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THE MAYA (MAYANS) They were powerful and dominant from the 200s-900s. Although they werent as powerful after the 900s, they were still around until the 1500s when the Spanish arrived and conquered the region

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Class Structure Mayan Hierarchy 1 On top: Ruler, his family, Royal court, & priests 2 useful architects, merchants, and craftsmen 3 Commoners like artists, traders & minor officials, 4 Farmers (who lived outside cities in villages & fields) 5 Bottom: Slaves (Ppentacob)

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Where did Mayan slaves come from? Born into slavery, As punishment for crime (since there were no jails) Captured as prisoners of war Orphans became slaves also Slaves had to grind corn, work the most dangerous and heaviest construction jobs, carried goods long distances between the highlands and the coast, or paddled canoes

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Family Life Names in Mayan society were very important. Newborns were presented by grandparents in a ceremony & given 3 names: 1st Name - Private Name, which was given at the ceremony. 2nd Name - Nickname, used by everyone. 3rd Name Last name from parents. Mayan girls were to get married at age 14 and men at age 18. These marriages were arranged by a matchmaker and groom's parents. The bride's family paid a dowry to the grooms' family. The wedding day was set by the priest and the wedding was held in the brides home. The wedding would be finished with an exchange of gifts and a feast. Newly weds would live with the bride's family for a year before starting their own household. Mayans lived in extended family units in village compounds. The extended families were combined into larger groups called lineages and lineages usually larger units called clans. (use this to answer question #19 )

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Beauty To the Mayans, beauty meant looking like a cat. Therefore, they considered a flattened forehead and crossed eyes to be signs of physical beauty. So infants in Mayan society strapped wooden frames to their heads elongating their skulls. Also an object was dangled above their eyes to cause them to cross.

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Blue was a symbolic color for the Maya since it symbolized death, war, & sacrifice.

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WarfareThe most common pattern of Maya warfare was simply a bunch of raids where they rapidly attacked and retreated. It was usually done by relatively small numbers of nobles and was done for ceremonial purposes, like human sacrifice

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Beliefs The Maya were a deeply religious people. They believed in many gods. All events centered around their religious beliefs. They wanted to stay in favor with the gods. In their belief system, the gods would bring the rain, heal the sick, bring plentiful harvests, and ensure the health and safety of the people if they were honored. If the gods were angry, they would send drought, famine and disaster to the people.

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Kings would also give blood offerings (considered very sacred). Noble women would also practice blood- letting by pulling a rope with broken glass and thorns through a hole in their tongue. Human sacrifice was often practiced. No, they didnt use animals in their religious ceremonies.

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Art, language, Architecture The complex pictures of Maya glyphs are like no other writing system. All of our words are formed from various combinations of 26 signs (Alphabet) By contrast, all Maya words are formed from various combinations of nearly 800 signs, and each sign represents a full syllable so that list of signs is called a Syllabary, not an Alphabet.

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= ONE = FIVE = ZERO The Mayans would put one finger in clay for one, a side of the hand for five and a fist for zero or twenty.

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What did they eat? They were known as people of the corn but they also ate: Maize (corn) berries mangos bananas beans tomatoes avocados cilantro doves monkies rabbits armadillos tapirs Fish sea turtles

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The Maya had many farming techniques, including Terrace Farming, where sides of hills were cultivated like giant steps. They did not practice farming with floating gardens called Chinampas.

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The Maya built massive Temples, many of which can still be seen today

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Were they conquered by the Spanish? The Mayan Empire declined in the 900s, but there were still a few Mayan colonies around when the Spanish, led by Hernan Cortes, conquered in the 1500s.

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The Aztec Empire 1200s - 1521 (use this to answer questions #8 & #9)

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Aztec social structure society was divided into 3 social classes; NOBLES nobility = (pilli) PEASANTS peasantry (macehualli or people) and SLAVES slaves. Aztecs had social mobility (they could move up in class & rank Anyone could challenge the ruler at any time, but there were rules & regulations

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Aztec Family life In the context of the family, men and women played distinct roles. Aztec women married at about 16 (men about 18). In school boys were taught arts and crafts, Girls were taught to cook and other necessities.

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Aztec Warfare & religious beliefs War was a very important activity. They believed that the gods had sacrificed themselves for mankind, that their blood had given man life, and that the Sun was nourished with the blood of human hearts. This belief led them to sacrifice prisoners at their temples. They didnt have jails. They believed that war was required to provide food & energy for the sun so that it could continue on its course. They believed when the 4 original gods decided to create the sun they 1 st had to create war so that the hearts and blood needed by the sun would be available. No, they didnt use animals in their ceremonies.

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Aztec Warfare & religious beliefs The Aztecs murdered (sacrificed) at least 2 people every day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Often they sacrificed many more. It is estimated that the Aztecs sacrificed 30,000 people per year. That is roughly 82 per day or 5 per hour (from sun up to sundown)or one every 12 minutes!!! One account describes 20,000 Aztec sacrifices in a single day!

