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67 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Who were the Maya?
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They were people who lived in southern Mexico and Central America more then a thousand years ago. They built great temples and pyramids, discovered important mathematical ideas, and studied the movement of the stars.
After hundreds of years of prosperity, they disappeared. Archaeologists believed that the Maya civilization was at its mightiest from about A.D. 200 to 900. |
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What did two archaeologists find in Central America in 1839?
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They found the ruins of the city of Copán in the present day country of Honduras.
It was clear to them that this was the work of an advanced civilization. |
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Where were the city-states that the Maya controlled?
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On the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico and in the modern-day countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize.
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What was the largest buildings in Maya cities?
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Pyramids and temples used for religious purposes. Maya pyramids rose high above the treetops of the surrounding rain forest.
They remained the tallest structures in the Americas until 1902 when the Flatiron Building was built in 1902. |
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What is a city-state?
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A city that is and independent political state with its own ruling government.
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What is a hieroglyph?
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A picture or symbol representing an idea, an object, a syllable, or a sound.
Hieroglyphs are like a code. |
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What hieroglyphic temple stands in Copán? What was caved on the temple's steps?
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The Temple of the Hieroglyphic Stairway.
Each of the 63 steps tells the stories of the rulers of Copán and their victories. Archaeologists couldn't understand what the hieroglyphs said until about 1960 when computers became available to crack the code. |
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Was religion important to the Maya?
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Yes, very important. Daily life for the Maya revolved around family, farming, and service to the gods. No important move was made without consulting the gods.
Priest decided which days were favorable for planting a field, launching a war, or building a hut. |
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What as the Maya's sacred book?
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The Popol Vuh
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What did the Maya believe was like a "Breath on a Mirror"?
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The Maya believed that human sight and power was limited by the gods. The original people first created could see everything, but the god felt this was too much power.
The gods later purposely clouded human understanding, like a "Breath on a Mirror". |
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What is pol-ta-pok?
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It was a game played by the Maya with a rubber ball and a stone ring barely bigger then the ball. It had very little rules and the game would continue until someone scores.
It was a game with religious importance. The winners were considered good and the losers evil. The losers would sometimes be offered up as sacrifices to the gods. |
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Was human sacrifice part of the Maya religion?
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Yes. Sacrifices were used to please the gods. Victims would be painted blue and their hearts cut out with a stone knife.
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Even though the Maya had no telescopes, computers, or satellites, they still had an impressive understanding of what?
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Astronomy.
Even without scientific tools, the Maya calculated that there were 365.2420 days in a year. |
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Is the Maya calendar exactly like ours?
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No, they divided their calendar into 18 months with names like Pop and Zip.
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What was the calendar used by the Maya to keep track of religious holiday and other important events called?
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The Sacred Round.
Because the Maya had two calendars, each day had two names. |
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What is an equinox?
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One of the two days in a year when there is an equal amount of daytime and nighttime.
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Who were among the first to develop the concept of zero?
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The Maya.
Zero (a shell symbol) was used as a placeholder like we use the number zero in our number system. |
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What was the main occupation of the Maya people?
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They were mostly farmers.
Their main crop was corn which they made tortilla with. They also grew beans, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and pumpkins. |
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What were the responsibilities of Maya men and women?
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The men and boys were responsible for farming. Women and girls took care of the house, cooked, and made clothing and pottery.
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What type of homes did most Maya live in?
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One room huts made of mud and grass.
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What did the Maya do to their babies and why?
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They hung a bead from the baby's nose to make them cross-eyed because they thought it was beautiful. They also liked flat heads, so they strapped newborn babies to a board on their back.
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What happened to Maya children at age 5?
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They took on new responsibilities such as helping their parents with farming and household chores.
The boys would get a white bead braided into their head and the girls had a string tied to their waist with a red shell attached. |
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At what age did Maya children go through an initiation to become an adult?
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Age 14.
The boys had their bead cut away by a priest. The girls had their mothers cut away the string on their waist. Afterwards, they would have a celebration with family and neighbors. |
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Describe marriage in the Maya society.
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Marriages were arranged by parents as a business deal between two families. Priest would pick a favorable day for the marriage by consulting the gods and the stars.
