INDIGENOUS ROOTS

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS TO CONSIDERHow do the Mayan and Aztec polities compare in terms of land occupied, societal structure, and contributions to history?

How were the indigenous societies of Mesoamerica similar or different from those in the Andean region? How did Mesoamerican and Andean societies differ from those found elsewhere in the Americas?

How did the nature of Aztec society contribute to its conquest by Cortés? Could the Aztecs have resisted differently?

TIMELINE: PRE-COLOMBIAN AMERICA

Peopling of the Americas

30,000-10,000 BC Last ice age

20,000 -12,000 BC Migrations from Asia (Polynesia)

9,500 -9,000 BC Humans reached southern tip of South America

9,000 - 8,000 BC Disappearance of megafauna

8,000 - 5,000 BC First Settlements (North and Mesoamerica)

2,000 BC First permanent agricultural settlements (Oaxaca, 1700BC)

TIMELINE: PRE-COLOMBIAN AMERICA

Ancient American Civilizations

Formative Period

1200BC -1ADOlmec Culture (Veracruz)

850-200 AD Chavin de Huantar (Peru)

Classic Period

150-650 AD Teotihuacan (Valley of Mexico); first great Mesoamerican empire

200-700 AD Monte Alban (Oaxaca, Mexico)

Mochica Nazca cultures/states in Peru

250-600 AD Maya Early Classic Period

375-1000 AD Tihuanaco and Huari cultures/states (Peru)

600-900 AD Maya Late Classic Period

Post-Classic Period

750-1168 Toltec empire - Cholula, Tula (Mexico)

800-1465 Chimu, Chan Chan (Peru)

900-1530 Maya Post-Classic era

Ancient America at the time of Columbian Voyages

1410-1532 Inca Empire

1428-1521 Aztec Empire

MESOAMERICA BEFORE CONQUEST

Pre-1519

OLMEC HEARTLAND1200BC- 1AD

TEOTUATICAN

100BC -750BC

QUETZALCOATL

TOLTECS AT TULA

TOLTECSINVADED THE CITY OFCHICHEN ITZA BY 987AD AND RULED

MAYA EMPIRE

MEXICA MIGRATION

AZTEC

LAKE TEXCOCO

HUITZILOPOCHTLI

TLATELOLCO

MARKET AT TLATELOLCO

TEMPLO MAYOR

MOCTEZUMA II

AZTEC SACRIFICE

FLORENTINE CODEX:EXAMPLE 1: AZTEC FIELD MEDICINE