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![Page 1: Early Civilizations of Middle America Presentation created by Robert L. Martinez Primary Content Source: Prentice Hall World History Images as cited.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649eda5503460f94be8e88/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Early Civilizations of
Middle America
Presentation created by Robert L. Martinez
Primary Content Source: Prentice Hall World History
Images as cited.
![Page 2: Early Civilizations of Middle America Presentation created by Robert L. Martinez Primary Content Source: Prentice Hall World History Images as cited.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062518/56649eda5503460f94be8e88/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Approximately 30,000 years ago, small family groups of Paleolithic hunters and food
gatherers reached North America from Asia. This great migration took place during the last
ice age .
nhorizon.net
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At that time, so much water froze into thick ice sheets that the sea level
dropped, exposing a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, in the area known as
the Bering Strait.
carrollton.k12.oh.us
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Many historians believe that hunters
followed herds of bison and
mammoths across this land bridge. Other migrating people may have
paddled small boats and fished along the
coasts. gatesofvienna.blogspot.com
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About 10,000 B.C.E., the Earth’s climate grew warmer. As the ice melted , water levels rose,
covering the land bridge under the Bering Strait.
huffingtonpost.com
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The global warming, or worldwide
temperature increase, along with the
hunting skills of the first Americans, may have killed off large
game animals like the mammoth.
allposters.com
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People adapted by hunting small animals, fishing, and gathering fruit, roots, and
shellfish. These nomadic hunter-gatherers slowly migrated eastward and southward
across the Americas.
sott.net
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The Americas are made up of the two continents of North America and South America. Within these two geographic
regions is a cultural region called Middle America.
dreamstime.com
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Middle America includes Mexico and Central America and was home to
several early civilizations.
guatemalatourism.wordpress.com
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Great mountain chains form a spiny backbone down the western Americas. In
North America, the Rocky Mountains split into the East and West Sierra Madre
of Mexico.
worldmapsonline.com home.comcast.net
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The towering Andes run down the length
of South America. The continents are
drained by two of the world’s longest rivers, the Amazon of South
America and the Mississippi of North
America.
cyclelifeonline.com
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The greatest adaption by early Americans was the cultivation of plants and domestication of
animals. It is believed that farming was partly a response to the disappearance of large
mammals.
fresnoolv.org
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With fewer animals to hunt, people came to depend more on other food sources. Neolithic
people began cultivating a range of crops, from corn and beans to sweet potatoes, peppers,
tomatoes, and squash.
foodsovereigntytours.org
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Early American farmers domesticated animals. In South America, domesticated animals
include the llama valued for their wool. The lack of draft animals in the Americas, such as
oxen or horses, would limit development in some areas.
mobot.org
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In the Americas, like other continents, the Agricultural Revolution would lead to people settling in villages. Populations expanded.
kidspast.com
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The earliest American civilization emerged in the tropical forests along the
Mexican Gulf Coast. The Olmec civilization lasted from about 1400 B.C.E.
to 500 B.C.E.
blogs.uww.edu
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Archeologists know very little about the Olmecs. However, rich tombs and temples
suggest that a powerful class of priests and aristocrats stood at the top of Olmec society.
The Olmecs did not build true cities.
ancientx.com
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Rather, they built ceremonial centers made up of pyramid-shaped temples and other
buildings. People came from nearby farming villages to work on the temples or attend
religious ceremonies.
imakenews.com
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The most dramatic
remains of the Olmec civilization are the giant
carved stone heads found in the ruins of a religious center at La
Venta. No one knows how the Olmecs moved these
colossal 40-ton stones from distant quarries
without wheeled vehicles
or draft animals.
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The Olmecs invented a calendar and used carved inscriptions as a form of writing. But
their most important legacy may have been the tradition of priestly leadership and religious devotion that became a basic part of later
Middle American civilizations.
mayaworld.com
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Among the peoples influenced by the Olmecs were the Mayas. Between 300 and 900 C.E.
Mayan city-states flourished from the Yucatan in southern Mexico through much of Central
America.
fresnoolv.org
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Scientists have determined how Mayan farming methods allowed them to thrive in the tropical
environment. Mayan farmers cleared the dense rain forests and then built raised fields that
caught and held rainwater.
fresnoolv.org
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They also built channels that could be
opened to drain excess water. This complex system
produced enough native corn, called
maize, and other crops to support rapidly
growing cities.
i-akumal.blogspot.com
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Towering pyramid temples dominated the largest Mayan city of Tikal, in present-day
Guatemala. Priests climbed steep temple stairs to perform sacrifices on high platforms, while
ordinary people watched from the plazas below.
greentravelerguides.com
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Some temples served as burial places for nobles and priests.
foxnews.com
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Tikal boasted large palaces and huge stone pillars covered with elaborate carvings. The
carvings, which usually record events in Mayan history, preserve striking images of aristocrats, warriors in plumed headdresses, and captives
to be sacrificed to the gods.
divinetravels.com
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Much of the wealth of Tikal and the other Mayan cities came from trade. Along roads
made of parked earth, traders carried valuable cargoes of honey, cocoa, cotton cloth, and
feathers to exchange with other people across
Middle America.
