1. Pre-Columbian
Civilizations
In the Americas

2. “American Civs 1” Aim: How did the Mayan civilization develop?
Do Now: How do the Mayans compare to other civilizations that we studied?
Homework:
SWBAT: Explain how geography affected the development of the Mayan civilization
Describe the main features of Olmec and Mayan civilizations
Explain how the Mayan civilization declined

3. Geography of the Americas
10,000bce small family groups of Paleolithic hunters & food gatherers reached N. Am. from Asia.
Took place during the last ice age when so much water froze, creating a land bridge b/w Siberia & Alaska.
About 10,000bce, global warming occurred, ice melted, covering land bridge.
Many game animals like the mammoth were killed off due to temp. & skills of hunters so they fished, gathered fruits, etc.
Q: Is it possible to have another ice age?
Q: Name some major mountains & Rivers in the Americas?
Q: Where were the civilizations?
Bering Strait

4. Agricultural Revolution
Greatest change ( bce) - ppl learned to cultivate plants & domesticate animals, such as llama & others valued for their wool.
Farming in response to disappearance of the large mammals.
Q: What were the implications of not having large animals such as oxen or horses?
Q: Why is the Neolithic such a turning point in human history?
Map of the world showing approximate centers of origin of agriculture and its spread in prehistory: eastern USA (4000–3000 BP), Central Mexico (5000–4000 BP), Northern South America (5000–4000 BP), sub-Saharan Africa (5000–4000 BP, exact location unknown), the Fertile Crescent (11000 BP), the Yangtze and Yellow River basins (9000 BP) and the New Guinea Highlands (9000–6000 BP).

5. Major Pre-Columbian Civilizations

6. Olmecs Lasted 1200- 100bce Archaeologists knew very little.
Had rich tombs & temples.
Did not build true cities, built
ceremonial centers
Traded extensively in jade, obsidian,
small works of art, animal skins, etc.
Common ppl labored regularly on behalf of the Olmec elite.
Remains – giant carved stone head – nobody knows how they moved these colossal 40-ton stones from distant quarries (mine) without wheeled vehicles or draft animals.
Q: What do the rich tombs & temples suggest?
Q: How do you think it moved?
Core & Foundational civilizations include: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mohenjo Dar & Harrapa, Shang, Olmecs & Chavin.

7. Olmecs
It is clear that the art (mainly large heads carved from stone), architecture, & religion had an impact on the ppl that came after them.
Influence spread through trade.
Invented a calendar, used inscriptions as a form of writing.
Most important legacy – tradition of priestly leadership & religious devotion.
Comparative point is that unlike other early civilizations – such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Shang China & the Indus – the Olmec rose without the benefit of a nearby major river system.
Earliest Mesoamerican Civ. emerged along the Mexican gulf coast & founded traditions followed by later societies. For example - Jaguars & serpents that decorate Olmec carvings appear in the arts of later peoples.

8. The Mayas

9. Mayas – Geography & Politics
Influenced by the Olmecs.
Bw 250 & 900 ce, cities flourished from the Yucatan through much of Cent. Am. (~500bc begins).
Land the Maya inhabited was dry in the N. & mountainous in the south. Much of it was still covered by rainforest, dense jungle.
Political unit was the city-state.
They had kings named Great Jaguar Paw, Shield Jaguar & Bird Jaguar
Q: The relationship b/w Mayan city-states is most similar to the relationship bw what other city-states
Yucatan Peninsula
Tikal Jungle View at Sunset

10. P & S - Cities, Temples & Palaces
Tikal (Guatemala) – At height, 50,000 ppl lived here
Palenque (Mexico) - site of many royal palaces.
Copan (Honduras).
Palaces with stone pillars & carvings of events in Mayan history.
Towering pyramid temples dominated large Mayan cities.
Mayan pyramids remained tallest structure in the Americas until 1903 (Flatiron bldg).
Q: How did they move large blocks?
Q: What do these temples & pyramids tell you about the civ.?
Q: What’s the point of having carvings in stone pillars & palaces. Do we still do that today?
Q: What is happening in Europe around this time?

