Maya, Inca, Aztec Flashcards
Where is Mesoamerica, what civilizations lived there?
Mesoamerica includes central Mexico to Costa Rica.
Civilizations that lived there:
1) Olmec
2) Teotihuacan
3) Zapotec
4) Toltec
5) Maya
6) Aztec
(NOT INCA)
What crop did the early peoples of Mesoamerica grow the most?
Maize (kind of like corn)
Explain the religious ideas of the MAYA.
- Believed that Gods controlled everything that happened on Earth
- Priest did ceremonies to please Gods
- Bloodletting and human sacrifice
- Took captives during war and sacrificed them during drought/other events
- At least two women served as queens
What types of buildings did the MAYA build, what were they used for?
The maya had buildings that were mainly made of stone and were used for everyday life. They built enormous stone cities that showed their beautiful temple-pyramids and palaces. They also built observatories.
List the social structure of the MAYA and briefly explain each class.
King
- Believed to be descended from Sun God
Nobles and priests
- Assisted King
Farmers, artisans, and hunters
- Paid taxes and worked on building projects like temples, palaces, etc.
What caused the collapse of the MAYA civilization?
No one truly knows what happened to them
Theories:
- Warfare over food
- People may have rebelled against the King who demanded a lot from them
- Long dry period with droughts may have played a role
- Most historians think that it is a combination of these
How were the AZTECS able to conquer or take over the civilizations around Lake Texcoco?
When the Aztec sacrificed the daughter of the Culhua chief this then led to a war with the Colhuas who then drove the Aztecs onto an island in the shallow water of lake texcoco
What was Tenochtitlan? Why was it unique?
- Tenochitlan was the city that the Aztecs created and lived in.
- It was chosen because the Aztecs believed the feathered serpent god sent a sign of an eagle on a cactus eating a snake.
- This was how they decided where to build their grand city.
- What makes the city unique is their bright colored temples, aqueducts, roads, and all of their beautiful architecture and the fact that the entire city was a floating island created by the Aztecs.
- Although the city was big the Aztecs still found great ways to govern it.
Explain the social structure of the AZTECS
- The emperor
held the highest position in the structure - Pipiltin (nobles/priests)
- Commoners
- Slaves from conquered tribes
Explain the religious ideas of the AZTECS.
- They believed that they had to please their gods in order for bad things not to happen.
- They also adopted some of the Mayan beliefs such as the rain god.
- They believed that the sun was a warrior who fought battles against the darkness and the way to keep him strong is to offer him nourishments in the form of blood.
- They made human sacrifices.
- Since the Aztec were polytheistic the Sun God was their most valuable God similar to the other civilizations.
- They practiced human sacrifice on a much bigger scale than any other Mesoamerican group.
- The Aztec would use the slaves from other tribes as human sacrifices but sometimes they used their own people.
- The Aztecs would also perform blood sacrifices similar to the other civilizations.
Explain the various reasons that caused the AZTEC civilization to end?
- The Aztec civilization fell with the arrival of the Spanish because when the Spanish came the Aztec welcomed them with open arms.
- The Spanish had other plans to take over by manipulating the king at first then threatening him.
- The Aztec that didn’t die from the sickness that was brought over by the Spanairds were killed.
What was the official INCA language? Why was it important to only have one language?
- Quechua
- It is important to only have one language as with multiple languages there wouldn’t be any communication as many people would get confused easily and people wouldn’t be able to share ideas.
What types of agricultural techniques did the INCA practice?
- Terraces
- Cisterns
- Irrigation canals
- Lived on the Andes Mountain so they had to use these irrigation techniques to grow crops for food and for trade.
Describe the INCA social and political system.
- Emperor (Sapa Inca)
- Three classes of nobles
1) Capac Nobles
2) Huhua Nobles
3) Curacas (leader of tribes they conquered). - Commoners who would farm and had to pay a tax called the mit’a.
- The mit’a wasn’t a tax paid with money but a tax paid with physical labor like building temples, palaces, and roads.
Explain the religious ideas of the INCA.
Had many gods but mainly supported the sun god and agriculture god, Inti who required sacrifices from animals and sometimes children when there were natural disasters. This is because children represent purity.
