Ancient Latin American Civilizations

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Ancient Latin American Civilizations

• Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas

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Maya Civilization

• Arrived in (present-day) northern Guatemala
  around 1000 BC
• The Mayas are BEST known for
• Studying the stars and planets (led to a calendar
  being created)
• Developing a system of writing called HIEROGLYPHS

The Maya also lived in southern Mexico, Honduras,
El Salvador, and Belize.
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Maya Origins and Religion

• Origins
• Early Maya lived in small, isolated villages
• Villages soon began TRADING with each other---as
  TRADE increased, villages GREW
• TRADE, not RULERS, linked the Mayas cities
• Religion
• Worshipped MANY gods
• EXS sun god, moon goddess, and maize (corn) god
• Believed each god controlled a different part of
  everyday life
• Wanted to please the gods---believed them to be
  BOTH HELPFUL and HARMFUL

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Advancements

• Studied math and astronomy extensively (With a
  lot of detail)
• Created calendars based on various movements
• Ex. 260-day calendar for sacred days and a
  365-day calendar based on the suns movements
• Maya calendar was MORE accurate than any calendar
  used by Europeans until the 1700s.

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HIEROGLYPHS

• Created a system of writing called Hieroglyphs
• Best developed written language in ancient Latin
  America

Example of Maya hieroglyphs from the Museo de
sitio in Mexico.
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The Mayans Disappear?

• Early AD 900s, the empire began to decline
• People stopped building structures and left the
  cities, moving back to the countryside
• There are MANY theories (ideas) as to why the
  Maya empire collapsed, but one thing is for
  sure---by the time the Spanish arrived in the
  1500s, the Mayas had faded.

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Aztec Civilization

• Arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the 1100s
• The Aztecs were made up of a number of wandering
  warriors, most from the Mexica tribe
• All the good land was taken, so they settled on
  a swampy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco
• Had little land to farm on, so the Aztecs built
  floating gardens called CHINAMPAS

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Aztecs Expand

• 1325 began building their capital, Tenochtitlan,
  and conquering nearby towns
• Came to power mainly due to war and the conquest
  of other peoples
• The Aztecs forced those conquered to pay TRIBUTES
  (taxes)
• How could tributes be paid?
• Food, cotton, gold, or slaves
• Tributes allowed the Aztecs to grow very rich

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Aztec Society

• The MOST important member of society was the
  EMPEROR
• Chose trusted nobles to oversee his demands
  regarding trade, payment collections, and warfare

All men, including PRIESTS, had to join Aztec
army for 2 reasons (1) help maintain a powerful
empire and (2) religious.
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Religion

• Religion
• Worshipped MANY gods, believed the gods
  controlled nature and human activities.
• Exs. Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, and
  Huitzilopochtli
• Human sacrifices were regularly made by priests
  to please the gods
• (mostly SLAVES and those captured in battle
  were sacrificed)

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Aztec Achievements

• Sculpted stone pyramids and statues
• Like the Maya, studied astronomy and made a
  calendar
• Like the Mayans, used HIEROGLYPHS for their
  writings and kept detailed records of historical
  information
• Had a strong oral tradition

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End of Aztec Empire

• Late 1400s Spanish arrive
• Are looking for (1) Adventure, (2) Riches, and
  (3) Converts to Catholicism
• 1519 Group was led by conquistador (conqueror)
  Hernan Cortes
• Aztecs are taken over by Cortes and the Spanish

Hernan Cortes vs. Montezuma II story
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Incas

• 1200 Settled in Cuzco, which is a village in the
  Andes (South America)
• Began as a small tribe in the Andes
• Cuzco eventually became the capital city
• Mid 1400s Inca ruler, Pachacuti, began to expand
  Inca territory (some conquering)
• Other leaders soon followed his example
• Empire eventually stretched from (present-day)
  Ecuador to central Chile
• About 12 million Incas lived in the empire

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Inca Government

• To rule effectively, built a strong CENTRAL
  government
• Pachacuti removed local leaders from conquered
  lands because he wanted to remain the MAIN
  leader/ruler
• Created an official language (Quechua) to UNIFY
  the people
• Government also told households what work to do.

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Social Divisions
Inca had NO Slaves, didnt practice this idea.
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Incan Religion

• Worshipped many gods
• Inti, the sun god was the most important
• Incas thought their rulers were related to the
  SUN god (their most important) and that they
  never really died.
• Inca had ceremonies with sacrifices, but didnt
  use humans like the Maya and Aztec.
• Those outside of Cuzco worshipped other gods as
  well and at other sacred locations
• Mountaintops, rocks, and springs

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Inca Achievements

• Excellent farmers, builders, and managers
• Cuzco (capital) was the center of government,
  trade, learning, and religion
• Built more than 19,000 miles of roads
• Why?
• Roads allowed the Incas to better govern their
  empire they could get to other areas easier

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Achievements continued

• The Incas also built canals and aqueducts
• What is an AQUEDUCT?
• Pipe or channel designed to carry water from a
  distant source
• Why did the Incas feel that canals and aqueducts
  were important?
• Allowed the Incas to irrigate (dampen) land that
  was otherwise too dry to grow crops

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Inca Language?

• Had NO written language
• Recorded info. using a QUIPUS (kee-pooz)
• What is a Quipus?
• A writing system of knotted strings where the
  knotsnumbers and the different color strings
  represent info. about crops, land, and other
  important topics
• When Spanish arrived, they had Inca
  stories/historical info. written in Spanish

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Quipus
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The End of the Inca Empire

• Late 1520s Civil War breaks out amongst the
  Incas2 brothers both want to be NEW ruler
• Atahualpa (ah-tah-WAHL-pah) vs. Huascar
• 1532 Atahualpa wins, but the fighting has
  weakened the Inca army
• On the way to his crowning, Atahualpa learns of a
  Spanish group in the area led by Francisco
  Pizarro, the Spanish attack
• Atahualpa is captured (and later killed) and the
  Incas are defeated