11. P & S - Cities, Temples & Palaces
Priests performed sacrifices on high platforms, some temples served as burial places for nobles & priests
The shedding of blood was critical to Mayan culture bc the bloodletting rituals were associated with rain & agriculture upon which the Mayan culture was based.
Q: Who were the sacrificed?
Tikal - Main Court
Overview of Tikal (Guatemala)
Tikal: Temple of the Masks
Temple of the Masks

12. Tikal - Wall Mask of the Rain God
Quetzalcoatl: The God of Wisdom & Learning
Tikal - Wall Mask of the Rain God

13. Chichen-Itza - Ball Court Chichen-Itza - Observatory
The Maya founded the city of Chichen Itza around 250ce. It remains a treasure trove of archaeological evidence about how the Maya lived.
Chichen-Itza - Observatory

14. Mayan Cultivation of Maize
Mayas - economy
Farming methods allowed them to thrive in tropical environments. They cleared dense rain forests & then built raised fields that caught & held water.
Had corn (maize) – the staple food, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, chilies, etc.
Wealth came from trade (cargoes of honey, cocoa, cotton, cloth, features in exchange with other ppl across Middle Am.).
The Maya produced cacao that could be both consumed as a stimulant, traded, & used as currency.
Q: What kind of animals did the Mayas have? How did that impact their civilization?
Mayan Cultivation of Maize

15. Mayan Underground Granaries: Chultunes
Mayas - economy
Had no medal tools or beasts of burden (draft), but had limestone & manpower.
Mesoamericans had no need for wheeled vehicles bc they did not have many domesticated large animals which would have been necessary to make wheeled vehicles useful.
Mayan Underground Granaries: Chultunes
Chac, God of Rain

16. Maya - cultural
Sloping foreheads was ideal, infants would have their heads bound while they were still malleable. It did not affect the brain
Maya filed their teeth with sharp points & built up the bridges of their noses with clay.
Played game (similar to soccer/vball) in the ball court.
Players wore heavy padding to prevent them from being bruised by the solid rubber ball. 2 objectives – 1. Get the ball through a stoned circle turned on its side & placed high up, this was a rare event b/c players were not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or feet. 2nd objective was to keep the ball in place as most points were gained when the ball went dead.
Q: How were the winners
treated?

17. Social Classes Ruling chief. Rulers were men, but some women governed.
Nobles served as military leaders & officials who managed public works, collected taxes, & enforced law.
Most Mayas were farmers – grew corn, beans, squash – as well as fruit trees, cotton.
Farmers paid taxes in food & helped built temples to support the city.
Q: Why do civilizations have social classes?

18. Advances in Learning - writing & math
Developed hieroglyphic writing system carved on
monuments, jewelry, stone, painted on pottery & written/painted in fig tree bark paper books.
Needed to measure time for sacrifices.
Spanish conquerors scorched the books bc thought it
was a tool of a devil & it was a way to convert these
devil-worshippers. Only 4 books survived, all religious guides.
Maya scribes were forced to learn European script.
They differ from other pre-Columbian societies in the Americas bc they devised the most advanced system of writing. They developed accurate writing that represents all of the sounds of their language. Each hieroglyph represented a syllable.
One thing that makes the Maya language (Maya) difficult is there love of substitution, one sound can have 13 or 14 different versions. Each time a Mayan wrote a given word or phrase, could choose from a variety of signs & combine them in new ways.
Developed numbering system & understood concept of zero. Measured square roots of rectangles.
Q: Why is language developed & how does it die out?
Q: How are we able to decipher the Maya language today?
Q: Why would the conquistadors destroy the Maya language?
Mayan Glyphs

19. Mayan Glyphs Mayan Mathematics sky king house child city
Q: What does this tell you about there writing & math systems?

20. Advances in learning
Aqueducts – water tunnels that allowed for running water. Could rival the Romans.
Maya were skilled at astronomy, could chart progress of several planets & could even predict eclipses.
Pakal ( ) – most important Maya king, very charismatic
Built many temples – including the temple of the inscriptions.
Mayan Drinking Cup for Chocolate

21. Suddenly & mysteriously in 9th c, Maya abandoned many of their cities
Suddenly & mysteriously in 9th c, Maya abandoned many of their cities. The temples & pyramids were swallowed by the low-lands & forgotten.
Although later civilizations in Mesoamerica borrowed & built on the previous accomplishments of the Olmecs & Maya, later civilizations rarely surpassed their intellectual predecessors
Q: How did the Mayans decline?

