1. World History: The Earth and its Peoples
Chapter 11
Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas,
C.E.

2. Objectives
How did differing environments influence the development of Mesoamerican, Andean, and northern people?
What technologies were developed to meet the challenges of these environments?
How were the civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Andean region similar? How did they differ?
How did religious belief and practice influence political life in the ancient Americas?

3. Classic-Era Culture and Society, 200-900
Classic Period - ( CE)
Olmec traditions
platform and pyramid structures
political and cultural innovations
elite ability to control laborers
rich and power of leaders
Teotihuacan - ( CE)
largest city in Americas
125,000 to 200,000
pyramids to Sun and Moon gods
human sacrifice
well-being of society
Quetzalcoatl
feathered serpent god

4. Classic-Era Culture and Society, 200-900
Teotihuacan Agriculture
marginal lands into production
chinampas
“floating gardens”
year-round farming
Commoner Housing
apartment-like stone buildings
artisans
Commerce
base of wealth for elite class
Politics
alliance of elite families
demise to invaders or interior elite / class conflict

5. The Maya Maya city-states rulers Guatemala, Belize, Honduras
tropical climate and fragile soils
managed forests; terracing
draining swamps; gardens
single culture, no political unity
city-states
centered of religious temples
awe the masses
pyramids and plazas
alignment with Sun and Venus
rulers
priestly and political
bloodletting as communication

6. The Maya Military Women Technology captives not territory ruling class
elite warriors sacrificed
Women
ruling class
important roles in ceremonies
bloodletting
common
gardens; family, religion, healing
Technology
calendric system
ritual, solar, cycle, long count
math
zero and place value

7. Postclassic Period, 900-1500 Population expansion
intensified agriculture
increased warfare
Toltecs CE
Tula
important innovations
military and political
conquest state
warrior, sacrifice images
downfall
division of responsibility
struggle between religious cults
new Mesoamerican order
urbanized Toltec statecraft

8. The Aztecs Aztecs - 1325 shift to monarch system Mexica
clan-based from N. Mexico
serfs and mercenaries
adopt Toltec urbanization
Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco
Lake Texcoco
shift to monarch system
rulers selected by council
war provided legitimacy
social reorganization (inequality)
warrior elite
slaves and serfs
clothes, diets, marriage

9. Aztecs Population Agriculture Commerce 150,000 (500,000 by 1500 CE)
labor of clans and defeated
land reclamation
Lake Texcoco dike
chinampas
maize, fruits, vegetables
tribute system
1/4 of crops
Commerce
specialized merchant class
no money or credit (barter)
Tenochtitlan markets

10. Aztecs Religion human sacrifice polytheistic; dual nature gods
male and female
war and agriculture (Twin Temples)
Huitzilopochtli
cult of the hummingbird
Sun’s warmth
human hearts
Tlatoc
rain god
human sacrifice
war captives
criminals, slaves, tribute
political subtext

11. Sacrificial Tools

12. Northern Peoples ^ Agriculture = ^ Population Southwestern Cultures
maize, beans, squash
irrigation systems
Southwestern Cultures
Mexican influence
Anasazi CE
“ancient ones”
four-corner region
underground buildings (kivas)
artisan activities
Decline
population pressures
limited arable land in drought

13. Mound Builders Adena - 500 BCE Hopewell - 100-400 CE Cahokia
Ohio River Valley
monumental earthworks
elite burial mounds
Hopewell CE
hunter-gatherer / limited agriculture
chiefdom
hereditary
religious and secular
Cahokia
Mississippi Valley
East St. Louis
30,000 population

14. Andean Civilizations, 200-1500
Andean Society
effective organization of labor
khipus
census and tribute counts
terrace farming
ayllu (clan)
communally held land
reciprocal relationship
mit’a (territorial state)
state projects
vertical integration
small ecological areas
access to essential zones

15. Moche Moche - 200 CE artisanship decline city-state massive irrigation
influence via military
theocratic society
massive irrigation
coca for religious rituals
llamas and alpacas
artisanship
pottery: textiles
gold and silver objects: metal tools
decline
natural disasters
rise of new military powers (Wari)

16. Tiwanaku and Wari Tiwanaku Wari Decline Andean highland (13,000’)
Lake Titicaca reclamations
ceremonial / political center
large regional population
Wari
possible twin capital or dependency
lacks central planning
Decline
increased military conflict

17. The Inca Inca Weakening ambitious military expansion
resources from ecological zones
llamas and alpacas
collective efforts
1/7 male population
held hostage
local ruler heirs held in Cuzco
Cuzco
Incan capital
shape of a Puma
Weakening
civil war in 1525