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Ancient Latin
America
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
The ancient cultures of Latin
America established civilizations
in challenging geographic settings.
These cultures serve as models for
how successful civilizations develop.
TERMS & NAMES
hieroglyph
chinampa
Machu Picchu
Hernán Cortés
Montezuma II
Francisco Pizarro
Atahualpa
Columbian Exchange
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Ancient Civilizations of Latin America
Many ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptian, developed in river
valleys and thrived there. The rivers provided water for both irrigation and transportation. In Latin America, however, some ancient
civilizations flourished far from rivers. For example, the Maya of
Mexico and Central America built cities in dense jungles. The
Aztec of Mexico constructed their capital on a swampy island.
The Inca of South America built cities high up in the Andes.
160 CHAPTER 6
TAKING NOTES
Use your chart to
take notes about
Latin America.
Maya
Location
Dates
Aztec
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The Maya
In the areas that are today southern and eastern
Mexico, western Honduras, Guatemala, El
Salvador, and Belize, the ancient Maya built a
widespread civilization. Small Maya communities existed as early as 1600 B.C. From A.D. 250
to A.D. 900, the Maya established one of Latin
America’s most important civilizations.
Many of the
Maya hieroglyphs
have now been
deciphered.
Maya Intellectual Advances The ancient Maya
studied math and astronomy extensively. The
Maya were among the first civilizations in the
world known to understand the advanced mathematical concept of zero. They also had an
intricate calendar system that included a 260day calendar of sacred days, a 365-day calendar
based on the sun’s movement, and a calendar
that measured the number of days that had
passed since a fixed starting point.
The Maya established the best-developed written language in ancient Latin America. The basic
units of the writing system were symbols called
hieroglyphs, or glyphs. Each glyph represented a word or a syllable.
The U.S. lawyer John Lloyd Stephens, while traveling through the
Maya area in the 1800s, described his awe at seeing the glyphs and
not being able to read them because no one had yet deciphered them.
Culture • The Maya
often carved hieroglyphs on stone
monuments. A VOICE FROM LATIN AMERICA
These structures . . . these stones . . . standing as they do in
the depths of a tropical forest, silent and solemn, strange in
design, excellent in sculpture, rich in ornament . . . their
whole history so entirely unknown, with hieroglyphics
explaining all, but perfectly unintelligible.
John Lloyd Stephens
A. Drawing
Conclusions How
does having a
system of writing
help a civilization
survive?
Maya Agriculture Farming was essential to Maya life. Using a
method called slash-and-burn agriculture, the Maya cut down and
burned trees, planting crops in their place. After a few years, they let
the forest grow back, so the soil could regain its nutrients. Later the
area could again be cut, burned, and farmed. The Maya also built up
ridges of farming land on floodplains. The floodplains were rich
with nutrients, and the ridges kept the crops from getting too wet.
Latin America: Its Land and History 161
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Colossal Olmec Heads Mexico’s
oldest known civilization is called
the Olmec, which flourished from
about 1200 to 600 B.C. The Olmec
are famous for the colossal heads
(like the one shown below) that
they carved from a type of stone
called basalt.
Thought to be portraits of Olmec
rulers, some of these heads stand
over nine feet tall. Each weighs thousands of pounds. All of Mexico’s later
Native American cultures were influenced by the Olmec. However, only
the Olmec produced these giant
stone monuments.
Decline of Maya Civilization Around A.D. 900,
the Maya way of life began to change. For
unknown reasons, the construction of massive
temples and stone monuments stopped. Cities
were abandoned. However, the Maya people did
not disappear—they just spread out. More than
6 million Maya people still live in Guatemala,
Belize, and southern Mexico and speak dialects
based on the languages of their Maya ancestors.
The Aztec
Where modern Mexico City now stands, the
waters of Lake Texcoco once lapped the shores
of an island city called Tenochtitlán (teh•NOHCH•
tee•TLAHN). With as many as 200,000 inhabitants, Tenochtitlán served as the capital of the
Aztec Empire.
