Laynie Groves interactive notebook

A Look at the

Mississippian, Maya,

Aztec and Inca

Civilizations

Ancient Civilizations
of the WBy: estern
HemBisyp:here

Laynie Groves

Learning About Time

Watch the “Commonly Asked Questions about Dates” video on
Schoology to learn about the abbreviations/key words listed
below. As you watch, pause the video and write in your own
words what each of these means.

What does B.C. stand BC stands for before christ. Which
for when looking at basically means before christ was

dates? born.

What does A.D. stand It means anno domini. That means in
for when looking at the year of our lord.

dates?

What does B.C.E. stand Before common era and that just
for when looking at means it means the same thing as BC
dates?
just in different wording.

What does C.E. stand CE stands for Common era and it
for when looking at means the same thing as AD but in

dates? different wording also.

What do c. and ca. Circa and that basically means that
stand for when looking they did not know when it was
created but they know it was
at dates?
somewhere around this time.And
centery.

Multiple-tier Timelines

Multiple-tier timelines use two or more rows of events.
While each row represents a different subject, the time
period is the same.

Multiple-tier timelines can be used to help us look at
cause and effect relationships or patterns and themes
among events in a specific period of time.

We will be using a multi-tier timeline to show the rise
and fall of four early civilizations in the Americas: The
Mississippian, Inca, Maya, and Aztec and look for
RELATIONSHIPS between the dates.

The
Mississippians

The mississippians are a tribal group. I have learned
very much about the mississippians but the most I have
learned are in these few facts and pictures in the slide
above. The great serpent mound is a hill type of structure
and it was made and used by the Mississippians . most
people thinks it looks like a snake with one eye and an egg
and many other things. I personally think it looks like an
eye. It was made to possibly tell time. It is very big with an
1330 feet in length and 3 feet in heigh .

Next we have the actual mounds the mound people built
this was their reputation because they were called the
mound people because they built mounds as the one in
the slide above for various things. They built up dirt to
make these hills and it may sound easy but it was very
hard for them. They cared so much and they would work
out there in heat and cold to build these mounds.

Know artifacts. The mound builders also made some
artifacts such as pottery and sculptures. They made some
cool pots and people out of there clay and tools and
speaking of tools. There tools were things such as axes
bow and arrow and triangular arrowheads and more.

The mississippians were a cool culture to learn about and
i thought that they were pretty cool. There mounds artifacts
pottery tools and the people themselves were a great
progression in history.

Where in the World…
Were the Mississippian Located?

What is the approximate latitude
and longitude of the location you
colored?
What might the weather be like in
this location based on the latitude
and longitude?

What is the approximate latitude and longitude of the location you colored?
40.633 1N, 89.3985w it is relative to illinois.
What might the climate be like in this location based on the latitude and longitude?
Some snow in the winter and rain in spring sun in summer. Same as ohio weather.
How would this affect the way people live in this area?
They would have to protect there three sisters crops.they would have to have thick
clothes in the winter. And airy clothes in the summer.

What’s This?

Study this picture and then answer the questions
on the next page.

What’s This?

Use the picture on the previous page to answer the following
questions. *Note these answers are all based on your
observations at this point!

The great serpent
mound

An eye

I think it is made out of dirt it
used for burial ground and to
tell time.

I think it could scare away predators
and it was also used to tell time by the

point of the sun.

Using buckets and shovels
and very tiring work for
their beliefs.

The Mounds

Read the Khan Academy article posted in your
Schoology course: Fort Ancient Culture: Great
Serpent Mound. After you read, complete the
page below with your team.

Describe the physical attributes What do archeologists believe
of the Serpent Mound in your might be the reason the mounds

own words: are shaped like a serpent?

It is an almost hill type They believe that it was
bump. It is an unknown used
shape but most looks
like a serpent To tell time and tell east
and west .

The people who are The mound people Danielle Knight GO Interactive, 2015
believed to have created worked very hard to
it were Native Americans
create these
or lost children of mounds and they
jerusalem. obviously use them
because they built
Who is believed to have created
it? them.

What relationship generalization
can you make between the
mounds and the people who
built them?

Research the Relationships

Explore the Mississippian links in the Symbaloo posted in your
Schoology course as well as in the books and other resources available
in class to complete this organizer.

