Characteristics of a Civilization

3. Characteristics of a Civilization • Permanent settlements • A system of government • Social Classes • Manufacturing and Trade • Written Communication • A Shared system of religious beliefs

4. Mesoamerica • Mesoamerica means Middle America or “between Americas” • Ancient Mesoamerica was located what is now present day Mexico and Central America • Mesoamerica has been divided into six (6) areas of culture

5. Central Plateau – Valley of Mexico, Puebla, Toluca • Western Mexico – Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima, Sinaloa • Gulf Coast – Veracruz and parts of Tabasco • Oaxaca • Maya Area – Yucatan, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Guatemala, Honduras • South Pacific – El Salvador, Coast of Guatemala

6. Mesoamerica Time Periods • Pre-Classical 1500 B.C. – 100 B.C. • Classical 100 B.C. – 900 A.D. • Historical 900 A.D. –1519 A.D.

7. Highlands & Lowlands • Mesoamerica has tropical forests, snow capped volcanoes, mountains, deserts, and swamplands • The people of Mesoamerica lived in the highlands, lowlands, and coastal plains between the Gulf of Mexico & the Pacific Ocean

8. Life in Mesoamerica • Food staples were maize, beans, and squash also included wild turkey and hairless dogs, fish, turtles • Maguey plants • Theocratic Governments • Social Classes: Nobility, Priests, Commoners, and Slaves • Polytheistic Religion

9. BEANS MAIZE SQUASH

10. Maguey Plant

11. Chinampas

13. Glyphs and Learning • Mesoamericans invented their own language and writing system • The Maya and Aztecs created a writing system of hieroglyphs, a number system, and a calendar • Manuscripts • Codices • Book Making

16. Mesoamerican Art • Depicted what life was like for rulers, priests, and nobles • Around 300 A.D., Mesoamericans began creating large, rectangular stone panels called “stelae” • Precious Stones – jade, diopside, serpentine • Body piercing and tattoos

17. Jade Rock Basalt Obsidian

18. Architecture