Aztec Origins The Aztec were composed of a
number of tribes of wandering warriors. Of
these, the Mexica (MEH•hee•KAH) were dominant. Mexico took its name from the Mexica.
During the 1200s, the Aztec gradually grew in
numbers and military strength until they controlled the region. They dominated until the
early 1500s, when the Spanish conquered them.
Culture • This
stone carving
honors the Aztec
sun god, whose
face is shown in
the center. Aztec Warfare and Religion The Aztec Empire centered on warfare. All able men, including priests, were expected to join the Aztec
army, for two reasons. The first was to maintain a powerful empire,
but the second was religious. The Aztec believed that anyone who
died in battle had the great honor of dying for Huitzilopochtli
(WEE•tsuh•loh•POHCH•tlee), the Aztec god of war.
Aztec Agriculture The Aztec held great power
over their empire. One reason for their success
was that the island location of their capital protected them from attack. However, much of
the island was marsh, posing a major challenge
to farming. The resourceful Aztec built floating gardens, called chinampas (chee•NAHM•
pahs), on which they grew crops. First, they
piled up plants from the water. Then they
anchored these rafts between trunks of willow trees.
162 CHAPTER 6
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Aztec Chinampas
Willows
Crops
Mud
HumanEnvironment
Interaction •
This infographic
shows how the
Aztec built and
farmed the
chinampas. Plants
Finally, they heaped the lake’s fertile mud on the piles to create
plots for farming. The Aztec grew many crops, such as maize,
beans, squash, avocados, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers. They
also raised turkeys, ducks, geese, and dogs for food.
The Inca
Around 1400, high in the Andes of Peru, a group of people called
the Inca rose up to conquer the people of the surrounding areas.
From their capital, Cuzco, the Inca soon ruled a huge empire that
included parts of what are now Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia,
northern Chile, and northwestern Argentina.
Inca Agriculture To farm on the steep mountainsides, the Inca
built stone terraces. These gave the Inca large areas of flat land to
farm. The terraces also helped prevent erosion of the soil. In the
desert lands to the west, the Inca built irrigation canals to water
their crops. Some of these canals spanned entire valleys. Because
of terracing and irrigation, Inca farmers were able to grow crops
such as potatoes, maize, and a grain called quinoa.
Latin America: Its Land and History 163
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Andean Agriculture
In the Andes, valley walls
rise as high as 10,000 feet
and temperatures can span
a 55-degree range.
Long before the rise of the Inca Empire, people living in the
Andes had learned to farm the steep valley walls by building
terraces into the sides of the mountains. They had also learned
to build canals, many of them lined with stone, to carry
water to their crops. The Inca improved and expanded
the existing terraces and canals until they could
feed 15 million people, with enough food
left over to put away stores for three
to seven years.
Inca canals stretched for
miles. They were often
lined and covered with
stones. Some were cut
through solid rock.
The Inca grew maize, hundreds of kinds of potatoes,
and many other crops. Farmers had to plant crops
adapted to many different climates because of the
great variations in altitude and temperature.
THINKING
ica
rit l
ly
C
The Inca had few farm tools. The most
widely used was the taclla, or digging
stick. It consisted of a pointed hardwood
pole with a footrest for pushing the
tool into the ground. Some tacllas had
metal tips. The other main tools were
hoes and clubs.
1. Analyzing Motives
Why did people living in the
Andes need to build terraces
and canals?
2. Recognizing Effects
What role did agriculture
play in the building and
maintenance of the Inca
Empire?
164 UNIT 3 Latin America
Workers directed by royal
architects built stone retaining
walls. Inside the walls, they placed
layers of stone, clay, gravel, and
topsoil. This combination allowed
water to slowly work its way to
lower terraces.
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B. Recognizing
Effects How did
building stone
roads improve the
ability of the Inca
rulers to control a
large region?
Communicating Across the Inca Empire Stone
roads were a major technological feat of the Inca.
