Social Studies
Chapter 3
Notes


Civilizations began to develop when farmers grew a surplus of food. They could specialize instead of spending all their time hunting.

Maya -southern Mexico and Central America (Guatemala)
-Tikal is the oldest Maya city
-Good farmers (corn)
-Artists, scientists and historians
-Maya calendar
-invented the idea of the number zero
-After 909 Maya civilizaition was mysteriously abandoned
-writing system had symbols that stood for pictures and sounds


Aztec -southern Mexico
-Tenochtitlan; an island and the capital city
-planned the city in honor of the sun and their gods
-built causeways to connect the island to the rest of the valley
-each building was put in a special locaiton that marked the position of
sun
-fought many wars and forced prisoners into slavery or human sacrifice


Mound Builders -lived 2000 years ago along Mississippi River in Midwest/SE
-area had plenty of rainfall
-built mounds of earth
-used mounds for religious purposes;like burials
-Great Serpent Mound in Cincinnati, Ohio
-Cahokia, IL also has large mounds

Anasazi -lived 2000 years ago in the Four Corners area of the SW
-very arid climate
-lived in apartment style houses
-built villages beneath rock cliffs, on the sides of canyons and on top of
mesas
-made kivas;underground rooms that men used for religious ceremonies
-900 A.D. built Pueblo Bonito in Mesa Verde, NM; 800 room town
-many artifacts have been found because the arid climate preserved
them.
-by the 1200’s they started to leave their towns and villages