mesoamerican civilization

  • 2024 BCE

    Rubber people

    1500 BCE-400 CE
    • Also known as “Rubber People”
    • Large stone heads
    • Polytheism and Shamanism
    • Agriculture (maize) and trade (obsidian tools and jade)
    • Cities – San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes
    • Olmec glyphs
  • mesoamerican civilization

    mesoamerican civilization

    1500 BCE-400 CE
    • Also known as “Rubber People”
    • Large stone heads
    • Polytheism and Shamanism
    • Agriculture (maize) and trade (obsidian tools and jade)
    • Cities – San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes
    • Olmec glyphs
  • Toltecs and aztecs

    Toltecs and aztecs

    900 BCE Toltecs and Aztecs
    • 900 BCE-1160 CE (Toltecs)
    • 1220-1520 CE (Aztecs)
    • Modern day Mexico
    • Social hierarchal class
    • Pyramids/stone structures
    • City-states/Tenochtitlán – capital city of Aztec empire
    • Social hierarchal classes – Aztec emperor at the top
    • Polytheistic/Spiritual rituals – sacrifices, bloodletting, and festivals
    • Trade and agriculture – economic base
    • Created “floating gardens” for agriculture
  • Chavin

    Chavin

    900-200 BCE (Chavin)
    • 200-700 CE (Mochica)
    • Andean region of South America
    • Chavin de Huantar archaeological site for Chavin civilization
    • Trade and agriculture – economic base
    • No evidence of a writing system
    • Social hierarchal classes
  • Pyramids, temples, stelae

    Pyramids, temples, stelae

    250-1200 BCE
    • Pyramids, temples, stelae
    • City-states
    • Polytheism, deities, bloodletting rituals
    • Cacao and cotton as currency
    • Mayan divine kings
    • Mythology (the Hero Twins)
    • Ball games
    • Calendar Round and Long Count
  • Teotihuacán

    Teotihuacán

    100 BCE
    Teotihuacán
    Teotihuacán
    • 100 BCE-750 CE
    • Precursor to Aztec civilization
    • Agriculture and trade as economic base
    • One of the largest, most successful city-states of the time period/location
    • Hieroglyphic writing system/calendar
    • Polytheistic
    • Social classes/urban dwellings
  • The Inca

    The Inca

    Jan 28, 1100
    The Inca
    The Inca
    • (1100-1532 CE)
    • Located in South America (Peru)/largest empire in the Americas
    • Regional military power/ military service required for men as a form of a tax
    • Cuzco – capital city
    • Built network of roads, quipu as a form of record-keeping,
    • Polytheistic
    • Social hierarchal classes – Inca emperor at the top
    • No known writing system
    • Agricultural-based society
    • No known merchant class
  • Teotihuacan

    Teotihuacan

    400
    Teotihuacan becomes a biggest city in the Mexican Valley
    Teotihuacan becomes a biggest city in the Mexican Valley
    Teotihuacan, the dominant city in the northern highlands of central America, introduces the god Quetzalcoatl
  • The Mayans

    The Mayans

    500
    The Mayans made the first Chocolate drink
    The Mayans made the first Chocolate drink
    Beans are gathered by the Maya from wild cocoa trees and are probably used in a chocolate drink
  • Rise of the Caracol city-state

    Rise of the Caracol city-state

    Oct 8, 600
    Rise of the Caracol city-state
    Rise of the Caracol city-state
    The city-state of Caracol becomes a major force in the land.
  • King Itzamnaaj B'alam II

    King Itzamnaaj B'alam II

    Oct 8, 700
    King Itzamnaaj B'alam II or the King Shield Jaguar the great becomes the king of Yaxchilan
    King Itzamnaaj B'alam II or the King Shield Jaguar the great becomes the king of Yaxchilan
    Yaxchilan in now one of the central powers in the modern-day border of honduras and guatemala