What was the government like? The government split the people into
Did powerful relationships exist 2 groups and they had elites and

between the people and their commoners.The elites were religious
leaders? and the commoners were doing most
of the work. Mostly part or hunting
How was their society set up?
What were the types of jobs or military.
people had? Were the jobs people
did purposeful for the civilization? Most of the people lived outdoors
using houses for cold months, and
Describe their religion. Did the storage. These were mostly circular
relationship the people had with and they were some poles to help
their gods and religious leaders hold the structure up.Most of them
were mainly farmers. And they were
follow rules? important jobs they had to provide
food for everyone and if they did not
What did the people invent, create,
or trade that allowed them to people would die of starvation.
exchange ideas or values with
others they had relationships The religious leaders and the chief
with? and their family were gods and could
influence the world's weather. The

sun was another god to them.

What was the agriculture like? Pottery, pipes, carvings,shovels and
What food did they eat? How probably food since they were more

did they grow it? What fortunate in food.
relationships did the people
have with their environment?

On Brain pop I learned many things about the American
indians. For one they were people who were settled in
America and they were american indian tribes.
Christopher columbus was sailing and found America.
He thought he was somewhere in India though. That is
where they got their name. He thought he was in india
so it made sense to him that the people there were
indians but later he learned they were Americans.
There were many tribes that lived around America.
Actually a fun fact is that 562 tribes total lived in
America.They got here because they came from Russia
through the Bering strait to come to America.There are
different types of tribes like Nomadic tribes. This is
where the people move along with the seasons and
with the animals they depend on for food. Also there
were some people who mastered farming and could
stay in the same area for a long period of time. Alaska
is home to many tribes. And a lot still are there today.
In central America and south america Spanish
explorers other wise known as conquistadors. They
tortured the american tribes by tieing them up in
chains enslaving them and much more. Others though
in North america indians died because european
settlers were taking over their land. And to end a lot of
the lives of American Indians died of disease that
european settlers brought in.

This is Laynies and Morgans Mississippian
extension project!

The Maya

The Maya were and Ancient Civilization group that lived in Central America. They built things like
Temples ,Pyramids, and huts. They believed in Gods and created a Mayan calendar. They invented
many things we still use today, such as Guacamole, chocolate and writing. They had a very strict
government and religion. They would sacrifice people to the gods to make the gods happy. The three
most important things about the Mayans that I think summarize them is there gods the sundial and their
writing (glyphs).

Gods: The Maya believed in the Gods. Some examples of the gods they believed in were Itzamna
which was the god of creating humans and Yum Kaax which was the god of the weather and Kinich
Ahau which is the god of the sun. There is al so many more gods those are just a few examples.
Almost everything the Maya did was to make their gods happy. They believed as long as the gods were
happy they would solve all there problems for them. The gods were one of only 3 people who was
allowed at the very top of the pyramid/ Temple. The Maya did sacrifice to make the gods happy. They
would sacrifice food, land and even people. The gods are even more loved and more powerful than the
king.

Temples/pyramids: The temples or pyramids is what higher people like kings or priests sometimes
lived in. Most of the time it was kings. They gave them the temples because it was kind of like there
castle. They believed and worshiped there king so much so they thought they should have a better
place than huts and houses, So the built temples. The temples were handmade by the maya. They built
it by staking rock right on top of each other so it would build a little mound of rocks. Then they shaped it
so it would look like a pyramid after that they glued them together with some clay.

Writing (glyphs): The Maya basically invented writing. They used glyphs to write. Glyphs are little
drawings represented as letters. The glyphs they used were inprinted in clay because of course they
did not have paper or boards back then, So they drew it into wet clay and let it dry. Today the Maya use
the Latin alphabet instead of Mayan glyphs now. There are over 100 glyphs used to write, a different
one for every sound. They don't know much about Mayan glyphs because it was not understood until a
few years ago. They just discovered a few letters of it.

I am choosing to answer the one question about how did where the Mayans live affect how they lived?
Well I feel like weather played a huge part in it. They did love in central America where it is really hot.
They had to dress in very cool clothing to stay cool.Most of their jobs were farming and building and
those all include working outside in the extreme heat. The weather there also affected what they ate.
They probably ate more tropical food since they lived in a warm moist area. The area they were in
played a huge part in how they lived. In weather and in food and probably more.

