1. Early America

2. Environment
Migratory hunter-gatherers move into N. America from Asia across Beringia (land bridge)
Massive glacial fields a hazard – (ice age)
How did they arrive? Travel by boat possible, but difficult…

4. Agriculture
Eventual development of agriculture means new needs – stable homes, assistance
Areas from N. to S. America – focus on plant growth (squash, maize, and beans)
Would open the door to new technology – Neolithic Revolution…?

6. The Mesoamericans
Meso means Middle---- Middle America

7. 1st Civilizations 5000 BCE- Farming starts in Mesoamerica
1,000 BCE– spread from Mexico to Honduras “Meso-” middle- America
Olmec: 1200 – 400bce: “Mother Culture” – greatly influenced future Mexican civilizations (Mayan, Aztec, Inca)
Heavy rain, thick jungle, but fertile soil and massive clay deposits = resources!

8. Olmec Society Pyramids, stone heads of worship, and earthen mounds
Polytheistic in belief: Half Jaguar, Half Man figure of power, fertility + abundance
High commerce – iron ore, gemstones, food, rubber…?
Home life: males (hunt/farm), women (raise children, pottery), children (assist parents)
Decline: unknown – probable invasion

9. Olmec Trade and Developments
Large trade network in Central Mexico and the Pacific Coast
Import- Shells and valuable stones
Export- rubber, pottery, furs, cacao
Knowledge, Beliefs and Art are also exchanged
Calendar
Possible first writing in Americas
Beginnings of Soccer

11. The Zapotec 1500 BCE- 750CE
As Olmec collapsed, Zapotec developed in S.W. Mexico (Oaxaca) rugged, rocky valleys
Scattered villages centered around San Jose Mogote and Monte Alban (first real city in America)
Credit: 1st American writing system (hieroglyphics), calendar (based on sun/stars), and observatories

13. Maya 1000BCE-900CE
At the height of the civilization- 10 MILLION people, 40 Cities
Slash and Burn Agriculture- burning the ground to clear land for planting and putting nutrients from burned brush into the soil
FARMERS-
City- States- each had its own ruler and government. No ruler ever united multiple cities into one empire.
Cities were linked to each other by TRADE and WAR

14. Mayan Society Kings can communicate with gods
Polytheistic- many gods influence everyday life. To keep the gods happy, Mayans performed private and public rituals. Including blood sacrifices- piercing tongues or skin
Priests and highly skilled warriors are upper class- warriors took prisoners of war and priests sacrificed them to the gods.
Created a 365 day calendar based on astronomy
Created the concept of 0!
Writing system- Glyphs- represented objects and sounds.
Wrote on large stone monuments and bark books- codex

15. Aztecs 1100CE-1500s Capital City- Tenochtitlan Chinampas
200,000 people in 5 square miles
Political and Religious center of the empire
Built in the middle of a lake
Chinampas
Floating gardens- because they are on a lake
Grew corn, beans, squash, etc
Fierce Warriors
In 1420s, Aztecs formed alliances with other city-states in the area. Eventually ruled other city-states (about 5 million people)
Tribute- a tax on the people the Aztecs ruled over
Could be paid in feathers, foods, pottery or blankets
Any leader that refused to pay tribute would have his town burned to the ground.
Religion
Human Sacrifice- up to 20,000 people a year are sacrificed to Aztec gods
Education
All children went to school till age 15!

16. Society

17. Incans 1400s-1532
Entire Pacific coast of South America (at the height of the empire)
Capital- Cuzco
Political alliances and military force allowed the Incans to gain huge amounts of territory
At the height of the empire- 12 million people
When a new area was conquered, they made the town leaders move to other parts of the empire and brought new leaders in.
This created stability because the old leaders couldn’t stir up trouble with their townspeople
Mita- work tax
All commoners were required to do work for the government in order to pay their tax
Women would weave cloth for the army, Men worked on government owned farms, in mines, or built roads
Terraces built into the mountain to increase land for farming
No Merchants or Markets?
Government officials distributed goods around the empire
Extra goods are kept for emergencies
No written language, but they did have Quipu
Sets of colored and knotted cords
Used to record tax records, quantities of livestock, population
Only specially trained officials could read and use Quipus
Roads
14,000 miles of paved roads
Stairs cut in to mountains, bridges across rivers and valleys