Americas, 500 BCE – 1200 CE

WHAP/Napp

Cues: / Notes:
  1. Civilizations of Mesoamerica
  1. Atlantic and Pacific oceans ensured that cultures of Western Hemisphere had long operated in a world apart from their Afro-Eurasian counterparts
  2. And cultures were often isolated in Americas due to geographic barriers
  3. Achievements but without large domesticated animals or iron-working
  1. Mesoamerica
  1. Stretching from central Mexico to northern Central America, geographically diverse linguistic and ethnic diversity
  2. Shared intensive agricultural technologyMaize, beans, chili peppers, etc.
  3. Shared market exchanges, polytheistic religions, belief in a cosmic cycle of creation and destruction, human sacrifice, monumental ceremonial centers, a common ritual calendar of 260 days, and hieroglyphic writing
  4. During the first millennium BCE, Olmec civilization (a “mother civilization” of Mesoamerica) engaged in trade thereby leading to the diffusion of aspects of its culture throughout Mesoamerica
  1. Olmec  Stone heads
  1. The Maya
  1. Major classical civilization of Mesoamerica
  2. Ceremonial centers constructed as early as 2000 BCE in present-day Guatemala and the Yucatán region of Mexico
  1. During the classical phase of Maya civilization, between 250 and 900 CE, most notable achievements
a)Mathematical system with concept of zeroPlace notations in math, capable of complex calculationsCareful observation of night skies
b)Predict eclipses of sun and moonConstructed elaborate calendars-Calculated accurately solar yearCreation of the most elaborate writing system in the Americas-Temples, pyramids, etc.
c)By 600 CE, the Maya drained swamps, terraced hillsides, flattened ridge tops, and constructed an elaborate water management system-Supported a rapidly growing and dense population by 750
  1. Highly fragmented political system of city-states, local lords, and regional kingdoms with no central authority
  2. Engaged in frequent warfareextensive capture and sacrifice of prisoners
  1. Densely populated urban and ceremonial centers ruled by powerful kings-divine rulers mediating between humankind and the supernatural
a)One Maya city, Tikal, contained around 50,000 people with another 50,000 or so in the surrounding countryside by 750 CE
Summaries:
Cues: / b)But no Maya city-state succeeded in creating a unified Maya empire
c)More closely resembled the competing city-states of ancient Mesopotamia or classical Greece than the imperial structures of Rome
  1. Collapsed with completeness rare in world history
  1. Drought in 840 CE led to drop in population
  2. A drought in 840 led to a drop of 85% or more of the population in the low-lying southern heartland of the Mayacities were deserted
  1. Teotihuacán
  1. At roughly the same time of as the Maya flourished, the giant city of Teotihuacán, to the north in the Valley of Mexico, thrived
  2. Begun around 150 BCE and built to a plan
  3. A population between 100,000 and 200,000Largest urban complex in AmericasBut much is unknown about the city
  4. Broad avenues, spacious plazas, marketplaces, temples, palaces, apartment complexes, slums, waterways, reservoirs, drainage systems, and murals
  5. Along the main north/south boulevard, now known as the Street of the Dead, were the grand homes of the elite, the headquarters of state authorities, many temples, and two giant pyramids
  6. Off the main avenues, the streets are in a grid-like pattern
  7. But the art of Teotihuacán, unlike that of the Maya, has revealed few images of self-glorifying rulers or individuals
  8. City did not have a tradition of written public inscriptions as the Maya did but a number of glyphs or characters suggest a limited form of writing
  9. The city cast a huge shadow over Mesoamerica, from 300 to 600 CE
  1. Civilizations in the Andes
  1. Around 900 BCE, located in the Andean highlands at a village called Chavín de HuántarShamans made use of the San Pedro cactus and its hallucinogenic properties to penetrate the supernatural world
  1. On trade routes to both the coastal region to the west and the Amazon rain forest to the eastbecame a pilgrimage site and possibly a training center for initiates from distant centers
  1. MochePeru’s northern coast, flourished between about 100 and 800 CE
  1. Economy rooted in complex irrigation systemgoverned by warrior priestshowever, fragile environmental foundations/drought, etc.
  1. Peoples of the Americas
  1. Three GroupsCivilizations in Mesoamerica and Andes similar to classical EurasiaBut also gathering and hunting peoplesAnd semi-sedentary peoples in the eastern woodlands of the United States, Central America, the Amazon basin, and the Caribbean islands supporting smaller populations
  2. In Chaco canyon in what is now northwestern New Mexico, between 860 and 1130 CE, five major pueblos emerged
  3. Unlike the Chaco region in the southwest, the eastern woodlands of North America and especially the Mississippi River valley hosted an independent Agricultural Revolutionby 2000 BCE, domesticated local plant species but few plants were not sufficient to support a fully settled life

