MESOAMERICAN Civilization
Mayans
Aztecs
Incas
The Mayans were located in what is now northern Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico.
The Mayans were around from A.D. 250 to A.D. 900, they began to abandon their cities in A.D. 800s
The Aztecs were around from A.D. 1325 to A.D. 1521
The Aztecs were located in what is now the northwest desert of Mexico.
The Aztecs began to disappear because they were almost always at war and their new leader, Montezuma II, always asked for tribute aka sacrifices. Then when the Spanish came more people died. Some diseases brought by Europeans weakened the Aztecs.
The Incas were around from A.D 1200s to A.D 1572
The Incas were located in Cuzco Valley, Peru
Incan people believed that their emperor was divine and the son of their most important god, their god of sun, Inti. The sun was seen as a source of life. The Inca had temples to worship their gods and in each temple there was a priest that performed daily prayers and rituals. Animal sacrifice were made for good harvest and human sacrifice were rare, they made human sacrifices during long droughts. Often before battle they would perform special rites that they believed read the future to see who would win.
The Mayans worshiped more than 160 gods and goddesses. The Mayans represented these gods as animals, to get help from these gods they would fast, prayed, and offered sacrifices. The sacrifices were either animals or humans. The Mayans also expected their ruler to communicate to their gods.Afterlife was an unhappy place to them.
In A.D. 800s, Mayans began to abandon their cities and their population declined sharply. It still remains a mystery on why this happened but some assumed reasons are from over farming, diseases, food shortages and famine, and warfare among the cities. Some Maya went to the northern lowlands and highland areas, but those cities had also been abandoned.
The Aztecs beliefs were that men farmed their own noble lands, while the women tended to the children, cooked, and did other household chores. Boys learned about fighting and religion at school at the age of 10, while girls were taught at home. The Aztecs believed in around 1,000 gods and some humans were usually war prisoners, and were sometimes sacrificed to the gods.
The Incan Empire had been weakened by unrest and began to fall apart when their leader was executed by a Spaniard named Francisco Pizarro. Before that there was a war that killed many Incans. Conquered people began to rebel against their Incan masters. By A.D 1535, most Incan land had been conquered by the Spanish and many people were enslaved. After a while diseases brought by the Europeans killed millions of Incas, and in A.D 1575 the last Incan ruler was defeated and the Incan empire ceased to exist.