Latin America
By: Jonathan Morales
Political
Mayans
- The Mayan civilization was not centralized and was broken up into many political states that were linked through trade and tribute obligations.
- The states were ruled by simple chiefdoms.
- Then the civilizations became more centralized, with leaders that showed authority through lineage and political connections.
- People were punished severely for disobeying the law.
- Human sacrifice was used as one way to keep control over the people.
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/exhibits/aztec/maya_politics.html
Aztecs
- The empire was split up into many city-states called altipetl.
- Each of the city-states were ruled by a supreme leader (tlatoani) and a supreme judge and administrator (cihuacoatl).
- The empire however did have a central ruler who was the tlatoani of the capital city and was the emperor of the empire.
- The emperor had to come from the higher classes which was the noble class and had to have royal lineage.
- The tlatoani served for life.
- New emperors were chosen by a high council of four nobles.
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/exhibits/aztec/aztec_politics.html
Incas
- The Incan emperor was thought to have descended from the sun god (Inti) and was why he ruled with authority.
- The emperor had one official wife but had many concubines and the children from these women sometimes reached to the hundreds.
- Right under the emperor was the aristocracy which included the descendants and relations of all the emperors. These people held the highest of government, religious, and military positions.
- The empire was divided into four regions. They were the four suyus (quarters) of the world, with Cusco in the center.
- The governor to each of the regions was a blood relative to the emperor.
- The Incans used quipu as the form to keep records of things.
http://autocww2.colorado.edu/~toldy3/E64ContentFiles/HistoryOfTheAmericas/IncaEmpire.html
a person showing the common dress of an emperor
Economical
Aztecs
http://schoolweb.psdschools.org/tavelli/curr/gr6/staztec/samb/samb.html
Mayas
http://www.authenticmaya.com/maya_trade_and_economy.htm
Incas
Economical
Aztecs
- Trade was a huge part of the Aztecs economic structure.
- They traded things like feathers, slaves, knives, coco beans, and jewels.
- Farming was a big part of the trade in the civilization.
- Aztecs would also make the civilizations that they conquered pay tribute.
- The Aztecs had a form of money.
http://schoolweb.psdschools.org/tavelli/curr/gr6/staztec/samb/samb.html
Mayas
- The Mayas also relied mostly on trade and traded with nearby civilizations, like the Teotihuacans,and the Zapotecs.
- Agriculture was a big trading source for the Mayas.
- Artisans were also a big part of the trading industry.
http://www.authenticmaya.com/maya_trade_and_economy.htm
Incas
- Agriculture again was a big part of the economy.
- The potato was an important crop because it was able to with stand harsh cold and great heights.
- Llamas and Alpacas were an important part also because they were used for their wool and dung.
- The Incas also had rich deposits of gold and silver.
potatoes were a very important crop to the Inca empire.
Religion
Mayas
http://www.religionfacts.com/mayan_religion/index.htm
Aztecs
http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-religion.html
Incas
Religion
Mayas
- They believed in nature gods which represents all natural things.
- They had one supreme god Itzamna, the creator god, the god of fire and hearth
- The afterlife was the journey of the soul through the underworld. Heaven is only reserved for children who were sacrificed or died in childbirth.
- Science and religion for the Mayas were the same.
- Human sacrifice was a primary ritual for the Mayas.
http://www.religionfacts.com/mayan_religion/index.htm
Aztecs
- They also practiced human sacrifice.
- Quetzalcoatl was the creator of the humans and has a temple dedicated to him.
- The Aztecs built many temples in honor of their gods for worship and rituals.
- They would often have wars just to gain people for human sacrifice.
http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-religion.html
Incas
- The one supreme god was Viracocha.
- They also believed in nature gods.
- Huacas were sacred places and objects. Every family had at least one Huaca in their household.
- They believed in an afterlife and worshiped the spirits of their ancestors and their bodies were made into Huacas.
- Many rites and live sacrifices were offered to the gods and the sacrifices were usually llamas, guinea pigs and sometimes women or children.
A picture showing the ritual of human sacrifice by the Aztecs.
Society
Aztecs/Maya
http://clio.missouristate.edu/chuchiak/aztecs40.gif
Inca
http://autocww2.colorado.edu/~toldy3/E64ContentFiles/HistoryOfTheAmericas/IncaEmpire.html
Society
Aztecs/Maya
- The Aztecs and Maya had a strict hierarchy and people were identified as nobles, commoners, serfs, or slaves.
- The nobles consisted of government and military leaders, high level priests and lords.
