Early Societies in Americas and OceaniaChapter 6

I. Early Societies of MesoAmerica

Major Pre-Columbian Civilizations

Early Mesoamerican societies 1200 BCE – 1100 CE

A. The Olmecs1. Early Agriculture in Mesoamerica

• 8000-7000bce• Mexico to

Honduras and El Salvador

• maize becomes staple food

• did not keep many animals

• domesticated animals: turkeys and barkless dogs for consumption

• human laborers for cultivation

• no wheeled vehicles

Ceremonial Centers

• Monumental pyramids

• temples• palaces located

near agriculture villages NOT cities (BIG difference from eastern civilizations)

Olmecs: The “Rubber” People

• ceremonial center near Gulf of Mexico became Olmec society

• Olmec=rubber people, derives from rubber trees

• cultural traditions influenced all complex societies of Mesoamerica

• ceremonial centers: San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes

Olmec Society

• authoritarian in nature

• common subjects labored regularly on behalf of the Olmec elite (creating the drainage systems & ceremonial centers)

• distinctive art creations: colossal human heads (possible likeness of

rulers)

A. The OlmecsTrade in Jade and Obsidian

• spread influence by military force, but trade also important

• decorative objects of jade (imported jade)

• absence of metal they used obsidian (knives, axes, cutting edges)

• decline and fall: intentionally destroyed their ceremonial centers (possibly due to civil conflicts, ineffective ruling class)

• created calendar to keep track of seasons

• distinctive ball game

It is now generally accepted

that these heads are

portraits of rulers,

perhaps dressed as ballplayers. 17 heads have been unearthed

so far!

The Olmecs

The Olmec heartland where the Olmecs reigned from 1400 - 500 BCE

Heirs of Olmecs: The Maya

The Maya

• heirs of Olmecs• located in what is S.

Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador

• excellent conditions for agriculture

• permanent villages in 3rd century, prominent Kaminaljuyu (ceremonial city)

• fell under economic and political dominance of Teotihuacan

• harvested maize, cotton, cacao

• cacao precious commodity, mostly consumed by nobles

Tikal

• most important Maya political center (4th& 9th century)

• paved plazas, temples, pyramids, palaces & public buildings

• Temple of Giant Jaguar represented control over the surrounding region

• organized into lots of small kingdoms (ex. Tikal, Palenque & Chichen Itza

Maya Warfare

• Maya kingdoms fought constantly w/one another

• Maya warfare was not so much to kill but to capture

• Warriors won prestige when they brought back important captives from their neighbors

• most captives became slaves or sacrificial victims

Chichen Itza &Maya Decline• established a

larger political framework for Maya society

• absorbed captives and integrated them into their own society rather than annihilate them or offer them up for sacrifice• 800 ce

most Mayan cities began to desert their cities

• Decline reasons: invasion by foreigners from Mexico, internal dissention & civil war,

Chichen-Itza - Pyramid

Maya Society & ReligionMaya Calendar

• elaborate calendar of ancient Americas

• understand human events in the contexts of cycles

• solar year: 365 governed agricultural cycle

• ritual year: 260 days governed daily affairs by organizing time in 20 months of 13 days

• believed each day derived certain characteristics determining the fortune of activities taken that day

Maya Writing

• written inscriptions

• flexible and sophisticated of all the early American systems or writing.

• ideographic elements

• symbols for syllables

• wrote works of history, poetry and myth

• kept genealogical, administrative and astronomical records

Maya Religious Thought

• Popul Vuh-Maya creation myth, gods created humans out of maize & water

• Maya religious thought reflected the fundamental role of agriculture in their society, much like those of the eastern hemisphere

Bloodletting Rituals

• letting of human blood, Mayas believed they would prompt the Gods to send rain to water their crops of maize

• would sometimes bloodlet the captives (ex. Cut of ends of fingers or lacerate bodies)

• Chan Bahlum, royal bloodletting, testifies to the imitation of the gods sacrifice

