11 Early Mesoamerican Civiliza6ons Landforms of Mesoamerica Mesoamerica, or Middle America, is located between present-day United States and South America.
Mesoamerica includes the present-day
countries of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
The Yucatan Peninsula in Mesoamerica
divides the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
More than a dozen volcanoes are ac6ve in
Mesoamerica.
Craters of inac6ve volcanoes have lled
with water to form highland lakes.
WATCH Lonely Planet Yucatan Peninsula
Climate and Vegeta4on Much of Mesoamerica is located between the Tropic of Cancer at about 23.5 degree north la6tude and Tropic of Capricorn at about 23.5 degree south la6tude.
Between the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn the climate is hot and wet (about 80 degree Fahrenheit and 80 inches of rain every year).
There are rain forest between the tropics
because of the heat and moisture.
The northern part of Mesoamerica is mostly
desert because it is hot and dry.
LABEL 1) Prime Meridian, 2) Equator, 3) Tropic
of Cancer, and 4) Tropic of Capricorn Eleva4on and Climate in Central America Eleva4on is the height of the land above sea level. The higher the eleva6on, the cooler the climate (3.5 degrees Fahrenheit for every 1,000 feet).
Tierra Helada (Very Cold Land) 4,000 feet
eleva6on animal grazing
Tierra Fria (Cold Land) 3,000 feet eleva6on wheat, potatoes
Tierra Emplada (Temperate Land) 2,000
feet eleva6on corn, beans, squash, co\on, coee
Tierra Caliente (Hot Land) 1,000 feet
eleva6on - cacao, bananas, sugar cane Geography Shapes Mesoamerican Life
Jade and obsidian were found in the
mountains of Mesoamerica, and were used to make jewelry.
Seashells and sharks teeth from the coastal
regions were used to make jewelry.
Feathers from the quetzal were used to
decorate clothing.
Farmers would cut down trees and burn the
trees to use the ashes to fer6lize the soil, a method called slash-and-burn agriculture.
Mesoamericans grew maize (a type of
corn), beans, peppers, squash, and cacao.
WATCH Na6onal Geographic Mayan Pyramids
Chichen Itza Ques4ons 1) Chichen Itza was built in the ________Peninsula. 2) What was thrown in the wells as a sacrice to the rain god Chaac? 3) From what building did the Mayan watch and study the stars (astronomy)? 4) What did the Spanish call the pyramid? 5) How many total steps to the top of the pyramid? 6) What happens during the spring and autumn equinox? 7) What happens to the losing team of the ball game (pok-a-tok)? 8) DISCUSS Why did the people of Chichen Itza abandon the city for the jungle? Olmec Civiliza4on About 3,000 years ago a group of people called the Olmec lived near the Gulf of Mexico. Annual ooding and the alluvial soil helped Olmec grow more crops and the popula6on increased. San Lorenzo and La Venta were important ci6es for religion and trade to Olmec. Olmec traded precious stones, iron ore, and obsidian. Olmec made the head statues with basalt, a kind of volcanic rock. The Olmec used an early form of glyph wri6ng to record events, dates, and tell stories. The Olmec studied astronomy, and developed an accurate calendar. The Olmec were polytheists, and the chief god was the jaguar. At around 500 B.C.E., the Olmec began to abandon their ci6es. Olmec is considered the mother culture for Mesoamerica, which strongly inuenced later cultures. DISCUSS Why do you think the Olmec abandon their ci6es? The Mayan Civiliza4on The Mayan civiliza6on dates back to 2000 B.C.E.
The Mayans were located in fer6le lands in
what is today Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan Peninsula.
In the fer6le lands the Mayans were able to
grow more food, and the popula6on of the Mayans increased.
With a food surplus the Mayans could do jobs
other than farming.
Mayans grew maize, beans, squash, chili
peppers, avocados, pineapples, and cacao
WATCH Mayan Culture in Guatemala The Mayan Life Mayan had 4 social classes: 1) Ruling class were the kings and their families. The kings performed the religious du6es of priests.
2) Nobility included scholars, architects, and
merchants. Nobles were educated and wealthy. Most of the Mayan warriors were nobles.
3) Peasants included farmers and laborers. The
majority of the Mayan popula6on were peasants.
4) Slaves were criminals and people captured in
war. Some6mes orphaned children would become slaves.
WATCH Movie trailer APOCALYPTO
Mayan Religious Beliefs The Mayans believed they had been created out of maize.
Only the nobles were allowed to drink chocolate
from the cacao.
The Mayans worshiped more than 160 gods and
goddesses.
The main Mayan god was called ItzamNa.
To get help from the gods the Mayan fasted,
prayed, and oered sacrices.
The Ancient Egyp6ans looked forward to life aier
death, but the Mayans believed the aierlife was an unhappy existence.
SHOW Mayan Calendars
WATCH 2012 Movie Trailer Glory and Decline The Mayan reached their peak between 250 and 900 C.E., which was known as the Classical Period. The Mayan built more than 40 ci6es including Copan, Tikal, Palenque, Bonampak, and Chichen Itza. A king governed a Mayan city and its surrounding area. Some6mes kings would declare war on neighboring ci6es to gain poli6cal or economic advantages. By the 800s C.E. the Maya began to abandon their ci6es in the south, and by the 1400s C.E. Mayans also abandoned their ci6es in the north. The reasons why Maya abandoned the ci6es remains a mystery (natural disaster, over-farming, disease, war, peasant revolts).
WATCH Tikal Mayan City and Discovering Mayan Culture READ King Tut and Pacal II of Palenque (page 384) Advances in Learning The Maya developed a wri6ng system that used glyph, and recorded important informa6on in a book called codex. The Maya developed a mathema6cal system based on the number 20. The Maya used a dot to represent 1 and a bar to represent 5. The Maya were also the rst to use the zero. By using math, the Maya learned a lot about astronomy. The Maya could predict 1) solar eclipses, 2) knew the best 6me to plant seeds and harvest crops, 3) help kings make important poli6cal decisions, and 4) could keep precise records of events. WATCH Ending for Stand and Deliver WATCH Maya Calendar and Mural