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Virtual Field Trip. Maya, Aztec, and Inca Ruins. The Inca. The Inca empire was one of the greatest in South America. They are known for their superbly built cities and trails. They built incredible cities high on the mountain tops.
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Virtual Field Trip Maya, Aztec, and Inca Ruins
The Inca • The Inca empire was one of the greatest in South America. • They are known for their superbly built cities and trails. • They built incredible cities high on the mountain tops. • The Inca trail ran 2,500 miles from one end of the empire to the other.
Communication • The Inca did not have a written language. Instead they kept records with quipus, a series of knotted cords.
Machu Picchu • Machu Picchu is an Inca city located in Peru. • The city was built on a ridge 1,800 feet above the river below. • It was built as a summer retreat for the ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui between 1460 and 1470 CE. • Machu Picchu is called “The city in clouds”. Can you tell why?
Amazingly, the Inca did not use iron tools to carve the stone. They used round river stones to chip the large stones into the exact shape. They are so perfectly cut that a blade of grass will not fit between the stones.
Criminals may have been tossed the 1,800 feet down to the river as punishment for their crimes.
The city was inhabited by priests and relatives of the royal family. Hundreds of people were employed for maintenance of this retreat.
The Inca worshipped the sun. This temple was dedicated to the sun and at the winter solstice the sun shone through a special window in the temple.
Maya • The Maya lived in the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala, and Belize. • Unlike other empires of the time, the Maya were actually groups of independent tribes with similar religions, culture, and art.
Here is a map of the Maya empire. The Maya and the Olmec cultures merged and became one of the strongest groups in Central America.
This temple is located in Tikal, a major city within the Mayan civilization.
This was the clan house for the Jaguar Claw family. It was built by King Jaguar Claw I.
Notice the serpent heads at the base of the stairs on this pyramid. They represent Kukulcan the god of the Maya conquerors.
This is a painting in Temple of the Warriors. It depicts a typical Mayan day.
Juego de Pelota Juego de Pelota is a game similar to basketball, played by the Maya. The object of the game was to get a rubber ball through the hoop at the end of the court. However, you cannot use your hands!
This is one of the hoops used during Poc-a-Toc (Juego de Pelota in Spanish). This ball game was played during religious ceremonies. Some archeologists used to believe the losing team was sacrificed. New hieroglyphic evidence suggests that the captain of the winning team was sacrificed because this would give him instant access to Tamoanchan, what we would call heaven.
At the end of the ball court is the Platform of the Skulls. The heads of enemy warriors and the heads of sacrificial victims were displayed on this platform. These are some of the carvings on the platform of the skulls.
This is the observatory in Chichen Itza. It was used to study the precise movements of the stars. The movements were used to develop complex calendars that told the Maya when to plant and harvest crops.
This site is nicknamed “the church”. On the front is a carving of Chaac, the Mayan god of rain. As the giver of water, Chaac became vitally important to this civilization that is dependent on agriculture.
In the modern age the Maya still farm the same lands and travel the same rivers as their ancestors did from the north in the Yucatan down to Honduras. The claim that the Maya somehow vanished, simply because their cities were found abandoned, is not only inaccurate but insulting to the over six million Maya who carry on the traditions of their ancestors. Though the region was Christianized in the 16th century CE conquest and inquisition, the old ways are still observed in a hybrid between European Catholicism and Mayan mysticism.
Aztecs • The Aztecs were in power from about 1300’s to the 1500’s when they were conquered by the Spanish. • The Aztecs were extremely resourceful, creating usable farmland from swamps, using terraces to control water, and by building an island city complete with stone lined canals.
Aztecs • The Aztec developed their own form of writing. • Aztec society was divided into 3 classes, the nobility, the commoner, and the slave. Slaves could buy back their freedom and any slave who escaped and made it to the royal palace without being caught was given his or her freedom.
Here is an example of one of the immense pyramids built by the Aztecs. The rooms on top were used for human sacrifice. Some pyramids were rebuilt many times. Each time they were rebuilt more spectacularly than before.
The Aztecs chose to build their main city in the middle of a swamp. Legend says that the god Huitzilopochtli told them to build their city where they saw an eagle sitting on a cactus, eating a snake. The capital of Tenochtitlan is named after the cactus called tenochtli.
This large stone was discovered in the main square of Tenochtitlan. The face in the center represents Tonatiuh the sun god. His hair is blond because of the golden appearance of the sun. The wrinkles on his face show age and maturity. The tongue, which is sticking out, is a black obsidian knife. The knife shows that the Sun God demands to be fed with human blood.
On either side of the face are claws. The Sun God uses these claws to hold itself in place. In each claw is a HUMAN HEART!
The Aztecs believed that for the sun to keep rising they must satisfy it with human blood. Regular human sacrifices were carried out on temples like the one below. Often those sacrificed were enemies captured during war. Between 20 and 50 thousand people were sacrificed each year in the Aztec empire. Huitzilopochtli is the god of war.
Not all Aztec cities had large pyramids. Coatetelco is a medium size city. It does not have a pyramid, however it does have a ball court, similar to the ball courts used by the Maya.
Tenochtitlan, the ancient capital of the Aztecs, is located under the modern day city of Mexico City. At the front of the picture you can see some remains of Aztec buildings. In the back you can see part of the modern day city.
The End Now that you have had a chance to “visit” ancient Inca, Maya, and Aztec sites, write a paragraph that includes 2 new things you have learned and that tells one things you thought was interesting. The 3 FCA’s for this assignment are: - write about 2 new things you learned and one thing you liked - write in complete sentences - have no capitalization or punctuation errors I hope you enjoyed the trip! Get to work!
