6 th Grade

CivilizationLocation/LeadersSocial StructureCharacteristics/CultureAchievements/Technologies Maya  1000 BC began farming  200 AD began forming cities  AD began forming large cities  1500 AD power had faded  Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala  Capital: None  King Pacal  Upper Class – king, priest, merchants, noble warriors  Lower Class – farming families, slaves  Religion – many gods, Sun God, Moon God, Maize God, human sacrifice  Crops – beans, squash, avocados, maize  Resources – cotton, cacao, obsidian, jade, bird feathers, gold, deer, rabbits, monkeys  Stone pyramids, temples, statues  365 day calendar, 260 day calendar  Calendars that determined length of the year  Observatories  Number system and symbol for 0  Writing system of Detailed Written Records  Books  Canals, terraces Aztec  Began in Mid AD  1521 AD Empire Ended  Mexico  Capital: Tenochtitlan built in 1325 AD  Emperor Moctezuma II  Upper Class –king, nobles, tax collectors, judges, government officials  Below Upper Class – warriors, priest  Middle Class – merchants, artisans  Lower Class – farmers, labors, slaves  Religion – many gods, human sacrifice  Crops –cotton, maize  Resources –cotton, gold, silver, gems, bright feathers  Stone pyramids, temples, statues  Causeways, canals  Chinampas (floating gardens)  Calendar  Study astronomy  Detailed Written records  Jewelry and mask  Artisans used gold, gems and bright bird feathers  Women embroidered colorful designs of cloth they wove Inca  Began in Mid- 1400’s AD  In 1537 AD Spanish began to rule the Empire  South America  Capital: Cuzco  Ruler Pachacuti  Language: Quechua  Andes Mountains  Upper Class – emperor, priest, government officials  Lower Class – farmers, artisans, servants  No Slaves  Religion – many gods, rarely human sacrifice, mummies  Crops –maize, peanuts, potatoes,  Resources -llamas  Stone pyramids, temples, masonry  Largest empire (over 12 million people)  10,000 miles of road  Terraces, statues  Bridges  Gold and silver jewelry  Records kept with knotted cords called quipus  Fine textiles  pottery

 Maya civilization might not have collapsed in the 900’s.

 Included large stone pyramids and temples

 Both are based on getting a ball through a ring.

 Control of the land

 Obsidian was an important resource used in Maya warfare.

 Drought made it difficult for farmers to grow crops.

 The lower classes provided food and labor  The upper classes led religious ceremonies

 The soldiers became slaves

 Obsidian tools were used to cut the limestone into blocks.

 The first Aztecs were farmers from what is now northern Mexico.

 Merchants were spies, alerting the emperors to possible troubles in other regions.

 Some key factors in the rise of the Aztec Empire are:  War  Tribute  Trade

 Deadly diseases, such as smallpox

 Horses were large and powerful and the Aztecs were terrified of them.

 The sons of the Aztec nobles were taught to be government officials, military leaders, or priest.

 The first Incas lived in the Andes Mountains.

 Lower-class Incas were farmers, artisans, servants, or slaves  Most lower class children did not go to school  Parents taught their children to work  Inca law forced lower-class citizens to wear plain clothes

 Before the Spaniards arrived, a drought caused a terrible famine and led to the fall of the Inca Empire.

 Inca buildings were used to store food  The stone cutting was so precise that no cement was needed  Some of the buildings were used for religious purposes

 Spanish invaders had superior weapons, horses, European diseases, and existing problems with the American Empires like drought.

 The Maya terraced land for farming, paved areas for public gatherings, and built canals.

 Because the land was swampy the Aztecs created floating gardens (chinampas) made of soil piled on top large rafts.

 Cieza de León, Pedro (pā`thrō thēā`thä dā lāōn`), 1518?–1560, Spanish soldier and explorer in South America. His Chronicle of Peru is one of the most richly detailed accounts of the Spanish conquest.

 The Spanish conquistador Ciezo de Leon wrote that the Inca road system ran “through deep valleys and over mountains, through piles of snow, quagmires (marshy land)… in some places it ran smooth and paved, carefully laid out, in others over sierras (mountains), cut through the rock, with walls skirting the rivers…”  Ciezo had probably never seen anything like this road system through the Andes Mountains in Spain.

 The Aztecs built their capital on a swampy island in the middle of a lake. It was hard to get to and from the city. Another problem was the lack of good farmland.

CivilizationLocation/LeadersSocial StructureCharacteristics/CultureAchievements/Technologies Maya  1000 BC began farming  200 AD began forming cities  AD began forming large cities  1500 AD power had faded  Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala  Capital: None  King Pacal  Upper Class – king, priest, merchants, noble warriors  Lower Class – farming families, slaves  Religion – many gods, Sun God, Moon God, Maize God, human sacrifice  Crops – beans, squash, avocados, maize  Resources – cotton, cacao, obsidian, jade, bird feathers, gold, deer, rabbits, monkeys  Stone pyramids, temples, statues  365 day calendar, 260 day calendar  Calendars that determined length of the year  Observatories  Number system and symbol for 0  Writing system of Detailed Written Records  Books  Canals, terraces Aztec  Began in Mid AD  1521 AD Empire Ended  Mexico  Capital: Tenochtitlan built in 1325 AD  Emperor Moctezuma II  Upper Class –king, nobles, tax collectors, judges, government officials  Below Upper Class – warriors, priest  Middle Class – merchants, artisans  Lower Class – farmers, labors, slaves  Religion – many gods, human sacrifice  Crops –cotton, maize  Resources –cotton, gold, silver, gems, bright feathers  Stone pyramids, temples, statues  Causeways, canals  Chinampas (floating gardens)  Calendar  Study astronomy  Detailed Written records  Jewelry and mask  Artisans used gold, gems and bright bird feathers  Women embroidered colorful designs of cloth they wove Inca  Began in Mid- 1400’s AD  In 1537 AD Spanish began to rule the Empire  South America  Capital: Cuzco  Ruler Pachacuti  Language: Quechua  Andes Mountains  Upper Class – emperor, priest, government officials  Lower Class – farmers, artisans, servants  No Slaves  Religion – many gods, rarely human sacrifice, mummies  Crops –maize, peanuts, potatoes,  Resources -llamas  Stone pyramids, temples, masonry  Largest empire (over 12 million people)  10,000 miles of road  Terraces  Bridges  Gold and silver jewelry  Records kept with knotted cords called quipus  Fine textiles  pottery