Unit 5: Rights and Responsibilities
Central Idea: Societies are organized to protect rights through the fulfillment of civil responsibilities.
Watch this video to get a first impression about children's rights!
Working in the lab:
Types of Governments
Famous People in Civil Rights
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Rosa Parks
- Nelson Mandela
- Martin Luther King
- Mother Teresa
How to write a biography
A biography is a text that talks about a person's life. Here you have some tips that you should consider before you start writing.
1. Look for information about the person that you want to write about. Use encyclopedias in books and the internet to learn about the person's life.
2. The title of the biography should be the person's name.
3. In a first sentence or paragraph, write who the biography is about and what that person is known for.
4. Try to include the following information in your text:
- Birth date (and death date)
- Birth place (and death place)
- Childhood: For example: Where did the person grow up? Did he/she study? etc.
- Accomplishment: What is the person famous for? What has he/she done that was so special? Give examples!
Tip: When you mention the accomplishments, work in a chronological order. That means that you start in the past and finish with the present. Think about it like a time line.
5. Your last sentence or paragraph should summarize why the person you wrote about was so important and what effect he/she had.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit 4: Aztecs Mayans and Incas: Our Pre-Columbian Ancestors
Central idea:Evidence of past civilizations can be used to make connections to present day societies
First Inhabitants of the Planet
There are
diverse theories related to the first settlement of Homo sapiens in the
world.
Settlement of
the Americas
Who were the
first Americans? Where did they come from, when did they get here, What was
their culture like, and how did they settle North and South America?. Here we
will give some theories that have tried to answers these questions:
Clovis Theory
For generations
of archaeologists the understanding of how the Americas first came to be
inhabited was that ancient Siberians crossed on foot from Asia to Alaska over a
land bridge that spanned the Bering Sea. This 1000-mile-wide land route was
passable because sea levels during the ice ages were hundreds of feet lower
than they are today. The land bridge, called Beringia, existed during the final
period of the last Ice Age, about 15,000 years ago.
After crossing
Beringia and pushing on to Canada about 10,000 BCE, the Siberian immigrants
continued southward through a corridor in the great ice sheets to emerge in
what is now the lower 48 states. There they discovered a land of enormous Ice
Age (“Pleistocene”) creatures: woolly mammoths, giant bison, ground sloths, and
many other species. The newcomers were big-game hunters, and they proceeded to
hunt these megafauna to extinction. In broad outline, this is the picture
painted by the “Clovis First” theory, named after the distinctive and highly
efficient spearheads fashioned by these Ice Age hunters that were initially
discovered near Clovis, New Mexico.
The Clovis
people spread quickly throughout the New World, populating most of North and
South America in less than 1500 years. After the Pleistocene animals became
extinct, these ancient Americans diversified to fishing, gathering, and hunting
smaller game and marine mammals. From these different adaptations arose the
many diverse cultures of pre-Columbian America, eventually developing into
great civilizations.
Land Bridge Theory
The Land Bridge
Theory, also known as the Bering Strait Theory or Beringia Theory, is a popular
model of migration into the New World. This theory was first proposed in 1590
by José de Acosta and has been widely accepted since the 1930s. The Land
Bridge Theory proposes that people migrated from Siberia to Alaska across a
land bridge that spanned the current day Bering Strait. The first people
to populate the Americas were believed to have migrated across the Bering Land
Bridge while tracking large game animal herds. This theory is widely
adopted by most modern textbooks.
The Ancient Mayan lived in the Yucatán
around 2600 B.C. Today, this area is southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern
Belize and western Honduras. By 250 A.D., the Ancient Maya were at their peak
of power.
The Mayan people were also skilled
farmers. In order to farm, they had to clear huge sections of tropical rain
forest. Groundwater was scarce in these areas, so they had to build large
underground reservoirs to store the rainwater.
The Maya were skilled weavers and potters.
They also cleared routes through jungles and swamps to create trade routes.
This allowed them to sell and trade the goods they had made for goods they
needed.
The Maya writing system was made up
of 800 glyphs. Some of the glyphs were pictures and others represented sounds.
