City, was built on top of the ruins of the destroyed city.