Aztec mayan civilizations

2. Ancient civilizations of the
Americas

3. Farming
Techniques
• Slash-and-burn
• Chinampas
• Irrigation
• Terraces

4. Polytheistic
Religion corn god)
• Olmec (Jaguar rain god, fire and
• Aztec (1,000 gods, sun god most important
– Calendar told them when to celebrate
• Mayan (160 gods, sun, moon, rain and corn)
– Ceremonies such as ball game
– Sacrifice animals and people to the gods

5. Spanish Conquest
• Spanish Conquistadors
(conquerors) conquered
most of South America
and much of North
America. Disease, native
allies and superior
weapons helped
– Hernan Cortes conquered
the Aztecs
– Francisco Pizzaro
conquered the Inca

6. Pyramids
• The Olmec, Maya and Aztec all
used pyramids for religious
ceremonies. On top, you were
closer to the gods.
– Priests not kings were on top.
– Aztecs would sacrifice humans on
top of their sun pyramid.

7. Calendar/Astronom
y
• Mayans used calendar to
know when to plant and
harvest. They marked
dates and made
predictions (ie 2012)
• The Aztec Calendar did
the same but, it also told
them when to have their
religious ceremonies.

8. Priests, Noble, Farmers
• Priests in all cultures were in charge of
the ceremonies that brought rain, sun,
harvest and good luck. Often, they were
the only ones who could read.
• Nobles were the powerful leaders: kings,
warrior and rich.
• Farmers were often slaves or poor
peasants who could be nothing else but a
farmer.

10. The Olmec
Sculpture
Legacy
• Considered the Mother
Culture that affected all
cultures.
- glyph writing (pictures)
-Pyramids
-Large sculptures
-Worshipped sun and rain
gods.
• 3,000 Years old.

11. Mayan Empire

12. Mayan Class Structure
Class Structure
• Ruling class (kings)
• Nobility (scholars,
architects, priests,
merchants)
• Peasants (warriors
and farmers)
• Slaves (captured
enemies)

13. Mayans (500 bc-1500 ad)
Achievements
Moon Pyramid • Codex a book that used
glyphs for writing.
• Built 40 large cities and
the largest pyramid
outside of Egypt.
• Great mathematicians,
astronomers and
calendar makers.

14. Accomplishments
• Terraces
• The number zero
The Maya • Brain Surgery
• Chasqui
• 200,000 Man Army
• 40 large cities
• 12 Million subjects
• Accurate calendar

15. Accomplishments
Numeric System
Terraced Farming
with the # 0

16. Accomplishments
Mayan Calendar 40 Large Cities

17. Which One is Mayan?
Wrote Codex Books Wrote w/ Quipus

18. Which one is Mayan?
Chinampas Large Pyramids

19. Which is Mayan?
Ball Game Canals

20. Which one is Mayan?
Massive Sculptures Irrigation

22. Mayans and Aztecs

23. The
Awesom
e Aztecs

26. Introduction
•For the first 200 years, the Aztecs
were constantly on the move.
•They came from Aztlan
(somewhere in the north)
•Sun and war god told them to
settle where they saw an eagle on
a cactus.

27. Aztecs

28. Settlement
the Aztecs settled on an island in Lake
Texcoco.
Their city was called Tenochtitlan
They built canoes so they could fish, hunt
waterfowl, and trade.

29. Empire
• 12 million people
lived in the Aztec
empire
• Aztecs became rich
off of tribute (a tax
on conquered
people)

30. Religion
• Calendar told when
to farm, and what
ceremonies to use.
• Gods were
agriculture gods.
• For a good harvest
it was important to
have a sacrifice.

31. Religion

32. Floating Gardens
To survive on an island in a lake,
the Aztecs made floating gardens
called chinampas.

33. Free School for Everyone
The Aztecs were the only people to
have free schools that every child had
to attend.
They read and studied codices (a
codex but more advanced)

34. All-Girls School
Girls learned about religion
and were trained to be good
wives and mothers.
They also learned how to
make beautiful woven
textiles.

35. Spanish Conquest
Cortez and Montezuma
• Cortez defeats
Montezuma II
with the help of:
• disease
• Indian allies
• Superior weapons
• Aztec’s believed
he was a god.

36. Temple to Church

37. The
Inca
empIr
e

38. The Inca

39. GovernInG an
empIre
• Divided empire up
into family groups
• Make everyone
learn the Quechua
language
• The conquered
were allowed to
follow their
traditional ways

40. in the
Empire
• Used terraces on
mountain sides.
• Used irrigation
• Llamas for food,
wool and
packing
• Chasquis
• Huge road
system

41. Inca Army
• 200,000 man
army
•Army was
mainly
commoners
who had to
join during
times of war

42. WrITInG
Quipu
• The allowed
for excellent
government records:
taxes, trade…
• They could be used to
send messages
• Some were used to
preserve their history
and legends.

43. Roads
• 14,000 miles of
Roads.
Built bridges, tunnels,
Steps, and flat roads

44. Medical Advances
• Brain surgery
• Medicine
• Blood transfusions
• Quinine: for fevers.

45. Mesoamerica

46. Yucatan Peninsula

47. Slash-and-burn
Agriculture

48. The Olmec/Mother
Culture

49. Glyph
s

50. Maya

51. Codex

52. Tenochtitla
n

53. Montezuma II

54. Hernan Cortes

55. Quipu

56. The
Chasqui

57. Francisco Pizarro

58. Chinampas

59. Conquistadors