They chiseled the glyphs into stone and inside codices. Codices were books that
were folded like an accordion. The pages were fig bark covered in white lime
and bound in jaguar skins. The Maya wrote hundreds of these books. They
contained information on history, medicine, astronomy and their religion. The
Spanish missionaries burned all but four of these books.
The Ancient
Mayans were a very religious people. Mayan actions were based on rituals and
ceremonies. The Maya had many different gods. They also had rituals. One of
those rituals was human sacrifice. The Mayan Kings were considered to be direct
descendants of the Mayan Gods. Mayan religion was divided into three parts with
earth as one part, the level above the earth as another part, and the level
below the earth as the third part. The level above the earth was like the
Christian heaven and the level below the earth was like the Christian’s hell.
The Mayas wove
beautiful fabrics and designed musical instruments like horns, drums and
castanets. They also carved huge statues. Archaeologists can tell a great deal
about the ancient Maya from their wonderful pottery and clay figures. The art
they created honored their leaders, gods, and their daily life.
About AD 300 to
900 the major centers of the Mayan civilization were Palenque, Tikal, and
Copán. Something happened and these places were mysteriously abandoned. Many
theories have been considered such as disease, invasion by another culture,
natural disaster or collapse of their trade routes which would have destroyed
their economy.
The Aztec Empire
Unit 5: Rights and Responsibilities
Central Idea: Societies are organized to protect rights through the fulfillment of civil responsibilities.
Watch this video to get a first impression about children's rights!
Working in the lab:
Types of Governments
Investigate about different types of regimes or
governments around the world such Constitutional monarchy, Communist state and Republic
(Democracy). Write down at least 4 main characteristics of each, and identify
at least 2 countries that have the type of regime mention above.
Famous People in Civil Rights
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Rosa Parks
- Nelson Mandela
- Martin Luther King
- Mother Teresa
How to write a biography
A biography is a text that talks about a person's life. Here you have some tips that you should consider before you start writing.
1. Look for information about the person that you want to write about. Use encyclopedias in books and the internet to learn about the person's life.
2. The title of the biography should be the person's name.
3. In a first sentence or paragraph, write who the biography is about and what that person is known for.
4. Try to include the following information in your text:
Tip: When you mention the accomplishments, work in a chronological order. That means that you start in the past and finish with the present. Think about it like a time line.
- Birth date (and death date)
- Birth place (and death place)
- Childhood: For example: Where did the person grow up? Did he/she study? etc.
- Accomplishment: What is the person famous for? What has he/she done that was so special? Give examples!
5. Your last sentence or paragraph should summarize why the person you wrote about was so important and what effect he/she had.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit 4: Aztecs Mayans and Incas: Our Pre-Columbian Ancestors
Central idea:Evidence of past civilizations can be used to make connections to present day societies
First Inhabitants of the Planet
There are
diverse theories related to the first settlement of Homo sapiens in the
world.
Settlement of
the Americas
Who were the
first Americans? Where did they come from, when did they get here, What was
their culture like, and how did they settle North and South America?. Here we
will give some theories that have tried to answers these questions:
Clovis Theory
For generations
of archaeologists the understanding of how the Americas first came to be
inhabited was that ancient Siberians crossed on foot from Asia to Alaska over a
land bridge that spanned the Bering Sea. This 1000-mile-wide land route was
passable because sea levels during the ice ages were hundreds of feet lower
than they are today. The land bridge, called Beringia, existed during the final
period of the last Ice Age, about 15,000 years ago.
After crossing
Beringia and pushing on to Canada about 10,000 BCE, the Siberian immigrants
continued southward through a corridor in the great ice sheets to emerge in
what is now the lower 48 states. There they discovered a land of enormous Ice
Age (“Pleistocene”) creatures: woolly mammoths, giant bison, ground sloths, and
many other species. The newcomers were big-game hunters, and they proceeded to
hunt these megafauna to extinction. In broad outline, this is the picture
painted by the “Clovis First” theory, named after the distinctive and highly
efficient spearheads fashioned by these Ice Age hunters that were initially
discovered near Clovis, New Mexico.
The Clovis
people spread quickly throughout the New World, populating most of North and
South America in less than 1500 years. After the Pleistocene animals became
extinct, these ancient Americans diversified to fishing, gathering, and hunting
smaller game and marine mammals. From these different adaptations arose the
many diverse cultures of pre-Columbian America, eventually developing into
great civilizations.