22. Decline
Possible frequent warfare forced them to abandon their traditional agricultural methods.
Overpopulation may have led to overfarming, which exhausted the soil. Pressure on resources.
Heavy taxes to finance wars & temples sparked peasant revolts.
Kings became powerless & were not counted on for guidance.
Today, millions (~4) in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize & Honduras speak Mayan languages & are descended from the builders of the early Am. civ.
Q: How can you tell if you are a descendent of a Mayan?
When Spanish arrived in 1517,
Mayan cities were abandoned.
They conquered one village at a
time & took longer to subdue (unlike Aztecs defeated in 2 years)
1562 – burning of Mayan texts
Priests were sent to convert
Mayas
Mayan archeology just
beginning. Numerous temples
yet to be discovered.

23. “Am. Civs 2” Aim: How did the Aztec civilization develop?
Do Now: Generally, how do civilizations of the Americas compare to European civilizations or Asian civilizations or African civilizations?
HW:See engrade
SWBAT: explain the development of the Aztec civilization
Describe the main features of the civilization
Explain how Aztecs built and controlled a powerful empire in Mexico

24. Aztecs
Bands of nomadic ppl migrated to Mexico. (Founded bce & dominated ce). Shifted from hunting to farming
By the end of the 12th c., the Toltecs fell b/c of civil conflict & nomadic incursions
The Aztecs rose to power by control of water & irrigation, through political alliances with neighboring cities, through marriage alliances & warfare
Like many nomads who migrated to settled areas, when the Mexica migrated to central Mexico, they adopted cultural & religious traditions shared by the peoples of Mesoamerica.
“Aztec” used by the Spanish from 1800s to describe the group of Native Ams speaking Nahuatl. Were known as Mexica before.
Q: Why are there different names for groups?
Q: How did the Aztecs choose their location of their city?
Tenochtitlan: The “Venice” of the Americas

25. Aztecs – cities –
Long before Mayan cities rose to the south (period 2: 600bce – 600ce), the city of Teotihuacan situated on the island of Lake Texcoco had emerged in Mexico
Teotihuacan (40 miles ne of Mexico city). Population rose to 200,000.
Don’t know much about this key empire, but had great ruins that the Aztecs envied
Gods told them to search for a sign (snake on a cactus).
Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). Important trading city, similar to Timbuktu, Venice, Baghdad
There was causeways that connected different islands to the mainland. Gaps with bridges for protection.
Aqueducts brought in fresh water from the springs of the surrounding mountains.
Massive temples & Pyramids, large apt. bldgs.
Q: How would you compare the city of Teotihuacán to Tikal?
Q: Is there still a big lake today?
Tenochtitlan: The “Venice” of the Americas

26. Aztecs – Political
When Spanish reached the city in 1519, they were awestruck.
Unlike Mayan city-states, each had its own king, the Aztecs had a single ruler, chosen by a council of nobles & priests to lead in war.
Moctezuma ( ) –extended empire’s borders
Nezyacoytal – greatest engineer on the continent.
Moctezuma II – zenith of Aztec empire, 25 million ppl subject to his rule.
By 1500, empire numbered an est. 30 million ppl., extremely high population.
War brought immense wealth & power.
Q: Is it better to have various city-states with kings or one king to oversee the various city-states?
The Codex Mendoza : The Founding of Tenochtitlan. Is an example of an innovation in visual arts.

27. Aztec Chinampa or Floating Garden: 15ft.-30ft. wide
Aztecs - Economics
Population grew, created more farmland, artificial islands, floating gardens
Raised corn, squash, avocado, & beans.
Chinampas – unique system of planting crops on floating beds of soil in the lake surrounding the city. Can produce up to 7 crops a year.
Maya farmer support 2, aztec more, today 150 ppl.
Significant road system, well-planned & wide for easy movement throughout empire
Aztec super highway (ancient federal express) rely runners ever hundred miles.
Canals for transportation.
Traders had goods such as weapons, tools & rope to barter for products such as jaguar skins & cocoa beans.
No beasts of burden, no wheel, everything carried by humans.
Q: How can war help turn their capital into a magnificent city?
Q: Why is the snake a popular creature for both the Mayans & Aztecs?
Aztec Chinampa or Floating Garden: 15ft.-30ft. wide

