Mayan Aztec

Ancient

Civilizations of the

Americas

The Maya and Aztec

Objectives

WHI.13 The student will apply social science skills to
understand the major civilizations of the Western
Hemisphere, including the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan, by

WHI.13a locating early civilizations in time and place
and describing major geographic features;

WHI.13b explaining the development of social, political,
economic, religious, and cultural patterns in the
civilizations of the Americas; and

WHI.13c evaluating and explaining the European
interactions with these societies, with emphasis on
trading and economic interdependence.

The Maya

Mayan settlements and cities date to as far back as the
1800s BCE in modern-day Guatemala

The Maya was not a politically connected empire. They were
made up of a series of city-states that acted independently
of each other politically, but connected with others through
common language, culture, and trade. Sometimes Maya city-
states engaged in warfare with each other.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

The Maya

Economic prosperity centered mainly on agriculture and trade with
other Mayan cities or states.

Farmlands surrounded the cities, where agricultural goods were
traded or sold.

Farmers engaged mainly in "slash-and-burn" farming, in which trees
and plants are cut down and burned to create open fields for crops.

Framers used irrigation techniques and "terracing," in which different
levels of farmland are created out of sloped land, making it appear as
a series of large steps leading up a hill or mountainside.

Farmers produced grains, with corn as a staple crop.

The Maya

The Maya utilized many of the natural
resources in their environment.

Precious items such as the feathers of
the quetzal bird (used in costumes for
rituals), jade stone for decoration, and
large sea shells for trumpets during
ceremonies and warfare.

The Maya

Mayan religion was
polytheistic,
emphasizing the
worship of nature,
with gods of corn,
rain, the sun, the
moon, and others.

The Maya

Despite image of the Maya as a
peaceful civilization, it did possess a
violent side.

War between cities-states was most
likely vicious, and the winners were not
always gracious toward the losers.

Torture and ritual human sacrifice
were part of regular life for the Maya.

The Maya

Scribes also used paper made
from tree bark, often used to

create books called "codices" (or

individually, a "codex").

The Maya can be credited with

establishing complex

astronomical and mathematical

knowledge. They used the

number zero.

Using their mathematical ability,
Mayan astronomers calculated
the placement and movement of
celestial bodies. This led to their
creation of a complex 365-day
calendar that was incredibly

accurate.

Multiple Choice

Which best explains why Maya farmers harvested their crops and planted new ones in the late fall of each year?

• It was the only season cool enough to do farm work in the region.

• It was the only time of the year when they were at peace with neighbors.

• They used knowledge that they learned from their astronomical observations.

• They used the labor of migrating groups who passed through the region at that time.

Multiple Choice

Maya achievements in mathematics were closely related to what other area?

• music

• astronomy

• road building

• military power

Multiple Choice

What were two main reasons that led the Maya to develop their calendar system?

• trade and travel

• warfare and diplomacy

• religion and agriculture

• education and elections

Multiple Choice

What was a major development of the Maya civilization?

• the formation of representative government

• an accurate method of finding direction at sea

• a number system that includes zero

• the construction of a printing press

The Maya

City construction, often mathematically designed, was
advanced, and included the building of the Maya
capital of Tikal.

Some Mayan cities boasted as many as 50,000
inhabitants, and experts estimate that the total Mayan
population possibly included two million people.

Mayan cities included temples (ritual centers), palaces,
and stelae, most of which emphasized or included
Mayan religious subjects.

They created stone walkways that were complex and
symmetrical to connect the parts of these cities.

The Maya

The most impressive of Mayan constructions were
their stepped pyramids.

The structures were massive and included
labyrinths of tunnels and rooms at their base level
that served as tombs for rulers and high priests.

Inside these tombs were often decorated with
bright colors and depictions of life and contained
pottery or religious trinkets for the dead to take
with them into the afterworld.

Chichen
Itza

The historical site Chichen Itza sits in
the midst of the lowland jungle of the
northern Yucatan Peninsula.

Reaching its height of importance
between 600 and 1050 CE, it served as
a major focal point for trade, religious
rituals, and scientific activities, and was
one of the largest known Mayan cities.

Chichen Itza

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

The decline
of Mayan
civilization

After the 8th century BCE, Mayan civilization sharply
declined.

Historians argue that overpopulation, the rise of near-
constant warfare between city-states, and natural
disasters such as droughts may have led to the
abandonment of many Mayan cities.

Although Chichen Itza and several other cities were still
functioning when the Spaniards arrived in the 1500s,
most of the Maya lived in small farming villages and were
under the rule of the Toltecs, Aztecs or other tribes.

