Economy in Mesoamerica
MEGAN BOMMARITO
Meso America was broken into different groups which resulted in a diverse development of each group economically. Each region specialized in something like the extraction of natural resources and trading.
* Pacific lowlands - cotton and cochineal.
* Maya lowlands and the Gulf Coast – cacao, vanilla, jaguar skins, birds and bird feathers (especially quetzal and macaw).
* Central Mexico – Obsidian (Pachuca).
* Guatemalan highlands – Obsidian (San Martin Jilotepeque, El Chayal, and Ixtepeque), pyrite, and jade from the Motagua River valley.
* Coastal areas – salt, dry fish, shell, and dyes.
Sea shells were used as currency during the preclassic period coming from both the atlantic and pacific coasts. After the preclassic period, cacao was used in transactions until the postclassic time in which gold coins were used.
The economy of Tenochtitlan was built off of one overwhelming fact: the urban population on the island required high levels of economic support from surrounding areas. In its earliest history, Tenochtitlan was self-supporting; the village was small and agriculture was managed through the chinampa method of architecture, practiced widely throughout Mesoamerica. In the chinampa , flat reeds were placed in the shallow areas of the lake, covered with soil, and then cultivated. In this way, the Aztecs reclaimed much of the lake for agriculture. A large part of the city's population were farmers; at its height (100,000-300,000), at least half the population would leave the city in the morning to go farm and return in the evening.
The city itself consisted of a large number of priests and craftspeople; the bulk of the economy rested on extensive trade of both necessary and luxury items. Tenochtitlan was a true urban center. It had a permanent population, it had a large and bustling market (the Spanish estimated that at least 60,000 people crowded the market), and it had the beginnings of economic class. For the kinship groups of the city were divided up into calpulli , many of which practiced a specific craft or trade, such as rope-making or pot-making. While there is a great deal of controversy over the precise nature of the capulli , it seems to be a transition point between kinship organization (the calpulli were kinship groups) and economic class (the calpulli specialized in particular crafts). In addition, the calpulli seemed to be arranged in ranks: there was the highest calpulli , another five calpulli that had schools for nobility, and then all the rest.
The Aztecs did have two clearly differentiated social classes. At the bottom were the macehualles, or "commoners," and at the top the pilli, or nobility. These were not clearly differentiated by birth, for one could rise into the pilli by virtue of great skill and bravery in war.
All male children went to school. At the age of 15, each male child went to telpuchcalli ("house of youth"), where he learned the history and religion of the Aztecs, the art of war and fighting, the trade or craft specific to his calpulli , and the religious and civic duties of everyday citizenship. The children of nobility also attended another school, a school of nobility or calmecac , if he was a member of one of the top six calpulli . There the child learned the religious duties of priests and its secret knowledge; for the distinction between government and religious duties was practically non-existent. This public education was only limited to boys.
In Aztec society, women were regarded as the subordinate of men. Above everything else, they were required to behave with chastity and high moral standards. For the most part, all government and religious functions were closed off to women. In fact, one of the most important religious offices, the Snake Woman, was always filled by men. There were some temples and gods that had priestesses, who had their own schools, but their exact position in the hierarchy is unknown.
Aztec laws were simple and harsh. Almost every crime, from adultery to stealing, was punished by death and other offenses usually involved severe corporal punishment or mutilation (the penalty for slander, for instance, was the loss of one's lips). This was not a totalitarian state, however; there was a strong sense of community among the Aztecs and these laws, harsh as they seem, were supported by the community rather than an autocratic judiciary.
Slavery was common among the Aztecs; it was not, however, racial or permanent. One became a slave by being captured in war, by committing certain crimes, such as theft, by voluntarily entering into slavery, or by being sold by one's parents. If one was captured in war, slavery was a pleasant option, for the purpose of Aztec warfare was primarily the capture of live human sacrifices. If, however, one had a useful trade, the Tenochca would forego the sacrifice and employ the captive in that trade.
