Chapter

11
Early Mesoamerican
Civiliza6ons
Landforms of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica, or Middle America, is located
between present-day United States and
South America.

Mesoamerica includes the present-day

countries of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala,
Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, and Panama.

The Yucatan Peninsula in Mesoamerica

divides the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico.

More than a dozen volcanoes are ac6ve in

Mesoamerica.

Craters of inac6ve volcanoes have lled

with water to form highland lakes.

WATCH Lonely Planet Yucatan Peninsula

 Climate and Vegeta4on
Much of Mesoamerica is located between
the Tropic of Cancer at about 23.5 degree
north la6tude and Tropic of Capricorn at
about 23.5 degree south la6tude.

Between the Tropic of Cancer and
Capricorn the climate is hot and wet (about
80 degree Fahrenheit and 80 inches of rain
every year).

There are rain forest between the tropics

because of the heat and moisture.

The northern part of Mesoamerica is mostly

desert because it is hot and dry.

LABEL 1) Prime Meridian, 2) Equator, 3) Tropic

of Cancer, and 4) Tropic of Capricorn
Eleva4on and Climate in Central
America
Eleva4on is the height of the land above sea
level. The higher the eleva6on, the cooler the
climate (3.5 degrees Fahrenheit for every
1,000 feet).

Tierra Helada (Very Cold Land) 4,000 feet

eleva6on animal grazing

Tierra Fria (Cold Land) 3,000 feet eleva6on
wheat, potatoes

Tierra Emplada (Temperate Land) 2,000

feet eleva6on corn, beans, squash,
co\on, coee

Tierra Caliente (Hot Land) 1,000 feet

eleva6on - cacao, bananas, sugar cane
 Geography Shapes Mesoamerican Life

Jade and obsidian were found in the

mountains of Mesoamerica, and were used
to make jewelry.

Seashells and sharks teeth from the coastal

regions were used to make jewelry.

Feathers from the quetzal were used to

decorate clothing.

Farmers would cut down trees and burn the

trees to use the ashes to fer6lize the soil, a
method called slash-and-burn agriculture.

Mesoamericans grew maize (a type of

corn), beans, peppers, squash, and cacao.

WATCH Na6onal Geographic Mayan Pyramids

 Chichen Itza Ques4ons
1) Chichen Itza was built in the ________Peninsula.
2) What was thrown in the wells as a sacrice to
the rain god Chaac?
3) From what building did the Mayan watch and
study the stars (astronomy)?
4) What did the Spanish call the pyramid?
5) How many total steps to the top of the pyramid?
6) What happens during the spring and autumn
equinox?
7) What happens to the losing team of the ball game
(pok-a-tok)?
8) DISCUSS Why did the people of Chichen Itza
abandon the city for the jungle?
 Olmec Civiliza4on
About 3,000 years ago a group of people called the
Olmec lived near the Gulf of Mexico.
Annual ooding and the alluvial soil helped Olmec grow
more crops and the popula6on increased.
San Lorenzo and La Venta were important ci6es for
religion and trade to Olmec.
Olmec traded precious stones, iron ore, and obsidian.
Olmec made the head statues with basalt, a kind of
volcanic rock.
The Olmec used an early form of glyph wri6ng to record
events, dates, and tell stories.
The Olmec studied astronomy, and developed an
accurate calendar.
The Olmec were polytheists, and the chief god was the
jaguar.
At around 500 B.C.E., the Olmec began to abandon their
ci6es.
Olmec is considered the mother culture for
Mesoamerica, which strongly inuenced later cultures.
DISCUSS Why do you think the Olmec abandon their ci6es?
 The Mayan Civiliza4on
The Mayan civiliza6on dates back to 2000
B.C.E.

The Mayans were located in fer6le lands in

what is today Guatemala, Belize, and the
Yucatan Peninsula.

In the fer6le lands the Mayans were able to

grow more food, and the popula6on of the
Mayans increased.

With a food surplus the Mayans could do jobs

other than farming.

Mayans grew maize, beans, squash, chili

peppers, avocados, pineapples, and cacao

WATCH Mayan Culture in Guatemala
 The Mayan Life
Mayan had 4 social classes:
1) Ruling class were the kings and their families.
The kings performed the religious du6es of
priests.

2) Nobility included scholars, architects, and

merchants. Nobles were educated and
wealthy. Most of the Mayan warriors were
nobles.

3) Peasants included farmers and laborers. The

majority of the Mayan popula6on were
peasants.

4) Slaves were criminals and people captured in

war. Some6mes orphaned children would
become slaves.

WATCH Movie trailer APOCALYPTO

 Mayan Religious Beliefs
The Mayans believed they had been created out
of maize.

Only the nobles were allowed to drink chocolate

from the cacao.

The Mayans worshiped more than 160 gods and

goddesses.

The main Mayan god was called ItzamNa.

To get help from the gods the Mayan fasted,

prayed, and oered sacrices.

The Ancient Egyp6ans looked forward to life aier

death, but the Mayans believed the aierlife was
an unhappy existence.

SHOW Mayan Calendars

WATCH 2012 Movie Trailer
 Glory and Decline
The Mayan reached their peak between 250 and
900 C.E., which was known as the Classical Period.
The Mayan built more than 40 ci6es including
Copan, Tikal, Palenque, Bonampak, and Chichen
Itza.
A king governed a Mayan city and its surrounding
area.
Some6mes kings would declare war on neighboring
ci6es to gain poli6cal or economic advantages.
By the 800s C.E. the Maya began to abandon their
ci6es in the south, and by the 1400s C.E. Mayans
also abandoned their ci6es in the north.
The reasons why Maya abandoned the ci6es
remains a mystery (natural disaster, over-farming,
disease, war, peasant revolts).

WATCH Tikal Mayan City and Discovering Mayan Culture
READ King Tut and Pacal II of Palenque (page 384)
 Advances in Learning
The Maya developed a wri6ng system
that used glyph, and recorded important
informa6on in a book called codex.
The Maya developed a mathema6cal
system based on the number 20.
The Maya used a dot to represent 1 and a
bar to represent 5. The Maya were also
the rst to use the zero.
By using math, the Maya learned a lot
about astronomy.
The Maya could predict 1) solar eclipses,
2) knew the best 6me to plant seeds and
harvest crops, 3) help kings make
important poli6cal decisions, and 4) could
keep precise records of events.
WATCH Ending for Stand and Deliver
WATCH Maya Calendar and Mural