GRAPES! Civilizations: Mesoamerica (Mayans, Aztecs, Incans)

Maya (p. 395-399)

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Aztec (p. 400-406)

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Inca (p. 407-411)

Geography
  • Location/region
  • Physical features
  • Environment
  • Movement
  • Neighbors
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  • From southern Mexico into northern Central America
  • Includes the Yucatan Peninsula
  • Jungle, forest, mountain landscape
  • Cities: Tikal, Chichen Itza
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  • Located in central Mexico (“Valley of Mexico”)
  • Situated around lakes in valley = access to fertile soil
  • Major city: Tenochtitlan
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  • In South America (mod-day Peru); expanded to include 2500 miles
  • Centered in mountainous region in the “Valley of Kuzco”

Religion
  • Holy books
  • Beliefs, teachings
  • Deities
  • Sin/salvation
  • Conversion
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  • Polytheistic
  • Gods associated with nature (EX: god of corn, death, rain, etc.)
  • Gods associated with 4 cardinal directions
  • Worshiped gods via offerings of food, flowers, etc.
  • Believed in the power of human/blood sacrifice (at times) but did not use sacrifice a lot
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  • Polytheistic
  • Major god: Quetzalcoatl
  • Myth of Quetzalcoatl – that the god would come back one day  influences Mayan culture heavily
  • Involved ritual offerings to the gods
  • Calendar of ritual religious festivals
  • Carried out human sacrifice on a massive scale
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  • Polytheistic (fewer gods than Aztecs and Mayans)
  • Gods represented different parts of nature
  • Worship the sun = worship the king (King is descended from the sun god)
  • Had religious ceremonies, sacrifices

Achievements
  • Arts/music
  • Literature
  • Philosophy
  • Math/science
  • Conquests
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  • Giant, elaborate pyramids, palaces, temples
  • Stone carving dedicated to rulers and the gods
  • Constructed ball courts (game had religious, political sig.)
  • Created calendar
  • Developments in math, science, astronomy
  • Base 20 number system
  • Writing system = glyphs
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  • Elaborate temples, pyramids, monuments to leaders/gods
  • Developed planned cities
  • Raised roadways
  • Chinampas
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  • Extensive road system developed to connect vast empire
  • Founded schools
  • Elaborate temples, pyramids, and monuments to gods/leaders
  • Engineers and stonemasons – but had no iron and did not use the wheel
  • Built irrigation canals and agricultural fields; created a calendar (day/night)
  • Developed a way to freeze-dry goods
  • Created accounting device (quipu) to record numerical data

Maya

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Aztec

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Inca

Political
  • Leaders, elites
  • Gov’t structure
  • War
  • Diplomacy, treaties
  • Courts, laws
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  • Series of independent city-states each ruled by a god-king
  • City-states connected by alliances
  • Theocracy
  • Kinghood = hereditary
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  • Started out as city-states during Olmec, Toltec period, developed into empire when Aztecs officially took over
  • Took over city-states as they formed the Aztec Empire
  • Formed the Triple Alliance
  • Demanded tribute from city-states, people that were conquered
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  • Empire, not city-states
  • Organized into bureaucracy
  • Theocracy (Incan leader had to be descended from the sun god)
  • Worshipped dead rulers by preserving their bodies (mummies)
  • Used force and conquest to create strong Incan empire
  • Demanded tribute (mita) from the people they conquered
  • Capital at Kuzco

Economic
  • Type of system
  • Technology, industry
  • Trade, commerce
  • Capital/money
  • Types of businesses
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  • Agricultural and trade-based economy
  • Grew beans, maize, squash
  • Traded salt, flint, feathers, shells, and honey
  • Economic alliances (trade) between city-states strengthened the bonds between Mayan cities
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  • Trade was important to Aztec econ.
  • Traded obsidian, precious metals, etc.
  • Had incredibly large market areas in cities to help trade
  • Also grew some crops as well (grown on chinampas or floating plots of land in the lakes
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  • Efficient economic system (trade and agriculture-based)
  • Used complex road system to facilitate trade
  • Used system of runners (think Pony Express) to deliver messages and trade goods
  • State-controlled economy
  • Socialist almost in its economy (everything belonged to the entire civilization, no private or personal trade)

Social
  • Family
  • Women’s rights
  • Social classes
  • Inequalities
  • Daily life
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  • Social classes existed (not egalitarian)
  • 1. King 2. Nobles 3. Merchants, specialized workers 4. Peasants
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  • 1. Emperor
  • 2. Military leaders/nobles/priests
  • 3. Commoners
  • 4. Slaves
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  • Used clothing as a physical marker of social class
  • 11 families = noble because they were descendants of the sun god

What happened to them?
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  • Disappeared
  • B/c of Overuse of physical, natural resources
  • Frequent warfare
  • Soil depletion, overpopulation
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  • Problems of Montezuma’s death
  • More and more tribute demanded = increased the # of uprisings against Aztec Empire
  • Arrival of the Spanish
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  • Evil omen released by King Capac
  • King’s son died, civil war broke out
  • Atahualpa won the civil war, but could not reunite kingdom
  • Spanish arrived