mesoamerican civilizations. mesoamerica area that stretches from south from central mexico to...

Mesoamerican Civilizations

Mesoamerica

• Area that stretches from south from central Mexico to northern Honduras.

• Story of Americas civilizations start here.

• It was here more than 3,000 years ago that the first complex societies in the Americas rose.

Olmecs and Mayans

Aztecs control Central Mexico

Through alliances and conquest, the Aztecs create a powerful

empire in Mexico.

Beginnings

• Trace ancestry to the Olmecs.

• While Mayan developed to south other cultures evolved in central Mexico.

• Greatest Mesoamerican empire – Aztecs.

Valley of Mexico

• Mountain basin• Several large, shallow lakes• Fertile soil• Accessible resources• Attracted people to settle the area.

Early city-state• Teotihuacan City-state

– First major civilization of central Mexico– Ruins lay just outside Mexico City– At peak: 150,000 to 200,000 population

• At the heart of the city was a central avenue lined with more than 20 pyramids dedicated to various gods.– People lived in apartment block buildings around central avenue.– Biggest pyramid of the Sun – 200 feet tall

• Center of thriving trade network– Obsidian:

• Most valuable trade item• Green or black volcanic glass

– Found in Valley of Mexico

• Abrupt decline of city-state and abandoned– City virtually abandoned by 750 – Believed due to an invasion by outsiders or conflict among ruling class

No evidence that Teotihuacan conquered its neighbors or tried to create an empire but evidence of art styles and religious beliefs found throughout Mesoamerica.

Toltecs take over

• 900—rose to power– Ruled over central Mexico for 300 years.– Built pyramids and temples

• Extremely warlike people– Worshiped fierce war god who demanded blood & human

sacrifice from his followers• Topiltzin:

– Ruler tried to change religion and end human sacrifice– Encourages worship new god: Quetzalcoatl; “feathered

serpent”– Followers of war god rebelled and Topiltzin was exiled

• By early 1200s Toltec rule ends

Legend

• In time, Topiltzin and Quetzalcoatl became one in the legends of the people of the Valley of Mexico.

• According to these legends, after his exile from Tula, the god traveled east, crossing the sea on a raft of snakes.

• He would return one day, bringing a new reign of light and peace.

• The story of Quetzalcoatl would come back to haunt the greatest empire of Mexico, the Aztecs.

Aztecs• Aztecs came into the Valley of Mexico

during the 12th and 13th century A.D., and rose to be the greatest power in the Americas by the time the Spaniards arrived, in the 16th century.

• According to myth, Huitzilopochtli (a god) told Tenoch to lead his people to a place of refuge on a swampy island in Lake Texcoco. When they reached their destination, they were to look for an eagle perched on a cactus.

• At that location, they were to build their city and honor Huitzilopochtli with human sacrifices. The city they built was called Tenochtitlán: the city of Tenoch.

Aztec Calendar Stone

Beginning of Aztec Empire• 1200 A.D. arrived in the Valley of Mexico

– Valley contained a number of small city-states that had survived collapse of Toltec rule.

– Poor, nomadic people from northern Mexico– Ambitious and fierce– Soon adapted to the local ways, finding work as soldiers for

hire to local rulers

• Found own city: look for a place where an eagle perched on a cactus, holding a snake in its mouth.– Found such a place on a small island in Lake Texacoco at

center of the valley.

• 1325 founded their city: Tenochtitlan

Aztec Power

• Over years, Aztecs gradually increased in strength and in number

• 1428 joined two other city-states– Texacoco and Tlacopan

• Triple Alliance:– leading power in the Valley of Mexico

• Gained control of neighboring regions.• By early 1500s controlled a vast empire stretching from

central Mexico to Atlantic and Pacific coasts.– 80,000 square miles– 5 to 15 million people

• Power based on military conquest and tribute.

Cities• Most famous and largest was the capital of the

empire. Tenochtitlan. Sometimes referred to as the Venice of the West

• Causeways connect island city to mainland areas.

• Canals enable people to carry goods to city and its huge main market.

Tenochtitlan

• Capital city– Planned– Island connected by raised roads (causeways) – connect island

to mainland – canoes brought goods

• 200,000 to 400,000 population• Canals, broad avenues, streets• Central area has palaces, temple, government buildings

– Main structure was the Great Temple• Giant pyramid with twin temples at top 1 temple was dedicated to

the sun god and other temple to rain god– Center of Aztec religious life

• Other cities ringed the lake creating a dense concentration of people in the Valley of Mexico

Aztec Rule

• Loose control over empire• Allowed local rulers to govern their own

regions• Brutally captured, slaughtered, or

destroyed any resistance or failure to pay tribute.– Demanded tribute in form of gold, maize,

cacao, cotton, jade, etc.

Social Hierarchy

• Military leaders held great power in Aztec society

• Along with government officials and priests, these military leaders made up the noble class.