These roads are still in use today. Having no written language or knowledge of the wheel, Inca
rulers ordered roads built on which runners carried verbal messages to distant places. The runners
worked in relay teams stationed along the roads.
One runner told the message to the next.
Messages could travel 150 miles a day along the
stone roads. This system of communication was important to the
Inca because their empire spread out over thousands of miles.
Culture •
The Inca kept
records by
tying knots in a
series of strings
called quipu
(KEE•poo). Inca Stonework The Inca are known for their stonework. They
erected many massive buildings, some with stones weighing as
much as 200 tons. Wooden rollers were used to move these heavy
stone blocks. The most remarkable of Inca stonework is the city
of Machu Picchu (MAH•choo PEEK•choo), which still stands
almost 8,000 feet above sea level. The walls of Machu Picchu
were constructed so that they appear to emerge from the mountainsides. Around them, terraces connected by stairways run
down the steep slopes. (See photograph on pages 140–141.)
Inca Weaving The Inca had no formal written language, but they
used weaving as a means of representing ideas. Using wool sheared
from llamas and alpacas, as well as many colorful plant dyes, the Inca
wove images into the fabrics they wore and traded. Concepts related
to the passing of seasons, agricultural practices, and history were all
represented in the weavings. In Peru today, Edwin Sulca Lagos is
famous for his Inca-inspired weavings. This one is covered in designs
from the Inca calendar.
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. Hypothesizing
What sorts of images might the Inca have used to convey concepts
such as time or seasons?
2.
Identifying Problems
What risks did the Inca face by recording ideas only on fabric?
For more on Inca weaving, go to
RESEARCH LINKS
C L A S SZON E . COM
Latin America: Its Land and History 165
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The Spanish in Latin America
Until about 500 years ago, Latin America was populated
solely by Native Americans. In the 1500s, the Spanish arrived
in the region. One famous Spanish soldier, Hernán Cortés
(ehr•NAHN kawr•TEHS), captured the Aztec ruler,
Montezuma II (MAHN•tih•ZOO•muh), in 1519. He
claimed the Aztec Empire for Spain in 1521 and renamed
it New Spain. A decade later, another Spanish soldier,
Francisco Pizarro, defeated the Inca ruler, Atahualpa
(AH•tuh•WAHL•puh), and claimed Atahualpa’s empire for
Spain.
Culture •
Montezuma II
was a great
warrior who
was feared
throughout the
Aztec Empire. SECTION
Time of Change Once in control of Latin America, the Spanish
enslaved many Native Americans and forced them to do labor,
such as mining silver. The Spanish also worked hard to convert the
Native Americans to Christianity.
Latin America and Spain also exchanged culture. Ships carrying
Latin American goods sailed to Spain. The Spanish soon began
growing corn, peppers, and tomatoes—crops they had never seen
before. Manufactured products from Spain, especially textiles, were
also shipped to Latin America. So were foods and animals, such as
peaches and pigs. This trade was part of the Columbian Exchange,
or the exchange of goods and ideas between European countries and
their colonies in North and South America.
ASSESSMENT
Terms & Names
1. Explain the signifcance of: (a) hieroglyph
(e) Montezuma II
Using Graphics
2. Use a chart like the one below to
list effects of the Spanish arriving
in Latin America.
Effects of Spanish Arrival in Latin America
1.
2.
3.
4.
(b) chinampa
(f) Francisco Pizarro
(c) Machu Picchu
(g) Atahualpa
Main Ideas
3. (a) Describe the writing system
that the Maya developed.
(b) How did the Inca pass important messages across great
distances?
(c) What was the Columbian
Exchange and how did it work?
(d) Hernán Cortés
(h) Columbian Exchange
Critical Thinking
4. Recognizing Effects
How did the Maya, Aztec, and Inca
develop agricultural methods that
responded to the environments in
which they each lived?
Think About
◆
◆
physical surroundings
available resources
Imagine you live in Tenochtitlán and have spent the day constructing chinampas.
Write a letter to a friend describing the process.
166 CHAPTER 6