the cultures and civilizations of the “americas”
TRANSCRIPT
Migrations from Asia ca. 30,000 – 15,000 yrs ago over Bering strait land bridge;
Isolated for at least 15,000 years!
Who was in Meso-America? (“Middle America”)
• OlmecOlmec• TeotihuacanTeotihuacan• MayaMaya• ToltecToltec• AztecAztec
OLMECOLMEC• 1500 -300 BCE; Gulf of
Mexico
• Carved enormous stone heads of volcanic rock
• Chief god - human-like with jaguar face
• urban centers; astronomy
• Kings, elite, merchants, laborers
• Hieroglyphics; calendar
• Corn, beans, squash, manioc
Former kings?
TeotihuacanTeotihuacan• Temples
• Quetzalcoatl
• Chinampas
• Apartment housing for commoners
• Obsidian tools
• Aristocratic govt
• Military protected long distance trade
• Decline – violence…
MAYAMAYA• Yucatan Peninsula
• City States; hereditary
• Swidden agriculture; no metal tools
• Complex religion - 3 layers (heavens, now and underworld); trances
• Elite, tatoos, human sacrifice (elite capt)
• Writing, ball playing (pok-a-tok), astronomy, • Calendar (365) math system (zero)
• Elite women – high; women important
• demise - war, drought, infighting
****Mayan math computation
Mayan Mayan CalendarCalendar
• first date is actually written 13.0.0.0.0.• three possible equivalences:• 13.0.0.0.0 = 13 Aug 3114 BCE (Gregorian)
13.0.0.0.0 = 11 Aug 3114 BCE (Gregorian)13.0.0.0.0 = 15 Oct 3374 BC (Gregorian)
• Assuming one of the first two equivalences, the Long Count will again reach 13.0.0.0.0 on 21 or 23 December AD 2012
• 13.0.0.0.0 may have been the Mayas' idea of the date of the creation of the world.
Ritual “divine” cycle calendarSolar “civil” calendar“long count” calendar
ToltecToltec• Transmitted Teotihuacan & Mayan
culture to the Aztecs
• Conquest state; military power
• Violent culture
• Rivalries
• Tula art -----
• Decline & invasion by the Aztecs
AZTECAZTECSS
• Nomads; settled on islands • in Lake Texcoco• Adopted agriculture; gradually grew
into an independent power, then empire• Capital city - Tenochtitlan – • Ruler chosen by nobility• War – religious significance (of course)
– legitimized the ruler• War also increased holdings of nobles• War to get captives for human sacrifice
• Society - hierarchy with Aztec ruler & nobility at top & slaves/criminals/debtors at bottom; women had rights
• Tremendous inequalities - nobility vs commoners
• Elaborate ritual; Huitzilopochtli; war/sun • Human sacrifice• Political tribute system; pd in food; goods• Economic: chinampas; barter• Dike in lake: salt/fresh water
Who was in Meso-America? (“Middle America”)
• OlmecOlmec• TeotihuacanTeotihuacan• MayaMaya• ToltecToltec• AztecAztec
Aztec Society in Transition
• Increasingly hierarchical
• Conflict between nobles and growing “middle”
• Violence
• Discontent tribute tribes; sacrifice!
• Empire under Montezuma II conquered by Spaniards (Cortes)
Andean CulturesAndean Cultures• Background:
• Early – small coastal & foothills villages
• by 2600 BCE cf - Old Kingdom Egypt
ChavinChavin (900-250 BCE)
• Trade routes; controlled; linked regions
• Maize <----> quinoa, potatoes, llamas
• Adobe & stone; 1st metals; jaguar-man
• Social stratification: priests, elite, etc.
Technologies to meet the needs
• Environmental challenges:
• Altitude
• Frosts
• Arid / drought
• Only llamas!
• Compensations:
• Calendar
• New varieties potatoes & grains
• Terraced farming
• Freeze-dried vegetables & meat
• Llama & alpaca wool
Andean cultureAndean culture• Khipus
• Ayllu
• Hereditary aristocracy & kings
• Mit’a
• Coca (not cacao)
• Colonists
MocheMoche• Ca. 600 CE
• Maize, quinoa, beans, manioc, sweet potatoes
• Irrigation, canals, aqueducts
• Alpacas & llamas
• Textiles
• Stratified society; theocratic
• Women weavers
INCAINCA• huge empire & strong central gov’t
• extending length of South America
• Large professional military
• Built paved roads & suspension bridges - used running messengers; quipus
• Pastoralists; men and women
• Capital Cuzco; sun god; royal family
• Local rulers/chiefdoms; control by hostage taking
Northern PeoplesSouthwestern desert
• Aztec influence incl. maize, squash, beans
• Hohokam irrigation canals
• Anasazi – kivas; cliff dwellings & canyon “appts”, pottery, weaving
• Chaco canyon; Mesa Verde
Mississippian culture• Oldest mounds – 3000’s BCE• “mound-builders”• Chiefdoms• “Hopewell” cultures• Towns – central plaza surrounded by
mounds; burial mounds, temple mounds• Social stratification; trade• (not accepted as product of the Native
Americans until late 1800’s!)