The Mayans were a very cool group to learn about. With how unique there religion and beliefs were.
They were a very important part of history, With out them to invent writing who would? And without
them to make new foods who would? They were a brave and unique Group who helped us out a lot on
things they made to made it easier for us today.

Where in the World…
Were the Maya Located?

What is the approximate latitude and
longitude of the center of the Mayan
empire.

It is around southeast of mexico and north
of belize. 17 degrees north and 10 degrees
east.

What might the climate be like in this
location based on the latitude and
longitude?

The weather might be hot, humid and wet
since there are a lot of rainforests in that
area and it is near the equator.

How would this affect the way people
live in this area?

They would need to have really insulated
shelter because of the heat and rain. The
agriculture would be growing more exotic
food. And they would have to have very thin
clothing.

Map from ducksters.com

The Mayan Government/
Social Structure

Kings
the leader of the city states that influenced
slightly by the priests and noble They were
considered gods.

Priests

The priests Helped and influenced the king
to make good decision.

The nobles influenced the government and
formed the consuls to judge and help with the kings
decisions.

Nobles

Military leaders

The military leaders were called the nacom and they waged war on the the king's
command.

Commoners

Commoners were regular people and had basically no control over the government.

Overview of Mayan government: The mayan government is a government with different
levels there is kings priests nobles military leaders and commoners. They mostly had a say in
the government other than the comeeners who were regular citizens. It was an okay system.

Mayan Religion Mural

This mural represents the 4 key parts of the
religion. After life, Pyramids, God, and the sundial.
This mural is a nice representation of the religion.
In the god section it is a nice god with plants on
their head. And vines in the background. In our
sundial piece we have 3 sundial overlapping to
make 1. And in the sacrifice they did it by burning
or cooking people over a fire. There is also the
pyramids, These show where a few higher class
mayans stayed or lived in.

Mayan Language and
Number Systems

My maya glyph includes my birthday in the maya
number system. My birthday is 11-26-07 and in maya
glyphs it looks like this.

Determine the Relationships

Explore the Mayan links in the Symbaloo posted in your Schoology
course as well as in the books and other resources available in class to
complete this organizer.

What was the government like? The mayan government did not interact with the people
Did powerful relationships exist (commoners) much. Governments interact with priests

between the people and their and nobles but not commoners or slaves. The
leaders? government was not Social and thought they were way
higher which they were but they feel they were better
How was their society set up?
What were the types of jobs depending on most of the rulers they had.
people had? Were the jobs people
did purposeful for the civilization? Kings / the person that was believed to interact with
god. priests/help make decisions with god. Nobles/ the
level under the king,with high standards. Commoners/

people who do not have a say in the government.
Slaves/ sacrificed to make the gods pleased,

Describe their religion. Did the The mayans believed that the chief and priests could
relationship the people had with speak to the gods. The gods they believed in were cizin
their gods and religious leaders
Chac ,Ku ,Itzamna,hun hunahpu, Ahau
follow rules? Chamahez,axel,moon, and many more. The mayans

What did the people invent, create, believed sacrifice of humans as a worship, most
or trade that allowed them to practiced by more older priests.They wanted to do
exchange ideas or values with sacrifice because they believed it made the gods happy
others they had relationships and as long as the gods were happy they believed they
with? could solve all of their problems. When you were
sacrificed it was not a punishment for them it was a
What was the agriculture like? privilege. This is a privilege because this was one of
What food did they eat? How three ways you could get into heaven right away. Others
had to fight through obstacle courses to get to heaven.
did they grow it? What
relationships did the people That is what they believed.
have with their environment?
The mayans created umuc ted themself with many
people in central america.they traded feathers, gold

,jade ,amber ,courts, honey ,animal pelts, manta,
vegetable ,dies , copal incense, earble medicine, dried

chili peppers, and household seriamics. They even
transported such heavy objects such as mortar ,hercules
and bags of salt. As a legal tender they used cacao jade

and feathers sprinkled with gold dust.

Maya agriculture was very smart when it came to
farming. The most common food was corn or maize. The

most popular food was corn that is because they

Maya ruins

I went to the Maya ruins over spring break in Costa maya (Mahawell). On this
trip I visited the temples and the places they lived and some things they used in
their lives. So I decided to do an extra project on what I learned and what I saw.

