Ancient

Ancient

Mexico

Mexico

Mayan, Incan, and

Aztec Civilizations

By: Mrs. Meredith Sanders

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan

4 well-known
buildings in this
ancient city:

Pyramid of the

Sun

Pyramid of the

Moon

Temple of Quetzalcoatl

Temple of the

Jaguars

Olmecs

Olmecs



They were the first
major Indian Tribe.



Olmec means
“rubber people.”



Two major cities
were San Lorenzo
and La Venta.



They used a form of
picture writing; had
a number system
and calendar.

“

“

Rubber people”

Rubber people”



The Aztec

Indians gave

the tribe this

name because

the Olmecs

supplied them

with sap from

rubber trees.

Mayas

Mayas



Appearance: Short in
height, straight black
hair, painted their
bodies, had tattoos,
valued crossed-eyes
and flat foreheads



Three eras: pre-
classic, classic, and
post-classic



Mayans used glyphs
in their writing.

Glyphs

Glyphs

Their glyph writing (picture)
expanded largely using about 800
different glyphs.

Mayan Religion

Mayan Religion



Worshipped many different gods



Each day, month, city, and occupation had its

special god or goddess



Had a variety of religious festivals and

celebrations



Most ceremonies includes human sacrifices



In many ceremonies, the priests cut themselves

to get blood to present to the gods



Their religion taught that there were 13 layers of

heaven above the earth & 9 underworlds below



Worshipped the dead

Human Sacrifices

Human Sacrifices

The Mayas had 3 methods of giving the

human sacrifices:

1.

The priests took the victim to the altar at the

temple and cut the heart out of the living

victim and presented it to the god.

2.

The priests tied the victim to a wooden pole

and threw spears and arrows at the victim’s

chest in the area of the heart.

3.

They threw the victim into a sacred well. If

they survived the fall and did not drown, the

priests pulled them back out of the well;

believing that the god spared that victim.

Worshipping the

Worshipping the

Dead

Dead



They believed the dead became
one with the gods.



They worshipped their ancestors at
many religious ceremonies.



They also built pyramids over the
sacred remains of their dead
rulers.

Aztecs

Aztecs



This ancient tribe

wandered for many

years



Founded their greatest

city, Tenochtitlan (this

is the site of modern

Mexico City)



They belonged to a

large family group

called calpolli,

meaning “big house”

or clan.

Calpolli

Calpolli



Each calpolli elected its own officials to run
its business. They were a true democracy
and voted on decisions.



Women did not have a vote.



Calpolli expected all of its able-bodied men
to fight any wars. The men considered it
an honor to fight for their clan.



The family arranged for all marriages. A
young person could only marry someone
outside the clan.



A woman who married now joined her
husband’s clan.

The

End

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