1. Civilizations In the Americas
How did they get here? Why would they migrate (push/pull factors)

2. Early Human Migrations

3. Sculpture from the Americas
Origins of the Peoples of the Americas?

4. Major Pre-Columbian Civilizations

5. The Mayans

6. Heirs of the Olmecs The Maya lived in the highlands of Guatemala
Besides maize, they also cultivated cotton and cacao
Tikal was the most important Maya political center, 300 to 900 C.E.
Maya warfare: warriors had prestige; captives were slaves or victims
Chichén Itzá, power by the ninth century; loose empire in Yucatan
Maya decline began in 800 C.E.; many Mayans deserted their cities

7. Lands of the Mayans
The Yucatan Peninsula

8. Maya Society and Religion
Maya society was hierarchical
Kings, priests, and hereditary nobility at the top
Merchants were from the ruling class; they served also as ambassadors
Professional architects and artisans were important
Peasants and slaves were majority of population
The Maya calendar had both solar and ritual years interwoven
Maya writing was ideographic and syllabic; only four books survive
Religious thought
Popol Vuh, a Maya creation myth, taught that gods created humans out of maize and water
Gods maintained agricultural cycles in exchange for honors and sacrifices
Bloodletting rituals honored gods for rains
The Maya ball game: sporting, gambling, and religious significance

9. Chichen-Itza - Pyramid

10. Chichen-Itza - Observatory

11. Chichen-Itza - Ball Court

12. Mayan Cultivation of Maize
Chac, God of Rain 

13. Mayan Underground Granaries: Chultunes

14. Overview of Tikal (Guatemala)
Temple of the Masks

15. Tikal Jungle View at Sunset

16. Tikal: Temple of the Masks

17. Tikal - Wall Mask of the Rain God

18. Mayan Glyphs
sky king house child city
Mayan Mathematics

19. Mayan Glyphs

20. Mayan Drinking Cup for Chocolate

21. Pakal: The Maya Astronaut

22. Quetzalcoatl: The God of Wisdom & Learning

23. Teotihuacan The city of Teotihuacan in the highlands of Mexico
Colossal pyramids of sun and moon
High point between 400 and 600 C.E.; two hundred thousand inhabitants
Paintings and murals reflect the importance of priests
Teotihuacan society
Rulers and priests dominated society
Two-thirds of the city inhabitants worked in fields during daytime
Artisans were famous for their obsidian tools and orange pottery
Professional merchants traded extensively throughout Mesoamerica
No sign of military organization or conquest
Cultural traditions: ball game, calendar, writing, sacrifices
Decline of Teotihuacan from about 650 C.E.; was sacked and destroyed mid-eighth century

24. The Aztecs

25. Toltec Society – A Precursor
Toltecs in the 9th & 10th centuries after the collapse of Teotihuacan
Established large state, w/ powerful army
Tula
Toltec decline after twelfth century
Civil strife at Tula
Nomadic invaders after 1175
State = mid 10th c
Tula was the Toltec capital city and center of trade
Maintained close relations with societies of the Gulf coast and the Maya
Civil strife at Tula, beginning in 1125
Nomadic invaders after 1175

26. Mexica (or Aztecs) Arrival of the Mexica (or Aztecs)
in central Mexico mid-thirteenth century
Warriors and raiders
Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City)
Chinampas style agriculture
Military Conquest/Alliances
15th century, Aztecs launched military campaigns
Oaxaco in southwestern Mexico
Alliances with Texcoco and Tlacopan
Controlled subject peoples with oppressive tribute obligations
Tribute from 489 subject territories
Warriors and raiders
Built capital city, Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City), about 1345
Developed productive chinampas style of agriculture
Conquered and colonized Oaxaco in southwestern Mexico
Made alliance with Texcoco and Tlacopan
Built an empire of twelve million people, most of Mesoamerica

27. Lands of the Aztecs

28. Aztec View of Tenochtitlan

30. Mexica (Aztec) Society
Mexica warriors were the elite
From the Mexica aristocracy
Wealth, honor, and privileges
Mexica women had no public role, but were honored as mothers of warriors
Mexica women active in commerce and crafts
Primary purpose to bear children: women who died in childbirth celebrated
Most information comes from Spanish sources, recorded after the conquest
Courage Culture

