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SOCIAL SCIENCE III
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ROUTINE
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INTRODUCTION
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LECTURE
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WRAP-UP
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ASSIGNMENT
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Nickname: Erin/ Borlo
Interests: history, art,
romance stories,
traveling, classical
music, and gamefowl
breeding.
Dream: “Travel around
the world and appreciate
the beauty of places,
peoples, and cultures.
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Advanced cities
 Centers of trade
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Specialized workers
 Ex. priests, weavers, metalworkers, merchants,
scribes, government officials
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Complex institutions
 Formal governments, priests with religious and
political power
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Record Keeping
 Ex. cuneiform tablets
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Advanced Technology
 Ex. wheel, plow, sailboat, bronze weapons
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MESOAMERICA – Central Mexico to the
northern part of Honduras.
OLMEC
ZAPOTEC
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First known civilization builders in the
Americas.
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Known to be the MOTHER CULTURE
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Flourished from 1200BC to 400BC along the
GULF COAST OF MEXICO (modern day
Veracruz and Tabasco).
Thick Forests
 Hot, humid
Severe flooding
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Salt, tar, and clay
 Wood and rubber
 Stones
 Rivers
 Fertile land
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OLMEC
SAN
LORENZO
Home to a small
ruling class of
priests and nobles
LA VENTA
GREAT PYRAMID
Earthen mounds,
courtyards, and
pyramids
Artifacts – that led to
a conclusion that the
Olmec prayed a
variety of Nature
Gods.
Large stone
monuments,
sculpted heads
JAGUAR WORSHIP
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Villagers in Acatlan,
Mexico put on jaguar
masks and stage
mock combats and
dances in the hope
that the jaguar will
shed its own blood in
the form of rain, to
water the fields.
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Outside villagers caused the destruction.
 San Lorenzo destroyed around 900 BC
 La Venta fallen around 400 BC.
Centered in the tropical
lowlands of what is now
Guatemala.
 Golden Age: 6th Century
AD
 Excelled at agriculture,
pottery, hieroglyph,
writing, calendar
making, and
mathematics
 Impressive architecture
and symbolic artwork
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EARLY MAYANS
 Agricultural (corn, beans,
squash, cassava)
 Derived a number of religious
and cultural traits from the
Olmec
▪ Number system, calendar,
pyramid, city construction,
inscribing of stone
monuments
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Cities of Stones (Classic Maya)
 The Golden Age of the Maya
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Empire
40 cities including Tikal, Copan,
Uaxactun, Bonampak, Dos Pilas,
Calakmul, Palenque, Rio Bec.
Plazas, palaces, temples, pyramids.
Playing the ball games that were
ritually and politically significant to
Maya culture
Slash and burn
Worshipped various gods related to
nature.
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KINGS (kuhul ajaw/ holy
lords)
 Claim: related to the gods
 Followed a hereditary
succession
 Thought as mediators
between the gods and the
people on earth. Performed
elaborate religious
ceremonies and rituals so
important to the Mayan
culture.
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Temples and palaces in a
stepped pyramid shape.
Made significant
advances in mathematics
and astronomy, including
the use of zero and the
development of a
complex calendar system
based on 365 days.
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End of the 9th century- mysterious thing
happened in Mayan Civilization.
 One by one classic cities were abandoned.
▪ Exhausted the environment
▪ Constant warfare
▪ drought
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Valley of Mexico
 Site of the greatest empire of Mesoamerica
(Aztec).
 Had several large, shallow lakes at its center
 Accessible resources
 Fertile soil
TEOTIHUACAN
TOLTECS
Known as the City of the
Gods.
 First major civilization in
Central Mexico.
 In 6th century AD, population
grew to as many as 125,000
people.
 Pyramid of the Sun
 Center of a thriving trade
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 Obsidian – hard, glassy green
or black rock used in making
razor sharp weapons.
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Conquer its neighbors –
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Try to create an empire –
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Influence Mesoamerica with its art styles and
religious beliefs-
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Ruled over Central Mexico.
Made TULA its capital.
Built pyramids and temples and carved tall
pillars in the shape of armed warriors.
Opposite of Teotihuacan.
 EXTREMELY WARLIKE PEOPLE
 Worshipped a fierce War God who demanded
blood and human sacrifice from his followers.
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Topiltzin- King of Peace
Quetzalcoatl- The Feathered Serpent known
as the God of Peace.
Aztecs arrived in
Central Mexico in
1200s.
 They were formerly
known as MEXICA
from the deserts of
North Mexico.
 Once soldiers for
hire to local rulers.
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Aztec Sun God
Told Aztecs to found a
city of their own.
They must “look for a
place where an eagle
perched on a cactus,
holding a snake in its
mouth.”
Were they able to find
one?
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Aztec Sun God
Told Aztecs to found a
city of their own.
They must “look for a
place where an eagle
perched on a cactus,
holding a snake in its
mouth.”
Were they able to find
one?
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Formed alliances (city-states merging
together like Texcoco and Tlacopan)
Power was based on MILITARY
CONQUESTS and TRIBUTE from conquered
people.
 Let local rulers govern their own regions.
 Tribute: GOLD, MAIZE, CACAO, COTTON, JADE
 What if they fail to give tributes?
EMPEROR
NOBLES
COMMONERS
SLAVES
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1500s it became an
extraordinary urban
center.
Palaces, temples,
markets, and residential
districts were connected
by streets and avenues.
Canals divided the city.
Aqueducts funneled
freshwater in from the
mainland.
GREAT TEMPLE – main
structure in the center of
Tenochtitlan. Aztec’s
religious center.
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Religion played a vital
role in Aztec Society
 Designed elaborate
public ceremonies to
communicate and win
the favors of the Gods
(ex. Dramas, songs,
dances)
 HUMAN SACRIFICE
FOR THE SUN GOD.
Under Montezuma II,
Aztec began to weaken
 He demanded more
tribute and sacrifice.
 Tribute served as
source of wealth and
power.
 Tribute provided
prisoners for religious
sacrifice.
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Give me 1 characteristic of a civilization.
Peru is part of the Mesoamerican region. Yes or
no?
3. This Mesoamerican society flourished around
Veracruz and Tabasco around 1200BC.
4. This society worshipped an animal that was
perceived to be their God of Rain. What’s that
animal?
5. Are Tikal, Palenque, and Chichen Itza part of
the classic city-states of the Mayan civilization?
Yes or no?
1.
2.
6. Did the Mayans create the first complex
calendar system which was based on 365 days?
Yes or no?
7. Give me 1 possible theory that caused the
decline of the Mayan civilization.
8. They were the first major civilization in Central
Mexico.
9. They were extremely warlike people and
worshipped a fierce War God who demanded
blood and human sacrifice from his followers.
10. Aztecs were formerly called as?
11. Quetzalcoatl was the Aztecs’s Sun God. Yes
or no?
12. Huitzilopochtli was the Aztecs’s God of
Peace. Yes or no?
13. Give me 1 group of people which comprises
the Aztec nobility.
14. Did the Aztecs reach the Golden Age under
the reign of Montezuma II? Yes or no?
15. Name this place that was built on the Lake
Texcoco by the Aztecs.