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When did the Maya disappear and what happened?
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They disappeared sometimes in the 900s A.D., but no one really knows what happened to them. There are many theories, but no proof to support any of the theories.
Maya decedents however, still live on today in the modern countries of Honduras, Southern Mexico, and Guatemala. They live as simple farmers. |
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Who were the Aztecs?
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The were originally a nomadic tribe that wandered Mexico surviving on a diet of snakes and lizards. They became a great civilization about 300 years after the Maya.
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Describe the legend that started the Aztec civilization.
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A powerful god of the sun spoke to the people and told them to search for an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak. The god told them to build their city where they found that eagle.
The city was located in swampy island in Lake Texococo and they called the city Tenochitilán (which means "the place of the prickly pear" or "the place of the cactus"). The city was formed in the year 1325. The city contained between 150,000 to 200,000 people, making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time. |
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Describe the characteristics of the Aztec civilization.
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They were fearsome and ruthless warriors that conquered neighboring city-states one by one.
At its height in the 1500s A.D., the Aztec Empire consisted of 400 to 500 city-states and controlled much of present day Mexico. The Aztec Emperor ruled more them 5 million people. When the Aztecs conquered a city-state, they forced the inhabitants to send gold, silver, jade, and turquoise to Tenochtitlán. If they didn't have those items, they would be forced to send whatever they did have. This allowed them to grow and become very powerful. |
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What is the Legend of the Five Suns?
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The Aztecs believed that the universe and the sun has been created and destroyed four times in the past. They believed that they were living under the fifth sun.
1st Sun: Giants roamed the earth, but was destroyed by a jaguar 2nd Sun: People were swept away by the wind 3rd Sun: People died in the fire and ash of volcanoes 4th Sun: People drowned in floods |
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Describe the Aztec religion.
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The Aztecs believed they were living in the fifth sun and that it would eventually come to an end.
To keep the gods happy, they sacrificed people. They used prisoner soldiers from conquered city-states as sacrifice to the gods. They believed that the heart was the most important, so they preferred to sacrifice foreign soldiers. |
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Where did the Aztecs hold their religious sacrifices?
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On the top of pyramids similar to the Maya. They would cut out the hearts of the person being sacrificed and burn them on an altar, while the body was left to tumble down the steps.
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What were the responsibilities of priests and soldiers in Aztec society?
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The priest ruled society and used human sacrifice to please the gods.
Soldiers, held the empire together and provided the victims for the sacrifice. Aztec people were born into a class and the only way to better oneself was to become a soldier. The Aztecs believed there was no greater honor then to die in battle. |
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How was the city of Tenochtitlán designed?
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The city was built on an island in the middle of a lake. Three wide causeways connected the city to the mainland. A network of canals connected various parts of the city.
The Aztecs traveled around their city in canoes. |
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What is a causeway?
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A raised road built over water to connect islands to a mainland.
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How did the Aztecs build their "floating gardens" that ring the city?
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The Aztecs turned parts of Lake Texococo into raised garden beds, by digging up mud from the bottom of the lake and piling it up in shallow areas until the mud rose above the waterline. They shaped the piles into long narrow gardens.
The gardens were always surrounded by water and the Aztec kept adding fresh mud each year to keep the soil fertile. The rich soil was perfect for growing corn, squash, and beans. |
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What types of clothing did the Aztecs wear in Tenochititlán?
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Men dressed in loin cloths and cloaks. Women dressed in long skirts, blouses, and ponchos.
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Describe the characteristics of an Aztec school.
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In common school, boys learn military drills and instruction. They practice with miniature weapons, throwing spears and wielding wooden clubs.
Schools for sons of nobles were taught by pretests. They were trained to become scribes and priests. They study Aztec religion and astronomy, and learn how to read and write Aztec hieroglyphs. |
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What is a codex?
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It is a special kind of book made of long strips of tree bark that fold up like an accordion. The pages of the codex are covered with pictures and pictograms.
They were used to make list of rulers, record payments made by conquered people, and keep track of religious holidays. |
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Describe the market in Tenochititlán.