• Many nobles owned vast estates, which they ruled over like lords, living a life of great wealth and luxury.

Social Hierarchy

• 2 other broad classes in Aztec society, commoners and enslaved persons.

• Commoners included merchants, artisans, soldiers, and farmers who owned their own land.

• The merchants formed a special type of elite.• They often traveled widely, acting as spies for

the emperor and gaining great wealth for themselves.

• The lowest class, the enslaved persons, were captives who did many different jobs.

Social Hierarchy

• Emperor sat atop the Aztec social pyramid.

• Power was absolute.• Lived in a magnificent palace, surrounded

by servants and his wives.• Visitors – even nobles – entered his

presence in bare feet and cast their eyes down so as not to look at him.

Agriculture

• Because their capital was in a swamp they had to make adjustments.

• They made Chinampias (floating fruit and vegetable gardens)– Farm plots built on marshy fringes of the lake.– Extremely productive in providing food for

large population– Important to them were

• Sweet potato• Maize• Tomatoes • Cacao (Chocolate)

Religion • Played a major role in Aztec society• Religion includes 1,000 gods – many adopted from other peoples• Worshipped Toltec god Quetzalcoatl in many forms

– Saw him as the god of learning and books, the god of wind, and a symbol of death and rebirth.

– Aztecs pictured him not only as a feathered serpent but also as a pale skinned man with a beard.

• Elaborate public ceremonies to communicate with the gods and win favor– Offerings of Sacrifice and bloodletting

• Most important rituals are for sun god Huitzilopochtli– He needs sacrifices to be strong.– Engage in warfare for sacrifices.

– Many religious festivals throughout the year• Dramas, songs, dances according to god being honored

• Temples and Pyramids were often gateways to speaking with the gods – Emperors were the direct link of Gods on Earth

Cortez as Quetzalcoatl

Aztec Calendar

• The Aztec system of tracking days was very intricate.

• Archeologists believe that the Aztec calendar system was derived from the Maya system.

• The Aztecs followed two main calendars just like the Mayans.

• Aztecs also paid tribute to different gods depending on the day, week, month, year, and religious cycle of the Aztec calendars.

Problems in the Aztec Empire• 1502:• Montezuma II was crowned

emperor.– Empire weakens due to:

• Demanded increase in tribute & sacrificial victims

– Due to the growing population of Tenochtitlan

• Provinces rose up against the oppression.

– Began a period of unrest and rebellion which military tried to put down.

• After some time he tried to decrease the demands----did not help!– Resentment continued to grow.

Spanish Arrival

• Many Aztecs began to predict terrible things about to happen and saw bad omens everywhere such as eclipse of the sun, lightening striking temple.

• Emperor tries to make life easier, but Aztecs worry about future.

• Soon after, Spanish arrive.• Many Aztec believed that the fair skinned, bearded

faced Spaniards was the return of Quetzalcoatl.– Hernando Cortez led the Spaniards in the defeat and

destruction of the Aztecs.

Inca

While the Aztecs ruled in the Valley of Mexico, the Inca created an equally powerful state in South America.

Built a vast empire supported by taxes,

governed by a bureaucracy, and

linked by extensive road systems.

Inca• Incans first lived in high plateau

of Andes Mountains.

• By the 1200s, the Inca had established domination over the regional states in Andean South America and had established a kingdom in the Valley of Cuzco.

• Largest empire ever seen in the Americas.

Inca• At first the Incan kingdom grew

slowly.• Pachacuti was a powerful and

ambitious Incan emperor• In 1438, Pachacuti launched a

series of military campaigns that greatly expanded Inca authority– Success bred success and the

Inca empire expanded– Inca conquer lands holding 16

million people• By the late 15th Century, the Inca

empire had used diplomacy and military force to achieve conquests that covered more than 2,500 miles, embracing almost all of modern Peru, most of Ecuador, much of Bolivia, and parts of Chile and Argentina

Pachacuti• Conquered all of Peru

– 1500—Inca ruled 2,500 miles of west coast of South America

– 16 million people• Incans had a powerful military but

used force only when necessary.• Diplomacy was used as well to

gain land.– Before attacking, typically offered

enemy states an honorable surrender.

– Surrender and would be allowed to practice own customs.

– Exchange----be loyal to the emperor– Generally people gave up without

resisting.– Even when force was used, once an

area was defeated Incans made every effort to gain loyalty of newly conquered people.

Inca Government Controls all Levels of Society

EconomicSocial• Regulated production and

distribution of goods– Allowed little private commerce or

trade.

• Extensive road system for trade

Political• Inca divide conquered lands into

smaller units to govern easily• Governed by a central

bureaucracy • Build cities with same architecture

for government buildings• Capital is Cuzco

• One language• Schools to teach Incan ways

Cities

Cities: Cuzco

• Inca capital at Cuzco served as the administrative, religious, and ceremonial center of the empire

• Splendid city of temples, plazas, and palaces.

