Video Lesson

Lesson Objectives

After learning this lesson, you will be able to:

• appreciate the farming methods of the Maya;
• name some achievements of the Maya, Aztecs and Incas.
• describe about the religious practices of the Maya, Aztecs and Incas.
• appreciate the medical knowledge of Aztec priests in curing health disorders.
• appreciate the ways through which the Inca extracted gold;

Brainstorming Questions

• What relation do Mexico and Maya have?
• In what field of technology did the Aztecs and the Romans display similarity?
• Both the Aztecs and Egyptians built Pyramids. How do you understand this?
• In what aspect of technology did the Incas outshine the Romans?

Key Terms and Concepts

2.4. Civilizations in Latin America (The Maya, Aztecs and Incas)

Mesoamerica, encompassing Mexico and Central America, witnessed the early development of culture and civilization around 12,000 to 10,000 years ago, when people migrated from Siberia and Alaska via the Bering Strait land bridge into the Americas. This region became a hub of agricultural innovation between 8500 B.C. and 2000 B.C., as Neolithic societies cultivated crops like maize, beans, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. In South America, similar agricultural advancements included maize and cassava cultivation, alongside the domestication of llamas and other animals prized for their resources. By 3000 B.C. in South America and 1500 B.C. in Mesoamerica, agricultural communities evolved into villages, which eventually developed into the early urban centers of the Americas.

2.4.1. The Maya

Early civilization: The Maya established large cities as early as 300 B.C. in present-day Guatemala. Their Golden Age, known as the Classic Period, began around 250 A.D. During this period, Maya city-states thrived across the Yucatan Peninsula in Southern Mexico and extended through much of Central America.

During the Maya Classic Period, cities such as Tikal and Calakmul emerged as the most powerful city-states, often engaging in conflicts and wars with each other and neighboring states. Despite this, regular trade connections involved essential items like honey, salt, and cotton, as well as prestigious goods such as feathers, precious stones, and jaguar hides, which held ceremonial and status significance among the Maya civilization.

Agriculture: To adapt to the tropical environment of Mesoamerica, Mya people developed two effective farming techniques.

1. Slash-and-burn agriculture: They cleared forests by cutting down trees and burning vegetation. Uses to cultivate crops like maize by enriching the soil with nutrients from the burned plant material.
2. Raised fields along riverbanks: They constructed elevated platforms surrounded by canals. These raised fields helped protect crops from annual floodwaters, ensuring consistent cultivation and harvest of maize and other crops despite the seasonal floods.

Social structure: Maya society was structured with a distinct hierarchy that encompassed various roles and classes:

1. Rulers: Each Maya city was governed by a male ruler, though there were cases of female rulers governing independently or on behalf of young heirs.
2. Nobles: Nobles held prestigious positions in Maya society. They were responsible for military leadership, overseeing public works such as construction of temples and palaces, tax collection, and law enforcement.
3. Scribes, Painters, and Sculptors: Individuals skilled in writing, painting, and sculpting were highly esteemed. Scribes record important events, history, and maintaining religious texts. Artists and sculptors created complex artworks that decorated temples and palaces.
4. Merchants: Merchants formed a middle class within Maya society. They engaged in trade; exchanging goods such as obsidian, jade, textiles, and other luxury items. The wealthiest merchants sometimes held noble status due to their economic influence.
5. Farmers: The majority of Maya were farmers. They cultivated staple crops like maize (corn), beans, squash, and fruit trees, along with cotton for textiles and flowers for religious ceremonies. Agriculture was the backbone of Maya economy and society.
6. Slaves: Some Maya cities had slaves who were often captured during wars. Slaves performed laborious tasks such as construction work, agricultural labor, and domestic service.

Writing system: The Maya further developed a hieroglyphic writing system, which remained undeciphered by scholars until recent decades.

Contributions: The Maya achieved significant cultural advancements in learning, the arts, and complex polytheistic religion. Their cities boasted impressive stone temples and palaces, often with pyramid-shaped platforms supporting temples where priests performed rituals and sacrifices. Some temples also served as burial sites for rulers and nobles. Maya priests were central figures, conducting ceremonies and advancing knowledge in mathematics and astronomy. They devised a precise 365-day solar calendar and pioneered a numeric system that included zero, marking a profound mathematical achievement.

