Mesoamerican ABC Book

By: Sorina Ying & Allison Negrete

A:

Aztec: This was a Mesoamerican civilization

that was beat by the Spaniards. The Aztecs
believed sacrifices were important because if
they didnt they thought the sun wouldnt rise
and the universe would die. They had many
advanced creations like the, Sluice, which is a
wooden gate or door. Another thing that they
created was called, Chinampas. It is a fake
island used to grow crops. Since they were a
very strong empire, by 1449 it had about
15,000,000 people and by 1502 had about
25,000,000 people.
Aqueduct: A manmade river used to transport
or take water somewhere else. In Palenque
they were able to move the large amount of
water instead of storing it by building
aqueducts.

B:
Blood: Human blood was very
precious, and necessary in the Aztec
CIvilization. It was used to worship
gods, and honor others. The Aztecs
believed that if they didnt do
sacrifices or give blood that, the sun
wouldnt rise and the universe would
die. Also, the Maya believed that
blood and human life was sacred to
give to the gods.

C:
Culture: The Way of doing things and accomplishing
cores such as: Music, Religion, Food, and Customs. For
example, The Mayan People, absolutely loved drinking
the delacie of chocolate. For example the Mayans
believed that blood and human life was the most
sacred thing to offer to the gods and the Aztecs
believed that if they didnt do sacrifices that, the sun
wouldnt rise and the universe would die.
Customs: The practice of religion, and arts of the
Culture. The people would sacrifice their hearts in
order to please their gods.
Chocolate: Chocolate was used as currency in the
Mayan culture. Also, it was drank by crushing the
Cacao pods and making it into powder, which they
mixed in water. If someone was being sacrificed, they
would be given a gourd with chocolate drink to
comfort them before sacrifice.

D:
Days: This is the cycle of the sun
which goes around the planet.
The Mayans created a calendar
by building a temple which had
91 steps and a platform at the
top. Altogether the number of
steps was 365 altogether which
is how many days in a year we
have now.

E:
Eagle: A myth made up in the
Mesoamerican culture
included an eagle which sat
on a cactus, which they called
a, Prickly Pear. This meant
that they had found the land
they were going to start. The
land they were going to start
was called Tenochtitlan.

F:
Fasted: In the Mesoamerican culture
some civilizations didnt eat for a while
because of religious beliefs. For
example the Maya fasted, so they
could get help from the gods.
Famine: In some of the Mesoamerican
civilizations Famine was a big problem
because it caused a lack of food
because of natural disasters such as
drought which causes crops no to
grow because there is no water.
Because of Famine, it usually caused
most of the population to drop in
massive numbers.

G:
Gods/ Goddesses: In the
Mesoamerican civilization, many
of the people believed and
worshipped gods and goddesses
by sacrificing animals, humans,
or their hearts. The Mayan
civilization worshiped more than
160 gods and goddesses which
they usually represented by
animals, such as jaguars which
were considered the most
important.

H:
Heart: The Aztec people
would sacrifice their hearts
to please their gods, so in
return they would get
what they wanted from
their gods.
Human: Humans were the
main start of a culture
such as Mesoamerica.

I:
Inca: The capital of the inca
civilization was called Cuzco. The Inca
civilization had very advanced
technology. They made a writing
system, road system, and even
performed brain surgery. The Inca
civilization also found new
treatments for medicine by
studying different plants. Also, the
road system that they built was
used to send messages back and
forth.

J:
Jade: The Olmec civilization
carved many different
artifacts out of this green
colored stone. After they
finished carving they would
trade them.
Jaguar: In the
Mesoamerican culture, the
jaguar was one of the most
worshipped animal god and
the most important god.

K:
Kan Bahlam: Kan Bahlam
was the ruler of Palenque.
He ruled Palenque after his
father, Pacals, death. Kan
Bahlams father was 80
years old when he died. His
name means, Snake
Jaguar.

L:
Limestone: Many of the
Mesoamerican civilizations used
limestone to build temples and
pyramids for their king or a
temple for worshipping their
gods.
Language: All of the
Mesoamerican civilizations had a
different language, which is a
way of speaking to someone
using words or sounds.

M:
Maya: The Mayan people were a civilization
that created a lot of the things we use today,
such as the calendar and the number system.
They built a temple with a total of 365 steps
which represents the number of days we have
in a year. The Mayans created a mathematical
system. No one knows for sure how the
Mayan civilization, but starvation, natural
disasters, and disease were reasons they think
they might have all mysteriously disappeared.
Men: In Mesoamerica the men were a
stronger side of the population. They did all of
the strong work like fighting in battle while
the women did the cooking and cleaned the
houses.

N:
Nanauatl: The Mesoamerican
civilizations worshiped Nanauatl
which is the sun god. This was
one of the gods that was most
worshiped since the Aztecs
believed that if they didnt do
sacrifices the sun wouldnt rise
and the universe would die.

O:
Olmec Script: Ancient writing tablet
used to write on. The Olmec
civilization used this tablet and
created it.
Obsidian: Many of the
Mesoamerican civilizations carved
obsidian, which is a glasslike stone,
into figurines and used them for
trade.

P:
Pyramid: Building built with
blocks of stone. Many of the
civilizations would build
pyramids for the ruler to live in.
Most pyramids or temples were
built with either limestone,
adobe, or brick.
Planets: A round sphere that
spins around the sun. The
Mayans believed that there were
planets and they worshiped the
sun god.

Q:
Quiche: In Mesoamerica the
civilizations made Quiche
which was a sort of pie
with different things
stuffed inside of it.
Quechua: The Inca
civilization spoke Quechua,
which is a Mesoamerican
language.

R:
Religion: All of the
Mesoamerican cultures had
different beliefs which is called
religion, for example some of the
civilizations believed in a sun
god. The Mayan and Aztec
civilization both would fast and
worship their gods, so they could
get help from their god.

S:
Sacrifice: The Aztecs sacrificed
humans as a gift to their
gods because they thought it
would make the gods give
them what they needed. They
would usually give blood, a
human heart, or an animal
sacrifice.

T:
Temple: The Mesoamerican
cultures would build
temples to worship their
gods and pray to them.
Temples were usually built
out of limestone, adobe, or
bricks. Usually temples
stood as tribute to the
gods.

U:
Uinal: The Mayan
civilization created what
is called a calendar by
building a temple which
had 365 steps all
together which is how
many days we have in a
year now.

V:
Vigesimal: The Mayan
created what is called
the Vigesimal, which
is a number system
that goes from 0 to
20.

W:
Wajshikib Batz: This
is a ritual performed
every year, they do
this ritual every year
to worship the earth
gods such as sun, fire,
earth and water.

X:
Xochicalco: This is an
ancient city in
Mesoamerica that
had around 15,000
people. They built a
lot of religious
temples in a short
time.

Y:
Yucatan: This is a
Mesoamerican peninsula
that is surrounded by
water. In the rainforests
between Honduras and
Yucatan there are
hundreds of undiscovered
Maya sites that have
never been touched.

Z:
Zapotec: Zapotec was a
civilization that lived in a
flourished valley. There was
about 450,000 people and
the main language they
spoke was ancient Zapotec.
There were a lot of
artifacts found since they
sculpted and carved a lot of
things out of stone.

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Mesoamerican Data Set

A Brief History of Chocolate. By: Amanda Benson
Engineering an Empire- The Maya: Death Empire
Engineering an Empire- The Aztec
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