Central Americas

Mayan, Aztecs, Incans

Human Migration

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--JgMmsLkg--/18666jebis5bljpg.jpg

The Earliest Civilization in the Americas

I. OlmecsA. about 1500 to 500 BC.B. Mexican Gulf CoastC. Very little is known…much is conjecture

II. Great CivilizationsA. MayaB. AztecC. Inca

The Earliest Civilization

Olmecs Video• https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=nm-u8M6R7VA

Olmec Heads

1. What purpose might these sculptures have served for the Olmecs?

2. What can these sculptures tell us about Olmec society?

Cascajal Block

Olmec Writing• Cascajal Block, an ancient

slab of writing which is thought to be the oldest known writing system in the Western Hemisphere. The block features linear arrangements of certain characters that appear to be ancient depictions of tribal objects, such as animals, insects, tools and food (especially corn).

Religion

• Alters• Worship of

gods/goddesses• Enfant sacrifice…purely

speculative

Background (DO NOT COPY)• The Olmec civilization dates as far back as 1200 BCE.

Primarily situated in southern Mexico, the Olmecs spread as far as modern-day northern Mexico and areas of Central America. Many later civilizations from this region have roots in the Olmec culture. One of the best-known symbols of the Olmec is the large stone head sculptures such as the one shown here. Made out of basalt, these stone heads stand anywhere from eight to ten feet tall. While the heads have traditional "African" features, which have led many to hypothesize that the society emigrated originally from Africa, it is now known that these features were common to early Asian societies as well. Therefore, the actual origin of the Olmec people remains a mystery.

Sources

• http://www.jyi.org/issue/olmec-writing-the-oldest-in-the-western-hemisphere/

The Earliest Civilization

Olmecs Video• https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=nm-u8M6R7VA

Warm Up: hand in your maps…you will need your textbooks.

• What has been your favorite Halloween costume?• What movie/book character is your favorite villain?

Why?• What scary/monster songs do you know?

• http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween/videos/bet-you-didnt-know-halloween

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwkGZlAXwPM

Mayan• The Maya desired some unnatural

physical characteristics for their children. For instance, at a very young age boards were pressed on babies’ foreheads to create a flattened surface. This process was widespread among the upper class. Another practice was to cross babies’ eyes. To do this, objects were dangled in front of a newborn’s eyes, until the newborn’s eyes were completely and permanently crossed. The Maya filed their teeth to make them pointy and created holes that they filled with jade. Another interesting fact about Mayan children is that most were named according to the day they were born. Every day of the year had a specific name for both boys and girls and parents were expected to follow that practice.

Mayan Sports• The ancient Maya ballgame was played for thousands of years

throughout Mesoamerica, and had great religious significance. Contact with the ball was limited. Any body part, except the hands and feet, was allowed; The abdomen, thighs, upper arms and back were used. Maybe even the head. Kicking or throwing the ball was forbidden. In addition, the ball was not allowed to touch the ground. Slightly larger than basketball hoops, the rings were positioned on opposite walls, about 25 feet above the playing field. The ball had to be bounced off the wall in order to enter a ring. The ball was made of rubber and weighed about eight pounds! This made severe injury a definite possibility. Ballplayers wore protective gear, including wide padding around their hips called “yokes.” They also wore pads on their forearms and knees so they could fall to the ground in a kneeling position and hit the ball with one hip. Game play itself is thought to have been incredibly violent. Players would ram into each other at top speed so as to cause serious injury or death to an opponent, and this was actively encouraged by the referees. The game ended when the first goal was scored.

Aztec Punishment• When older children were

bad, they could have a painful punishment. It's known that one of these punishments could take the form of parents holding a child over a chili pepper fire where they forced them to inhale chili pepper smoke, which burned their eyes, sinuses, mouths, and lips.

Mayan Calendar• Haab: 18 months of 20 days each. (The five remaining days of the year were

considered unlucky)• Tzolkin: a 260-day sacred almanac. The birthdays of Maya children were marked

using this calendar. The day on which a child was born indicated which god would be a guiding force in the child's life. Today, some parents in Guatemala choose words from this calendar as names for their children.

• Calendar Round: combines both the Haab and the Tzolkin. This third calendar functioned like two interlocking cog wheels with specific numbers and day names repeating once every 52 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rijwHwOy8g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhWItvjk9Yg

Unique number system A complex, base-20 number system that made it possible to record into the millions using three symbols:

• a dot representing the number one • a bar representing the number five• a shell representing zero

Mayan Buildings • In Maya cities, ceremonial

buildings were precisely built according to compass directions.

• The most famous example of this kind of alignment is at Chichén Itzá the best known Maya city of the Yucatán Peninsula.

