The Heart of Sacrifice

​The Heart of Sacrifice

• I can explain the rise and fall of the Mayan, Aztec and Inca Empires

• I can compare and contrast Mayan, Aztec, and Inca societies including religion, culture, economics, politics, and technology

​

Learning Targets

• 800 BC - Rose from the remnants of the Olmec civilization

  • Maize led to development

• 250 - 900 AD - classical age of the Mayans

• Never achieved political unity - 40 different city states

The Rise of the Mayans

Multiple Choice

Which country did the Mayans NOT occupy?

• Belize

• Mexico

• Guatemala

• Peru

• Polytheistic - with focus on sun

  • led to accurate calendars

• Bloodletting and human sacrifice

  • ritual for elites only

  • POWs used for sacrifice

• Hereditary Monarchy (or priest)

  • 40 city-states - not unified

  • intermediaries between their people and their gods

​

Religion & Politics

• Societal Hierarchy

  • large wealth gap between nobles and peasants

  • family clans

  • merchant class

• Economics

  • dependent on maize, squash, and beans

    • led to soil exhaustion

  • trade common

Culture & Economics

• Cultivation

  • selective breeding

  • irrigation

• Calendar-making

  • Most accurate calendar - 356.242 days

• Architecture

  • stone monuments

• Writing

  • hieroglyphics

Technology

• 800 AD - decline began

  • urban centers began being abandoned

• by 900 AD - they had disappeared

  • replaced briefly by the Toltec (800-1100)

• Reasons for fall - unknown

  • soil exhaustion

  • excessive warfare

  • volcanic activity

  • disease

  • overpopulation

The Fall of the Mayans

Open Ended

What/Who caused the fall of the Mayans?

• 1200 - moved into the valley of Mexico

  • Lake Texcoco

• 1325 - twin capitals

  • Tenochtitlan

  • Texcoco

• Farmers to Military Power

• Developed an empire

The Rise of the Aztecs

Multiple Choice

Which country did the Aztecs occupy?

• Peru

• Colombia

• Mexico

• Panama

• Polytheistic - with focus on sun

  • led to accurate calendars

• Human sacrifice

  • flower wars

  • MOST human sacrifices

  • Dedication of Templo Mayor (1487)

• Hereditary Monarchy (by priest)

  • intermediaries between their people and their gods

Religion & Politics

• Societal Hierarchy

  • large wealth gap between nobles and peasants

  • family clans with civic or military duties

  • merchant class

• Economics

  • maize, squash, and beans

  • trade common

  • tributes of jade, gold, maize, beans, sacrifices, cotton cloth

Culture & Economics

• Cultivation

  • selective breeding

  • irrigation

• Calendar-making

• Architecture

  • stone monuments

  • dikes and aqueducts

• Writing

  • hieroglyphics

Technology

• 1502 - Montezuma II

  • resentment and instability had already begun

  • tried to institute reforms

• 1519 - Hernan Cortes

  • 600 conquistadors

• Quetzacoatl - feathered serpent

• 1521 - Aztecs fell to the Spanish

  • smallpox

  • steel weapons/guns

  • horses and war dogs

The Fall of the Aztecs

Open Ended

What/Who caused the fall of the Aztecs?

• came out of the Chaven, Moche, and Wari civilizations

• 1200-1400s - chiefdoms

• 1400s - developed into empire

  • imperial conquests

  • 1430 - Cuzco - capital

• 1525 - height of empire

The Rise of the Incas

Multiple Choice

Which country did the Incas occupy?

• Mexico

• Brazil

• Panama

• Peru

• Polytheistic - with focus on sun

  • led to accurate calendars

• Human sacrifice

  • in times of crisis only

  • mainly children

• Hereditary Monarchy

  • descendant of the sun god

  • temples were also covered in sheets of gold

Religion & Politics

• Societal Hierarchy

  • divide between Inca and non-Inca subjects

  • clans called Ayllu (common ancestor)

• Economics

  • maize, squash, beans, potatoes and quinoa

  • terrace farming

  • trade uncommon - llamas & alpaca

  • labor tax system - Mit'a

Culture & Economics

• Cultivation

  • selective breeding

  • terrace farming

• Calendar-making

• Architecture

  • stone monuments

    • experts

  • roads, bridges

• Record Keeping

  • Quipu

Technology

• 1520s - decline began

  • disease spread

  • emperor died - turmoil

• 1525 - Atahulpa - emperor

• 1530 - Francisco Pizarro arrived

  • 180 conquistadors

  • captured Atahulpa easily

• 1533 - Spanish take Cuzco

• 1536 - Inca empire officially ends

The Fall of the Incas

Open Ended

What/Who caused the fall of the Incas?

Map of the Mesoamerican Empires

Aztecs of Mexico
Mayans of Yucatan (Mexico/Honduras)
Incas of Peru

Hotspot

Location of the Aztecs

Hotspot

Location of the Incas

Hotspot

Location of the Mayans