Land Bridge Theory
The Land Bridge
Theory, also known as the Bering Strait Theory or Beringia Theory, is a popular
model of migration into the New World. This theory was first proposed in 1590
by José de Acosta and has been widely accepted since the 1930s. The Land
Bridge Theory proposes that people migrated from Siberia to Alaska across a
land bridge that spanned the current day Bering Strait. The first people
to populate the Americas were believed to have migrated across the Bering Land
Bridge while tracking large game animal herds. This theory is widely
adopted by most modern textbooks.
THE MAYAS
The Ancient Mayan lived in the Yucatán
around 2600 B.C. Today, this area is southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern
Belize and western Honduras. By 250 A.D., the Ancient Maya were at their peak
of power.
The Maya had no central king ruling their
huge empire. Instead, there were as many as 20 separate areas, similar to
ancient Greece city-states. Each major city had its own ruler and noble class
supported by smaller cities and the surrounding farms and villages.
The Ancient
Maya developed the science of astronomy, calendar systems and hieroglyphic
writing. They were also known for creating elaborate ceremonial architecture,
such as pyramids, temples, palaces and observatories. These structures were all
built without metal tools.
The Mayan people were also skilled
farmers. In order to farm, they had to clear huge sections of tropical rain
forest. Groundwater was scarce in these areas, so they had to build large
underground reservoirs to store the rainwater.
The Maya were skilled weavers and potters.
They also cleared routes through jungles and swamps to create trade routes.
This allowed them to sell and trade the goods they had made for goods they
needed.
The Maya writing system was made up
of 800 glyphs. Some of the glyphs were pictures and others represented sounds.
They chiseled the glyphs into stone and inside codices. Codices were books that
were folded like an accordion. The pages were fig bark covered in white lime
and bound in jaguar skins. The Maya wrote hundreds of these books. They
contained information on history, medicine, astronomy and their religion. The
Spanish missionaries burned all but four of these books.
The Ancient
Mayans were a very religious people. Mayan actions were based on rituals and
ceremonies. The Maya had many different gods. They also had rituals. One of
those rituals was human sacrifice. The Mayan Kings were considered to be direct
descendants of the Mayan Gods. Mayan religion was divided into three parts with
earth as one part, the level above the earth as another part, and the level
below the earth as the third part. The level above the earth was like the
Christian heaven and the level below the earth was like the Christian’s hell.
The Ancient Maya had a class society. At
the top were the nobles and priests. Their middle class was made up of warriors,
craftsmen and traders. The farmers, workers and slaves were at the bottom.
The Mayas wove
beautiful fabrics and designed musical instruments like horns, drums and
castanets. They also carved huge statues. Archaeologists can tell a great deal
about the ancient Maya from their wonderful pottery and clay figures. The art
they created honored their leaders, gods, and their daily life.
About AD 300 to
900 the major centers of the Mayan civilization were Palenque, Tikal, and
Copán. Something happened and these places were mysteriously abandoned. Many
theories have been considered such as disease, invasion by another culture,
natural disaster or collapse of their trade routes which would have destroyed
their economy.
The Aztec Empire
History
Many years after the Mexica people first built their proud city, Tenochtitlan (later to become Mexico city), they formed an alliance with two other cities -Texcoco (Tetzcoco) and Tlacopan. This Triple Alliance was to rule the Valley of Mexico until the Spanish arrived. However, over time one city become the most powerful - Tenochtitlan. It would become the heart of the Aztec civilization.
Essentially, Aztec empire history is a history of city-states. As the empire expanded (which it began to do in earnest around 1428) it conquered more cities. Some cities resisted. Others were conquered and began to pay tribute.
The city of Tenochtitlan was the military power, which spearheaded the conquest of new territory. But the Aztec emperor didn't rule every city state directly. Local governments would remain in place, but would be forced to pay varying amounts of tribute to the Triple Alliance (with most of the tribute going to Tenochtitlan).
Aztecs video
Religion
The
ancient Aztec religion was highly focused on keeping nature in balance. One
false step could lead to natural disaster. The weak sun could stop
moving. In the sky was a constant battle between light and darkness, a
battle that would someday be lost.
Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird of the South) was the warrior sun (either the sun
god or the one who fights for the sun god, Tonatiuh (the name given
to Nanauatl)). Huitzilopochtli (or Tonatiuh) needed blood sacrifice in
order to win the battle against darkness. Either there would be ritual
blood-letting, or actual people would be sacrificed. Those sacrificed would
rise to fight with him. And so human sacrifices became more and more
common in Mexico. Often battles would be fought just to capture prisoners
to sacrifice - the Aztec flower war (or Aztec flowery war).
Every 52 years, the people were terrified that the world would end. All
religious fires were extinguished, people all over the empire would destroy
their furniture and precious belongings and go into mourning. When the
constellation of the Pleiades appeared, the people would be assured that they
were safe for another 52 years.
The world in ancient Aztec religion was divided up into 4 quadrants, and the
center - their city Tenochtitlán. The heavens were divided into 13
ascending layers, and the underworld 9 descending layers. The heavens and
underworld may be better described as wheels within wheels, a more common form
for the Aztecs than layers or lines. The temple in Tenochtitlán was also
the place where the forces of heaven and earth intersected.
Family
The life of a new family
began at marriage, typically in the early 20s for a man and mid-teens for the
woman. Marriages were arranged by the relatives (though the children may
have had input). The parents would have to talk to the religious leaders,
and discuss the signs under which both of the children had been born. The
wedding day, of course, was chosen for similar religious reasons.
Food
Aztec food included beans, maize, and squash.
To add to
these three, the Mexicas (people of the Aztec Empire) ate chillies, tomatoes,
limes, cashews, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and of course chocolate.
The Mexicas domesticated bees for honey, and turkeys for meat and eggs,
also dogs and duck. They hunted and fished as well, and used animals such
as deer, rabbits, iguana, fish and shrimp for food. Even insects, such as
grasshoppers and worms were harvested. These various types of meat made
up only a very minor part of the Aztec food that was eaten.
Calendar
The first calendar of the
Aztec people was called thexiuhpohualli, the counting of years. This was a 365 day
year, of course very helpful for planning your farming and predicting the
weather. There were 18 months, each 20 days long, or 4 (5 day) weeks.
Then to bring the year up to 365 days there were 5 "unlucky"
days added. Each year would also be divided into 4 seasons.
With the
addition of a 12 day New Fire ritual every 52 years (which we'll talk about in
a moment), the exact length of the years were remarkably close to the actual
length of the solar year that modern scientists calculate.
Though both calendars
inter-relate in religion and ceremony, it's thetonalpohualli that
is considered the sacred calendar. The rituals were all divided up among
the gods.
After all, we have to be fair, or the gods will get all out of
balance.
There
were 20 signs, and 13 numbers. Like a gear within a gear, each of the 20
signs would be assigned each of the 13 numbers. 13x20=260, the total
number of days in the "sacred year". The 13 day period is a
kind of Aztec week. Not only was every day ruled by a god, each of the
weeks were also ruled by a god - the one associated with the first day.
Clothing
The Ancient Aztec
clothing of the common people and slaves sometimes covered very little of their
bodies. Maguey clothing, rather than the cotton, was the rule.
Slaves would only wear a simple loincloth. The loincloth, also worn
by common people, was made from a long strip of cloth tied in front. If
the man had a little higher social standing, it might be embroidered or have
fringes on the two ends. The men would also wear a cloak made from a
triangular cloth known as a tilmatli or tilma.
It could be used like an apron to carry things, or worn as a cloak.
The Inca
The beginnings
The Inca Empire started as a tribe that settled around the area that
nowadays is Cuzco, Peru, in approximately 1400 AD. By the time the Spanish
arrived (in about 1500 BC!), the Inca were already controlling a large area
along the Andes. Their territory was divided into 4 regions, the so-called “suyus”:
The Chinchansuyu in the North, Antisuyu in the East, Collasuyo in the South and
Cuntinsuyu in the West.
