South America

1
South America
2
Objectives

• Student will demonstrate knowledge of major
  civilizations of the Western Hemisphere,
  including the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan by
• Describing the geographic relationship, with
  emphasis on patterns of development in terms of
  climate and physical features
• Describing cultural patterns and political and
  economic structures

• Essential Questions
• What were the characteristics of Mayan, Aztec,
  and Incan civilizations

3
Early Civilizations

• Caral
• 1200 B.C.
• Located in the Supe River Valley of Peru
• Contains buildings, apartments, and stone
  buildings
• Irrigation systems
• Moche
• 200 B.C.
• Pacific coast of Ecuador
• Urban center
• Grew crops maize, peanuts, potatoes, cotton
• Capital of powerful state
• Pottery and paintings

4
Early Civilizations

• Chavin
• 850 B.C.
• Huge temple complex
• Worshiped ferocious god, part jaguar-part man
• Nazca
• Etched glyphs into desert
• Southern Peru

5
Nazca
6
The Inca

• Arose in 1200s
• Inca started as small group near Cuzco
• Word was originally the name of the ruling family
  of a group of people living in high plateau of
  the Andes
• Located in the high mountains in Peru
• Incan beginnings
• Belief the Incan ruler was descended from the Sun
  god Inti
• Worshiped dead rulers, preserved as sacred
  mummies

7
Pachacuti

• Pachacuti
• 1438 C.E. took the throne
• Claimed himself Sapa Inca, or Emperor
• Expanded the Incan state
• By 1500 C.E. the Incan empire covered over 2500
  miles
• Accomplished through diplomacy and military force
• Lived in splendor
• Never wore same clothes twice
• Built Cuzco into a capital city

8
Inca Political Structure

• 12 million people in Incan empire
• Incan state built on war
• Offered enemy an honorable surrender before war
• Allow them to keep customs and rulers in exchange
  for loyalty to Incan state
• All young men required to serve in army

• Single official language Quechua
• Incans built cities in conquered areas
• All roads led to Cuzco
• 24,800 miles built
• Two major roadways went north-south
• One in the Andes, one along the coast
• Rest houses and storage depots were placed along
  roads

9
Incan Roads
10
Incan Political Structure

• Empire divided into 4 quarters
• Each ruled by a governor
• Quarters were divided into provinces
• Each province had around 10,000 people
• Families divided into groups of 10, 100, 1000,
  and 10000
• Emperor was at the top of the system
• Descended from sun god, Inti

• Community cooperation
• Small groups called ayllu worked together for the
  common good
• Used to build roads, irrigation canals,
  agricultural terraces, and stored food
• Labor was used as a tribute, called Mita
• Required all able-body citizens to work a certain
  number of days every year

11
Socialist State?

• Incan state controlled most economic activity
• Regulated the production and distribution of
  goods
• Allowed little private commerce or trade
• Land ownership divided into three parts
• State, religious, and community lands

• Citizens expected to work for state
• Cared for in return
• Aged and disabled were supported by state
• People didnt go hungry in bad harvest
• Government stored freeze-dried potatoes in
  warehouses in case of emergencies

12
Incan Social Structure

• Society and life was structured
• Based on ayllu, extended family group
• Chief led group, part of chain of command

• Marriage
• Men and women required to pick partner from
  within own social groups
• Women
• Expected to care for children and weave cloth
• Only exception were priestesses
• Rural Areas
• People lived by farming
• Created terraces and irrigation system
• Planted corn and potatoes
• Lived in stone homes or adobes

13
Daily Life

• Farming
• Expanded hillside terraces
• Terraces kept rain from washing away soil
• Spent part of year working for emperor
• Metalworking
• Best metalworkers in Americas
• Learned to work and alloy, or bend, copper,
  bronze, silver, and gold

• Medical Advances
• Surgery on human skull
• Created clean operating areas
• Made patient unconscious with a drug

14
Incan Farming
15
Building and Culture

• Great Builders
• Cuzco
• Administrative and ceremonial capital of Incan
  Empire
• Temples, plazas, and palaces
• Temple of the Sun
• Sacred shrine
• Decorated in gold
• Fine streets, houses made of stone
• Did not use wheel for construction

16
Machu Picchu

• Machu Picchu
• Ceremonial religious center?
• Retreat for Incan rulers?
• Sun temple
• Public buildings
• Central plaza
• Water system

17
Machu Picchu
18
Culture

• No writing system
• History and literature part of oral tradition
• Kept records with Quipu
• System of knotted strings
• Knots and their positions counted
• Colors told what was being counted
• i.e. yellow gold
• Court theater
• Tragedies and comedies
• Actors were members of nobility
• Poetry recited and music played

19
Religion

• Reinforced power of the state
• Worshipped less gods than the Aztec
• Focused on key natural spirits
• Moon, stars, thunder
• Balance of nature
• Patterns in how humans should relate to each
  other and the earth

• Religious Practices
• Sun-worship services
• Priestesses-Led services
• Trained in rituals
• Sacrificed Ilamas

20
Conquest of the Inca

• Breakdown of Inca
• Began to occur in early 1500s at height of empire
• 1531
• Francisco Pizarro arrives with 180 men on pacific
  coast
• Brings steel weapons, gunpowder, and horses
• Also brought smallpox
• Emperor died of smallpox, his sons fought over
  ruling the empire
• Led to civil war
• Pizarro took advantage and took Cuzco

• By 1535, Pizarro had established Lima as the new
  capital of the colony of the Spanish Empire

21
Incan Mummies

• Death was important part of life
• Worshiped spirits and bodies of ancestors
• Believed in afterlife
• Tombs and mummies considered holy
• Mummies
• Embalmed
• Bundled with offerings like food, tools, precious
  items

22
Review - Objectives

• Student will demonstrate knowledge of major
  civilizations of the Western Hemisphere,
  including the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan by
• Describing the geographic relationship, with
  emphasis on patterns of development in terms of
  climate and physical features
• Describing cultural patterns and political and
  economic structures

• Essential Questions
• What were the characteristics of Mayan, Aztec,
  and Incan civilizations