1. Teotihuacan Mayan Aztecs Incas
Mesoamerica
Teotihuacan
Mayan
Aztecs
Incas

2. Chronology: Early America
Arrival of Human Beings: At least 15, 000 years ago
First organized societies (Andes) c.6000 B.C.E.
Agriculture first practiced c B.C.E.
Rise of Olmec First Millennium C.E.
Origins of Mayan First Millennium C.E.
Teotihuacan Civilization c. 300 B.C.E – 800 C.E.
Moche Civilization c. 150 C.E. – 800 C.E.
Decline of the Mayan c. Ninth Century
Chimor c
Aztecs c. Fifteenth Century
Inca – takeover in Central Andes c. Fifteenth Century
Hernan Cortes arrives in Mexico 1519
Pizarro’s Conquest of the Inca 1532

4. Olmec Civilization Along the Gulf of Mexico
Intensive agriculture around riverbanks
La Venta – stands 30 foot high pyramid
Olmec had wide-spread trading network
Had Religious rituals
(undeciphered) writing system of hieroglyphics
Crops of corn and beans and fished and hunted
Ceremonial game on a stone ball court
Declined around 5th C B.C.E.

5. Teotihuacan: America’s First Metropolis

6. Quick Notes
Products of Trade: cacao, rubber, feathers, various vegetables and meats, pulque
Obsidian – volcanic glass used for tools, mirrors, and blades for knives
Bulk of wealth mostly agricultures
Decline due possibly to overcrowding, human waste, unclean water, and drought, then fire.

7. Maya
Formed in the Yucatan peninsula (older and just as sophisticated as Teotihuacan)
Major Good: Cacao – chocolate used as drink for the wealthy and currency
Slash and burn to swamp agriculture
Most important city-states: Tikal (100,000) and Copan
As cities grew so did the Middle Class = artisans and traders.
Most were farmers!
At its height the Mayan Empire was roughly 3 million people!

8. Mayan Continued!
Farmers lived on “chinampa” plots – terraces in the hills
Gender: Male = fighting and hunting
Women = homemaking and prep of cornmeal.
Religion – Polytheistic – Itzamna (Lizard House) and Jaguar god (evil deity)
Ceremonial beheadings as sacrifices to the gods was common Preface Clip:
Ball Court – played and may have had religious undertones.

10. Mayan Writing Examples Page 162 Text
Mayan hieroglyphs were both ideographic and phonetic
Temple of Inscription – Pacal(mid-7th C), west of Yucatan
Sophisticated knowledge of astronomy and the passage of time!

11. The Aztecs
Location:

12. Religion Polytheistic – Huitzilopochtli
The guiding patron over the population
Worship of the Sun and the Moon
The 5 Suns (pg. 168)
Aztec Rulers were similar to Egyptian rulers in that they were considered to have divine and secular power and claimed descent from gods.
Succession was not a birth right but chosen from the family group.

13. The Stone of the Sun

14. Political Structure
Government run mostly by the leading family whose male children would be taught warrior, religious, and academic skills.
Central Government – authoritarian
Tribute (a tax) paid by rulers of territories.
Tributes often slaves or goods

15. Political Structure King
Nobility (Hereditary) – ran gov’t bureaucracy or priests
Commoners – had family groups called “calpulli”
Indentured Workers
Slaves – not born into slavery

16. Again the use of hieroglyphs that represented an object or concept.
Writing

17. Destruction of the Aztecs
In 1915 Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez landed in Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico.
Demand denunciation of current religion and accept Christianity.
Result: Cortez kidnaps Moctezuma and burns temples. He is chased out of the city by the population.
With the help of Tlaxcallan Cortez was able to destroy and conquer the rest of Tenochtitlan.
Guns, Germs and Steel!

18. Moche and Chimor Found in the Andes along the Moche River Valley.
Arid land requiring a massive, complex irrigations system to support citizens.
Trade often done by wind-powered boats traveling up and down the cost trading:
Jewelry, beads, and metal goods

19. The Inca (The Rulers)
Chimor kingdom was succeeded in the late 15th C by Pachakuti a powerful and authoritarian Inca ruler.
At its height the kingdoms boundaries extended as far as Ecuador, central Chile, and the edge of the Amazon basin
(See map 6.2 page 173)

20. POLITICAL STRUCTURE!
Highly centralized state divided into 4 quarters – Tahuantinsuyu then divided into provinces and districts.
1 Province = 10, 000 residence (approx.)
Governors over the areas were related to the king
The capital city: Cuzco was also divided into 4 sections dividing up society into classes.

21. Inca Infrastructure
24, 800 miles!
Page 174

22. Inca Infrastructure
Highways extended from modern day Colombia to the southern location of Santiago, Chile.
Built for official business: military and political curriers.
Information could travel 140 miles in a single day due to relay technique!

23. Agriculture
In the mountains used terraced agriculture watered by irrigation systems
Crops: maize, potatoes and other crops
Tilled by collective labor regulated by the states hmm…communism? (just a joke)
Other strict regulations were with marriage.
- Women maintained chastity or were severely punished – “Chosen Virgins”

24. Inca Culture
Built on war – 200, 000 man army raised by universal male conscription.
Once peoples were conquered they were instructed in the Quechua language and introduced to the state religion!
Writing system – knotted strings called quipu (pg 175)