Cuzco became their capital city and there were a lot of beautiful
temples, gardens and central squares. Every time a new emperor (the Sapa Inca)
came to power, the people had to build a new palace, because the old emperor
was mummified and left inside his own one. The first emperor was called Manco
Capac. However, one of the most important emperors was Inca Pachacutec. Under
his leadership, the empire extended greatly until 1438. It reached its peak
between 1471 and 1493. In 1531, the year Francisco Pizarro came to conquer this
part of the South American Continent, the empire slowly started to break down.
Political and social organization
The Incas’ political and social organization consisted of a clear
hierarchy. At the top there was the Sapa
Inca, the emperor who had the absolute power, which means that he ruled
everything. The people back then even believed that he was selected by the Sun
God. That gave him extra power and authority over his kingdom.
After that there was the aristocracy, the royals, who you could identify easily because of the heavy
earrings they wear. In Spanish we call these men “orejones”. The earrings were
so heavy that by the time the person was an adult, the ears were hanging down
to the shoulders. Back then this was considered high fashion!
Another social group were the priests,
who lived a very luxurious life, just like the royals. In comparison, the farmers and craftsmen had to work do
all the work and didn’t have an easy life at all. The farmers were united in
groups called “ayllus” and each
ayllu consisted of about 10 people. Every group had a different job to do, for
example, some had to work in mines, some on the fields, etc. If you didn’t
work, you were breaking the law and could even get killed…The last group were the slaves
and prisoners of war. They had no rights at all and lived a miserable life.
Agriculture
Because most of the empire was located in the Andes mountains, it was
very hard for them to cultivate food. However, they came up with a brilliant
idea: They used terraces that they
used as flat land to grow crops like potatoes, corn, quinoa, avocados and even
peanuts and pineapple. Also, the terraces were an excellent way for irrigation,
because the rainwater could be used efficiently.
Communication
Because the Inca Empire was so extended, they had to think of a solution
to deliver messages and products. That’s why they worked hard on building a
stable and (for those times) modern road
network of more than 20.000 km in total. There were two principal roads,
one from the North to the South and one from the coast towards the inland. The
Inca didn’t make use of the wheel for transportation, but of people! If you
were young and athletic there was a good chance that you became a “chasqui”, a messenger or roadrunner.
One man ran about one kilometer down the road to deliver the message to the
next roadrunner, and so on. That’s why it was very important that the
roadrunners paid attention to the message to deliver it correctly.
Religion
The Inca were polytheists,
which means that they believed in many gods. For example, there was the Goddess
of the Earth (Pachamama) and of the Sea (Mamacocha), as well as the God of
Mountain (Apu). But the most important one was the Sun God (Inti). They prayed to all of their gods every day and
there were often celebrations at which they preached them. It was common to
have sacrifices and sometimes they even sacrificed people.
Machu Picchu
About 100 years ago an incredible discovery was made: The Machu Picchu,
the ruins of an old Inca city. What is so special about it? Well, first of all,
it was not destroyed by the Spanish. And secondly, its location - high up on a
mountain in the middle of the tropical forest. Imagine how hard it must have
been for the people to access the city.
Information taken from: “La Tercera icarito”, Nº 15, June 2004
Religion
The
ancient Aztec religion was highly focused on keeping nature in balance. One
false step could lead to natural disaster. The weak sun could stop
moving. In the sky was a constant battle between light and darkness, a
battle that would someday be lost.
Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird of the South) was the warrior sun (either the sun god or the one who fights for the sun god, Tonatiuh (the name given to Nanauatl)). Huitzilopochtli (or Tonatiuh) needed blood sacrifice in order to win the battle against darkness. Either there would be ritual blood-letting, or actual people would be sacrificed. Those sacrificed would rise to fight with him. And so human sacrifices became more and more common in Mexico. Often battles would be fought just to capture prisoners to sacrifice - the Aztec flower war (or Aztec flowery war).
Every 52 years, the people were terrified that the world would end. All religious fires were extinguished, people all over the empire would destroy their furniture and precious belongings and go into mourning. When the constellation of the Pleiades appeared, the people would be assured that they were safe for another 52 years.
The world in ancient Aztec religion was divided up into 4 quadrants, and the center - their city Tenochtitlán. The heavens were divided into 13 ascending layers, and the underworld 9 descending layers. The heavens and underworld may be better described as wheels within wheels, a more common form for the Aztecs than layers or lines. The temple in Tenochtitlán was also the place where the forces of heaven and earth intersected.
Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird of the South) was the warrior sun (either the sun god or the one who fights for the sun god, Tonatiuh (the name given to Nanauatl)). Huitzilopochtli (or Tonatiuh) needed blood sacrifice in order to win the battle against darkness. Either there would be ritual blood-letting, or actual people would be sacrificed. Those sacrificed would rise to fight with him. And so human sacrifices became more and more common in Mexico. Often battles would be fought just to capture prisoners to sacrifice - the Aztec flower war (or Aztec flowery war).
Every 52 years, the people were terrified that the world would end. All religious fires were extinguished, people all over the empire would destroy their furniture and precious belongings and go into mourning. When the constellation of the Pleiades appeared, the people would be assured that they were safe for another 52 years.
The world in ancient Aztec religion was divided up into 4 quadrants, and the center - their city Tenochtitlán. The heavens were divided into 13 ascending layers, and the underworld 9 descending layers. The heavens and underworld may be better described as wheels within wheels, a more common form for the Aztecs than layers or lines. The temple in Tenochtitlán was also the place where the forces of heaven and earth intersected.
Family
The life of a new family
began at marriage, typically in the early 20s for a man and mid-teens for the
woman. Marriages were arranged by the relatives (though the children may
have had input). The parents would have to talk to the religious leaders,
and discuss the signs under which both of the children had been born. The
wedding day, of course, was chosen for similar religious reasons.
Food
Aztec food included beans, maize, and squash.
To add to these three, the Mexicas (people of the Aztec Empire) ate chillies, tomatoes, limes, cashews, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and of course chocolate. The Mexicas domesticated bees for honey, and turkeys for meat and eggs, also dogs and duck. They hunted and fished as well, and used animals such as deer, rabbits, iguana, fish and shrimp for food. Even insects, such as grasshoppers and worms were harvested. These various types of meat made up only a very minor part of the Aztec food that was eaten.
To add to these three, the Mexicas (people of the Aztec Empire) ate chillies, tomatoes, limes, cashews, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and of course chocolate. The Mexicas domesticated bees for honey, and turkeys for meat and eggs, also dogs and duck. They hunted and fished as well, and used animals such as deer, rabbits, iguana, fish and shrimp for food. Even insects, such as grasshoppers and worms were harvested. These various types of meat made up only a very minor part of the Aztec food that was eaten.
Calendar
The first calendar of the
Aztec people was called thexiuhpohualli, the counting of years. This was a 365 day
year, of course very helpful for planning your farming and predicting the
weather. There were 18 months, each 20 days long, or 4 (5 day) weeks.
Then to bring the year up to 365 days there were 5 "unlucky"
days added. Each year would also be divided into 4 seasons.
With the addition of a 12 day New Fire ritual every 52 years (which we'll talk about in a moment), the exact length of the years were remarkably close to the actual length of the solar year that modern scientists calculate.
With the addition of a 12 day New Fire ritual every 52 years (which we'll talk about in a moment), the exact length of the years were remarkably close to the actual length of the solar year that modern scientists calculate.
Though both calendars
inter-relate in religion and ceremony, it's thetonalpohualli that
is considered the sacred calendar. The rituals were all divided up among
the gods.
After all, we have to be fair, or the gods will get all out of
balance.
There
were 20 signs, and 13 numbers. Like a gear within a gear, each of the 20
signs would be assigned each of the 13 numbers. 13x20=260, the total
number of days in the "sacred year". The 13 day period is a
kind of Aztec week. Not only was every day ruled by a god, each of the
weeks were also ruled by a god - the one associated with the first day.
Clothing
The Ancient Aztec
clothing of the common people and slaves sometimes covered very little of their
bodies. Maguey clothing, rather than the cotton, was the rule.
Slaves would only wear a simple loincloth. The loincloth, also worn
by common people, was made from a long strip of cloth tied in front. If
the man had a little higher social standing, it might be embroidered or have
fringes on the two ends. The men would also wear a cloak made from a
triangular cloth known as a tilmatli or tilma.
