civilizations of mesoamerica
Post on 07-Feb-2022
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Peopling the Americas
• 12,000 years ago
• Bering Strait becomes
a land bridge
• Hunters-gatherers
follow the herds from
Siberia to Alaska
• Head south and east
across North, Central,
and South America
New Environments
• Rockies, Sierra Madre, Andes, desert, rainforest, plains
• Neolithic Revolution 8500-2000 BC; domestication of plants and animals; maize, beans, squash
• Settled village life and farming
The Olmecs
• 1500-400 BC; Mother
Culture; tropical
forests along the Gulf
Coast of Mexico
• San Lorenzo; La
Venta
• Carved stone; Olmec
heads; calendar,
hieroglyphics; trade
The Maya
• Yucatan and Central America
• Slash and burn; raised fields along rivers
• City-states that trade and make war with one another
• Each had a king; priests, nobles, merchants, farmers Jade Funeral Mask of
Lord Pakal
Cultural Life
• Polytheistic
• Temples and palaces
• Stela; gods and rulers
• Hieroglyphics
• 365 day solar
calendar; 260 day
ritual calendar
• In 900 AD they
abandon their cities
The Aztec
• 1200 AD settle the
Valley of Mexico
• Tenochtitlan
• Chinampas
• 1400s begin a course
of conquest
• By 1517 it’s estimated
they number between
5 and 6 million people
Aztec Society
• War and tribute brings wealth to the empire
• Unlike Aztec, one capital, one ruler
• Emperor is elected by warriors, priests, nobles
• Middle class is made up of merchants
• Farmers
• Slaves, debtors Tenochtitlan
Cultures of South America
• 900 BC the Chavin; huge temple complex
• 100-700 AD the Moche in north Peru
• 200 BC-600 AD the Nazca in southern Peru
• Giant geoglyphs; giant birds, whales, other animals
The Inca
• 1100-1500 AD; capital was Cuzco
• Emperor
• Empire stretched 2500 miles
• Quipu
• Roads, bridges, steps, tunnels
• Terraces
• Surgery
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