There was little distinction between the religious and the secular hierarchy, although historians and anthropologists argue that the Aztecs developed farther than any other Mesoamerican group a secular aspect of society. At the very top of the hierarchy was the tlacatecuhtli , or "chief of men." He dominated all the religious ceremonies and served as a military leader. Below the tlacatecuhtli were a series of religious offices and some secular functions, such as military generals.
(http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/AZTECS.HTM)
MAYA GOVERNMENT
Political, economic, and social institutions characteristic of the governmental form
In Sharer’s view, during the Classic Maya period (ca. A.D. 250-900) state-level political organization developed, particularly in the southern and central lowlands. During the Late Classic (ca. 600-800) new state polities emerged and population peaked. During the Terminal Classic (ca.800-900 the southern and central lowlands declined and the northern lowlands rose (Sharer 1994:138). An economic system of contributing labor and food to the state and acquiring tribute from neighboring polities developed. Political alliances could be strengthened through marriage of the ruler. The Classic Maya form of political organization, with no standing armies, appears to have emphasized the qualities of the individual leader, and was closer to the "big man" system of Papua New Guinea, rather than the Zapotec political organization which emphasized the office rather than the individual. The coercion that a Mayan leader like 18 rabbit could impose on a city state apparently had limits since he was perhaps forcibly "given up" during a neighboring polity’s conquest and sacrificed. The Zapotec considered the generic political office to be more important than the individual’s personal characteristics, and in Oaxaca powerful families ruled in a kind of confederacy with hereditary palaces and a disembedded capitol, which was both an administrative and ceremonial center supported through tribute and conquest. Similar to the Aztecs, each valley in this confederacy was semi-independent.
Aztec government
War and tribute were central to the Aztec empire, which gained territory, subjects, and economic power as it expanded (Berdan 1982:35). War was a nearly constant activity requiring a large bureaucracy supported by tribute (Id. at 38). "Aztec rulers were chosen from eligible royal offspring by a council of noble elders" (Marcus and Flannery 1983:218). Manufacturing, trade, and agriculture were the main economic institutions for the creation of tribute. Traders were used as a kind of spy network outside the empire and provided information for future areas of conquest. The form of government at the time of the Triple Alliance was a confederacy that bonded together militarily, politically, and economically. The Aztec empire was a multiethnic and multilingual political organization. Near the end of the empire, religious and military activity may have resulted in the astounding figure of 20,000 human sacrifices per year.
Map of the Mesoamerican city-states
The earliest Maya were farmers who lived in small, scattered villages of pole and thatch houses. They cultivated their fields as a community, planting seeds in holes made with a pointed wood stick. Later in the Preclassic period, they adopted intensive farming techniques such as continuous cultivation involving crop rotation and fertilizers, household gardens, and terraces. In some areas, they built raised fields in seasonal swamps. Their main crops included maize (corn), beans, squash, avocados, chili peppers, pineapples, papayas, and cacao, which were made into a chocolate drink with water and hot chilies. The women ground corn on specially shaped grinding stones and mixed the ground meal with water to make a drink known as atole or to cook as tortillas (flat cakes) on flat pottery griddles. The Maya also drank balche made from fermented honey mixed with the bark of the balche tree. Rabbits, deer, and turkeys were hunted for making stews. Fishing also supplied part of their diet. Turkeys, ducks, and dogs were kept as domesticated animals.
In the early Classic period Teotihuacán in central Mexico emerged as the greatest city in Mesoamerica, an area that included modern Mexico and most of Central America. The religious and political power of Teotihuacán radiated throughout Mesoamerica. One result of Teotihuacán’s influence was a highly integrated network of trade in which the Maya participated.
Mesoamerican cultures did great work in the realm of the economy. Farmers learned how to grow maize in different ways as well as cultivate lands that were mostly swampy. They saw some of the highest crop yields of the ancient world. They also had great success making things such as obsidian glass pottery and bronze sculptures
The civilizations of Mesoamerica had complex economies which were divided into three realms: production, distribution and consumption.