Maya Society & Religion

• two men against each other• object of the game was for players

to propel a rubber ball through a ring or onto a marker w/o using their hands

• played ball game for several reasons: sporting purposes, laid bets, honored conclusion of treaties, captives played for their lives

The Maya Ball Game

Chichen-Itza - Ball Court

A Goal in the Ball Court at Chichén Itzá, Mexico

Heirs of the Olmecs: TeotihuacanThe City of Teotihuacan

• probably a large agricultural village

• prominent monuments colossal pyramid for the sun and moon

• thriving metropolis w/temples, palatial residences, neighborhood w/ small apartments, markets, workshops

• somewhat of a theocracy

The Society of Teotihuacan

• cultivators, artisans and merchants

• 2/3 worked in fields during the day

• artisans created obsidian tools and orange pottery

• participated in extensive trade and exchange networks

• little military organization, no walls

Cultural Traditions

• played the ball game

• adopted Olmec calendar

• complete system of writing

Decline of Teotihuacan

• military pressure from other people around 500ce

• 8th c. invaders sacked and burned the city, destroying books & monuments

Pirámide del Sol, Teotihuacan

II. Early Societies in S. America

Early Societies of Andean South America

1000 BCE – 700 CE

Early Andean Society and the Chavin Cult

Early Agriculture in S. America

• earliest cultivators relied on beans, peanuts and sweet potatoes as their main food crops

• domesticated animals were llamas & alpacas,

• distinctive styles of pottery

The Chavin Cult

• 1000 bce new religion near Andes mountains

• don’t know the real significance of the cult

• name unsure, named after modern town Chavin

• one theory suggests that the cult arose when maize became an important crop in S. America

• designed to promote fertility and abundant harvests

• built large temples, complex buildings animal carvings, used gold, coppers and silver jewelry and made cotton textiles

Early Cities

a. inspired the building of ceremonial centers rather than the making the true cities

Early Andean States: Mochica

Political and Economic Integration of the Andean Valleys

• western side of Andes mountains, Peru and Bolivia

• states emerges when conquerors unified the individual valleys and organized them into societies.

• established trade and exchange networks

• each region contributed to the larger economy of the valley, this economic integration was not an accident

The Mochica State

• Early Andean states• Mohica ceramics take

the form of portraits of individuals’ heads, others of gods, deities, and demons• even in the absence of writing Mochica left evidence of a complex society with considerable specialization of labor

III. Early Societies of Oceania

Early Societies of Oceania, 1500 BCE – 700 CE

Early Societies in Australia and New Guinea

Early Hunting and Gathering Societies in Australia

• aboriginals lived in small mobile communities that took seasonal migrations

Austronesian peoples

• seafaring people from SE Asia speaking Austronesian languages

• possessed remarkable seafaring skills

• sailed with open ocean in large canoes equipped w/outriggers which stabilized their craft

• visited northern coast of New Guinea, traded w/indigenous and est. their own communities

Early Agriculture in New Guinea

• Austronesian seafarers that settled down and introduced yams, taro, pigs and chickens to the island.

• did not know how to harvest and domesticate animals very well though

• when changing to agriculture, permanent settlements arose, pottery and tools appeared throughout the island

The Peoples of the Pacific Islands

Austronesian migrations to Polynesia

• Austronesian excellent maritime allowed them to settle in Pacific Islands

• inhabited the uninhabited islands

• Voyage of Ru story told of the migration from Hawaii to uninhabited islands

III. Early Societies of Oceania cont’d 2. Austronesian Migrations to Micronesia and Madagascara. one branch of Austronesian peoples settled in Polynesia while other settled to the region of Micronesia (islands of Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall)b. others went to Indonesia, became first human settlers in Madagascar. 3. Lapita peoplesa. Earliest Austronesian migrants to sail out to Pacific Oceanb. maintained communication and large exchange networks through the Pacific region 4. Chiefly Political Organizationsa. discontinued trade networks because they essentially became self-sufficientb. established hierarchical chiefdomsc. regarded themselves as divine or semi-divine and the commoners could not gaze at them