300 BCE-900 CE• Location:

– Mexico’s YUCATAN Peninsula

• Architecture– temples– astronomy– mathematics– The MAYAN CALENDAR

• Slow decline– Warfare– Overpopulation– Soil exhaustion

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The AZTECS (1200-1521)

• In 1325, the Aztec god Uitzilopochtli told the people where to settle when – “you find an eagle perched

atop a cactus holding a snake in its beak.”

• Soon afterwards, the Aztecs founded the city of Tenochtitlan.

• Generations later, Mexico City now stands on the spot of the former Aztec city.

– The snake, eagle and cactus have become national symbols in Mexico.

The Aztecs fall t/t Spanish Conquistadors

• Hernan CORTEZ– 600 men – 16 horses & cannon

• Moctezuma – last Aztec ruler

• Tenochtitlan– Aztec capital city

• Human sacrifices– cut out the heart– mainly POWs

The Inca Empire 1197-1572

• By the late 1400’s, the Inca Empire stretched 2,500 miles across what is today Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile.– The Inca’s were able

to acquire new skills and survival techniques by learning from the people in the area and then branching out.

The Incans fall t/t Spanish Conquistadors

• Francisco PIZARRO • Atahualpa

– last Incan king • “thirst for gold”• Spanish weaponry & European

diseases – small pox– 80,000 Incan warriors defeated by

168 conquistadors • Cuzco was capital• Machu Picchu