Download Civilizations of Middle America

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As early as 30,000 years ago, small groups of
Paleolithic hunters and gathers reached north America
from Asia. This migration took place during the last
ice age. Many historians believe they followed herds of
bison and mammoths across the land bridge.
Global Warming occurred 10,000 years ago when the
climate grew warmer. As the Ice sheet melted water
levels rose covering the land bridge.
Earliest American civilization emerged in the tropical rain
forest along the Mexican Gulf Coast. Olmec
civilization lasted from about 1400 B.C. to 500 B.C.
-Archeologist know very little about the Olmecs.
However, rich tombs and temples suggest a powerful
class of priests and aristocrats stood at the top of Olmec
society.
-The most dramatic remains of the Olmec civilization are
the giant carved stone heads found in the religious
center at La Venta. No one knows how the Olmecs
moved the 40-ton stones from distant quarries.
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Between 300 and 900 A.D. the Mayans
flourished. Mayan city-states flourished from
southern Mexico through much of Central
America. Farming method of the Mayans
allowed them to flourish in a tropical
environment
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Towering pyramid temples dominated the
largest Mayan city of Tikal (present day
Guatemala)
Priests performed sacrifices on these pyramids
as ordinary people watched.
Mayan pyramids remained the tallest
structures in the Americas until 1903.
Much of the wealth of Tikal and other cities
came from trade.
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Each city had it own ruling chief. He was
surrounded by nobles who served as military
leaders and officials who managed public works.
Mayan rulers were usually men but Mayan records
show women occasionally were rulers.
Most Mayans were farmers, they grew corn, beans
and squash. As well as fruit trees, cotton, and
tropical flowers. Men cultivated the crops while
women turned them into food.
To support the cities farmers paid taxes in food.
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They developed an advanced hieroglyphics. Many
scribes kept records in books made from bark. In order
to measure time precisely, as result they developed a
365 day calendar. Mayan priests invented a numbering
system and understood the concept of zero.
About 900 A.D. Mayans abandoned their cities, leaving
great stone palaces and temples swallowed up by the
jungle. No one knows for sure why Mayan civilization
declined. Possibly frequent warfare forced the Mayans
to abandoned their traditional farming methods, or
over population and over cultivation.
Today millions of people in Central America speak the
Mayan language.
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Long before the Mayan cities rose to the south
the city of Teotihuacán emerged in the valley of
Mexico. From 100-750 A.D. Teotihuacan
dominated this large area. The city eventually
fell to invaders but its culture influenced later
peoples especially the Aztecs
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Until the late 1200’s the Aztec people were
nomads. The would switch from hunters to
farmers. They built the city of Tenochtitlan
which is present day Mexico City.
As their population grew they found new
ingenious ways to create more farmland. They
built Chinampas, or artificial islands made of
earth piled on red mats that were anchored to
the shallow lake bed. They raised a lot of corn,
squash, and beans
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In the late 1400’s Aztecs greatly expanded their
territory. Through conquests and alliances
they spread their rule across most of Mexico.
By 1500 the Aztecs had an estimated 30 million
people in their empire.
War brought immense wealth and power.
Tribute or payment from conquering people
help the Aztecs turn their capital into
magnificent city.
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When the Spanish reached Tenochtitlan in 1519
they were amazed at its magnificence. The leader
of the Spanish expedition was Hernan Cortes.
Aztecs had a single ruler over all its empire and
below him were nobles served as judges, and
governors of conquered provinces. The Majority
of people were commoners who were farmers. At
the bottom of society were slaves who were
criminals or prisoners of war. Slaves did have
rights, for example they could own land and buy
their freedom.
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Priests were a class apart. They performed rituals
that they believed pleased Aztec Gods and
prevented droughts or other disasters.
Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs believed would battled
forces of darkness each night and was reborn each
morning.
As legend of the sun shows, there was no
guarantee that the sun would always win. To give
sun the strength to rise each day, Aztecs would
offer human sacrifices. Aztecs offered tens of
thousands of sacrifices by offering the hearts of
their victims.