The Aztecs and The Incas

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The Aztecs and The Incas
www.artzia.com
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Aztec Background

• Originally named Mexica
• Located in what is now central Mexico
• The empire lasted during the 14th, 15th, and 16th
  centuries CE

http//www.geocities.com/kimmykim7072003/aztec_emp
ire.jpg
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Background

• Tenochtitlan was the capital city and is located
  in what is now present day Mexico city
• The Aztec empire caused the biggest demographic
  explosion in Mesoamerican history

http//www.mte.asd103.org/art/images/Aztec.jpg
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Government

• The Aztecs founded the city of Tenochtitlan in
  1325
• Empire began in 1434
• Aztec kings represented civil power and served as
  a representative of the gods on Earth
• City-states were individually ruled by speakers
  that were chosen by the noble class

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Social Structure

• The Aztec society was divided into three socal
  classes the macehualli (people) or peasantry,
  the pochteca or merchants and traders, and the
  pilli or nobility
• Slaves or tlacotin consisted as a large part of
  the Aztec society
• Though people were born into a certain class it
  was possible to move up the ranks within a life
  time

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Religion

• Main deity in the Aztec religion was known as
  both the sun god and war god
• Human sacrifice was practiced heavily in the
  Aztec religion
• The Aztecs believed that by performing these
  sacrifices that it gave power to the gods which
  in turn would insure the survival of the Aztec
  universe

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Religion

• War captives were used in the sacrifices and in
  times of peace the Aztec would have to resort to
  ritualistic warfare or flower war
• In the year 1487 the Aztecs reported killing
  84,400 war prisoners in four days at the great
  pyramid of Tenochtitlan
• After a town was conquered the inhabitants where
  no longer eligible for sacrifice and became Aztec
  citizens

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Art

• The favored form of art in the Aztec empire was
  sculpture
• Most Sculptures were made from limestone, which
  is still abundant in Mexico today
• Aztec sculpture was like most other Mesoamerican
  cultures and was mostly directly related to
  religion

http//library.thinkquest.org/16325/y-art.html
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Art

• The Aztecs also made other religious and
  non-religious artifacts such as jade masks
• Clothing was also a popular art form and women
  from around the empire would use bead, flower,
  and metal decorations
• These artifacts were sold in markets by visiting
  merchants

www.latinamericanstudies.org/.../aztec-mask.gif
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Architecture

• There where three main types of architecture in
  the Aztec society sacrificial temples, emperors
  temple, and different shrines of the gods

http//library.thinkquest.org/10098/aztec.html
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Tenochtitlan
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec
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The Inca

• Starting around 1438 the Incan leader, Pachacuti,
  began building the largest ancient empire in the
  Americas
• The Incas developed the land of present day
  Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia etc.
• The most famous Inca site is called Machu Picchu

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Machu Picchu
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Religion

• The Inca were Polytheistic (they believed in many
  Gods)
• The Sun God was the primary God
• The Incas considered mountains and rivers their
  holy shrines

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Inca Economy

• Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas did not do a lot of
  trading, they tried to be self-sufficient
• Primarily their success was based on agriculture-
  they used terrace farming and complex irrigation
• The Incas grew over 200 types of potatoes
• They used forced labor for massive projects
• They colonized their conquered areas

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Inca Society

• The Inca emphasized their military strength
• They built a complex system of roads and bridges
  (over 2,500 miles of roads)
• The Inca used a system of runners to carry
  messages throughout the empire
• They made beautiful pottery, cloth and
  metalworking

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Hernan Cortes

• Hernan Cortes was a Spanish solider who lived in
  the 1500s
• The Spanish king asked Cortes to find and conquer
  new people who could serve Spain
• In June 1521, the Spanish attacked the Aztec
  people and defeated the emperor Montezuma

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Pizzaro

• The riches of the Aztec Empire led other Spanish
  conquerors to seek their fortunes in South
  America
• In 1533 Francisco Pizarro ordered an attack on
  the Incas and seized their emperor
• Pizarro charged the emperor with many crimes and
  a military court sentenced him to death
• To reward Pizarro the Spanish king made him
  governor of Peru
• The Spanish conquerors were able to defeat the
  Aztec and the Inca by using horses and guns

http//library.thinkquest.org/16325/y-art.html