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Each Mayan city had its own ruling chief. He was surrounded by nobles who
served as military leaders and officials who managed public works, collected
taxes, and enforced laws.
picstopin.com
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Priests held great power because only they could
conduct the elaborate
ceremonies needed to ensure
good harvests and success in war.
belch.com
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Most Mayans were farmers. They grew corn, beans, and squash, the basic food crops of Middle America, as well as fruit trees, and cotton. Men usually cultivated the crops, while women turned them into
food.
twipa.blogspot.com
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To support the cities, farmers paid taxes in food and helped
build the temples.
earthsky.org
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The Mayas made impressive advances
in learning. They developed a
hieroglyphic writing system, which has only recently been deciphered. Mayan scribes kept their
sacred knowledge in
books made of bark.
www.shutterstock.com
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Mayan priests needed to measure time accurately in order to hold ceremonies at the
correct moment. As a result, many priests became expert mathematicians and
astronomers.
div-35-ancient-civilization
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They developed an accurate 365 day solar calendar, as well as a 260 day calendar based on the orbit of the planet Venus. Mayan priests
also invented a numbering system and understood the concept of zero.
fearthex.blogspot.com
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About 900 C.E., the Mayas
abandoned their cities,
leaving their great stone palaces and
temples to be swallowed up
the jungle. rutahsa.com
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No one knows for sure why Mayan civilization declined. Possibly, frequent warfare forced the
Mayas to abandon their cities. Or overpopulation may have led to over-farming, which in turn exhausted the soil. Heavy taxes to finance wars and temple building may have
sparked rebellions.
neatorama.com
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Still, remnants of Mayan culture have survived.
Today, millions of people in
Guatemala and southern Mexico
speak Mayan languages and are descended from the builders of
this early American
civilization.airlineamb.org
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Long before Mayan cities rose to the south, the city of Teotihuacan had emerged in the Valley of Mexico. The Valley of Mexico is a huge oval
basin ringed by snowcapped volcanoes, located in the high plateau of central Mexico. From 100 t0 750 C.E., Teotihuacan dominated
this large area.
worldend.info
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The city of Teotihuacan was well planned, with wide roads, massive temples, and large
apartment buildings. Along the main avenue, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the
Moon rose majestically toward the sky.
jqjacobs.net
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Citizens of Teotihuacan worshiped a powerful nature goddess and rain god, whose images appear on public buildings and on everyday
objects. Teotihuacan eventually fell to invaders, but its culture influenced later
peoples, especially the Aztecs.
en.wikipedia.org
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In the late 200s, bands of nomadic people, the ancestors of the Aztecs, migrated into the
Valley of Mexico from the north. According to Aztec legend, the gods had told them to search
for an eagle perched atop a cactus hold a
snake in it beak.
csmh.pbworks.com
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They finally saw the sign on a swampy island in Lake Texcoco. Once settled, the Aztecs
shifted from hunting to farming. Slowly, they built the city of Tenochtitlan on the site of
present-day Mexico City.
mexicotoday.org
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In the 1400s, the Aztecs expanded their territory. Through a combination of conquests
and alliances, they spread their rule across most of Mexico, from the Gulf of Mexico on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. By 1500,
the Aztec empire numbered an estimated 30 million people.
crystalinks.com
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War brought immense wealth as well as power. Tribute, or payment from
conquered peoples, helped the Aztecs turn their capital into a magnificent city.
aztectikihuts.com
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From the temples and royal palaces to its zoos and floating gardens Tenochtitlan was a city of wonders. It was also the
center of a complex organized empire.
pondplantgirl.com
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Unlike the Mayan city-states, each of which had its own king, the Aztecs had a single ruler. The
emperor was chosen by a council of nobles and priests to lead in war. Below him, nobles served as officials, judges, and governors of
conquered provinces.
hellomagazine.com
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These officials enjoyed privileges such as wearing luxurious feathered cloaks and gold
jewelry. Next came the warriors, who could rise to noble status by killing or capturing enemy
soldiers. The majority of people were
commoners who farmed the land.
mexicolore.co.uk
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At the bottom of society were the slaves, mostly
criminals or prisoners of war. Despite their low
status, slaves’ rights were clearly spelled out by law.
For example, slaves could own land and buy their
freedom. clio.missouristate.edu
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Protected by Aztec power, a class of long-distance traders ferried goods across the
empire. From the highlands, they took goods such as weapons, tools, and rope to barter for
tropical products such as jaguar skins and cocoa beans. They also served as spies, locating
new areas for trade and conquest.
angelfire.com
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The priests were a class apart. They
performed rituals they believed pleased the gods and prevented
droughts or other disasters. The chief
Aztec god was Huitzilopochtli the sun
god. His pyramid-temple towered above
all.
el-walrok.deviantart.com
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Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs believed, battled the forces of darkness each night and was reborn
each morning. As the Legend of the Suns shows, there was no guarantee that the sun
would always win. To give the sun strength to rise each day, the Aztecs offered human
sacrifices.
latinamericanstudies.org
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Priests offered the hearts of tens of thousands of victims to Huitzilopochtli
and other Aztec gods. Most of the victims were prisoners of war, but sometimes a
noble family gave up one of its own
members to appease the gods.
plu.edu
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Other cultures, such as the Olmecs and the Mayas, had practiced human
sacrifice, but not on the massive scale of the
Aztecs. The Aztecs carried on almost continuous
warfare, using the captured enemy soldiers
for a regular source of
sacrificial victims.
news.nationalgeographic.com
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Among the conquered peoples, discontent festered and rebellion often flared up. When the armies from Spain later arrived, they found allies among peoples who were ruled by the Aztec
empire.
dipity.com
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Priests were the keepers of Aztec knowledge. They recorded laws and historical events. Some ran schools for the sons of nobles.
Others used their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics to foretell the future. The Aztecs,
like the Mayas, had an accurate calendar.
texasbeyondhistory.net
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Like many other peoples, the Aztecs believed that illness was a punishment
from the gods. Still, Aztec priests used
herbs and other medicines to treat
fevers and wounds. Aztec physicians could set broken bones and treat
dental cavities. mexicolore.co.uk