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The central market trades cacao (chocolate) beans, cotton blankets, rabbits, deer, and small dogs bred for food. They also traded pottery, sandals, seashells, wood, corn, and fabrics.
In one corner, they traded slaves with wooden collars around their necks. |
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Describe the Ceremonial Center in Tenochititlán.
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The Ceremonial Center is located in the heart of the city. In it, is the Great Pyramid which is almost 100 yards wide at its base and rises almost 90 feet in the air.
Smaller temples surround the Great Temple, each dedicated to a particular god. Not far from the religious buildings stands the palace of the Aztec emperor. Commoners are not allowed to enter and the palace contains hundreds of rooms and is staffed by more then 1,000 servants. |
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Who was the Aztec emperor in the early 1500s and what was he like?
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He was Montezuma II.
No one was permitted to look Montezuma in the eye. He was carried around in a fancy litter and even nobles threw themselves face down when he entered a room. Many unsettling things occurred during Montezuma's reign, including: a drought, a comet appearing in the sky, and lightning striking on the the temples in Tenochititlán. Many fantastic rumors began to spread around the city. |
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What is a litter?
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A chair attached to two beams and carried on the shoulders of several men.
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Why did the Aztecs believe that the world might be ending?
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Because many unsettling things occurred including: a drought, a comet appearing in the sky, and lightning striking on the the temples in Tenochititlán. Many fantastic rumors began to spread around the city.
Doomsday was coming for the Aztecs, but it came in the form of Spanish soldiers who were crossing the Atlantic for riches and glory. |
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What happened to people who looked directly at the Sapa Inca, the Son of the Sun?
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They would have been killed.
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What was the largest empire in the Americas in the 1530s?
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It was the Inca Empire. They gave orders to more then 12 million people and their territory stretch more then 2,000 miles along the western coast of South America.
The empire covered the modern day parts of Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Inca Empire covered a diverse geographical region including dry deserts, snow capped mountains, and thick jungles. |
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What is a conquistador?
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The spanish word for conqueror.
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How were the Incas organized?
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The incas were organized into tribal groups or clans and each clan was responsible for farming a piece of land.
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What did Inca boys and girls do?
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Boys followed their father's trade. Girls copied their mothers.
Farming was how most Incas supported themselves. |
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What did Inca farmers do?
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They grew corn, squash, tomatoes, peanuts, cotton, and more then a hundred varieties of potatoes. Potatoes was very important for the incas because it could be grown at high altitudes.
They also raised livestock including guinea pigs, alpacas, and llamas. The guinea pigs were for food, the alpacas for wool, and the llamas used for many things including as pack animals. |
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What is an alpaca?
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A South American mammal valued for its long, wooly coat.
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What is a llama?
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A South American mammal valued for its endurance and for its wooly coat and meat.
It was a versatile animal for the Incas who used them as pack animals, fur and hide to make clothing, waste for fuel and fertilizer, and its meat for food. |
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How did Inca families work "For the good of the empire"?
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They worked for themselves, but they also spent part of their time working for the empire. They farmed for themselves, but also farmed for the empire. They donated time by working on construction projects or serving in the military.
They understood that their labors were for the good of the empire. Only a little of the good produced were used, the rest were put in warehouses and given to those too old or sick to work. In hard times, goods were given to the workers as well. |
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Who is He-Who-Sees-Everything?
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He is a government official responsible for visiting Inca villages and making them pay their taxes. He would also serve as a matchmaker
He would take a census and charge taxes based on how many people lived in the village. Afterwards, he would interview all the unmarried women. Those especially worthy were sent as wives to the Sapa Inca. The rest were pair off to unmarried men and making dozens of marriages on the spot. |
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How long did the Inca Empire last?
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A century from 1438 to the Spanish conquest in 1532.
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Why were roads important in the Inca empire?
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They made it possible for government officials to travel around empire. It also enabled the army to travel quickly to outlying territories to put down a rebellion and enforce the emperor's rule.
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Describe the characteristics of the Inca Royal Road.
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The Royal Road stretched for more then 2,000 miles from the northern end of the empire to the southern. It was the longest road in the world until the 1800s.