Decline: Around 900 A.D., Maya civilization began a decline marked by the termination of city-building activities. The exact reasons for this decline remain uncertain, with theories suggesting factors such as overpopulation, disease, drought, or social upheaval. By the 1500s, when the Spanish arrived, the Maya had largely shifted to living in farming villages, signaling the later phase of their civilization.

2.4.2. The Aztecs

Early civilization: The Aztecs, known for their militaristic society, established their capital, Tenochtitlan, in 1325 A.D. and rapidly expanded their empire by conquering neighboring towns and cities. They imposed tribute demands on conquered peoples, including food, feathers, gold, cotton, and slaves. Under Montezuma II (1502-1520), the Aztec empire reached its zenith, extracting tribute from 371 states. The emperor wielded supreme authority, appointing officials to oversee justice and regulate trade within the empire.

The Aztecs, similar to the Romans, constructed roads that connected distant outposts to their capital, Tenochtitlan. By the 1500s, Tenochtitlan thrived as an active city with approximately 100,000 residents. To accommodate its growing population, engineers built walkways and packed earth roads to link the island capital to the mainland. Additionally, farmers expanded agricultural land by filling in parts of the lake and creating floating gardens using reed baskets filled with earth, enabling cultivation of crops on the water. The city of Tenochtitlan was dominated by a massive pyramid temple and the emperor’s palace, which also served as a tribute storehouse and housed the royal family, servants, officials, a zoo, and a library containing historical and accounting records.

Contributions: Aztec priests were knowledgeable in astronomy and mathematics, developing a 365-day solar calendar akin to the Maya. They practiced advanced medicine using herbs and other treatments to manage fevers, wounds, and dental issues, including setting broken bones and prescribing steam baths for therapeutic purposes.

Religiously: the Aztecs worshipped numerous gods associated with corn, rain, sun, and war, with their calendar guiding sacred observances for each deity. A large class of priests conducted ceremonies aimed at appeasing the gods, which included human sacrifices to the sun god. These sacrifices typically involved prisoners of war and were integral to Aztec religious practices.

Decline: The arrival of Spanish under Hernán Cortés in 1519 significantly weakened the Aztec Empire. Meanwhile epidemic disease brought by the Spanish, such as smallpox, weakened the Aztec population and empire. Besides internal power struggle was the cause for decline.

2.4.3. The Incas

Early civilization: Around 1450 A.D., the Inca established a vast empire in the Andes region of Latin America, spanning present-day Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Governed by an absolute emperor, the empire was divided into provinces overseen by appointed nobles who managed administrative duties like census-taking for taxation purposes. The Inca government demonstrated concern for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, sick, and poor, implementing policies that provided support and consideration for these marginalized segments of society.

Religion: The Incas, like many ancient civilizations, revered their gods and relied on priests to interpret their will. They worshipped Inti, the sun god, whom they believed the emperor was descended from, leading them to call themselves “children of the sun.” In the capital city of Cuzco, the Great Sun Temple hosted elaborate outdoor ceremonies conducted by priests and priestesses to honor Inti and other gods central to Inca religious beliefs.

Contributions: The Inca civilization was excelled in technology, mathematics and medicine. They built sophisticated hydraulic systems to divert water for gold mining, producing intricate ornaments. In medicine, Inca priests performed successful brain surgeries, showcasing their knowledge of complex procedures. They also used quinine to treat malaria. Europeans only acknowledged quinine’s medical benefits in the 19th century.

The Inca demonstrated remarkable engineering skills by moving large stone blocks to construct impressive temples and palaces. They perfected a technique of shaping stones to fit tightly together without using cement. Their stone walls could withstand earthquakes, swaying but not collapsing during tremors. Additionally, the Inca built extensive road networks connecting distant provinces to their capital, Cuzco. They applied their architectural expertise to agriculture by constructing terraces on steep mountainsides, creating flat areas suitable for farming.

Writing system: The Inca lacked a writing system but preserved their history through oral tradition, with individuals memorizing and passing down their narratives. Government officials recorded census data, harvest sizes, and historical events.

Decline: By the early 1500s, the Inca Empire had expanded to its largest extent. However, internal power struggles weakened the empire, facilitating the Spanish conquest when soldiers arrived on Peru’s coast in 1532.