THE MAYA (MAYANS) They were powerful and dominant from the
200s-900s. Although they werent as powerful after the 900s, they
were still around until the 1500s when the Spanish arrived and
conquered the region
Slide 2
Class Structure Mayan Hierarchy 1 On top: Ruler, his family,
Royal court, & priests 2 useful architects, merchants, and
craftsmen 3 Commoners like artists, traders & minor officials,
4 Farmers (who lived outside cities in villages & fields) 5
Bottom: Slaves (Ppentacob)
Slide 3
Where did Mayan slaves come from? Born into slavery, As
punishment for crime (since there were no jails) Captured as
prisoners of war Orphans became slaves also Slaves had to grind
corn, work the most dangerous and heaviest construction jobs,
carried goods long distances between the highlands and the coast,
or paddled canoes
Slide 4
Family Life Names in Mayan society were very important.
Newborns were presented by grandparents in a ceremony & given 3
names: 1st Name - Private Name, which was given at the ceremony.
2nd Name - Nickname, used by everyone. 3rd Name Last name from
parents. Mayan girls were to get married at age 14 and men at age
18. These marriages were arranged by a matchmaker and groom's
parents. The bride's family paid a dowry to the grooms' family. The
wedding day was set by the priest and the wedding was held in the
brides home. The wedding would be finished with an exchange of
gifts and a feast. Newly weds would live with the bride's family
for a year before starting their own household. Mayans lived in
extended family units in village compounds. The extended families
were combined into larger groups called lineages and lineages
usually larger units called clans. (use this to answer question #19
)
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Beauty To the Mayans, beauty meant looking like a cat.
Therefore, they considered a flattened forehead and crossed eyes to
be signs of physical beauty. So infants in Mayan society strapped
wooden frames to their heads elongating their skulls. Also an
object was dangled above their eyes to cause them to cross.
Slide 6
Blue was a symbolic color for the Maya since it symbolized
death, war, & sacrifice.
Slide 7
WarfareThe most common pattern of Maya warfare was simply a
bunch of raids where they rapidly attacked and retreated. It was
usually done by relatively small numbers of nobles and was done for
ceremonial purposes, like human sacrifice
Slide 8
Beliefs The Maya were a deeply religious people. They believed
in many gods. All events centered around their religious beliefs.
They wanted to stay in favor with the gods. In their belief system,
the gods would bring the rain, heal the sick, bring plentiful
harvests, and ensure the health and safety of the people if they
were honored. If the gods were angry, they would send drought,
famine and disaster to the people.
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Kings would also give blood offerings (considered very sacred).
Noble women would also practice blood- letting by pulling a rope
with broken glass and thorns through a hole in their tongue. Human
sacrifice was often practiced. No, they didnt use animals in their
religious ceremonies.
Slide 10
Art, language, Architecture The complex pictures of Maya glyphs
are like no other writing system. All of our words are formed from
various combinations of 26 signs (Alphabet) By contrast, all Maya
words are formed from various combinations of nearly 800 signs, and
each sign represents a full syllable so that list of signs is
called a Syllabary, not an Alphabet.
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Slide 12
= ONE = FIVE = ZERO The Mayans would put one finger in clay for
one, a side of the hand for five and a fist for zero or
twenty.
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Slide 14
What did they eat? They were known as people of the corn but
they also ate: Maize (corn) berries mangos bananas beans tomatoes
avocados cilantro doves monkies rabbits armadillos tapirs Fish sea
turtles
Slide 15
The Maya had many farming techniques, including Terrace
Farming, where sides of hills were cultivated like giant steps.
They did not practice farming with floating gardens called
Chinampas.
Slide 16
The Maya built massive Temples, many of which can still be seen
today
Slide 17
Were they conquered by the Spanish? The Mayan Empire declined
in the 900s, but there were still a few Mayan colonies around when
the Spanish, led by Hernan Cortes, conquered in the 1500s.
Slide 18
The Aztec Empire 1200s - 1521 (use this to answer questions #8
& #9)
Slide 19
Aztec social structure society was divided into 3 social
classes; NOBLES nobility = (pilli) PEASANTS peasantry (macehualli
or people) and SLAVES slaves. Aztecs had social mobility (they
could move up in class & rank Anyone could challenge the ruler
at any time, but there were rules & regulations
Slide 20
Aztec Family life In the context of the family, men and women
played distinct roles. Aztec women married at about 16 (men about
18). In school boys were taught arts and crafts, Girls were taught
to cook and other necessities.
Slide 21
Aztec Warfare & religious beliefs War was a very important
activity. They believed that the gods had sacrificed themselves for
mankind, that their blood had given man life, and that the Sun was
nourished with the blood of human hearts. This belief led them to
sacrifice prisoners at their temples. They didnt have jails. They
believed that war was required to provide food & energy for the
sun so that it could continue on its course. They believed when the
4 original gods decided to create the sun they 1 st had to create
war so that the hearts and blood needed by the sun would be
available. No, they didnt use animals in their ceremonies.
Slide 22
Aztec Warfare & religious beliefs The Aztecs murdered
(sacrificed) at least 2 people every day, one in the morning and
one in the evening. Often they sacrificed many more. It is
estimated that the Aztecs sacrificed 30,000 people per year. That
is roughly 82 per day or 5 per hour (from sun up to sundown)or one
every 12 minutes!!! One account describes 20,000 Aztec sacrifices
in a single day!