It was 24 feet wide for most of its length. Much of the road was straight as an arrow and markers measured distance along the road. Trees gave shade and canals provided water for travelers. There were roadside storehouses where travelers could get food. Part of the road was packed dirt, but other parts were paved with paving stones. They were cut exactly so they didn't need to use mortar to hold them together. Many smaller roads connected to the Royal Road like nerves branching out from the spine. |
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What are the characteristics of the most famous Inca bridge?
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It was built Apurímac river in Peru. It is a suspension bridge held together by enormous rope and was built by in the Incas in 1350. The rope had to be replaced every 2 years.
The bridge lasted until 1890, more then 500 years. It was used by the Incas, then the Spanish, then finally the independent people of Peru. |
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What was the solution the Incas used to farm on the sides of a mountain?
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They cut terraces into the side of the mountain to create flat farm fields that could be planted and harvested like valley fields.
They also built irrigation systems to bring water to these crops on the terraces. Farming on the side of a hill or mountain is almost impossible because plowing, planting, and harvesting are all very difficult. And during heavy rains, all the water rushes downhill washing away the crops. Terraces help to solve these problems. |
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What is a terrace?
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A flat piece of land carved out of the side of a mountain or hill.
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The Incas had no written language, so how did they keep records and communicate information?
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They used a device called a quipu, which was a piece of string from which dangled shorter pieces of string of various colors. Government officials would tie knots on the strings to record the number of warriors headed for a village or how much corn was in a store house.
They also used messengers that would memorize messages and pass them along to other waiting messengers, relaying information along. They could have a message travel 150 miles in a day. |
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What makes Machu Picchu unique?
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It is a mountain fortress located about 50 miles northwest of Cuzco. It sits high in the valley between two peaks in the Andes. It stand about 7,000 feet above sea level.
It used to be a vacation spot for the Inca emperors Today it is the leading tourist attraction in Peru. |
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How did the Incas build their empire so large?
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They conquered people and did perform some human sacrifice, however, they placed more emphasis on having conquered people become loyal Inca subjects.
When the conquered people were cooperative, the Sapa Inca made few changes. They taught them the Inca language and had them worship the sun god Inti. However, they continued to let them worship their local gods. If they were uncooperative, they would ship out the troublemakers to loyal Inca villages. He would also ship local Incas to conquered villages to help unify the people. This allowed them to build an empire that would endure until the Spanish conquistadors appeared. |
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What did the Aztecs see at the coast near Tenochtitlán in 1519?
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They saw a floating mountain, magic sticks, and giant dogs with flat ears and long tongues.
The floating mountain was a Spanish ship, the magic sticks were cannons, and the enormous dogs were horses, all of which the Aztecs had never seen before. |
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Who was Hernán Cortés?
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He was a Spanish explorer who had taken part of the conquest of Cuba a few years earlier. He came to Central America to seek new riches.
He, with the help of the Aztec enemies who had been conquered earlier, captured Tenochtitlán. Although they had superior weapons, they were outnumbered. But they also carried European diseases like smallpox which they passed to the Aztec. The diseases made some sick and killed many Aztecs, which allowed Cortés to capture Tenochtitlán in 1521. |
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Who was Atahualpa and how did he take the throne from his father the Sapa Inca?
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Europeans came by ships and spread germs and diseases that killed the Incas by the thousands.
When the Sapa Inca died, two of his sons both claimed the throne. They waged a bloody war and eventually Atahualpa won. |
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Who is Francisco Pizarro?
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He was a Spanish conquistador who led a group of 160 men in 1527 to find an empire that was wealthier then the Aztec empire.
Pizarro met Atahualpa in a town called Cajamarca. He laid a trap for him and asked Atahualpa to come unarmed as a friend. He had a priest ask for Atahualpa's surrender, and when he refused, that was the signal to begin the massacre. Using cannons and mounted soldiers, they mowed down all the unarmed men and captured Atahualpa. |
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What was the deadly bargain between Pizzarro and Atahualpa?
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Atahualpa said he would offer a room full of gold if Pizzarro would free him. Pizzarro agreed and when he received the gold, he broke his promise and executed Atahualpa.
With the Inca leader gone, and many dead from diseases, the Conquistadors were able to capture Cuzco and Quito and destroy the Inca empire. |