• The sun lights the stairs of a pyramid dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent god. At the vernal and autumnal equinoxes (April 21 and September 21), the Sun gradually illuminates the pyramid stairs and the serpent head at its base, and looks like a snake slithering down the sacred mountain to Earth.

Aztec Calendar• The Aztecs were keen observers, finding

explanations for celestial phenomena, natural disasters, and seasonal cycles. In addition to the sacred calendar found on the Sun Stone, the Aztecs relied on a 365-day agricultural calendar. Once every 52 years, the sacred calendar and the agricultural calendar ended at the same time. This was a cause for special ceremonies. The Aztec believed it was during this occurrence that the end of world could come.

In what other way did the Aztec record their legends?Aztec scribes wrote books, or codices, to keep track of history and their calendar. The trained scribes wrote in symbols called glyphs that were painted on sheets of bark or deerskin.

Aztec Capital• Tenochtitlán was an Aztec city that flourished between A.D.

1325 and 1521. Built on an island on Lake Texcoco, it had a system of canals and causeways that supplied the hundreds of thousands of people who lived there.

• It was largely destroyed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés after a siege in 1521, and modern-day Mexico City now lies over much of its remains.

• According to legend, the Aztec people left their home city of Aztlan nearly 1,000 years ago. Scholars do not know where Aztlan was, but according to ancient accounts one of these Aztec groups, known as the Mexica, founded Tenochtitlán in 1325.

Mexico City Today

Aztec sacrifice!

Aztecs believed that regular sacrifices were needed to continue to be in the gods' favor. Rituals would require a

human sacrifice to be given by ripping the still beating heart out of the persons' chest.

(History channel video 3min)http://www.history.com/videos/aztec-

sacrifice#aztec-sacrifice

Incan Accounting• One of the strengths of the

Incan Empire was its government's sophisticated method of recording goods, services, and other numerical data. Expert Incan accountants, the quipu camayoc, used webs of knots called quipus(pronounced kee-poo) to record and inventory this data, and to transport their accounting records throughout the empire.

Incan Mummy

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zvQP4a5pHo

Incan

• Did you know that the skulls of defeated chiefs were used as drinking vessels? The best known victim of this practice is Atahualpa, who after a long and violent power struggle against his brother Huascar in 1532, had his skull transformed into a drinking jar.

• Machu Picchu

• Over 2400m in elevation (over a mile) • Over 200 structures left today• On a mountain named Machu Picchu “old peak”• Built with no mortar between the bricks or wheels to

help haul the stones

Manchu Pichu

• http://video.pbs.org/video/1392958573/

Spanish Conquest• What happened to the Aztecs, Maya, and Inca?

The great civilizations of Mexico and of Central and South America faced many internal conflicts at the start of the sixteenth century. But their troubles became far greater when the first Spanish explorers arrived. In 1519, Hernando Cortés landed on the Gulf of Mexico with 600 men, and plenty of horses and guns. The last of the Aztec rulers, Montezuma II, greeted Cortés with gifts of gold and other treasures. However, Cortés recognized an opportunity to weaken the Aztecs by allying with groups that the Aztecs oppressed. With the help of his new allies, Cortés defeated Montezuma's forces. Cortés then turned on his allies. By 1521, he had destroyed the Aztec Empire. Within ten years, Cortés governed all of Mexico for Spain. Present-day Mexico City covers the area where the Aztec capital once stood. Much of Aztec culture was destroyed, but some artifacts are now held in museums. Ruins of the Aztec capital have been uncovered from beneath the streets of modern Mexico City.

When Christopher Columbus and his crew encountered Maya people in 1502, the Maya civilization had greatly declined. After 900, conflicts within the Maya lands had resulted in divisions that caused the civilization to fall from its former height. In 1523, Cortés sent Pedro de Alvarado to conquer the Maya in Guatemala. The Maya fought back valiantly. By the mid-1500s, Spanish cities were founded in the Maya lands. Many Maya were killed or mistreated, but a few high-ranking members of the community retained some official control.

The Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro invaded the Incan Empire in 1532, seeking riches. The Inca had already had some contact with Europeans, and many had died of European diseases. The empire was also weakened by a civil war between two ruling brothers. Pizarro manipulated the two sides, eventually defeating both. The Spanish took over all the Incan lands within 40 years, taking vast quantities of gold, destroying the cities, and nearly erasing an entire civilization. Much of what is known today about the Inca comes from archaeologists. The mountaintop ruins of the Incan city of Machu Picchu were discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American explorer. Located high in the Andes Mountains, the city was hidden from the Spanish and left intact.