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Aztec slavery Slaves also constituted an important class. Some argue that it wasnt even like real slavery. First, Aztec slavery was personal, not hereditary: a slave's children were free. You could become a slave as punishment for a crime. A slave could have possessions & even own other slaves. Slaves could buy their liberty, and slaves could be set free if they were able to show they had been mistreated or if they had children with or were married to their masters. Typically, upon the death of the master, slaves who had performed outstanding services were freed. The rest of the slaves were passed on as part of an inheritance.

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Aztec art, language, and architecture The Aztec sculptures which adorned their temples and other buildings were among the most elaborate in all of the Americas (to please the gods). Many of the sculptures reflected their perception of their gods and how they interacted in their lives. The most famous surviving Aztec sculpture is the large circular Calendar Stone, which represents the Aztec universe.

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Language The Aztecs spoke a language called Nahuatl (pronounced NAH what L). (Comanche, Pima, Shoshone and others in North America also spoke Nahuatl). The Aztec used pictographs to communicate through writing. Some of the pictures symbolized ideas and other represented the sounds of the syllables. Variations of this language are still spoken in some of the more remote areas of Mexico in which the indigenous cultures are still alive.

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Agriculture Farming was the principal activity. Much of Aztec life was built around farming, which was extremely necessary to feed the growing population. Since the land that the Aztecs farmed was not fertile enough to grow enough food to support the population, the Aztecs were forced to invent methods to increase productivity. These methods included irrigation, fertilizer, and even building terraces on hills that were previously not farmable. Tenochtitlan = Mexico City

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Agriculture Without many hills, terrace farming was not widely practiced by the Aztecs. Their most famous invention were the chinampas. Chinampas were floating gardens built on swamps. The process of making chinampas was a relatively simple one. First, canals were built through the marshes and swamps. Then, the mud from the canals was placed on mats, which were made from weeds and straw. Then, trees were planted at the corners. When these trees took root, they secured the chinampas firmly in place. Once the floating island was secure and useable, the Aztecs used it to plant their principal crop: corn. Tenochtitlan = Mexico City

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They also grew various vegetables (avocados, beans, chili peppers, squash, and tomatoes), sometimes even flowers. After a crop (usually corn) was harvested, the Aztecs had several ways of dealing with it. One common way of preparing corn was to mash it with a round grinding stone (called mano) against a flat stone (called a metate). From this process, the Aztecs got a corn meal. This corn meal was used to prepare tortillas, which was the main food of lower classes. The upper classes also ate tortillas, but had other choices for food, including: Turkeys, ducks, & geese. Modern-day Chinampas

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Hernan Cortes showed up on the shores of central Mexico with 550 men, 16 horses, 14 canons and a few dogs. They were greeted by messengers from the Aztec ruler Montezuma. They had never seen white men, horses, or canons before. The Aztecs had a population of 5,000,000 (25,000,000 counting their conquered neighbors). Hernn Corts & the Spanish had only 500 people. How could 500 defeat 25,000,000? 4 reasons: 1) Thanks to the Spanish most of the Aztecs died of smallpox1) Thanks to the Spanish most of the Aztecs died of smallpox 2) The Spanish Conquistadors were able to convince enemy tribes to join them to overthrow the Aztecs2) The Spanish Conquistadors were able to convince enemy tribes to join them to overthrow the Aztecs 3) Cortes conquered the Nahuas and Tlaxcaltec (Tlaxcalans) first, converted many of their women and married Malinche (Donna Maria), who spoke Maya and Nahuatl and helped the Spanish with translation and valuable info3) Cortes conquered the Nahuas and Tlaxcaltec (Tlaxcalans) first, converted many of their women and married Malinche (Donna Maria), who spoke Maya and Nahuatl and helped the Spanish with translation and valuable info 4) The Aztec warriors weapons were no match for Spanish arms4) The Aztec warriors weapons were no match for Spanish arms By 1521, the Aztecs were completely overthrown

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Fast Facts 1) Why did the Spanish conquer the Aztec and Inca? WEALTH 2) Which conquistador led the Spanish against the Aztec? CORTEZ 3) How were the two groups able to communicate? TRANSLATOR 4) Who did the Spanish get to help attack the Aztec? OTHER TRIBES 5) What happened in May 1521? SIEGED THE AZTEC CAPITAL 6) Which conquistador led the Spanish against the Inca? PIZARRO 7) How did Atahualpa respond to the monk/Bible? THREW IT DOWN 8) How did Pizarro respond to this? ATTACKED AND KILLED 5000 9) What are 5 reasons for the rapid conquest of the Inca & Aztec? DISEASE, REBELLION, WEAPONS, CULTURE 10) What was the population of the Aztec in 1520? 25 million 12) What was the population of the Aztec in 1620? Less than 1 million