Mesoamerican Civilizations Olmec and Maya

Mesoamerica Meso means middle in Greek The area was located between North and South America. Mesoamerica was home to 3 major civilizations in Pre-Columbian times. Pre-Columbian means before the time of exploration (before Columbus) The 3 highly developed civilizations were the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Inca.

OLMEC (1200 B.C.) The first civilization of Mesoamerica They were located in the hot and swampy lowlands along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico south of Veracruz. They had large cities that were centers for religious rituals. They carved colossal stone heads They may have been to represent their ancestors or gods.

Teotihuacán Was the first major city in Mesoamerica Arose around 250 B.C. and collapsed about 800 A.D. May have had as many as 200,000 inhabitants at its height. Had a main thoroughfare, known as the Avenue of the Dead Had two main temples (Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon)

Mayans The Mayans were a powerful civilization from 1500BCE-1548CE Their economy was based on farming, trade, and artisans. Their religion was polytheistic (they believed in more than one god) The priests did human sacrifices to please these gods.

Mayans Their capital city was Tikal. The Mayans had many important achievements: Hieroglyphics, a writing system “glyphs” An accurate calendar of 365 days to plan agriculture A number system that included the idea of zero Chichen Itza was an observatory.

Yucatan Peninsula Maya were found in the Yucatan Peninsula and Part of Guatemala. The Maya flourished between 300 and 900 A.D. Historians do not know for certain why the civilization fell into decline. The Maya seem to have abandoned their cities.

Social Structure Mayan Kings Ruled the Mayan Kingdom They claimed they were divine. Were assisted by nobles and a class of scribes Made special blood sacrifices to maintain the kingdom. People Included townspeople, skilled artisans, and, officials, and merchants. Many people were peasant farmers who worked on terraced hillsides farming. Men did the fighting and hunting, women made cornmeal and were responsible for homemaking and raising children.

Religion The Maya were polytheistic. They believed that all of life was in the hands of a divine power. They were responsible for pleasing the gods. Their gods were ranked in order of importance, the Jaguar was the god of night and was seen as evil. The Maya practiced human sacrifice to appease their gods. Human sacrifice was also used to mark special occasions. When a king ascended to the throne war captives were tortured and beheaded to mark the occasion.

Accomplishments The Maya developed an independent hieroglyphic language. The Spanish destroyed most of the Mayan writings. They were not seen as having any value. Their language was not translated until the 20th century. B2,4,5

Calendar The Maya developed a calendar that had two different parts. It had a solar calendar with 365 days, divided into 18 months with 20 days each with 5 extra days at the end. A lunar calendar and a calendar based on the movement of the planet Venus. This was a sacred calendar with 260 days and 13 weeks of 20 days each. The Mayan calendar says our present world was created in 3114 B.C. and the current calendar restarted on December 23 2012 A.D.

Tikal

Chichén Itzá