Early Mexico Mesoamerica The Olmec Olmec 1400 BC

Early Mexico Mesoamerica

The Olmec

Olmec 1400 BC to about 400 BC. 1. 1 st ancient Pre-Columbian people living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico. 2. Farmed on Ejidos – Common food plots, mixture of crops 3. The Olmec practiced ritual bloodletting. 4. Artwork – Colossal Heads 5. Created Mesoamerican “Ball Game”

• The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork, particularly the colossal heads. • In fact, the Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking and beautiful, and among the world's masterpieces.

“The Wrestler” Known for Beauty and realism Facemask made of Jade

Mayan Civilization 1000 B. C. - 900 AD)

The Maya 1. Settled in Yucatan Peninsula – depended on cenotes or sinkholes for water 2. Only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas. 3. Art, architecture - Temples 4. Mathematical and astronomical systems 5. Calendar… 2012!

Cenotes, sinkholes

Mayan Numeral System Mayan hieroglyphics

A painted stucco relief in the museum at Palenque, This panel depicts king Upakal K'inich, from the 8 th century A. D. A jade mask. Its design representing the Rain God Chaac

Ball courts As an integral aspect of the Mesoamerican lifestyle, the courts for their ritual ball-game were constructed throughout the Maya realm and often on a grand scale. Enclosed on two sides by stepped ramps that led to ceremonial platforms or small temples, the ball court itself was of a capital "I" shape and could be found in all but the smallest of Maya cities.

The Palace, Palenque Ruins

http: //www. adishakti. org/mayan_en d_times_prophecy_12 -21 -2012. htm The Year - 2012 The end of days?

• The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012, which is said to be the end-date of a 5, 125 -year-long cycle in the Mayan Long calendar. Various astronomical alignments related to this date have been proposed, but are not final. Scenarios for the end of the world include the Earth's collision with a passing planet or black hole. • Another interpretation of this transition is that the Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era. • Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea that a catastrophe will happen in 2012, stating that predictions of impending doom are found neither in classic Maya accounts nor in contemporary science. The modern Maya, on the whole, have not attached much significance to the date, and the classical sources on the subject are scarce and contradictory, suggesting that there was little if any universal agreement among them about what, if anything, the date might mean.

Jade – jewel of the Mayans/Aztecs Mask and Serpent Necklace made of Jade

Ritual HUMAN Sacrifice While human sacrifice was practiced throughout Mesoamerica, the Aztecs, if their own accounts are to be believed, brought this practice to an unprecedented level. During the dedication of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed 84, 400 prisoners over the course of four days, actual numbers were probably closer to 2000 though.

The Aztecs 1325 AD– 1521 1. Mesoamerican group who encountered the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. 2. Extreme Blood letting, human sacrifice. 3. Settled in Mexican Plateau - City of Tenochtitlan – built on islands in Lake Texcoco, present day Mexico City

Tenochtitlan Capital city of Aztecs, surrounded by Lake Texcoco. Artist depiction of the city looking east

The Beginning of the End for Aztecs

How were the Spanish able to conquer the Aztecs so easily? 1. 2. 3. 4. Aztecs saw the Spanish as Gods (at first) Spanish had superior weapons - guns Spanish allied with Aztec enemies Aztecs had no immunity to Spanish disease – Small Pox 5. Spanish killed leader, Montezuma

Small Pox • In 1520– 1521, an outbreak of smallpox swept through the population of Tenochtitlan and was decisive in the fall of the city. • The population before the time of the conquest is unknown and hotly contested, but disease is known to have ravaged the region; thus, the indigenous population of the Valley of Mexico is estimated to have declined by more than 80% in the course of about 60 years!

Montezuma was captured and then assassinated by Cortes Engraving of Hernan Cortes and Montezuma II

Mexico City Monument celebrating Aztec founding of Tenochtitlan

Montezuma’s Revenge?