1. Mesoamerican Cultures: Maya, Aztec, Inca
Global History

2. Maya
Social Structure

3. Maya Religion Believed each day was a living god
Had to please the gods via sacrifice
Piercing of bodies with needle
Flowers & incense
Human Sacrifice
Sacrificed prisoners of war, slaves, and children
Victim painted blue, had chest cut open, and heart removed
Drug Use
Smoked a strong tobacco w/hallucinogenic effects
Drank fermented water, honey, and tree bark drink

5. Maya Farm, Trade, and Agriculture
Slash-and-burn farming  clear land by burning current vegetation and planting new crops in the ashes
No Formal Currency…Used the cocoa beans as $
Counterfeit cocoa beans
Some merchants would remove the cocoa from the bean and refill it with wax

6. Maya Achievements Hieroglyphic symbols
Concept of zero & counting system
Calendar
Only days short; extremely accurate
Predicted the end of the world 12/2012

7. Mesoamerican Ballgame

8. Aztec
Tenochtitlan
A group of people first known as the Mexicas, later the Aztecs, found the city of Tenochtitlan (modern day Mexico City) in 1315.
Tenochtitlan became an urban center that was larger than European capitals
Dubbed the “Venice of the New World”

9. Aztec
Religion
As an agricultural people, the Aztec depended heavily on the forces of nature and worshiped them as gods
The Aztec believed that the benevolent gods must be kept strong to prevent the evil gods from destroying the world
Human Sacrifice
Victims of sacrifice were usually prisoners of war, although Aztec warriors would sometimes volunteer for the more important sacrificial rituals
The god Tlaloc was believed to prefer children as sacrificial victims

11. Aztec
Agriculture
Tenochtitlan was constructed on swamp land not suited for farming
Chinampas  “floating gardens;” artificial islands made of soil and reed mats that were placed in Lake Texcoco

13. Aztec Spanish Conquest
In 1519 Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés and more than 500 Spaniards landed in eastern Mexico in search of land and gold
Kidnaps Aztec leader Montezuma for a gold ransom
Conquered all of the Aztec by 1525
1/3 of population killed
Mostly from small pox
Survivors forced into labor mining for gold or working on the estates of the Spaniards

15. Inca Government The Emperor owned all people, land, & resources
Government had complete control over the economy
Farmers worked on cooperative farms
Early form of socialism/communism
Massive bureaucracy
For every 10,000 people there were 1,331 government officials
Mita  special tax, but in the form of labor NOT money
All able bodied citizens required to work for the government for a set number of days per year

16. Inca Religion Worshipping of sun played a major role in the religion
Emperor seen as the son of the sun god
Human Sacrifice?
Only on the rarest occasion; usually children or virginal women who dedicated lives to worshipping the sun
Most of sacrifices were guinea pigs and llamas

17. Inca Achievements Massive Road System Machu Picchu
Connected all the people of the Incan Empire
All roads led to the Capital of Cuzco
Machu Picchu
Served as religious city and fortress during the Spanish conquest
Could only be reached by bridges over rivers 1,950 feet in the air

18. Machu Picchu

19. Inca Achievements Terrace farming
What other cultures that we have studied this year have used this method?
Quipus  series of knotted strings used by Incan officials for keeping records
Incans did not have a writing system or advanced calendar

20. Inca
Spanish Conquest
Conquered by Pizarro in 1532