When I went to the maya ruins I found out…
● When they were born they would nail pieces of wood to the newborns head

and then twist it so that they would have a corn shaped head.

● They believed that they were made from corn so they valued it a lot
● They would cut their faces and draw blood on their bodies to make tattoos

● When the priests went up the stairs of the temple to give the sacrifice to the
god he could never turn his back to the god even when he was going down
the steps.

● Still today there are maya in Mahawell. They also speak maya there as a
fluent language.

● Only kings, priests and gods were allowed to go to the top of the temple.
● If you are maya in Mahawell your birth certificate will be in maya glyphs.

● They ate a lot of chocolate it was almost as popular as corn.

I hope you enjoyed all these fun facts about the mayans. And If you did not
know they still live today. They have their own language and writing. Our

tour guide was mayan. But anyway I hope you enjoyed and learned
something new!

Ancient Maya
Concept Map

The Aztec

At the end of this unit,
you will insert at least
three images on this page
that you feel represent
the Aztec people. Delete
this text box when this is
complete.

At the end of this unit, you will write a
well-developed paragraph in this space explaining
what you learned about the Aztec people. You
might want to include who the Aztec people were,
what they valued, how their society was set up, the
relationship generalizations you uncovered while
learning about the people, etc. *Note: Your pictures
on page 4 should relate to this paragraph!

Where in the World…
Were the Aztec Located?

Map from ducksters.com What is the approximate latitude and
longitude of the center of the Aztec Empire?

The Aztecs lived in Costa Rica. There was 18 n
108 w, with Latitude and longitude. They live near
mexico city. It was north of guatemala and was east
of the pacific and west of the atlantic.

What might the climate be like in this
location based on the latitude and longitude?

Like the other civilizations it would be hot and rainy.
They would live in a more tropical area with more
rain forests.

How would this affect the way people live in
this area?

They would have to dress for warmer weather. And they would eat
more tropical foods. They would not have most of their resources
right off the bat since they lived in a forest area. -thin clothing
-Tropical food - lived in forest area

The Aztec Government/
Social Structure

Emperor

Is known for the leader
of the people and being
one of very few people
who can interact with the
gods.

Techuhtly

They were wealthy and there were normally the
leader of cities. They would often get praised for
their work.

Pipilt

They were the last layer that wore
their own clothes and nice jewelry.
They formed city councils and helped
form the army.

Pochteca

They were very special class or merchants
they were high class because they traveled
far away to get luxurious goods.

Macehualtin

These people were commoners or normals village people. These people
an include the warriors the craftsmen and farmers.

Aztec Sun Stone
Calendar

The aztecs used the sun
calendar that counts days. It
consists of 365 day.

Determine the Relationships

Explore the Aztec links in the Symbaloo posted in your Schoology
course as well as in the books and other resources available in class to
complete this organizer.

What was the government like? The Aztec Government was very powerful
Did powerful relationships exist because the normal leader of it would be the
king. But their overall leader was their gods.
between the people and their They had such a powerful relationship with
leaders? them that they would do human sacrifice to

How was their society set up? make them happy.
What were the types of jobs
people had? Were the jobs people People had jobs as farmers, hunters, builders,
did purposeful for the civilization? merchants, military jobs, etc. Yes, they were
very purposeful. The aztecs lived in a society
that really valued education. But they did not
learn what we learn today. He boys learned how
to be warrior and the girls learned how to run
the household.

Describe their religion. Did the Yes, since they worshipped their gods most of
relationship the people had with the time, and government-organized sacrifices
their gods and religious leaders were held, and you couldn't just throw a knife at
someone and say you sacrificed them. They
follow rules? were ruled by many gods. They lived in temples
if the person held high power. People with high
What did the people invent, create, power were believed to be the only ones who
or trade that allowed them to could physically talk to the gods.
exchange ideas or values with
others they had relationships The aztecs invented their sun stone calendar of
with? course and many other things like, Popcorn,
Aztec chocolate, and something like chewing
What was the agriculture like? gum. It was a sticky paste for them. They
What food did they eat? How invented games too. And they made one of the
first hints of our education today. They also may
did they grow it? What have invented aquaducks.
relationships did the people
have with their environment? Aztecs ate food like corn straight off the cob,
Beans, Animals, Fruits and vegetables, and
insect eggs. They mostly grew crops and did not
like to hunt a lot because they thought it was

hard work. Their relationship with the

Ancient Aztec
Concept Map

!





