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| 5740789951 | Origins of the Early Americas | 1. Migration from Asia by the Beringia land bridge 2.Journey from Asia to rhe Pacific Coast by small boats 3. Louis Leakey: First Humans may have arrived 100,000 years ago (Calico Hills, CA) | 0 | |
| 5740789952 | The Precursors | 1. Olmecs 2. Zapotecs 3. Toltecs | 1 | |
| 5740789953 | The Big Three | 1. Maya 2. Aztecs 3. Inca | 2 | |
| 5740789954 | Locations of the Maya | located in modern-day Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico |  | 3 |
| 5740789955 | Location of the Aztec | modern-day Mexico City |  | 4 |
| 5740789956 | The Olmecs (1200 BCE - 400 BCE) | -based in Meso-America (central Mexico to N. Honduras) -inhospitable climate -hunted, fished, grew corn, beans, traded jade, crops -Ceremonial centers: La Venta, Tres Zapotes, San Lorenzo -Pyramids, monumental sculptures (jaguar motif) -hieroglyphics, not deciphered, & no written records. | 5 | |
| 5740789957 | Mysterious Decline of the Olmecs | -Ceremonial centers are destroyed -No evidence of warfare -Revolution? Civil War? | 6 | |
| 5740789958 | Mayan Civilization (300 BCE - 900 CE) | -Large cities discovered in the 19th century -Decentralized political structure (city-states) led by god-kings (Pacal, etc.) -Areas was rich in game and building materials (limestone and hardwood), obsidian. -Cacao beans ---hot chocolate drink ---used as currency -Major ceremonial centered at Tikal, Copan, and Palenque -no metal; water supply was uncertain; communication was difficult. | 7 | |
| 5740789959 | Mayan Warfare | -Purpose of warfare? To take territory and capture enemy soldiers -Ritual sacrifices of enemies -City-states and small kingdoms engage in constant conflict !!!The Maya conducted warfare and human sacrifices on a smaller scale than the Aztecs) | 8 | |
| 5740789960 | Mayan Mathematics and their Ritual Calendar | 1. Complex Math ---invention of the "zero" concept ---base 20 system 2. Solar Calendar (17 seconds off of the calendar we use) ---eighteen 20-day months with a separate period of 5 days at end 3. Management of the calendar lends authority to ~priesthood~ ---Need to choose auspicious moments for planting crops, attacking enemies, installing new rulers !!!!!The Mayan calendar is based on careful observations of the planets, sun, and moon.!!!!! | 9 | |
| 5740789961 | Mayan Language and Religion | -Hieroglyphic symbols -bark paper books were destroyed by Spanish conquerors, only 3 survived -Popol Vuh: Mayan creation myth -Itzamna: Lizard House (the supreme god) -Bloodletting rituals: removal of fingers, piercing to allow blood flow; self-mutilztion was also used by kings. | 10 | |
| 5740789962 | The Mayan Ball Game (Pok-a-tok) | -sacred ritual -high-ranking captives, prisoners of war were contestants -execution of losers immediately after the match -human sacrifices to please the gods | 11 | |
| 5740789963 | Post-Classic Mayan Civilization | - Centered on the Yucatan peninsula (9th-12th centuries CE) - Farming is difficult (soil is thin) but water is available from cenotes (sinkholes created by the collapse of underground caverns) - Heavily influenced by the Toltecs of Central Mexico (caused mostly by waves of immigrants from Tula) - Kukulcan ("feathered serpent") - Toltec leader in Chichen Itza - Violent, warlike - Had human sacrifice (see Chac Mool) - Main centers: Chichen Itza and Uxmal | 12 | |
| 5740789964 | Theories of the end of the Mayan Civilization | 1. Increased warfare among Mayan city-states disrupted trade and caused population to flee to the jungle 2. Agricultural production could not keep up with population growth; therefore people moved away from urban centers 3. Ecological damage from over- farming, etc.? 4. Famine and disease? | 13 | |
| 5740789965 | Teohuacan Culture (100 - 700 CE) | - Produced great architectural structures in the highlands of Mexico - Lakes in area of high elevation - Village of Teotihuacan, expands to become America's first metropolis (200,000 inhabitants by 500 C.E.) and important ceremonial center (see Teotihuacan "Street of the Dead") - Creation of chinampas - swampy islands enlarged to become floating gardens - Extensive trade network, influence on surrounding areas - It begins to decline ca 650 C.E.; is sacked in the middle of the 8th century, and its massive library is destroyed | 14 | |
| 5740789966 | The Aztecs | -Poor nomadic people who left desert in northern Mexico and emigrated to crowded Valley of Mexico ca 1000 C.E. -Shunned by other peoples because of their practice of human sacrifice -Gained wealth and power by serving as mercenaries -established city of Tenochtitlan on an island ca 1350 C.E. and enlarged it by dredging part of Lake Texcoco (a large salt lake surrounded by freshwater lakes); city connected by causeways -population: +500,000 -Hieroglyphs but no written literature | 15 | |
| 5740789967 | Aztec Politics | - Monarch - Confederation of localities - Tribute (gold, maize, cacao beans, cotton, jade, slaves) - Calpulli = kinship groups | 16 | |
| 5740789968 | Aztec Religion | - Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl - Ometeotl = guiding deity - Art and sculpture: see e.g., the Disc of the Fifth Sun (its image is to the left) Destruction: Hernan Cortes and Spaniards defeat Emperor Montezuma II and the Aztecs in 1521 with help from Tlaxcallan | 17 | |
| 5740789969 | Andean Societies | - Migration into South America ca 12,000 B.C.E. - Climate improves ca 8,000 B.C.E. - Largely independent from Mesoamerica - Highly individualized due to geography - Remarkable cities, towns despite jungle, mountains (see e.g. Machu Picchu) - Chavin, Moche, Chimu, Huari, Inca | 18 | |
| 5740789970 | Chavin Culture 900 - 200 B.C.E. | -Primarily a religious civilization which develops in the central Andes (Peru) -Little is known about the particulars of the religion -Intricate stone mounds/ carvings/ textiles -Probably had shamans - Cf. Nazca peoples in western Peru | 19 | |
| 5740789971 | Moche Culture | -Based in the Moche River Valley, it dominated northern Peru -Built impressive irrigation systems for farming -Beautiful jewelry, metalwork, pottery and other treasure survive (see e.g. the Lord of Sipan treasure (ca 400 C.E.); cf. the King Tut archaeological find) -One of many states in region; none of them were able to consolidate their power enough to establish an empire - May have been ended by severe flooding or desertification | 20 | |
| 5740789972 | The Incas | - Empire lasted less than 100 years - Started by Pachakuti (r.1438-1471); grew more under Topa Inca Yupanqui (r.1471-1493) through war, diplomacy - Eventually controlled over 2,500 miles of Pacific coastline, Andes Mountains - Highly centralized state, built by forced labor (or mita) - Great road builders - No wheeled vehicles - Split inheritance, custom of worshipping mummified dead rulers - Orejones ("Big Ears") - only one of these 11 noble lineages could inherit throne - Inti = the Sun god - Ayllu = kinship unit - Little private commerce or trade - An early socialist state? - Strictly regulated marriage - No written records (used quipu instead) - Quechua = language - Last emperor, Athahualpa, defeated by Pizarro in 1532 - Incas devastated by civil war, exposure to European disease | 21 |