May 05, 2009
May 03, 2009
Military in Mesoamerica
The Use of Military in Mesoamerica
By Dennis Dunkins II
The use of the military in Mesoamerican culture was not merely an adventure in the use of force to settle political disagreements, but multipurpose in religious, socio-economic and spiritual conceptualize thought.
In many of these societies the objective range from the subjugation of enemies to the need to reduce competition for resources, which often led to greater expansion and further confiscation of resources. An additional reason for violent conflict was the need for the leader to fulfill religious obligations to legitimize their authority to rule. Many of the Kings used warfare to promote their mystical persona and all new rulers were expected to open their new rule with a successful campaign against a chosen enemy. The unfortunate captives were purposefully taken in these exchanges for sacrifice, to prove the Divinity link of the ruler over all life.
The Campaign
Many ancient societies used warfare, as a means to pillage another’s treasuries or control trade routes, but to the Mesoamericans war had to be multifaceted for all of society. These campaigns had a multiple purposes: it increases new resources for the new ruler. Next it opened up society for the commoners through their military exploits. Thirdly, it could be an excellent practice run for when the time for larger action was needed. A famous example of this is the Flower War. This was low intensity warfare, a type of training war agreed upon by rivals as to acceptable tactics rules of engagement, and timetables of action. It is suggested by scholars that this later form also gave the citizenry something to root for in daily life, like a sporting event with box scores without much harm. However, failure to accomplish a successful campaign meant the possibility of internal division and chaos, which would lead to the new rulers death.
By Dennis Dunkins II
The use of the military in Mesoamerican culture was not merely an adventure in the use of force to settle political disagreements, but multipurpose in religious, socio-economic and spiritual conceptualize thought.
In many of these societies the objective range from the subjugation of enemies to the need to reduce competition for resources, which often led to greater expansion and further confiscation of resources. An additional reason for violent conflict was the need for the leader to fulfill religious obligations to legitimize their authority to rule. Many of the Kings used warfare to promote their mystical persona and all new rulers were expected to open their new rule with a successful campaign against a chosen enemy. The unfortunate captives were purposefully taken in these exchanges for sacrifice, to prove the Divinity link of the ruler over all life.
The Campaign
Many ancient societies used warfare, as a means to pillage another’s treasuries or control trade routes, but to the Mesoamericans war had to be multifaceted for all of society. These campaigns had a multiple purposes: it increases new resources for the new ruler. Next it opened up society for the commoners through their military exploits. Thirdly, it could be an excellent practice run for when the time for larger action was needed. A famous example of this is the Flower War. This was low intensity warfare, a type of training war agreed upon by rivals as to acceptable tactics rules of engagement, and timetables of action. It is suggested by scholars that this later form also gave the citizenry something to root for in daily life, like a sporting event with box scores without much harm. However, failure to accomplish a successful campaign meant the possibility of internal division and chaos, which would lead to the new rulers death.
May 02, 2009
The Hand to Hand Combat Weapons
The Macana: a sword with obsidian attached along its side to create a blade.
The Tepoztopilli: a spear the lenght of a man with the spear head twice as wide as a mans palm.
The Deadly Weapons
The basic use of spears, dart, and swords. These weapons at first may seem primitive, but were deadly in accuracy.
Atlatl: a spear thrower that used high velocity pressure. The projectile could accurately hit its target over 300ft. away at 150 mph
Otomi class
These fierce warriors were believed to be more of an ethnic group than a specific class.
Warrior Class Eagle and Jaguar
These two class of warriors were the elite in skills and tactics, this branch of warriors were compiled of all classes of society, but became part of the nobility.
Warrior training: Calmecac
The elites in all of these societies were highly trained militarized leadership. From early age each of the Mesoamerican societies used commoners to form the basic infantry with elites being as officers. The elites were members of a special military order called the cuachicqueh “the shorn ones”.
Military Structure
Tlacochcalcatl: in Aztec society the high general was second only to the King. This same structure can be found among Olmec, Mayans, and others.