The Aztecs

The Aztecs arose in the Valley of Mexico just after the
end of the dominance of the Toltec civilization.

The Toltecs controlled most of what is now central
Mexico from 900 to 1150 CE, but fell under Aztec rule
in the early 1200s CE.

The Aztecs was a hunter-gatherer tribe from the
northern regions of Mexico.

The Aztecs migrated south, creating a large capital city
in 1325 CE called Tenochtitlan. Modern-day Mexico
City is built on and around the ruins of this city

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Aztec Empire

The

Aztecs

The Aztecs, claiming to have seen a religious omen, an
eagle perched on a cactus, built Tenochtitlan in the
middle of marshlands bordering Lake Texcoco.

They drained these marshes and created hundreds of
artificial islands out of mud and reeds, called
"chinampas", on which they farmed.

Aztecs produced maize (corn), beans, potatoes,
avocados, tomatoes, and squash. Using irrigation and
using small boat and canoe travel in the hundreds of
small waterways between their islands, Aztec farming
prospered.

Multiple Choice

What effect did chinampas have on the Aztec?

• depletion of the rainforest

• increase in air pollution

• depletion of natural minerals

• increase in farmable land

The

Aztecs

A series of great god-kings used warfare and
trade dominance to create a powerful empire
in central Mexico.

1500, Tenochtitlan had about 140,000
inhabitants, and Aztec kings ruled nearly 500
smaller states, creating an empire of between 5
and 6 million people.

To gain power and riches, the Aztecs demanded
"tribute", or payment from conquered peoples,
which often included precious minerals,
agricultural goods, and gold.

Multiple Choice

What technology as most necessary to create the Aztec pyramids?

• metal working

• written language

• agricultural innovations

• mathematical knowledge

Aztecs

and

religion

Aztecs were polytheistic.

They enforced a strict caste system in society, with nobles
and high priests ranked highest, and serfs, slaves, and
indentured servants ranked lowest.

Teotihuacan, a large city that once had 125,000 inhabitants,
built by an earlier civilization, was adopted as a holy center
by the Aztecs.

It was split by the Avenue of the Dead, which ran from the
Temple of the Sun to the Temple of the Moon. It's main
structures still sit in one of the sub-valleys of The Valley of
Mexico, just northwest of Tenochtitlan.

The

Aztecs

and

religion

One of the Aztecs' main gods included the Toltec "plumed
serpent" god Quezalcoatl, depicted as a mix of bird and
snake. Quetzalcoatl was god of the wind and rain, and was
considered the creator of the world and mankind.

The Aztecs believed this shape-shifting god could take
human form, which would later lead to their hesitation to
attack the Spaniards upon their arrival in the early 1500s.

The Aztecs conducted almost constant ritual human
sacrifice of slaves, prisoners of war, and "pure" subjects
(mostly young women or girls) to prevent Huitzilopochtli
from bringing the fated "infinite night", or the end of
mankind.

The

Aztecs

and

Religion

The Aztecs adopted the 365-day
calendar of previous Mesoamerican
tribes

Aztec priests followed a strict 260-
day ritual cycle within that
calendar, including rituals besides
human sacrifice, to maintain good
standing among the gods.

The end

of the
Aztec

Empire

In 1517: 500 soldiers, led by the conquistador
Hernan Cortez, arrived on Mexico's shores.

The emperor of the Aztecs, Montezuma, was
killed during the fighting, and Cortez went on
to create a Spanish colony in the region,
enslaving the natives.

The Spanish brought diseases such as
smallpox, causing the death of 90% of
Mexico's native population over time.

Multiple Choice

• developed a republican government

• established a social caste system

• developed well-organized cities

• established a monotheistic religion

Multiple Choice

What political contrast of early civilizations in the Americas is correct?

• The Maya had an emperor, while the Aztec had city-states.

• The Inca had city-states, while the Aztec had a theocracy.

• The Aztec had an empire, while the Maya had city-states.

• The Inca had a theocracy, while the Maya had an emperor.

Multiple Choice

What feature was common to both Mayan and Aztec civilizations?

• stratified social structure dominated by the priesthood

• complex government composed of independent city-states

• religious practices based upon monotheistic beliefs

• diversified economy centered around trade of manufactured goods

Multiple Choice

How did Spanish explorers permanently change the cultures of the civilizations that they encountered?

• Indigenous populations were devastated by European diseases.

• European trade centers were expanded to include Inca crafts.

• Spanish leaders adopted the religious beliefs of the Aztecs.

• Local leaders established political alliances with other European nations.