Download Maya, Aztec, Inca Chart Completed-11m84v5

Maya, Aztec, Inca Comparison Chart
Location
Time Periods
Capital/Key Cities
Economy
Religion
Government
Maya
Aztec
Inca
Central America, Yucatan
(Mexico)
Central America, Mexico
400BC-1517AD
Height: 200-900AD
1200 to 1521
South America, along the
Andes Mountains
Modern Peru
1200-1572AD
Tikal, Chichen Itza, Copan,
Palenque, Mayapan
Tenochtitlan (middle of lake);
Mexico City today
Cuzco
(Machu Picchu later)
Farming (corn, beans, squash,
cacao bean), terrace farming,
slash and burn
Trade – salt, flint, feathers,
shells, honey; private
commerce
Farming (corn, beans,
tomatoes, squash) chinampas (rectangular beds
for farming)
Many gods, linked so specific
thing like death, rain, corn;
king’s blood is sacred,
sacrificed animals and some
humans; pierced/carved
bodies
Many gods, sun god most
important, human sacrifice
(POWs, criminals, slaves)
Farming (corn, cotton,
potatoes) – Terraces
Controlled by government;
community cooperation; labor
tribute called mita; required
to work for the state; govt.
took care of people; welfare
state
Many gods, some human
sacrifice
Theocracy (God/Kings);Well
Very powerful God-King,
organized city states each with highly centralized, war was for
a king, war was for tribute;
captives and tribute ($; vast
classes – king, nobles, priests,
empire through military
merchants, peasants
conquest
Centralized govt.; King at the
center of empire,
Controlled political and
economic life; War is for
conquest
Technology
Decline/End of
Civilization
Contributions
Social System
Writing, math, monumental
architecture, calendar;
terracing, slash and burn
Abandoned cities, Toltec
invaders, disappeared (war,
overpopulation,
overpopulation and over
farming of land; famine,
disease
Abandoned cities, Toltec
invaders, disappeared (war,
overpopulation,
overpopulation and over
farming of land; famine,
disease
Different classes of people
Built monumental
Terraces, irrigation, medicine,
architecture, pyramids,
monumental architecture,
chinampas (floating gardens),
roads, public works
calendar
Under Montezuma, power
Civil war and Spanish
began to weaken; physical
invasion
resources channeled into
(Conquistadors - Pizarro);
religious activities; Cortes and Atahualpa ransomed and then
the Spanish kill the king, the
killed by Spanish; smallpox
empire ended
(Conquistadors)
Maize (corn), calendar,
Medicine, irrigation, terraces,
architecture, pyramids, ball
calendar; single language,
court – life or death
network of roads, chasquis –
shelter for travelers;
sophisticated record keeping;
quipu – accounting system
(knotted strings to record
data); calendar
Different classes of people,
Different classes of people, all
King/Emperor, Nobles,
required to work for govt.
commoners, slaves; warriors
certain days, also cared for;
have high social status,
women drafted for religious
widespread use of slaves
duties (yamacuma)