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Chapter 1
Section 2
 Early civilizations , or highly developed societies,
arose in present-day Mexico and in Central and South
America.
 Olmec (Gulf coast of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras)
 Maya
 Aztec
 Inca
 Achievements include: enormous cities, complex
systems for writing, counting, and tracking time, stone
monuments, stone pavements, and drainage systems
 Largest Mayan city was Tikal (present-day Guatemala)
 Built cities in the rainforests of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and
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Belize
Planted crops (maize, beans, sweet potatoes)
Used massive stones to build monuments and pyramids that still stand
today (labor was done by enslaved people, usually prisoners of war) p.
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The temples were religious and government centers of the community
The Maya believed the gods controlled everything that happened on
Earth
The civilization of the Maya was a theocracy, a society ruled by
religious leaders.
Mayans
lived on
this
peninsula
Tikal - Guatemala
Pyramids and stone monuments still
standing today.P
• Mayan culture used a 365 day
calendar that was created
from their knowledge of the
sun and stars.
• They developed a form of
writing called hieroglyphics.
• Hieroglyphics use symbols
or pictures to represent
things, ideas, and sounds.
 Transport and Trade
 No wheeled vehicles or horses
 Transported everything through the jungle by human
backs
 Canoes enabled trade by water
 Decline of a Civilization
 Cause of the decline is unknown
 Possible slave and farmer revolt
 Exhausted soil
 Tribe of hunters settled
on an island in Lake
Texcoco, today part of
Mexico City. They saw
an eagle sitting on a
cactus with a snake in its
beak. This was a sign to
them that this should be
their home.
TENOCHTITLAN
 Tenochtitlan, one of the greatest cities in the Americas.
 They pulled soil from the bottom of the lake to make
causeways or bridges to link the island to shore
 They filled in parts of the lake to grow crops.
 It became the center of trade and a military empire.
• In the 1400s, the Aztecs marched through Mexico
conquering tribes, taking everything they could carry.
Conquered people were forced to work as slaves.
• They also practiced human sacrifice and used
prisoners for this practice.
• The council of Tenochtitlan led the empire (like the
senate of Rome). The leader of this group was the
emperor.
– He was worshiped as a god, and had the support of the city
council, major government officials, and the priesthood.
– The most famous of the Aztec emperors was Montezuma II,
ruler when Cortes reached the Aztecs.
•
The largest empire in early
America
• In 1438, the emperor (believed
to be a descendant of the sun
god) and his son began
conquering neighbors and
stretched the empire down the
west coast of S. America
• Powerful army that could draft
all men 25 to 50 for up to 5 years
• Weapons included clubs,
spears, sling and stones, and
spiked copper balls on ropes
 Had over nine million people, hundreds of languages,
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and a powerful army
They had a road system over the mountains, deserts,
and jungles and built rope bridges over canyons and
rivers
Runners carried messages from town to town keeping
outposts linked to the emperor and his empire
Carved terraces, broad platforms used to plant crops,
into steep slopes so they could farm and hold soil and
plants in place.
Crops included: maize, squash, tomatoes, chili
peppers, melons, cotton and potatoes
Machu Picchu was a fortress and a sacred
mountaintop site built for religious ceremonies.