• May have supported 300,000 residents• Cuzco was the religious capital

– Temple of the Sun– All Roads Lead to Cuzco

Cuzco

Incans

• Masterful engineers and stonemasons like Romans

• No iron tools and did not use the wheel• Incans carved and transported huge

blocks of stone fitting them together without mortar.

• Many Incan walls still stand in Cuzco today, undisturbed by regions frequent earthquakes.

Machu Picchu– Large temples– Public buildings– Central plaza

Social Life• The Incan social system was based on a form of community

cooperation – the ayllu.• The ayllu – extended family group – undertook tasks too big for

a single family.– Tasks included building irrigation canals or cutting agricultural terraces

into steep hillsides.– Also stored food and other supplies to distribute among members during

hard times.

• Divided families into groups of 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000.– A chief led each group.– He was part of a chain of command – chain stretched from community

and regional levels all the way to Cuzco, where the Incan ruler and his council held court.

– Local administration was left in the hands of local rulers and villages were allowed to continue their traditional ways.

Mita

• The main demand of the Incan state placed on its subjects was for tribute, usually in the form of labor.

• The labor tribute was known as mita.• It required all able bodied citizens to work for the state a certain

number of days every year.• Mita workers might labor on state farmlands, produce craft

goods for state warehouses, or help with public work projects.• Citizens were expected to work for the state and be cared for in

return.– The aged and disabled were supported by state.– State made sure people didn’t go hungry if there was a bad harvest.

Public Works Projects

• The Inca had an ambitious public works program.

• Most spectacular project was the Incan road system.

• Road system symbolized the power of the Incan state.

• 14,000 mile long network of roads and bridges spanned the empire, traversing rugged mountains and harsh deserts.

• Roads ranged from paved stone to simple paths.

Agriculture

Llamas

Agriculture

• Intensive agricultural techniques– Inca empire spanned

many types of environments and required terraces to make farmland out of the mountainous terrain

– Chief crop was the potato

– Herded llamas and alpacas for meat, wool, hides, and dung (used as fuel)

Social Hierarchy

• Rulers• Aristocrats• Priests• Bureaucrats• Peasant cultivators of common

birth

Social Hierarchy

• Chief ruler was king and was an absolute and infallible ruler

• Dead rulers retained their prestige even after death– Remains were– Were seen as intermediaries with the

gods

Social Hierarchy

• Priests often came from royal and aristocratic families– They lived celibate and ascetic lives– Influenced Inca society by education and

religious rituals

• Large class of bureaucrats to support centralized government– Bureaucrats often were drawn from the loyal

ranks of conquered people

Social Hierarchy

• Peasants worked lands allocated to them– Surplus supported the ruling, aristocratic,

and priestly classes as well as providing public relief in times of famine or to widows

• Mita: Incan state placed on its subjects a tribute in the form of labor.– Required ALL able-bodied citizens to work

for the state a certain # of days a year.

Religion and Education

• Worshipped fewer gods than the Aztec.– Moon, stars and thunder– Creator God & A Sun God most important– Focused on key nature spirits such as the moon, the stars,

and thunder.• Main god was Inti, god of the sun

– Ruler considered a descendent of Inti• Sacrificed agricultural produce or animals rather than

humans• Cuzco had magnificent Temple of the Sun decorated

in gold• Believed in life after death where an individual

received rewards or punishments based on the quality of his earthly life

Sun God: Inti

Thunder God

Goddess of the Moon

Economic Exchange

Inca gold

Economic Exchange

• Inca society did not produce large classes of merchants or skilled artisans

• Locally they bartered among themselves

• Long distance trade was supervised by the central government using the excellent Inca roads

Economic Exchange• Gold, the Inca’s most

valuable commodity, proved to be their undoing when Spanish conquistadors destroyed much of the empire in the early 1500s in search of gold

• The Spanish melted down almost all the gold so few works of art remain

Arrival of Francisco Pizarro in South America

New Technologies

Major Roads of the Inca Empire

New Technologies: Roads

• Allowed the Inca government to:– maintain centralized control– move military forces quickly,

transport food supplies where needed,

– tying the widespread territories together

• Rest stations were built a day’s walk apart

• Runners were positioned at convenient intervals to deliver government messages

Art and Writing

Quipu (khipu)

Art and Writing• The Inca had no

writing• Instead they kept

records using a quipu– A array of small cords

of various colors and lengths, all suspended from a thick cord

– By tying knots in the small cords, Inca could record statistical information

586 on a quipu

Decline of the Inca

• Height was early 1500s– Last ruler died of smallpox– Empire was split between his sons– Sons began to fight– Civil war weakens Incan state just before

Spanish arrive• Spain came in and took advantage of the

weak empire & conquered it.• Francisco Pizarro led the conquistadors

and ravaged the Incan empire for its gold.