Download Mesoamerican Cultures: Maya, Aztec, Inca

Mesoamerican
Cultures: Maya, Aztec,
Inca
Global History: Spiconardi
Maya

Periods



Pre-classic: (c. 2000 BC to 250 AD)
Classic: (c. 250 AD to 900 AD)
Post-classic: (900 AD to 1500s AD)
Maya

Location:

Modern day southern Mexico, Guatemala,
Belize, El Salvador and Honduras
Maya

Social Structure
King
Nobles: Priests & Warriors
Merchants
Peasants
Slaves
Maya

Religion


Believed each day was a living god
Had to please the gods via sacrifice

Piercing of bodies with needle
 Also done to show fierceness of a warrior

Flowers & incense
Maya

Religion (Con’t.)

Human Sacrifice
 Sacrificed prisoners of war, slaves, and children
 Children were preferable as they were pure
 Victim painted blue, had chest cut open, and heart
removed

Drug Use
 Smoked a strong tobacco w/hallucinogenic effects
 Drank fermented water, honey, and tree bark drink
Maya

Farm, Trade, and Agriculture


Slash-and-burn farming  clear land by burning
current vegetation and planting new crops in the
ashes
No Formal Currency…Used the cocoa beans as $

Counterfeit cocoa beans
 Some merchants would remove the cocoa from the bean
and refill it with wax
Maya

Achievements

Hieroglyphic symbols



Only Mesoamerican
culture to have a
complete writing
system
Concept of zero &
counting system
Calendar


Only .0002 days
short; extremely
accurate
Predicted the end of
the world 12/2012
Mesoamerican Ballgame
Maya: Collapse Theories




Non-ecological
Overpopulation?
Peasant revolts?
Foreign invasion?
Disruption of key trade
routes?



Ecological
200 year drought?
Overuse of slash &
burn?
Disease?
The Aztec
Aztec

Tenochtitlan


A group of people first
known as the Mexicas,
later the Aztecs, found
the city of Tenochtitlan
(modern day Mexico
City) in 1315.
Tenochtitlan became an
urban center that was
larger than European
capitals

Dubbed the “Venice of
the New World”
Aztec

Tribute System

The Aztecs ruled
their empire by
indirect means

Instead of exerting
their supreme
authority on
conquered people,
they demanded
tribute.
 Conquered leaders
were even restored
to their positions
i.e. feathers, greenstones,
cloth, firewood, and food
Aztec

Cocoa Plant

Like the Maya, the Aztec used cocoa as
currency



20 beans a year could support a commoner
A man could sell his daughter as a sacrifice or sex slave
for upwards of 500 beans
Beverages

First accounts of chocolate beverages were noted by
the Spanish
 Thickened with maize flour and seasoned with a chilies
Aztec

Social Structure

Nobility


Peasants


Not hereditary. Being born to
noble parents did not necessarily
mean you would become a noble
Very few farmers. Mostly artisans
and warriors.
Slaves

Prisoners of war, criminal
punishment, or payment of a debt
Aztec

Social Structure

Like the Maya, Aztecs also intoxicated themselves, but…

ONLY ELDERS WERE ALLOWED TO GET DRUNK
Aztec: Social Structure

Education


From ages 0-14, parents
guided education
At age 15, both boys and
girls (of all classes) went
to school

Aztecs were one of the
first civilizations to
require all children go
to school.

The Schools

Telpochcalli


Military training
Calmecac

Taught writing,
astronomy, theology,
etc.
 But girls were
taught domestic
skills & religion.
 Not taught to
read or write.
Aztec

Religion


As an agricultural people, the Aztec depended
heavily on the forces of nature and worshiped
them as gods
The Aztec believed that the benevolent gods
must be kept strong to prevent the evil gods
from destroying the world

Human Sacrifice
 Victims of sacrifice were usually prisoners of war, some
Aztec warriors would volunteer for the more important
sacrificial rituals
 The god Tlaloc was believed to prefer children as
sacrificial victims
Aztec Human sacrifice
Aztecs took human sacrifice to a new level. According to
Ahuitzotl, over the course of four days the Aztec
sacrificed some 84,000 people to dedicate the new Great
Pyramid.
Aztec

Agriculture


Tenochtitlan was
constructed on swamp
land not suited for
farming
Chinampas  “floating
gardens;” artificial
islands made of soil and
reed mats that were
placed in Lake Texcoco
Aztec

Spanish Conquest



In 1519 Spanish explorer
Hernán Cortés and more
than 500 Spaniards landed
in eastern Mexico in search
of land and gold
Kidnaps Aztec leader
Montezuma for a gold
ransom
Conquered all of the
Aztec by 1525

1/3 of population killed
 Mostly from small pox

Survivors forced into labor
mining for gold or working
on the estates of the
Spaniards
Inca

Government


The Emperor owned all people, land, & resources
Government had complete control over the economy



Massive bureaucracy


Farmers worked on cooperative farms
Early form of socialism/communism
For every 10,000 people there were 1,331 government officials
Mita  special tax, but in the form of labor NOT money

All able bodied citizens required to work for the government
for a set number of days per year
Inca

Religion

Worshipping of sun played a major role in the
religion


Emperor seen as the son of the sun god
Human Sacrifice?


Only on the rarest occasion; usually children or virginal
women who dedicated lives to worshipping the sun
Most of sacrifices were guinea pigs and llamas
Inca

Religion


Believed in reincarnation
Moral Code: “ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella”



Do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy
Those who followed those rules went to live in the
Sun's warmth while others spent their eternal days in
the cold earth
Practiced cranial deformation
Inca

Achievements

Massive Road System



Connected all the people of the Incan Empire
All roads led to the Capital of Cuzco
Machu Picchu


Served as religious city and fortress during the Spanish
conquest
Could only be reached by bridges over rivers 1,950 feet
in the air
Machu Picchu
Inca

Achievements

Terrace farming


What other cultures
that we have studied
this year have used this
method?
Quipu  a series of
knotted strings used by
Incan officials for
keeping records

Incans did not have a
writing system or
advanced calendar
Inca

Spanish Conquest

Conquered by Pizarro in 1532


Despite getting the ransom of
gold and silver he demanded,
Pizarro killed Incan ruler
Spanish ruled Inca harshly
 Destroyed traditional culture
and farming methods
 Forced them to mine gold and
silver