31. Ruins of the City Center, Tenochtitlan

32. The Codex Mendoza : The Founding of Tenochtitlan

33. Tenochtitlan: The “Venice” of the Americas

34. Aztec Chinampa or Floating Garden: 15ft. to 30ft. wide

35. Tenochtitlan - Chinampas

36. Religion Deities Practices adopted from prior Mesoamerican cultures
Tezcatlipoca
Quetzalcóatl
Practices
Ritual bloodletting common to all Mesoamericans
Human sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli
Large temple at the center of Tenochtitlan, thousands of skulls

37. Aztec Writing
Aztec Math

38. Aztec Sun Stone -- Calendar

39. Aztec Sun Motifs

40. Aztec Codex (15c Manuscript)

41. The Aztecs Were Fierce Warriors

42. Aztecs Sacrifice Neighboring Tribes to the Sun God

43. Heart Sacrifice on an Aztec Temple Pyramid

44. Wall of Skulls, Tenochtitlan

45. Sacrificial Statue, Tenochtitlan

46. Aztec Gold

47. The Incas

48. Early Andean Society and the Chavín Cult
Early migration to Peru and Bolivia region
By 12,000 B.C.E. hunting and gathering peoples reached South America
By 8000 B.C.E. they began to experiment with agriculture
Complex societies appeared in central Andean region after 1000 B.C.E.
Andean societies were located in modern-day Peru and Bolivia
Early agriculture in South America
Main crops: beans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, cotton
Fishing supplemented agricultural harvests
By 1800 B.C.E. the people produced pottery, built temples and pyramids
The Chavín Cult, from about 900 to 300 B.C.E.
Complexity of Andean society increases during Chavín
Devised techniques of producing cotton textiles and fishing nets
Discovered gold, silver, and copper metallurgy
Cities began to appear shortly after Chavín cult
Early Andeans did not make use of writing

49. Mochica Early Andean states: Mochica (300-700 C.E.) in northern Peru
Irrigation, trade, military, no writing
Artistic legacy: painting on pottery, ceramics

50. Lands of the Incas

51. The Coming of the Inca
Kingdom of Chucuito dominated Andean South America after the twelfth century
Cultivation of potatoes; herding of llamas and alpacas
Traded with lower valleys; chewed coca leaves
Chimu, powerful kingdom in the lowlands of Peru before the mid-fifteenth century
Irrigation networks; cultivation of maize and sweet potatoes
Capital city at Chanchan had massive brick buildings
The Inca settled first around Lake Titicaca in the Andean highlands
Ruler Pachacuti launched campaigns against neighbors, 1438
Built a huge empire stretching four thousand kilometers from north to south
Inca ruled as a military and administrative elite
Use of quipu for record keeping
Capital at Cuzco, which had as many as three hundred thousand people in the late fifteenth century
Extensive road system linked north and south
Official runners carried messages; spread of Quecha language

52. Cuzco: Ancient Capital of the Inca (11,000 ft. above sea level)

53. Machu Picchu

54. Machu Picchu

55. Incan Suspension Bridges

57. Society Trade limited Inca society was also a hereditary aristocracy
Local barter in agricultural goods
Fewer specialized crafts
Inca society was also a hereditary aristocracy
After death, mummified rulers became intermediaries with gods
Peasants worked the land and gave over a portion of their produce to the state
Besides supporting ruling classes, revenue also used for famine relief
Peasants also provided heavy labor for public works

58. Religion Inca priests served the gods Venerated sun god called Inti
Creator god, Viracocha
Ritual sacrifices practiced, but not of humans
Inca religion had a strong moral dimension: rewards and punishments

59. Incan Terrace Farming

60. Incan Digging Sticks

61. Maize in Incan Pottery & Gold Work

62. Over 100 Different Types of Potatoes Cultivated by the Incans

63. Produce from a Typical Incan Market

64. Incan Ceramic Jars
Peanut
Potato
Squash
Cacao God
Cacao Pod

65. The Quipu: An Incan Database

66. Incan Mummies

67. Inca Gold & Silver