Maya Aztec and Inca Resource Page

Background

The Mayan civilization began about 3,000 years ago in what is today Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.  They grew crops and had roads connecting the cities for travel and trade.  The Mayan civilization may have reached 2 million people.  Most Mayans lived in simple homes made with mud walls.  Two of the great Mayan cities were Copan and Tikal. 

Social Classes

Mayan society was divided into different social classes.  Priests were at the top of Mayan society.  The priests performed the religious ceremonies that the Mayans believed were needed for their crops to grow and for their warriors to be successful in battle.

Government officials, warriors and nobles were also in the upper classes of Mayan society.  People of high social class would were special clothing to set them apart from the other Maya.

Peasant farmers were in the lowest Mayan social classes.  Slaves, who were usually prisoners of war, were the bottom of Mayan society.

Religion

Many Mayan cities had pyramids with temples on top that were used for religious ceremonies.  The priests were powerful because the Mayans believed that only the priests could perform the religious ceremonies that were needed to please the Mayan gods.

Learning and Technology

Time and the planets were important in Mayan religion and the Maya made advances in studying the stars and planets.  They made accurate calendars and could predict future eclipses.  The Maya also made advances in mathematics and discovered the concept of zero.  The Maya also developed a system of hieroglyphics, or symbols, for words and sounds.

Decline of the Maya

In about A.D. 850 the Maya civilization began to decline.  We don't know the exact reason, although it may be due to crop failure or high taxes.

Background

The Aztec civilization began in 1325 in what is now modern-day Mexico.  They established their capital city, Tenochtitlan, on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco (today's Mexico City).  The Aztecs built their capital here because of the sign of an eagle holding a snake in its beak, sitting on a cactus.

Tenochtitlan was surrounded by floating gardens, called chinampas, that the Aztecs used for growing their crops.  The island could be accessed by causeways that had drawbridges which could be raised to block access to the capital city.

Tenochtitlan eventually grew to encompass much of the land surrounding the lake as well, becoming the largest city of its time in the Americas, and one of the largest cities in the world.  It was the center of trade for the entire Aztec empire.

Aztec Social Classes

The emperor was at the top of Aztec society, with the priests and nobles just below.  The Aztec emperor was treated like a god and he had complete power.  He was carried from place to place and flower petals were scattered beneath his feet whenever he did walk.

The warriors were next down the social ladder, followed by the merchants and artisans.  Like the Maya, the farmers and the slaves, who were mostly prisoners of war, made up the bottom of Aztec society.

Aztec Religion

Priests and priestesses were trained from an early age, and they studied the planets and stars and made advanced calendars which were used to plan the harvest.  The Aztec calendar had 18 months.  The sun god, which each day battled its way across the sky, needed human sacrifices to help it along the way.  Thousands of prisoners of war were killed as sacrifices each year to the sun god. and to ensure good harvests.

Aztec Decline

The Aztec neighbors became angry with the heavy taxes and human sacrifices requires of them by the Aztecs.  These neighboring peoples joined with the Europeans to overthrow the Aztecs in 1520.

Background

The Inca civilization had its capital city in Cuzco and was founded in A.D. 1200.  The empire was 3,000 miles long and was found along the western coast of South America.  The Inca empire had as many as 10 million inhabitants.

Advances in Farming

The Inca used terraces, or flat areas carved into the sides of the mountains, to expand the available farming area.  They also used aqueducts, or man-made ditches, to bring water to their crops.  They also stored surplus crops in the emperors warehouses to use in times if starvation or sickness.

Advances in Engineering and Medicine

Inca buildings often show amazing rock work, with joints so expertly chiseled that a knife blade cannot even be placed between the rocks.  The Incas also built an extensive network of roads and bridges to connect their empire and runners were used to carry information from one city to the next.  The Inca also developed medicine to treat malaria and relieve pain and they could also perform basic brain surgery.  The Inca did not have a system of writing, but the recorded information using quipus, or knotted ropes.

Religious Beliefs

The Incas worshipped the sun and they believed that the emperor was a descendant of the sun god.  They believed that gold was the sweat of the gods and they lined their temples with gold and the priests wore golden ornaments.

End of the Incan Empire

The empire ended in the 1530s withe the arrival of Pizarro and the Spanish Conquistadors.