- The commoner class consisted of farmers, artisans, low level priests, and merchants. The artisans and traveling merchants were the highest of their class.
- The serfs were people who worked the land that was owned by nobles and did not live in the calpulli.
- People became slaves as a form of punishment for certain crimes and or for failure to pay tribute. Those captives of war that were not used as human sacrifice were used as slaves.
- Women did not have leadership positions within the Aztec and Maya Empire. Children were to attend school but their curricula were different based on gender and social class.
http://clio.missouristate.edu/chuchiak/aztecs40.gif
Inca
- The Inca society consists of ayllu which is typically families living together and sharing land, animals, and crops. They vary from size from small to large.
- They didn’t just have to farm for themselves they also had to farm for the emperor.
- The emperor and nobles had many wives but the emperor usually married his sister as his main wife. Non-noble men were only allowed to have one wife.
- People were split up into classes also.
- Farmers had to live a life of hard work.
- Women usually made chichi, ground corn or potatoes into flour and produced cloth.
- There was very little social mobility but peasants escaped they the harsh labor of their class. Specially gifted boys were trained in crafts or in keeping records and then used those skills to work for the emperor.
http://autocww2.colorado.edu/~toldy3/E64ContentFiles/HistoryOfTheAmericas/IncaEmpire.html
Painting showing the average life of an Aztec.
Innovation, Intellectual, Inventions
Maya
http://www.history.com/topics/mayan-scientific-achievements
Aztecs
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/5-ancient-aztec-inventions.htm#page=4
Incas
Innovation, Intellectual, Inventions
Maya
- The Maya had a calendar and a complex system of hieroglyphics.
- They had two different calendars the first one was the calendar round and it was based on a 260 day sacred year and a 365 day secular year. Every 52 years counted was a single interval or calendar round.
- The second was the Long Count and is counting forward based on a fixed date in the past.
- They were able to predict solar eclipses with these calendars.
- They may have developed a more durable material than rubber by combining it with other materials.
- They also developed the concept of zero.
http://www.history.com/topics/mayan-scientific-achievements
Aztecs
- The Aztecs developed floating gardens called chinampas. They would make rectangular pieces of land and plant willow tree to anchor they plot to the ground and they didn’t need to be water because they were on water
- The Aztecs also developed a form of universal education where all children had to attend school and learn their parent’s trade, to be a warrior or ceremonial songs and cosmology.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/5-ancient-aztec-inventions.htm#page=4
Incas
- The Incas had a lunar calendar which was able to measure dates accurately.
- They were also able to perform surgeries and be successful at them. They were able to perform amputations and even bone transplants and have the people years after the surgeries.
- They had accurate forms of measure including a fathom that equaled 163 cm in length and had a balance beam to measure weight.
A Picture showing the Mayan calendar carved in stone.
Arts, Architecture
Aztecs
Maya
http://thisishonduras.com/The_Maya.htm
Inca
http://autocww2.colorado.edu/~toldy3/E64ContentFiles/HistoryOfTheAmericas/IncaEmpire.html
Arts, Architecture
Aztecs
- The Aztecs built many temples in honor of their gods and they were called Teocalli, which means god houses.
- Every temple that was dedicated to the gods had staircases facing the sun.
- On the top of the temple they had a block used for sacrificing.
- On the inside of these pyramids there were many carvings mostly of animals and they had statues and paintings.
Maya
- The Mayans were good at making pottery and were skilled sculptures.
- The sculptures made were usually made to honor the gods.
- Also like the Aztecs the Mayans also built temple in the shape of pyramids to honor their gods.
- These temples were usually the center of towns and the buildings around it were usually mad and decorated with stone.
- The temples were made of stone.
http://thisishonduras.com/The_Maya.htm
Inca
- The Incas were able to make complex systems of roads and bridges.
- They also built temples and were able to build them on the top of the Andes.
- Like the Maya the Incans were also skilled in pottery. One form of pottery was called aryballus.
- They built great cities on the top of the Andes and they were completely made of stone.
- The Incas also built aqueducts to be able to irrigate their crops at this elevation.
http://autocww2.colorado.edu/~toldy3/E64ContentFiles/HistoryOfTheAmericas/IncaEmpire.html
A Mayan pyramid that was used as a temple
Near Geography
Near Geography
- All of these civilizations and empires are located in present day Latin America.
- The Aztec Empire was mostly in Mexico and its capital rested on what is now present day Mexico City.
- The Mayans were located in the Yucatan peninsula and what is now present day Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.
- The Incan Empire located in what are now the Andes Mountains. Their civilization went from current day Peru to Chile.
A map showing where the Latin American empires are located