Summaries:

StrayerQuestion:

  • With what Eurasian civilizations might the Maya be compared?
  • In what ways did Teotihuacán shape the history of Mesoamerica?
  • What kind of influence did Chavín exert in the Andes region?
  • What supports scholars' contention that Moche represented a regional civilization in the Andes?

  1. As for early agriculture in Mesoamerica, it can be said that
(A)The settlers developed food crops brought from Siberia.
(B)Horses and oxen played important roles in transportation and farming.
(C)The settlers developed maize as their staple food around 5000 B.C.E.
(D)The settlers supplemented their diet with meat from cattle.
(E)All of the above.
  1. The Olmecs
(A)Established the first complex society in Mesoamerica.
(B)Built ceremonial centers with pyramids and temples.
(C)Lived in an area where rubber trees flourished.
(D)Constructed elaborate drainage systems.
(E)All of the above.
  1. Which of the following would not have been seen at Teotihuacán?
(A)The Pyramid of the Sun
(B)The Pyramid of the Moon
(C)A large quantity of books
(D)Iron tools
(E)Orange Pottery
/
  1. The heartland of early Andean society was
(A)The region now occupied by the states of Peru and Bolivia.
(B)The region now occupied by the states of Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador.
(C)The islands of the Pacific Ocean.
(D)The region of the Amazon basin.
(E)All of the above.
  1. During the period of the Chavín cult,
(A)Large temple complexes were built.
(B)Carvings of wild animals were created.
(C)Weavers produced cotton textiles.
(D)Gold, silver, and copper jewelry was made.
(E)All of the above.
  1. The Olmec society produced
(A)Paintings that depicted the daily lives of the ruling elite.
(B)Books on astronomy.
(C)Huge sculptures of human heads.
(D)Colorful murals on walls of temples.
(E)All of the above.

Excerpt from standford.edu

Chavín de Huántar dates to around 1000-200 B.C.E. (if not earlier), a period called the Early Horizon, when elaborate ceramics, textiles, and sculpted stone found in larger sites throughout much of the Central Andes (modern day Peru) demonstrate a certain level of stylistic unity. At first it was thought that this broad distribution of similar art was evidence for a strong state-like political leadership, but little evidence has been found for the unified, bureaucratic, and military organization typical of evolved states.

Rather, Chavín sits squarely in the transition from societies based on relatively egalitarian relations (in which people are fairly close to equal in status and power, and permanent leadership is rare), and states, which are based on intrinsic differences in rights and power between individuals and segments of the population, and a strong, usually hereditary leadership of pervasive control.

Chavín de Huántar is located in the north-central sierra of Peru, sandwiched between the desert coast - one of the driest deserts of the world - and the humid tropical Amazonian lowlands to the east. The famed Andean prehistoric states, culminating with the expansive Inca Empire, were primarily situated in coastal and sierra environments.

Excerpt from discover-peru.org

The inhabitants in Chavín believed that these priests communicated with the gods and to honor them they built huge sculptures in their building walls. These sculptures represented a metaphor of the universe as the Chavin inhabitants understood it. They were also known for their artistic pottery. A common trait in the sculptures, ceramics, textile and metal work is the recurring themes such as feline faces, anacondas and flying caimans. These anthropomorphic figures represent how locals imagined their gods would be. The influence of the Chavín culture reached hundred of miles across northern Peru and it is believed that pilgrims made a long journey to visit its temples, acting as a link among different cultural groups.

From text:

The Americas faced a different set of problems than did civilizations in other parts of the world. America’s civilizations were isolated from the world until the Spaniards and Portuguese arrived in the fifteenth century. Further, there were no humans on the North and South American continents until 25,000 – 50,000 yeas ago when the people who would become the first Americans wandered across the Bering Strait.

Thesis Statement: Comparative Civilization and Empire-Building in Americas/Eurasia

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