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Mesoamerica Chapter 6 Remember to fill in your Mesoamerica Notes as we progress through today’s PowerPoint. Olmec Known as the “Mother Civilization” because it was the first great Mesoamerican civilization Farmed maize (corn), beans, squash, & other crops seen throughout all Mesoamerican civilizations Had a theocracy where the priests & government officials were the most powerful in society and the main leader was considered a god Olmec Used & traded honey, salt, jade, obsidian, & basalt Sculpted giant heads to represent their sacred rulers Developed a number system, a writing system, a calendar, & a naturebased religion that show up in later Mesoamerican civilizations Maya Lived in large & advanced cities, like Tikal & Chichen Itza, where they built observatories, palaces, plazas, baths, reservoirs, & aqueducts (long structures used to carry water from countryside into city – supports large urban populations) Also had a nature-based religion, a theocracy (remember: leader is considered a god), a calendar, number & writing systems, and farmed the same crops as Olmec Like the ancient civilizations of Egypt & Mesopotamia, Mesoamericans built massive pyramids. Mayan pyramids served as sacred religious temples. After the decline of the Maya, the Aztec also built pyramids in Mesoamerica – they became famous sites for hundreds of thousands of human sacrifices made to appease the gods. Maya Very interested in astronomy, creating a precise calendar, & predicting events in the future Observatories allowed their priests to observe the sun, stars, moon, & planets and record astronomical events Mayan calendars not only tracked the days, months, & years – they also included dates for eclipses & astronomical events prophesies that predicted events in the future. Take out your Americas Notes from Monday! Aztec Aztecs Played ulama (the Mesoamerican ballgame) like Olmec & Maya Focused on math & astronomy, and farmed corn & squash The game of ulama dates back almost 4,000 years in Mesoamerica. Players bounced a heavy rubber ball off their hips, knees, & elbows with the goal of putting it through hoops – the team that scores the first 8 points wins. While most games were stopped after 2 hours, one game in history lasted 8 days before a winner was declared! Aztec Tenochtitlan Capital city based on man-made islands in Lake Texcoco – site of the modern-day capital of Mexico, Mexico City Aztecs built chinampas (man-made islands for farmland) & causeways (bridges) Aztec Leaders Moctezuma I expanded Aztec Empire and brought wealth & power Moctezuma II led a wealthy empire until Hernando Cortes, the Spanish conquistador, came & conquered the empire Aztec Leaders Cortes was able to conquer the mighty Aztec empire with only a few hundred men because he had guns, horses, and steel swords & armor. An ancient Aztec myth claimed their gods had pale skin, which led some Aztecs to believe the conquistadors may have been messengers of the gods. Moctezuma II, however, was suspicious of Cortes – when Cortes first met him, he rode his horse and stopped within inches of his face. Cortes remained still & unafraid to show his strength. Cortes would later defeat his army, take him captive, & execute him. Aztec Religion Had a polytheistic religion – believed in many nature-based gods Famous for sacrificing humans to appease the gods – believed that if the gods are happy, then the people will be blessed with good weather & numerous crops Inca Chapter 7 Remember to fill in your South America Notes as we progress through today’s PowerPoint. inca Geography Settled in the Andes Mountains in Western South America (modernday Peru & Chile) inca Machu Picchu Mountain-top city that was a religious center of the Inca with temples & mummies inca Machu Picchu While the Inca often made crop & animal sacrifices to appease the gods, they did not make as many human sacrifices as the Aztec. However, 3 recently discovered mummies showed that the Inca did sometimes practice human sacrifice – with children. The 3 mummies that were found were all children from poor families, who had been dressed in traditional Inca clothes & headdresses, fattened with llama meat, and heavily drugged before being sacrificed to the gods. Archaeologists believe one may have died a after they left her to freeze to death in the mountains, while another may have been suffocated. inca Cuzco Inca capital city & center of learning & culture Inca made alliances (rather than fighting wars) to grow & expand into a vast empire The Inca have relied on llamas for centuries for their wool, meat, & labor in transporting goods across long distances & mountainous terrain. They care for them very well – just like we do with our pets today. inca Empire Achievements – Inca built hundreds of miles of roads and became very skilled stoneworkers. The blocks of stone used in their structures were cut to fit together so perfectly, not even the blade of a knife could fit between them. People who joined the empire paid taxes through land, labor, or participating in the Inca army While the Inca never created a writing system, they recorded important government decrees, taxes, & crop production information with their quipu system. A quipu was a rope with various lengths & colors of cords that could be knotted together in various ways to symbolize different distances, amounts, or objects. inca Francisco Pizarro Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca with only 167 men due to having guns, steel swords, armor, and horses. Advantages: Guns – can shoot enemy soldiers at long distances Steel swords – more durable than American Natives’ weapons Armor – provided protection from weapons like arrows & spears Horses – allowed Spanish to quickly travel long distances & to charge into battle & fight from horseback North America Chapter 8 Remember to fill in your North America Notes as we progress through today’s PowerPoint. North America Anasazi “Mother” civilization of the Southwest – influenced all Pueblo Native tribes that came after Used irrigation to farm in hot, dry climate Excellent craftsmen – made pottery, turquoise jewelry, & woven baskets North America Anasazi Lived in pueblos – large apartment-like buildings made from adobe bricks Pueblo Bonito – the heart of the Anasazi civilization featuring a pueblo with more than 800 rooms North America Mississippian “Mother” civilization of the Southeast – influenced all Eastern Woodlands tribes that came after Farmed in the Ohio Valley region Made copper jewelry & fine pottery Built massive temple mounds topped by temples or houses of tribe leaders Cahokia – largest city centered on 100-foot-high, 14-foot-wide mound near modern-day St. Louis North America Adena & Hopewell Eastern Woodlands tribes Built huge burial mounds that grew taller over time as people died & were buried by their loved ones Practiced large-scale farming and trade in a network that stretched west to Wyoming, south to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Atlantic Ocean, & north to the Great Lakes The Adena & Hopewell tribes became known as the “Mound Builders” because of their massive burial mounds. They learned this practice from the Mississippian civilization that came before them.