28. Aztecs – Society Social system:
Nobles – served as officials, judges, & governors.
Warriors
Commoners – farmed the land.
Slaves – criminals or prisoners.
Priests were a class apart, performed rituals to please the Aztec gods & prevent droughts, floods, disasters.
Once the Mexica became an agricultural society, the primary role of women was to bear children.
Most Mexica women married b/c in Mexica society, motherhood & homemaking were considered the ideals
Around 1500 c.e., membership in Aztec society was hierarchically defined by all of these methods: social classes, gender, clans or tribes, occupational groups
Bc of their level of technological development, Aztec work & production relied heavily on the physical labor of humans
Q: Was there any way for upward social mobility?
Aztecs – Society
The Aztecs Were Fierce Warriors

29. Heart Sacrifice in an Aztec Temple Pyramid
Aztecs –Religion
Polytheistic. Worshipped rain god, images appear on public buildings & everyday objects.
Religion was oppressive & made little distinction b/w the sacred & secular
Sun God was the principal God.
Sacrifice – essential ritual to ensure the world’s survival. The Sun God battled forces each day & offered human sacrifices to ensure that the sun would come out & earth wouldn’t die.
Q: Could we condemn the Aztecs for sacrificing humans? Was it morally wrong?
Sun Motifs
Heart Sacrifice in an Aztec Temple Pyramid

30. Aztecs – Society & Religion
Aztecs Sacrifice Neighboring Tribes to the Sun God
Aztecs – Society & Religion
The Mexica placed so much emphasis on human sacrifice bc their military successes in the 14th century convinced them of the power of Huitzilopochtli’s favor
Olmecs & Mayas practiced human sacrifice, but not on the massive scale of the Aztecs.
Human blood was most precious to Aztecs (for Romans – gold, for Egyptians – afterlife)
If didn’t get it in massive quantities, apocalypse.
Some discontent festered among conquered ppl & when Spanish arrived, they found allies.
Q: How come sometimes nobles gave up their own lives to appease the Gods?
Q: Do you know what Cultural Relativity is?
Q: Human sacrificing of the Mexica is similar to which other civs?
Aztecs sacrificing neighboring tribes to the Sun God
Sacrificial Statue, Tenochtitlan
Rulers continued to use religious ideas to legitimize their rule. Ex. European Divine Right, Safavid use of Shiism, Mexica practice of human sacrifice, Songhay
Promotion of Islam, Chinese emperors’ public performance of Confucian rituals.
Rulers used the arts to display political power & to legitimize their rule. Ex) Monumental architecture, urban design, courtly literature, the visual arts.

31. Wall of Skulls, Tenochtitlan
Q: Did the Aztecs sacrifice
their enemies or themselves?

32. Aztec Sun Stone -- Calendar Aztec Codex (15c Manuscript)
Education & Learning
Priests kept Aztec knowledge, recorded law &
historical events.
Had accurate calendar, like the Mayas.
Believed illness was punishment from the Gods.
Used herbs & other medicines to treat fevers & wounds.
Could set broken bones & treat dental cavities. Prescribed steam baths for various ills.
Q: How advanced was their learning?
Aztec Sun Stone -- Calendar
Aztec Codex (15c Manuscript)

33. Aztec - culture Instruments - drums, rattles & flutes.
Aztec culture valued beauty & the craftsmen that could produce it. Gold was panned in the rivers of the conquered lands, then made into a variety of ornaments including masks, pendants, ear & nose ornaments. Wealthy people wore bracelets & anklets.
Workmen who produced these, were formed in a guild & lived in a special district in the city. The most respected of all the craftsmen were the feather workers who made magnificent headdresses for kings & hi-ranking warriors.
Within 50 years all trace of the Aztec powerful empire was wiped out.
Now over 90 mill. Ppl in Mexico. Descendants still speak the language.
Aztecs, like the Mayas are not dead - craftsmanship, spoken language, making tortillas still happens today.
Aztec Gold

34. Aztec Writing
Aztec Math

35. Mayan Glyphs Mayan Mathematics sky king house child city
Q: What does this tell you about there writing & math systems?