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Mesoamerican Empires
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Olmec
The first great Indian culture in Middle America was that of the Olmec. They lived on the hot, humid lowland coast
of the Gulf of Mexico in what is now southern Mexico. San Lorenzo, the oldest known Olmec center, dates to
about 1150 BC. At that time the rest of Middle America had only simple farming villages.
The Olmec built large towns where they came together to trade and hold religious ceremonies. The most
important were San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes. They were home to the upper classes of priests and
other leaders, who lived in well-made stone houses. These leaders commanded the work of craftsmen and
laborers. In the surrounding countryside lived farmers, whose work supported the upper classes. Corn was the
most important crop.
San Lorenzo is famous for its extraordinary stone monuments. Most striking are the “colossal heads,” which are
human portraits on a massive scale. They range in height from about 5 to 11 feet) and have flat faces and helmetlike headgear. It is generally thought that these are portraits of Olmec rulers.
The artifacts left by the Olmec range from the huge stone sculptures to small jade carvings and pottery. Much
Olmec art depicted a god that is a cross between a jaguar and a human infant, often crying or snarling with open
mouth.
The exotic materials used by Olmec artists and craftsmen suggest that the Olmec controlled a large trading
network over much of Middle America. Obsidian, a form of volcanic glass used for blades, flakes, and dart points,
was imported from highland Mexico and Guatemala. Most imported goods were used to make luxury items. Iron
ore, for example, was used to make mirrors.
The Olmec may have developed the first writing system in the Americas. In the late 20th century a stone slab
engraved with symbols, or hieroglyphs, that appear to have been Olmec writing was discovered in the village of
Cascajal, near San Lorenzo. The Cascajal stone dates to about 900 bc. In the 21st century inscribed carvings similar
to later Mayan hieroglyphs were found at La Venta.
Olmec culture began to fade about 400 bc. However, its influence spread north to central Mexico and south to
Central America. Among those influenced by the Olmec were the Zapotec, Aztec, Maya, and Teotihuacán
civilizations.
Maya
The Maya are Native Americans of Mexico and Central America. Between about AD 250 and 900 the Maya had a
way of life that was very advanced for the time. The Mayan civilization began a fast decline after 900. No one
knows for sure why this happened.
The Maya lived first in villages and later in cities. Their cities had large temples, stone pyramids, palaces, and ball
courts. The Maya created farmland by cutting away the trees and vines of the surrounding rainforest. They grew
corn, beans, and squash.
The Maya created a writing system called hieroglyphics, which used pictures instead of words. They also studied
the planets and the stars. They used their observations of the heavens to make a very accurate calendar. The Maya
also developed a system of mathematics.
The Maya worshipped a number of nature gods. These included gods of the Sun, the Moon, rain, and corn. In
religious ceremonies, the Maya killed people they had captured during battle. They thought that the gods needed
human blood for nourishment.
The Maya lived in villages by about 1500 BC. By AD 200 they were living in cities. By 900 they had built more than
40 cities. Some of the most important cities were Tikal, Palenque, Copán, and Bonampak. Today these cities are
found in Guatemala, Honduras, and southern Mexico.
After 900 the number of Maya fell. They abandoned many of their cities. In the early 1500s the Spanish arrived in
Maya territory. The Spanish forced the Maya to work for them. Many Maya died from diseases that the Spanish
brought with them. Today descendants of the Maya live in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.
Aztec
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In the 1400s and early 1500s the Aztec people controlled a large empire in the area that is now central and southern Mexico. At
its most powerful, the Aztec Empire spread over 80,000 square miles (207,000 square kilometers). Montezuma II, the last great
Aztec emperor, ruled over 5 to 6 million people.
The capital city of the Aztec was Tenochtitlán. It was built on islands in Lake Texcoco. The lake was later drained, and today the
land is part of Mexico City. Tenochtitlán reflected the power and wealth of the empire. It had gleaming white palaces and
temples on top of pyramids. City officials lived in houses made from stone and adobe, or sun-dried clay. Farmers lived in huts
made of woven rods and twigs covered with clay.
Most Aztec were farmers. They grew corn, beans, peppers, squash, tomatoes, tobacco, and cotton. Other Aztec were traders
and craftsmen.
The Aztec spoke a language called Nahua. Many Aztec words were later incorporated into the Spanish language. Some of these
words, such as chocolate, tomato, ocelot, coyote, and avocado, have also become part of the English language. The Aztec had
no alphabet of their own, but they used picture writing to record their history.
Religion was very important to the Aztec. They worshipped several gods who represented the forces of nature. Among the most
important Aztec gods were Huitzilopochtli, a sun god and the god of war; Tonatiuh, another god of the sun; and Tlaloc, the god
of rain. Quetzalcóatl was the god of learning and a symbol of death and rebirth.
The Aztec performed elaborate rituals and ceremonies to obtain help from the gods. Human sacrifice, or the killing of people
for religious reasons, played an important part in the rites. The Aztec believed that because life was humankind’s most precious
possession, it was the most acceptable gift for the gods. They sacrificed thousands of prisoners captured in war.
The Aztec had learned from the Maya how to determine the solar year accurately. With this knowledge their priests kept an
exact solar calendar. An almanac gave dates for festivals and listed the various deities who held sway over each day and hour.
The Aztec probably moved into central Mexico from the north in about AD 1200. There they took on parts of the cultures of
earlier peoples, including the Toltec, the Maya, and the Zapotec. Aztec legends reveal that the early Aztec were hunters and
gatherers. They fought with other tribes in the Valley of Mexico and were sometimes forced to serve them. Finally, they took
refuge on islands in Lake Texcoco. They founded Tenochtitlán in about 1325.
During the reign of the eighth king, Ahuitzotl, the tlatoani became known as the huey tlatoani, which means “supreme king” or
“emperor.” Ahuitzotl ruled until 1502. He expanded the empire to its largest size in history. Montezuma II maintained the
mighty empire until 1519, when Spanish conquerors arrived in the Aztec lands.
The Aztec were at the height of their power when Hernán Cortés and his Spanish soldiers arrived. In 1521 the Spanish took
control of Tenochtitlán, ending the Aztec Empire. Many of the Indians living in the Mexico City region today are descendants of
the Aztec.
Inca
The Inca people once ruled a vast empire in the Andes Mountains of South America. Their capital was Cuzco, in
what is now Peru. The Inca Empire included about 12 million people at its peak in the early 1500s.
How the Inca Lived
The Inca grew such crops as corn, squash, tomatoes, peanuts, and cotton. Inca farmers were the first to grow
potatoes. They also raised guinea pigs, ducks, alpacas, and dogs. The Inca rode animals called llamas and also used
them as work animals.
The Inca made clothing from llama wool and cotton. They made pottery and musical instruments. They also made
things out of metal.
The Inca built their houses using stone or adobe (sun-baked clay). The ruins of the Inca city of Machu Picchu are
famous for their well-made buildings.
The Inca spoke a language called Quechua. They had no form of writing. However, they kept records using a
complicated system of colored knotted cords called quipus.
History
According to the traditional belief of the Inca, they originally came from a village called Paqari-tampu. In the 1100s
they moved north and settled in Cuzco. In the early 1400s the Inca began to attack neighboring peoples and take
control of their lands. Within 100 years the Inca Empire was at the height of its power.
The Spanish began to explore Peru in the 1520s. By 1533 Spanish soldiers led by Francisco Pizarro had captured
Cuzco. They brought the Inca Empire under Spanish control. Today the descendants of the Inca live in the Andes
Mountains. They make up almost half of Peru’s population.