![Page 1: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires
![Page 2: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times.
Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were.
Teotehuacán, central Mexico
![Page 3: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
We know the Maya controlled southern Mexico (including the Yucatan
peninsula) and Guatemala.
![Page 4: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Large Mayan cities dotted southern Mexico and Guatemala.
![Page 5: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
The Maya are remembered for
their tall pyramids with
steep steps up the sides. The
pyramids had small temples
on top.
![Page 6: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
The Mayan writing system used “glyphs” or “hieroglyphs.”
![Page 7: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
![Page 8: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
![Page 9: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
But Mayan cities were
abandoned long before
Europeans arrived in the Americas. No
one is sure why.
![Page 10: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
The next group to become powerful in Mexico was the Aztecs.
![Page 11: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
They were not in the same exact area as the Maya. The Aztecs settled in central
Mexico, where Mexico City is now.
![Page 12: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
The Aztecs moved into
central Mexico from
the north. Tribes already
living there fought them.
![Page 13: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Aztec legend said they would find their final home when they saw an eagle eating a snake and sitting on a cactus. And Aztec leaders said they saw this eagle on the island in the center of the lake.
![Page 14: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Guided by their legends, they settled on a
swampy island in Lake Texcoco.
The Aztecs ended up with
land nobody else wanted.
![Page 15: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
They built that swampy island into a powerful city.
![Page 16: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
The Aztecs eventually conquered the neighbors that had not
welcomed them, and they built a
large empire.
![Page 17: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
The Aztecs ruled central Mexico for 100 years before they were
conquered by Spanish invaders.
![Page 18: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
The Spanish conquerors used the Indian populations as slave labor in construction, mining, and farming.
From a mural by Diego Rivera
![Page 19: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Within 200 years, overwork and
European disease cut the Indian population of
Mexico from 12 million to only 1 million people.
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
![Page 20: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Today, downtown Mexico City is built on the ruins of Aztec palaces and pyramids.
![Page 21: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Mexico City’s downtown plaza used to be the center of the Aztec capitol.
![Page 22: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
There are still many full-blood Indians in Mexico, such as this
Mayan family.
![Page 23: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
But over half of Mexico’s population is a mixture of Indian and Spanish descent.Mestizo = Mixed Indian & Spanish ancestry
![Page 24: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
Mexico’s culture is a mixture of Indian and Spanish traditions, including food,
holidays, and sports.
![Page 25: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
Mexico’s modern national flag honors their Aztec heritage,
showing the eagle standing on a cactus with a snake in its mouth.
![Page 26: Mexico: Maya & Aztec empires. Large Indian empires controlled Mexico in ancient times. Some are so ancient that we can only guess who they were. Teotehuacán,](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022051621/5697bfa61a28abf838c9874e/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
Image Sources
• http://www.tourvacationstogo.com• http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/exhibits/meso/images/3.jpg• http://www.ucalgary.ca/~naachtun/Images/Template/Structure39.jpg• http://www.rivieramaya.ws/images/titlemayanhistory.jpg• http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/Floor/8227/tikal03.jpg• http://fenris.ca/~paul/theabysmal/maya/glyphs/tenochtitlan-map.gif• http://www.humanities-interactive.org/splendors/enhanced/ex048_08h_rgb150.jpg• http://www.educar.org/comun/actividadeseducativas/AmericaLatina/
AmericadelNorte/Mexico/graficos/Tenochtitlan-76878.jpg• http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/images/aztec1figure4.jpg• http://www.ancientmexico.com/images/• http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/october/images/NahuatlMap.jpg• http://www.gutenberg.org• http://www.discount-hotel-reservations-mexico.com• http://www.atsweb.neu.edu/pparimi/cancun/web_mexico_village1.jpg• http://www.mexico.vg/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/mexico-%20soccer.jpg• http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/uploadimages/280_00_2.jpg• http://www.manuphotos.com/images/Day%20of%20the%20dead/caavera%20parade
%2006.jpg• www.cuernavaca.ch/spanish/e/pictures.html