Slide 23
Aztec slavery Slaves also constituted an important class. Some
argue that it wasnt even like real slavery. First, Aztec slavery
was personal, not hereditary: a slave's children were free. You
could become a slave as punishment for a crime. A slave could have
possessions & even own other slaves. Slaves could buy their
liberty, and slaves could be set free if they were able to show
they had been mistreated or if they had children with or were
married to their masters. Typically, upon the death of the master,
slaves who had performed outstanding services were freed. The rest
of the slaves were passed on as part of an inheritance.
Slide 24
Aztec art, language, and architecture The Aztec sculptures
which adorned their temples and other buildings were among the most
elaborate in all of the Americas (to please the gods). Many of the
sculptures reflected their perception of their gods and how they
interacted in their lives. The most famous surviving Aztec
sculpture is the large circular Calendar Stone, which represents
the Aztec universe.
Slide 25
Language The Aztecs spoke a language called Nahuatl (pronounced
NAH what L). (Comanche, Pima, Shoshone and others in North America
also spoke Nahuatl). The Aztec used pictographs to communicate
through writing. Some of the pictures symbolized ideas and other
represented the sounds of the syllables. Variations of this
language are still spoken in some of the more remote areas of
Mexico in which the indigenous cultures are still alive.
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Slide 27
Agriculture Farming was the principal activity. Much of Aztec
life was built around farming, which was extremely necessary to
feed the growing population. Since the land that the Aztecs farmed
was not fertile enough to grow enough food to support the
population, the Aztecs were forced to invent methods to increase
productivity. These methods included irrigation, fertilizer, and
even building terraces on hills that were previously not farmable.
Tenochtitlan = Mexico City
Slide 28
Agriculture Without many hills, terrace farming was not widely
practiced by the Aztecs. Their most famous invention were the
chinampas. Chinampas were floating gardens built on swamps. The
process of making chinampas was a relatively simple one. First,
canals were built through the marshes and swamps. Then, the mud
from the canals was placed on mats, which were made from weeds and
straw. Then, trees were planted at the corners. When these trees
took root, they secured the chinampas firmly in place. Once the
floating island was secure and useable, the Aztecs used it to plant
their principal crop: corn. Tenochtitlan = Mexico City
Slide 29
They also grew various vegetables (avocados, beans, chili
peppers, squash, and tomatoes), sometimes even flowers. After a
crop (usually corn) was harvested, the Aztecs had several ways of
dealing with it. One common way of preparing corn was to mash it
with a round grinding stone (called mano) against a flat stone
(called a metate). From this process, the Aztecs got a corn meal.
This corn meal was used to prepare tortillas, which was the main
food of lower classes. The upper classes also ate tortillas, but
had other choices for food, including: Turkeys, ducks, & geese.
Modern-day Chinampas
Slide 30
Hernan Cortes showed up on the shores of central Mexico with
550 men, 16 horses, 14 canons and a few dogs. They were greeted by
messengers from the Aztec ruler Montezuma. They had never seen
white men, horses, or canons before. The Aztecs had a population of
5,000,000 (25,000,000 counting their conquered neighbors). Hernn
Corts & the Spanish had only 500 people. How could 500 defeat
25,000,000? 4 reasons: 1) Thanks to the Spanish most of the Aztecs
died of smallpox1) Thanks to the Spanish most of the Aztecs died of
smallpox 2) The Spanish Conquistadors were able to convince enemy
tribes to join them to overthrow the Aztecs2) The Spanish
Conquistadors were able to convince enemy tribes to join them to
overthrow the Aztecs 3) Cortes conquered the Nahuas and Tlaxcaltec
(Tlaxcalans) first, converted many of their women and married
Malinche (Donna Maria), who spoke Maya and Nahuatl and helped the
Spanish with translation and valuable info3) Cortes conquered the
Nahuas and Tlaxcaltec (Tlaxcalans) first, converted many of their
women and married Malinche (Donna Maria), who spoke Maya and
Nahuatl and helped the Spanish with translation and valuable info
4) The Aztec warriors weapons were no match for Spanish arms4) The
Aztec warriors weapons were no match for Spanish arms By 1521, the
Aztecs were completely overthrown
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Fast Facts 1) Why did the Spanish conquer the Aztec and Inca?
WEALTH 2) Which conquistador led the Spanish against the Aztec?
CORTEZ 3) How were the two groups able to communicate? TRANSLATOR
4) Who did the Spanish get to help attack the Aztec? OTHER TRIBES
5) What happened in May 1521? SIEGED THE AZTEC CAPITAL 6) Which
conquistador led the Spanish against the Inca? PIZARRO 7) How did
Atahualpa respond to the monk/Bible? THREW IT DOWN 8) How did
Pizarro respond to this? ATTACKED AND KILLED 5000 9) What are 5
reasons for the rapid conquest of the Inca & Aztec? DISEASE,
REBELLION, WEAPONS, CULTURE 10) What was the population of the
Aztec in 1520? 25 million 12) What was the population of the Aztec
in 1620? Less than 1 million