Ancient Mexico Mayan, Incan, and Aztec Civilizations By: Mrs. Meredith Sanders

Teotihuacan 4 well-known buildings in this ancient city: Pyramid of the Sun Pyramid of the Moon Temple of Quetzalcoatl Temple of the Jaguars

Olmecs They were the first major Indian Tribe. Olmec means “rubber people.”“rubber people.” Two major cities were San Lorenzo and La Venta. They used a form of picture writing; had a number system and calendar.

“Rubber people” The Aztec Indians gave the tribe this name because the Olmecs supplied them with sap from rubber trees.

Mayas Appearance: Short in height, straight black hair, painted their bodies, had tattoos, valued crossed-eyes and flat foreheads Three eras: pre- classic, classic, and post-classic Mayans used glyphs in their writing.glyphs

Glyphs Their glyph writing (picture) expanded largely using about 800 different glyphs.

Mayan Religion Worshipped many different gods Each day, month, city, and occupation had its special god or goddess Had a variety of religious festivals and celebrations Most ceremonies includes human sacrificeshuman sacrifices In many ceremonies, the priests cut themselves to get blood to present to the gods Their religion taught that there were 13 layers of heaven above the earth & 9 underworlds below Worshipped the dead

Human Sacrifices Human Sacrifices The Mayas had 3 methods of giving the human sacrifices: 1. The priests took the victim to the altar at the temple and cut the heart out of the living victim and presented it to the god. 2. The priests tied the victim to a wooden pole and threw spears and arrows at the victim’s chest in the area of the heart. 3. They threw the victim into a sacred well. If they survived the fall and did not drown, the priests pulled them back out of the well; believing that the god spared that victim.

Worshipping the Dead They believed the dead became one with the gods. They worshipped their ancestors at many religious ceremonies. They also built pyramids over the sacred remains of their dead rulers.

Aztecs This ancient tribe wandered for many years Founded their greatest city, Tenochtitlan (this is the site of modern Mexico City) They belonged to a large family group called calpolli, meaning “big house” or clan.calpolli

Calpolli Each calpolli elected its own officials to run its business. They were a true democracy and voted on decisions. Women did not have a vote. Calpolli expected all of its able-bodied men to fight any wars. The men considered it an honor to fight for their clan. The family arranged for all marriages. A young person could only marry someone outside the clan. A woman who married now joined her husband’s clan.

The End

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