10 Ancient American Civilizations
Caral Supe
-GOVERNMENT:The Caral civilization laid the foundations of social, political, and religious organization.
-RELIGION: Animism and Catholicism
-DAILY LIFE : Created chocolate Alcoholic Drinks
-LOCATION: Central Peru
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Olmec
-GOVERNMENT: The Olmec inscriptions indicate that each Olmec town was ruled by either a governor or King, and that their was a recognized religious leader for the entire community. The Olmec King was usually referred to as Tu.
-RELIGION:polytheistic, believing in many gods who controlled the natural forces of life.
-DAILY LIFE : The Olmec were very good at farming. The land in this region was very fertile and food supply was steady. They lived in villages near rivers and also fished for food. Olmec people also were good at making pottery and weaving.
-LOCATION: gulf coast of Mexico
Mayan
-GOVERNMENT: Well organized city states each with a king, war was for tribute
-RELIGION:Many gods, king’s blood is sacred,
sacrificed animals and some humans
-DAILY LIFE : Mayans everyday lives were busy, either with jobs, trading, producing crops and goods, ceremonies, games, dancing, writing, and astronomy and mathematics.
-LOCATION: Central America
Zapotec
-RELIGION: the Zapotec religion was polytheistic
-GOVERNMENT: Pre-Columbian Zapotec people were governed by kings based at the capital city of Monte Alban. These kings had imperial ambitions and developed military forces to expand into surrounding areas. Kings were advised and legitimized by a class of priests who interpreted the wills of the gods, a set of deities who lived in and controlled the natural elements of the world.
-DAILY LIFE : The Zapotecs were a sedentary culture living in villages and towns, in houses constructed with stone and mortar. They recorded the principal events in their history by means of hieroglyphics, and in warfare they made use of a cotton armour. The well-known ruins of Mitla have been attributed to them.
-LOCATION: Monte Alban in the valley of Oaxaca in central Mexico
10 Ancient American Civilizations
Nasca
Wari
Inca
Tiwanaku
-GOVERNMENT:The Tiwanaku Polity (Spanish: Tiahuanaco or Tiahuanaco) was a Pre-Columbian polity in western Bolivia based in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin.
-RELIGION: The role of religion (belief systems) and ritual (behaviors) is seen as largely related to controlling and manipulating supernatural forces, as well as facilitating group cohesion and solidarity. It has been postulated that the greater the power, the greater the social control by an elite.
-DAILY LIFE : They would do art.
-LOCATION: shores of Lake Titicaca
-GOVERNMENT: The discovery in early 2013 of an undisturbed royal tomb, El Castillo de Huarmey, offers new insight into the social and political influence of the Wari during this period.
-RELIGION: Andean beliefs
-DAILY LIFE : canoes-fisherman-shallow water fishing, corn cultivation, isolation
-LOCATION: central Andes mountains of Peru
-GOVERNMENT:King at the center of empire,
War is for conquest
-RELIGION:Many gods, some human sacrifice
-DAILY LIFE : The daily life of a peasant in the Inca Empire was full of hard work. The only time peasants were allowed not to work was during religious festivals. Other than that, they were expected to be working when they were not sleeping. Most of the peasant men worked as farmers.
-LOCATION: South America, along the Andes
-GOVERNMENT: Weakened by a generation-long drought in the 5th century CE, the Nazca were eventually conquered by the Wari - who assumed many of their artistic traits - and Nazca settlements, thereafter, never rose beyond provincial status.
-RELIGION: The people of the Nazca culture were polytheistic and pantheistic, that is worshiped nature and the mountains, sea, sky, earth, fire, water, etc.. Most of the temples and other buildings were created in honor of these deities, in order to please the gods to not suffer famine.
-DAILY LIFE : The Nazca developed underground aqueducts, named puquios, to sustain cities and agriculture in this arid climate. Many of them still function today. They also created complex textiles and ceramics reflecting their agricultural and sacrificial traditions.
-LOCATION: the south coast of Peru
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Mississippian
Aztec
-GOVERNMENT: In some locations these societies developed severely stratified social classes and a hierarchical political structure. These societies were called chiefdoms. The Chiefdom. In a chiefdom a paramount chief of great authority required the population of his adherent villages to provide him with a portion of their crop
-RELIGION: Mississippian religion was a distinctive Native American belief system in eastern North America that evolved out of an ancient, continuous tradition of sacred landscapes, shamanic institutions, world renewal ceremonies, and the ritual use of fire, ceremonial pipes, medicine bundles, sacred poles, and symbolic weaponry.
-DAILY LIFE :The Mississippians lived in towns led by chiefs, not in cities ruled by kings and queens. Burial mounds served as monuments to high-ranking families, but mounds were built for other purposes as well. Many mounds are flat-topped platforms of earth; most are less than 10 feet high, but some are larger.
-LOCATION: Mississippian cultures lived in the Mississippi valley, Ohio, Oklahoma, and surrounding areas.
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-DAILY LIFE : They worked as farmers, merchants, artisans and warriors. They lived in more moderate homes and could not afford as elaborate clothes or art. Regardless, there are several key aspects to consider about the daily life of most Aztec people, such as: clothing, education, entertainment, food, homes, religion and work.
-RELIGION: Many gods, sun god most important, human sacrifice
-LOCATION: Central America, Mexico
-GOVERNMENT: Very powerful king, highly
centralized, war was for captives
and tribute.