Presentation of American Civilization.

1. CIVILIZATIONS IN ANCIENT
AMERICA

2. PARTICIPANTS
Name
ID
Israt Zahan
122200045
Rifat Bin Younus
122200027
Zerin Ahmed
103200068
Afroza Sultana Soma
122200016
Rafia Sultana
122200050

3. CONTENTS
Mayan Civilization
The Inca civilization
Mayan People
Political History
Political Organization of Maya
Economic Condition
Mayan food & Clothing
Inca’s ART
Mayan Architecture
Inca’s Religion
Mayan sculpture & painting
Inca’s art
Mayan Religion.
Inca’s Literature
Mayan literature
Inca’s Learning.
Mayan Learning

4. MAYAN CIVILIZATION
•
The Mayan civilization occupied the eastern third of
Mesoamerica, primarily the Yucatan Peninsula known as the
ancient MAYA.
•
The Geographic features were unlimited including mountains,
volcanoes, jungles, coastal plains, and swampy lands.
Maya civilization
•
The southern portion of the Lowlands were covered by a rain
forest with an average height of about 150 feet.

5. MAYAN CIVILIZATION
• The northern Lowlands were also comprised of forests
but they were drier than their southern counterparts,
mainly growing small thorny trees.
• February to May was the dry season characterized by
air that was intensely hot and uncomfortable.
• The skies filled with a smoky grit, making the air even
more unbearable until the rains came in late May to
clear the murky atmosphere.

6. MAYAN PEOPLE
•
Maya civilization spans more than 3000 years in the rain forests
and mountains of what is now Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
and Belize.
•
During the Classic period (A.D. 250-900), Mayan people created
a complex society that includes literature, art, mathematics,
astronomy, and calendric.
Mayan People
•
Today, they live in remote mountain and lowland communities
where they grow their own crops, build their own houses,
furniture and musical instruments, and the women still weave
and embroider clothing for themselves and their families.

7. MAYAN PEOPLE
•
Neighboring communities often speak different Mayan languages,
and they retain their own ritual and ceremonial practices, along
with a distinctive style of traditional dress.
•
In the early 21st century some 70 Mayan languages were spoken
by more than five million people, most of whom were bilingual in
Spanish.
•
They practiced agriculture, built great stone buildings and pyramid
temples, worked gold and copper, and used a form of hieroglyphic
writing that has now largely been deciphered.
Mayan People

8. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
•
Primogeniture was the form under which new kings were chosen
as the king passed down his position to his son.
•
After the birth of a heir, the kings performed a blood sacrifice by
drawing blood from his own body as an offering to his ancestors.
•
To be a king, one must have taken a captive in a war and that
person is then used as the victim in his accession ceremony. The
religious explanation that upheld the institution of kingship
asserted that Maya rulers were necessary for continuance of the
Universe.

9. MAYAN ART
•
The art of the Maya, as with every civilization, is a reflection of
their lifestyle and culture.
•
The art was composed of painting upon paper and plaster,
carvings in wood and stone, clay and stucco models and
molds.
•
Folding tree Books made were from fig tree bark and placed in
royal tomb.
•
Spanish, who regarded the symbolic writing as the work of the
devil.
Mayan Art

10. MAYAN FOOD & CLOTHING
•
Traditional clothing of Mayan men is a cotton breechcloth
with occasionally a sleeveless shirt. Sometime the shirt was
white or dyed in different colors.
•
Mayan women use to wear traje, a mixture of a woven,
colorful blouse known as huipil or a corte, a woven curly
skirt.
•
From the Mayan ancestors, the basic staple diet is corn.
Mayan Cloth

11. MAYAN ARCHITECTURE
• They were skilled architects, building great cities of
stone that remain even a thousand years after their
civilization fell into decline.
Chichen Itza
• Maya built pyramids, temples, palaces, walls,
residences and more.
• The Chichen Itza and the temple of Plumed Serpent is
one of the most important symbol of their expert in the
architecture.
Temple of
Plumed Serpent

