Take A Journey From The Olmecs & Zapotecs To The Mayans & Aztecs

By: India, Elizabeth and Krystal

Olmecs

The Olmec civilization was the earliest civilization in central America, beginning in Mesoamerica at around 1200 B.C.

They originally lived in the Gulf Coast region of southern Mexico, but later expanded to Guatemala.

Their climate was hot and humid, including swamps, jungles, and thick vegetation.

Rivers provided transportation as well as fertile land for farming.

The Olmec area has resources: salt, tar, clay for pottery, wood, rubber, and stone.

Olmec trade spans from the north to the south.

Trade spread Olmec influence.

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OlmecsThe major Olmec urban area was San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, and was at the time the largest city in Mesoamerica. It was most likely a ritual and political place. The Olmecs used and developed various things culturally and religiously that were later used by the Mayans, Aztecs, and many other cultures. The Olmecs carved stone, basalt (which was used to make large stone heads), and jade.

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Zapotecs

The Zapotecs were once one of the most dominant ethnic groups on the region known as Oaxaca.

They were a sedentary group, mainly relying on agriculture to survive.

They worshipped a large amount of gods, including Cosijo, the rain god, which was symbolized by the jaguar and the snake.

Specialized Zapotec ritual leaders conducted certain ceremonies, which included the offerings of flowers, food, money, and prayers.

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ZapotecsThe city of Monte Alban was the Zapotecs’ main

cultural center. It was the place where their culture flourished for about 2,000

years.

By A.D. 700, Monte Alban had become the capital of the Zapotec land and was home to about 250,000

people.

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Mayans

The Maya (Mayans) came from an old indigenous group of people called the Olmecs.

The homeland of the Maya stretched from southern Mexico into northern Central America.

The Olmecs had influenced the Mayans in many ways.

The social class of the Mayans was much like the social class of other ancient civilizations. (e.g. King, nobles and priests, merchants and artisans, peasants, and the slaves.)

The Mayans were also known as the great civilization before the Pre-Columbian exchange.

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MayansThe Mayan daily life was similar to other

civilizations. -Peasant men worked as farmers, builders, and

soldiers in times of war.-Peasant women would stay home nurturing for

their child. -Peasant children had traditional customs at

certain months when growing up.

DOWN FALL:-In 900 C.E. The Great Mayan Civilization Fell.. &

Returned Back To The Country Side.

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Aztecs

The Aztecs are from Northwest Mexico in a city called Aztlan.

They left because their god of war told them to. When they saw an eagle sitting on a captus eating a snake.

They saw that sign. It was on a rocky island in the Lake Texcoco.

They built there city around it and named it Tenochitlan which means place where cactus grows from stone. It is now Mexico city. K

Aztecs• The Aztec social class was ruler, government officials, commoners, peasants and slaves.•In Aztecs families, marriage was essential. However, they also allowed divorce to occur.•In an Aztec household, the men was the leader but, the women did have her rights as well.

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Aztec Religion

Aztecs were influenced by many other Mesoamerican cultures, and cultivated them in a way that made them unique.

The god of the sun, Quetzalcoatl, was their chief god.

So to nourish him, the Aztecs sacrificed people, mainly captured soldiers. They would sacrifice thousands of people a year.

There calendar was very similar to the Mayans. Like the Mayans, they had two calendars; one religious and one solar. Together they made a 52 year century. They believed at the end of each century the sun would go out, and the only way to stop it was to sacrifice.

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Mayan Religion

The Mayan Religion was very complex. They were heavily influenced by their nature, and their influences by the gods. They had a theocratic government, and developed innovations that revolved around the gods, such as astronomy, math, and their calendar.

There gods inhabited 13 layers of the sky and 9 layers of the underworld.

They believed that everyday of the year, was controlled by a specific god. ( Had 160 Gods Each A Diff. Nature)

The Mayans also believed in sacrifices. They believed that their own blood, would nourish and please the gods.

Today, several million Maya practice a Roman Catholicism that retains many elements of traditional Mayan religion.

Mayan gods controlled their own part of nature. They were each assigned to something different. I

Aztecs Innovations

What a lot of people don’t know, but the Aztecs were the first people who demanded a mandatory education for everybody. They didn’t care about gender, or social class, of money.

To adorn their god Tlaloc, the god of maize and fertility.  The Spanish wrote that the Aztecs had "a kind of corn that bursts when parched and discloses its contents and makes itself look like a very white flower“

Chocolate was introduced to the Mayans and to the Aztecs. To the Mayans who used it as currency, and the Aztecs treated cocoa beans as a tribute. The Aztecs made xocoatl, which was a bitter drink that was more commonly drunk by the upper class. It was made of of water, cocoa beans, corn flour, and chilies

 When the Spanish came, they introduced the wonders of sugar.  And so this evolved into the hot chocolates and mochachinos.

They used a type of antispasmodic medication - medicine that could prevent muscle spasms and relax muscles, which may have been helpful during surgery.

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Fun Facts

Mayans invented chewing gum.

When the Spanish arrived, they found Aztec prostitutes on street corners chewing gum.  The Aztecs had chicle trading routes in place, which were promptly destroyed by the Spanish.  The gum became a memory, until it started coming back 350 years later

Bibliography

"Sweat Lodges." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 7 Apr. 2011.

"Native American Weaving." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 7 Apr. 2011.

 "Zapotec Civilization." About Oaxaca, Your Oaxaca Travel Guide. Web. 8 Apr. 2011. <http://www.aboutoaxaca.com/oaxaca/zapotec.asp>.

"Civilizations in America Contents." Washington State University - Pullman, Washington. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. <http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/OLMECS.HTM>.

Bibliography Cont.

http://pugsrock40.glogster.com/the-aztecs-mayas-and-incas/

http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-inventions.html

http://www.religionfacts.com/mayan_religion/index.htm