Pre-Classic 2,000 B.C.E to 200 C.E: Olmecs

Classic 200 C.E. to 900 C.E.: Teotihuacan, Zapotecs, Mayans

Post-Classic 900-1521 C.E.: Toltecs, Aztecs

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Mayan City-State

=Cah

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2006 Apocalypto

• Apocalypto Sacrifice Scene • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG8WqEyXIyc

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Classic Maya collapse theories

• Foreign invasion

• Environmental

– Catastrophic event: earthquakes, hurricanes.

– Epidemic diseases

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Zapotecs Valley of Oaxaca

• Monte Alban (500 B.C.E) on a defensible hilltop – Monte Alban greatest of all Zapotec sites

– Military power in Oaxaca

• Danzantes 150 – Stones that depict sacrificial victims

– Represent an empire of conquest

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Post-Classic 900-1521 Tzompantli (skull rack)

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Toltecs: Valley of Mexico

• Tula ( 8th Century C.E) – Militant state

– Revered by the Aztecs

– 987 C.E. Topiltzin-Quetzalcoatl

– v.s. Tezcatlipoca struggle

– Legacy: Cult of Quetzalcoatl

– Ancient Mexico - Toltecs to Aztecs – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgeXsx_IncE

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Chichen Itza

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Post-Classic Mayan Chichen Izta

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The Aztec Migration from Aztlan 1111?

The Boturini Codex was painted by an unknown Aztec author some time between 1530 and 1541.

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Huitzilopochtli

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Chicomoztoc 7 Caves

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Codice Durano/Dresde

Founding of T enochtitlan 1325

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Aztecs – Tenochtitlan 1325 capital

– Tepanec Kingdom • Altepetl= city-state • Tlatoani • 1420s Texcoco & Aztec allied

• Aztec Empire 1428-1521 – Triple Alliance: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan

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Tiene el nopal en la frente He has a cactus on his forehead

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The Aztec Stone of the Five Eras

• Unearthed 1790

• Solar deity Tonatiuh

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Tribute List from Codex Mendoza

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• Altepetl: ethnic-city state, society • Social Structure

– Huey Tlatoani – teuctli (Lord)

– Pilli (noble)/Cihuapili (noble women), quauhpilli (eagle- warrior)

– Macehualli (commoners) – Mayeque (serfs) – Tlacotli (slaves) – Pochtecas (long-distance merchants) – Oztomeca (spies)

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• The Aztec Empire Documentary History Chanel National Geographic

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtlEAASEjX0

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The Great Temple at Tenochtitlán

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The Great Temple at Tenochtitlán

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Temple Mayor

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These city-states ruled the area in and around the Valley of Mexico

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Aztec Punishments

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New Fire Ceremony

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Tarascans

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Tarascans

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Mesoamerican Languages

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Mesoamerican Languages

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The Tarascans/ Purepecha 1330s-1530s

• Tzinzuntzan 1525 capital – Cazonci

• linguistic similarities to the Quechua language?

• Copper tool& weapons

– Defeated Aztecs 1478

• Characteristics – Few ball courts

– No Tlaloc nor Quetzalcoatl

– Yácatas Architecture

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