12. MAYAN SCULPTURE & PAINTING
• They built many monumental structures including tall
pyramids and palaces. They also made a lot of sculptures
out of stone.
• One popular type of Maya sculpture was the Stela.
Stela
• The Maya painted murals on the walls of their buildings
including their houses, temples, and public buildings.
Unfortunately, due to the high humidity of the region, few of
the murals have survived.
Mayan Painting

13. MAYAN RELIGION
• Mayan religion was characterized by the worship of
nature gods associated with the directions the east, west,
north, south.
• There were gods of forests, rain, plains, fertility, and
animals.
• Mayan religion was closely associated with the months of
the year and elaborate ceremonies were performed in
celebration of each.
Mayan God

14. MAYAN LITERATURE
• The Codices of late Aztec period are hardly
representative.
• The Mayas apparently intended to preserved their history,
mythology and literature in their sculpture and
architecture.
Mayan Literature
• The whole system of written expression is most
perplexing.

15. MAYAN LEARNING
• The calendar is the greatest scientific achievement for
the Mayas.
• They measured time in katuns or 20 years cycles.
The
year consisting in365 days, was divided into 18 months.
• One of the main uses of the calendar was to be a guide
for the farmers.
Mayan Calendar

16. THE INCA CIVILIZATION
• The Incan Empire was located on the western side of South
America. Although the Empire was huge, it can be easily
divided into three geographical regions - mountains, jungle,
and desert.
• Andes Mountains: North to south were the Andes Mountains
- home of the Inca civilization. The mountains dominated
Incan society. The mountain peaks were worshiped as gods.
The Inca Empire

17. THE INCA CIVILIZATION
•
The Andes created a natural barrier between the coastal
desert on one side and the jungle on the other. The snowcapped mountains were full of deep gorges.
•
The Incas must have entered the jungle occasionally, as they
did know about the many valuable things that could be found
in the Amazon.
•
But they never established settlements there. They had no
desire to live in the jungle. The Incas expanded north and
south instead.
The Geographical Map

18. POLITICAL HISTORY
•
There are few dependable accounts of the history of the Incas.
. A great dynasty was ruling here when Francesco Pizzaro
arrived.
•
Sinchi Roca (1105-1140) was one of the most outstanding
rulers.
•
The government was despotic and paternalistic. The old rich
families supported by the priests formed the privileged class
and the lower classes lived in complete subjection. Everything
was planned for the individuals.
The Government of Inca

19. ECONOMIC CONDITION
• The Incas had great farmers, they were the first people
to ever grow potatoes.
• Incas also used Llamas and Alpacas to transport and
travel. Incan nobles developed hand crafts, building,
and architectural skills.
• Buildings and walls built by the Incas still remain today.
These nobles also accumulated masses of gold and
silver

20. INCA’S RELIGION
•
The Inca believed in reincarnation.
•
Death was a passage to the next world that was full of
difficulties.
•
Most Incas imagined the after world to be very similar to the
Euro-American notion of heaven, with flower covered fields
and snow capped mountains.
•
The Inca also practiced cranial deformation.
The Inca Religion

21. INCA’S ART
• The Incas , like the Mayas , build massive pyramids ,
constructing both round and square buildings ,with
cobblestone domical roof.
Inca wall in Cuzco
• The most common shape in Inca architecture was the
rectangular building without any internal walls and roofed
with wooden beams and thatch .
• American archaeologist John H. Rowe classified Inca fine
masonry in two types: coursed & polygonal.
Cyclopean polygonal masonry

22. INCA’S LITERATURE
• There is a little evidence of written records , at least in the
early period of Inca history .
• Records were kept by means of knotted strings called
quips , most of which have been destroyed , while those
that remain defy translation .
• The hymns and prayers for religious ceremonies are
similar in some respects to those found in the old
testament .
The Inca Number

23. INCA’S LEARNING
• The Inca made many discoveries in medicine.
• Surgical operation were performed on the skull, broken
bones were set, and fillings were put in teeth. However,
survival rates rose to 80–90% during the Inca era.
• The sophistication of Inca administration, calendric, and
engineering necessitated a certain facility with numbers.
These numbers were stored in base-10 digits and used in
administrative and military units.
Inca Medicine

24. THANK YOU