Post on 21-Jan-2017
transcript
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Civilization peaked about 300 – 900 AD
Located in the Central American rainforest
Major cities included Tikal & Chichén Itzá
Independent city-states run by kings
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Polytheistic religion
Believed in afterlife
Built temples, pyramids for sacrifices and bloodletting
Economy based on agriculture and trade
Excellent astronomers
Priests charted movements of planets, moon, sun
Created accurate calendars
Developed numbers and glyphic writing
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Mayan glyph (represents month of K’ayab – turtle)
Ball game played by Maya & others
Object was to get a hard rubber ball through a hoop with no hands/feet
Losing team sacrificed
No one knows for sure
Possible invasions
Possible soil exhaustion & drought led to famine
Flourished 1200’s – 1521
Located in arid valley in central Mexico
Major city was Tenochtitlan
Unified neighboring city-states into an empire
Polytheistic religion with emphasis on warfare
Built pyramid temples with human sacrifices held on top to please the gods
Economy based on agriculture and conquest
Farmed on artificial floating islands called chinampas
Emperor Montezuma II taken hostage by the Spanish
Neighboring tribes join Hernan Cortés and the invading Spanish
Most Aztecs killed by disease or warfare
AD 1400s – 1532
located in Andes Mountains in South America
Major cities included Machu Picchu, Cuzco
Strong central government
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Polytheistic
Held human and animal sacrifices to please gods
Practiced cranial deformation
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Developed the coca plant
Used surgery & herbal medicines
Developed complex road system
Recorded stories in quipus, Andean stringed knots
Smallpox killed many Inca
War between Inca ruler Atahualpa and his brother weakened the empire
Conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1532
1200 – 200 BC
1st established culture in Mexico
Known for statues of enormous heads
900 BC
Great builders
Conquered by the Aztecs
Used monuments to show power
Located in Northern Mexico
950-1300 AD
Mighty warriors
Absorbed into Aztec Empire
Which Mesoamerican Civilization was the most
important to history? Why?
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