Where in the World…
Were the Inca Located?

What is the approximate latitude and
longitude of the center of the Inca
Empire?

13.532 degrees south and 71.9675 degrees
west. It is around Cusco in south america.

What might the climate be like in this
location based on the latitude and
longitude?

The weather would be hot and rainey. It would
be very humid and sweaty.

How would this affect the way people
live in this area?

They would need to have thick houses to
protect them from ran and heat. They would
need to dress for the weather which would need
clothes to keep them cool and some rain
jackets. They would grow more tropical foods
like mangoes or bananas. Shelter may come
from trees with them.

Map from ducksters.com

The Inca Government/
Social Structure

The Inca Government: The Inca Government went from Sapa inca the emperor to Valuc
Umu they talked to the gods. Next is Inca they were in the High government. Last is the
commoners which were normal people in the village.

Inca Social Structure

Nobles : Sapa Inca means the great inca. With that name you can infer that he

holds the power. The first Sapa Inca was legend to be the son of the sun god. This position was
passed from father to son ect. They lived with riches, servents, Wives and many other great
expensive things.Valuc Umu

It spoke directly to the gods. It is very important getting needs from those gods. They spoke for the
people and were Highly respected. They were also considered a high priest.

Public Asmiserstaters

There were 3 things in Public Administrators. One of them were the leaders of the
armies they captured. The second were the tax collectors. They all collected taxes,
but each family had their own. That's a bit weird.They keep the taxes in order the
third one.

Commoners

These people had the lowest rank in the society and were normal people who had a normal life. Artisans were
higher-level craftsmen that made pottery and golden jewelry for the more superior people. The farmers had the
lowest rank. Most of the commoners were farmers. However, they were also important because they were the
ones who grew all the food and gave ⅔ of the supply to the government. The Inca government also needed to

rely on them for prosperity.

Ayllu

The Ayllu was made up of multiple families who worked together, almost like one large family. These
people were all of the inca put together to work together.

Determine the Relationships

Explore the Incan links in the Symbaloo posted in your Schoology
course as well as in the books and other resources available in class to
complete this organizer.

What was the government like? The government was ruled by one person. That person
Did powerful relationships exist was called Sapa Inca. They did not divide the

between the people and their government like most tribes, they had a few people
leaders? running the government. People being the inca, The
back ups to the Inca the sapa inca and that is pretty
How was their society set up? much all the people who were in the government. It was
What were the types of jobs mostly passed down by family. If you were not born in a
people had? Were the jobs people powerful place such as government then you will never
did purposeful for the civilization? be in a high place like that. You have to be a family

Describe their religion. Did the member.
relationship the people had with
their gods and religious leaders Their society was built around the commoners. They
worked most of the land. But the sapa inca ruled. The
follow rules? commoners built all the buildings and grew all the food.
They ate food including… Corn, beans, squash, potatoes
What did the people invent, create,
or trade that allowed them to and quinoa. The jobs That people did were mostly
exchange ideas or values with farmers, educators, craftsman and hunters. These
others they had relationships people kept the village surviving by providing food and
with?
shelter.

The Incas religion was many like the other tribes. They
had Gods and Festivals. They did human sacrifice and
they followed most of the rules. Their religion was just
like the other tribes we learned about. But there were a

few differences. Starting with their language, they
spoke a language called Quechua. Also their festivals.

They had lots of festivals and they celebrated
almost everything.

They traded within their society. They traded cow dung,
animals like llamas, wool, meat and many things.

They also sold stuff they had surpluses of. They traded
hand woven things saying there was no machines.

What was the agriculture like? The Aztec used floating gardens around their capital.
What food did they eat? How This reduced the impact on the physical land. They grew

did they grow it? What many sun-loving crops and fruit.They relied on their
relationships did the people crops for food, in most occasions.They grew things like
have with their environment?
Corn, beans, squash, potatoes and quinoa. (i.e.
sun-loving, kind of exotic crops and fruits)

Ancient Inca
Concept Map