It could be used like an apron to carry things, or worn as a cloak.
aztecs video
After that there was the aristocracy, the royals, who you could identify easily because of the heavy
earrings they wear. In Spanish we call these men “orejones”. The earrings were
so heavy that by the time the person was an adult, the ears were hanging down
to the shoulders. Back then this was considered high fashion!
Because most of the empire was located in the Andes mountains, it was
very hard for them to cultivate food. However, they came up with a brilliant
idea: They used terraces that they
used as flat land to grow crops like potatoes, corn, quinoa, avocados and even
peanuts and pineapple. Also, the terraces were an excellent way for irrigation,
because the rainwater could be used efficiently.
The Inca
The beginnings
The Inca Empire started as a tribe that settled around the area that
nowadays is Cuzco, Peru, in approximately 1400 AD. By the time the Spanish
arrived (in about 1500 BC!), the Inca were already controlling a large area
along the Andes. Their territory was divided into 4 regions, the so-called “suyus”:
The Chinchansuyu in the North, Antisuyu in the East, Collasuyo in the South and
Cuntinsuyu in the West.
Cuzco became their capital city and there were a lot of beautiful
temples, gardens and central squares. Every time a new emperor (the Sapa Inca)
came to power, the people had to build a new palace, because the old emperor
was mummified and left inside his own one. The first emperor was called Manco
Capac. However, one of the most important emperors was Inca Pachacutec. Under
his leadership, the empire extended greatly until 1438. It reached its peak
between 1471 and 1493. In 1531, the year Francisco Pizarro came to conquer this
part of the South American Continent, the empire slowly started to break down.
Political and social organization
The Incas’ political and social organization consisted of a clear
hierarchy. At the top there was the Sapa
Inca, the emperor who had the absolute power, which means that he ruled
everything. The people back then even believed that he was selected by the Sun
God. That gave him extra power and authority over his kingdom.
After that there was the aristocracy, the royals, who you could identify easily because of the heavy
earrings they wear. In Spanish we call these men “orejones”. The earrings were
so heavy that by the time the person was an adult, the ears were hanging down
to the shoulders. Back then this was considered high fashion!
Another social group were the priests,
who lived a very luxurious life, just like the royals. In comparison, the farmers and craftsmen had to work do
all the work and didn’t have an easy life at all. The farmers were united in
groups called “ayllus” and each
ayllu consisted of about 10 people. Every group had a different job to do, for
example, some had to work in mines, some on the fields, etc. If you didn’t
work, you were breaking the law and could even get killed…The last group were the slaves
and prisoners of war. They had no rights at all and lived a miserable life.
Agriculture
Because most of the empire was located in the Andes mountains, it was
very hard for them to cultivate food. However, they came up with a brilliant
idea: They used terraces that they
used as flat land to grow crops like potatoes, corn, quinoa, avocados and even
peanuts and pineapple. Also, the terraces were an excellent way for irrigation,
because the rainwater could be used efficiently.
Communication
Because the Inca Empire was so extended, they had to think of a solution
to deliver messages and products. That’s why they worked hard on building a
stable and (for those times) modern road
network of more than 20.000 km in total. There were two principal roads,
one from the North to the South and one from the coast towards the inland. The
Inca didn’t make use of the wheel for transportation, but of people! If you
were young and athletic there was a good chance that you became a “chasqui”, a messenger or roadrunner.
One man ran about one kilometer down the road to deliver the message to the
next roadrunner, and so on. That’s why it was very important that the
roadrunners paid attention to the message to deliver it correctly.
Religion
The Inca were polytheists,
which means that they believed in many gods. For example, there was the Goddess
of the Earth (Pachamama) and of the Sea (Mamacocha), as well as the God of
Mountain (Apu). But the most important one was the Sun God (Inti). They prayed to all of their gods every day and
there were often celebrations at which they preached them. It was common to
have sacrifices and sometimes they even sacrificed people.
Machu Picchu
About 100 years ago an incredible discovery was made: The Machu Picchu,
the ruins of an old Inca city. What is so special about it? Well, first of all,
it was not destroyed by the Spanish. And secondly, its location - high up on a
mountain in the middle of the tropical forest. Imagine how hard it must have
been for the people to access the city.
Information taken from: “La Tercera icarito”, Nº 15, June 2004
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