Download Mayan civilization was grouped by city

Essential Ideas:
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Mayan civilization was grouped by city-states.
The Aztecs controlled their empire through
one central government (Tenochtitlan).
The Incans built a road system to connect
their empire.
Essential Question:
How were Mayan
Civilizations grouped?
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Mesoamerica – ancient
region including most
of Mexico and Central
America
Farming expanded
populations & formed
great cities and
religious centers
The Maya and Aztec are
the most well-known
Mesoamerican
civilizations
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included Yucatan Peninsula
and northern Central
America
city states-served as
religious centers
Each city state had its own
ruler or King
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The Maya abandoned many of their cities
around 900 A.D.
Archaeologists DO NOT KNOW WHY Maya
civilizations declined
◦ Theories exist but real cause is unknown
◦ Popular theory: rebellions against priest and nobles
◦ Maya ancestors killed by crop failures, war, disease,
drought and famine
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More than 2 million Maya people live in
Guatemala and southern Mexico today
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One of the Seven
Wonders of the World
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Located in the Yucatan
Peninsula
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One of the largest Maya
cities
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Largest ball court in
ancient MesoamericaPg. 584 text
El Castillo
The Lost Temples
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Maize or corn: most
important crop
Temples decorated with
Hieroglyphics
◦ System of writing using
signs or symbols
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All carving done with
stone tools
◦ No metal used in Mayan
times
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Developed a 365-day
calendar to keep track of
the sky
Invented the concept of
Zero
 Considered their
greatest invention
Developed a system of
counting based on 20
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Created a set of
numerals
◦ No single digit for
20
◦ After 19, numbers
go vertical
Essential Question:
How did the Aztecs control
their empire?
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The Aztecs lived in
what is known as the
Valley of Mexico in
Central Mexico.
Wandered looking for a
permanent home until
1325
◦ Found the site promised
by their gods
◦ Told to look for an Eagle
holding a snake in its
beak perched atop a
cactus.
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Found on an island on Lake Texcoco
◦ Swampy marsh
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Island way too small for all the Aztecs
◦ Thought to be around 200,000 at the time of the
conquest
◦ More than double any European city at that time
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Had to expand the island
◦ How in the world does that happen?
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Aztecs built floating islands by piling soil
from the bottom of the lake on top of rafts
◦ Roots from trees and grass grew down to the
bottom of the lake
◦ This made the “homemade” islands stay put
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Hernán Cortés led the
Spanish invasion of the
Aztec empire
Aztecs feared Cortés
was their god
◦ Quetzalcoatl returning
home
◦ Did not attack the Spanish
right away
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Hernán Cortés –
Spanish conquistador
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Smallpox weakened the
Aztec
Spanish took control in
1521
Essential Question:
How did the Inca
Civilization connect their
empire?
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Home in the Andes
mountains of South
America
◦ Centered in present-day
Peru
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Capital city, Cuzcocenter of the empire
Became the largest
ancient empire in the
Americas
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Incans required to learn
Quechua: Incan language
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System of roads covered
the empire
◦ travel and trade
◦ 14,000 miles of roads
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Developed tax system
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Quipu : rope with knotted
cords of different lengths
and colors-used to keep
records
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Aqueducts
◦ A pipe or channel to
carry water from a
distant source
◦ Allowed them to
irrigate land that
normally would have
been too dry to farm
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“Old Peak”
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7,000 ft. above sea level
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Eastern slope of the Andes
Mountains
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New Seven Wonders of the
World
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http://www.peru-machupicchu.com/
Inca ruins
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Francisco Pizarro set out
to find an empire filled
with gold for Spain
Invited the last Incan
emperor, Atahualpa, to a
meeting and took him
hostage
Pizarro had conquered
most of the Incas by 1535
Conquest of Incan lands
in Peru led to Spanish rule
over most of South
America
Francisco Pizarro