Peoples & Civilizations of the Americas

c. 200-1492 C.E.

Classic-EraCulture & Society in

Mesoamerica

200-1500 C.E.

Teotihuacán

• Large Mesoamerican city.

• Height of its power – 450-600 C.E.

• Population of 125,000 to 200,000

• Dominated by:– Religious structures

• Had pyramids and temples where human sacrifice was carried out.

Growth of Teotihuacán

• Possible by forced relocation of farm families to the city by agricultural innovations like:

• irrigation works

• floating gardens– These helped to support a larger population.

Living Quarters• Apartment-like stone buildings housed

commoners and artisans.• Artisans made pottery, obsidian tools, and

weapons for export.• Elite lived in separate residential compounds.• Elites controlled:

– State bureaucracy– Tax collection– Commerce

Rule

• Ruled by alliances of wealthy families rather than by kings.

• Military was used primarily to:– protect and expand long-distance trade– Ensure that farmers paid taxes or tribute to

the elite.

Collapse

• Teotihuacán collapsed around 650 C.E.

• Caused by:– mismanagement of resources– conflict within the elite– invasion

Teotihuacán City Plan

Pyramid of the Moon

Avenue of the Dead

Architecture

Remains

The Maya

• Single culture living in modern Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and southern Mexico but never formed a politically unified state.

• Various Maya kingdoms fought each other for regional dominance.

Map of Mayan Territory

Agricultural Productivity

• Drained swamps

• Built elevated fields

• Terraced fields

• Constructed irrigation systems

• Managed forest resources to increase production of desired products

City-States

• Largest city-states dominated neighboring city-states and agricultural areas.

• Constructed impressive and beautifully decorated buildings and monuments by using levers and stone tools.

Mayan Observatory

The Cosmos• To Maya, consisted of three layers:

– Heavens– Human world– Underworld

• Temple architecture reflected this cosmology

• Rulers and elites served as priests to communicate with residents of supernatural worlds.

Mayan Pyramid

Military Forces

• Fought for captives, not for territory

• Elite captives were sacrificed

• Commoners were enslaved

Mayan Women

• Elite women participated in bloodletting rituals and other ceremonies

• Rarely had political power

• Non-elite women probably played an essential role in agricultural and textile production.

Mayan Technology

• Developed:– Maya calendar– System of mathematics– Maya writing system

Mayan Hieroglyphics

Mayan Calendar

Mayan Decline

• Most city-states were abandoned or destroyed between 800-900 C.E.

• Possible reasons:– Disruption of Mesoamerican trade upon fall of

Teotihuacán– Environmental pressure caused by

overpopulation– Epidemic disease

Post-Classic Period in Mesoamerica

900-1492 C.E.

Toltecs

• Arrived in central Mexico in the tenth century.

• Built a civilization based on the legacy of Teotihuacán.

• Contributed innovations in the areas of politics and war.

Toltecs• Toltec capital = Tula• Center of the first conquest state in the

Americas.• Dual kings ruled the state

– Arrangement probably caused the internal struggle that undermined the Toltec state around 1000 C.E.

• Toltecs destroyed by invaders around 1156 C.E.

Toltec Statues

Toltec Shield

Toltec Ruins

Aztecs

• Originally a northern people with a clan-based social organization.

• Migrated to Lake Texcoco area

• Established cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco around 1325

• Developed a monarchical system of government

Aztec Kings

• Increased wealth and power by means of territorial conquest.As Empire grew in size, commoners lost ability to influence political decisions– Result was increase in inequalities in wealth

Agricultural Production

• Increased in the capital area by undertaking:– Land reclamation projects– Constructing irrigated fields

• Food tribute met nearly ¼ of capital’s food requirements

Trade• Merchants who were distinct from and

subordinate to the political elite controlled long-distance trade.

• Technology of trade:– No wheeled vehicles– No draft animals– No money used

• Goods carried by human porters and exchanged through barter.

Aztec Worship

• Large number of gods– Most important = Huitzilopochtli, the sun god

• Huitzilopochtli required a diet of human hearts that were supplied by sacrificing thousands of people every year.

Aztec Sacrifice

Northern Peoples

Southwestern Desert Cultures

• Irrigation-based agriculture was introduced to Arizona from Mexico around 300 B.C.E.

• Hohokam constructed extensive irrigation works in the Salt and Gila valleys around 1000 C.E.

Anasazi

• Developed a maize, rice, and bean economy

• Constructed underground buildings (kivas) in Arizona/New Mexico/Colorado/Utah region around 450-750 C.E.

Chaco Canyon

• Population of about 15,000.

• People engaged in:– Hunting– Trade– Irrigated agriculture

• Exerted political or religious dominance over a large region.

Anasazi Decline

• Twelfth or thirteenth centuries as a result of:– Drought– Overpopulation– Warfare

Anasazi Ruins

Mound Builders of the Mississippi

Mound Builders:The Mississippian Culture

• Chiefs served as priests and managed secular affairs such as long-distance trade

• People built large mounds both as:– burial sites– as platforms upon which temples and

residences of the society’s elite were constructed.

Mississippian Center

• Center was Cahokia– Population of about 30,000 around 1200 C.E.

• Cahokia was abandoned around 1250– Perhaps because of climate changes and

population pressure

Reconstruction of Cahokia

Andean Civilizations

600-1500 C.E.

Cultural Response to Environmental Challenge

• Human inhabitants had to respond to:– High-altitude Andes– Dry coastal plain– Tropical headwaters of the Amazon

Labor Organization

• Basic unit of Andean labor = clan or ayllu

• Clans held land collectively

• Obligated to assist each other in production and to supply goods and labor to the clan chief.

Organization

• Territorial states organized after 1000 C.E.

• Introduced the institution of the mit’a– Required each allyu to provide a set number

of workers each year to provide labor for:• Religious establishments• Royal court• aristocracy

Division of Labor• Work was divided along gender lines.• Men were responsible for:

– Hunting– War– Government

• Women were responsible for:– Weaving– Crops– Home

Andean Environment

• Four major ecological zones:– Coast– Mountain valleys– Higher elevations– Amazonian region

• Each region produced different goods and exchanged through network of trade routes.

The Inca

Origins

• Small chiefdom in Cuzco until leaders consolidated political authority.

• Began program of military expansion in the 1430s.

• By 1525, constructed a huge empire.

Key to Inca Wealth

Ability to develop a

strong professional military

AND

Use it to broaden and expand traditional exchange system that linked regions of

Andes together.

Inca Map

Labor System

• Used labor system to:– Man armies– Build capital city– Maintain religious institutions– Provide for old, weak, and ill

Local Rulers

• Inca left local rulers in place

• Controlled them by:– Military garrisons located close by– Took heirs to Cuzco as hostages

Central Government

• Inca created an imperial bureaucracy led by a king.

• Each king was required to prove himself by conquering new territory.

Capital City

• Capital = Cuzco

• Laid out in shape of a puma

• Buildings constructed of stone without mortar

• Palaces and temples decorated with scenes of rituals, feasts, and sacrifices.

Cultural Contributions

• Astronomical observation

• Weaving

• Copper and bronze metallurgy

• Gold and silver working

• Did not introduce new technology, but made existing technology more efficient to increase profits throughout region.

Inca Artwork

Civil War

• Incan domination increased wealth, but reduced levels of local autonomy.

• Elite fell into civil war in 1525.

• Inca control over vast territories was weakened.

Cuzco

Cuzco

Which way to Machu Pichu?

Machu Pichu

Now how do we get down from here?