Mexican%20Culture

1
Mexican Culture

• Three native civilizations and the Spanish
  influenced the culture of Mexico.

2
The Olmecs

• Earliest or first civilization in Mexico
• Counting system
• Calendar (floods)
• Farmed using seasonal flooding
• Religion tied to forces of nature (jaguar-rain)
  temples
• Picture writing
• Artwork, carving giant stone heads

3
Many
innovations

• of the Olmecs were spread to other civilizations.

4
The Maya

• Lived in rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula
• Cleared forests to farm (flooding)
• 365 day calendar
• Number system with zero to count crops
• More than 100 cities largest was Tikal
• Religious temples
• Borrowed many ideas from Olmecs

5
The Aztecs

• Large empire, over 5 million people
• Writing system
• Calendar and number system (farming)
• Tenochtitlan was their largest city (central
  Mexico, now Mexico City)
• Nahuatl was spoken language. Some place names
  are Nahuatl words (Mexico).
• Tlaxcalli, corn pancakes, now tortillas

6
The Spanish

• Led by Hernando Cortes, conquered the Aztec
  empire Aztecs used as slaves
• Colony called New Spain, capital was Mexico City
• Official language was Spanish
• Roman Catholic became official religion
• Spanish and natives married. Their children were
  called Mestizos