Mayan Calendar
Tzolk’in
This is the Mayan 260-day calendar used by most Mesoamerican societies at the time. This calendar was primarily used by the Mayans in order to determine the times for religious ceremonies. The Tzolk’in calendar consists of 20 days combined with the thirteen numbers of the “trecena” cycle. The days are named in sequence similar to the modern weekly cycle, and are repeated thirteen times for a grand total of 260 each Tzolk’in year. The origins of the calendar are not clear, but seeing how the numbers twenty and thirteen were very important in Mayan culture may give a hint to an explanation for 260 days (13 X 20 = 260). Also the pregnancy cycle for a woman is approximately 260, which may be another reason for why the calendar revolves around this number.
Haab’
This calendar consisted of 360 days followed by 5 extra days at the end of the year know as Wayeb’ giving a Haab’ year a grand total of 365 days. This calendar is presumed to have its starting point on the winter solstice. The calendar has eighteen named months each having twenty numbered days in them. This calendar was primarily used by the people for keeping track of the seasons. However, because the calendar did not include the extra quarter day in the tropical year, it became more and more inaccurate as the years passed. The five days at the end known as the Wayeb’ were thought to be dangerous and full of misfortune. These days were thought to mark the time of the year when the boundaries between the mortal and realm and the underworld banished. With no barrier to keep the evil from the underworld, people avoided having to go outside during this time of the year.
Name and Meaning
Venus Cycle
The Mayans had highly advanced in astronomy and had no trouble mapping out Venus’ cycle with extreme accuracy. The Mayans achieved this by studying the starts many years until the completion of the cycles of the stars. Venus was viewed as a symbol of war, so the cycle was used to determine the times when was war favorable. Through divination and the placement of Venus in the sky, Mayans would consider going to war or not.
The Long Count
Because the combination of days and months between the Haab’ and Tzolk’in would repeat every 52 years, the Mayans figured they would need another way to identify dates over longer periods of time. Thus, the Long Count was formulated which consisted in the naming of years. Unlike the modern numbering system using the decimal scheme, they used a modified version using a 20 base scheme. One day was known as “K’in.” Twenty of these days were know as a “Winal.” Eighteen Winals made a “Tun,” and twenty Tuns made a “K’atun.”
Baktun = 20 katuns = 144,000 days or about 400 years (394.52 of our years)
Katun = 20 Tuns = 7,200 days or about 20 years (19.73 of our years)
Tun = 18 Uinals = 360 days or about 1 year (less 5 days of one of our years)
Uinal = 20 Kins = 20 days or 1 Maya month
Kin = 1 Day = 24.017 hours
This is the Mayan 260-day calendar used by most Mesoamerican societies at the time. This calendar was primarily used by the Mayans in order to determine the times for religious ceremonies. The Tzolk’in calendar consists of 20 days combined with the thirteen numbers of the “trecena” cycle. The days are named in sequence similar to the modern weekly cycle, and are repeated thirteen times for a grand total of 260 each Tzolk’in year. The origins of the calendar are not clear, but seeing how the numbers twenty and thirteen were very important in Mayan culture may give a hint to an explanation for 260 days (13 X 20 = 260). Also the pregnancy cycle for a woman is approximately 260, which may be another reason for why the calendar revolves around this number.
Haab’
This calendar consisted of 360 days followed by 5 extra days at the end of the year know as Wayeb’ giving a Haab’ year a grand total of 365 days. This calendar is presumed to have its starting point on the winter solstice. The calendar has eighteen named months each having twenty numbered days in them. This calendar was primarily used by the people for keeping track of the seasons. However, because the calendar did not include the extra quarter day in the tropical year, it became more and more inaccurate as the years passed. The five days at the end known as the Wayeb’ were thought to be dangerous and full of misfortune. These days were thought to mark the time of the year when the boundaries between the mortal and realm and the underworld banished. With no barrier to keep the evil from the underworld, people avoided having to go outside during this time of the year.
Name and Meaning
- Pop = Mat
- Yax =Green Storm
- Wo = Black Conjunction
- Sac = White Storm
- Sip = Red Conjunction
- Keh = Red Storm
- Sotz' = Bat
- Mak = Enclosed
- Sek = ?
- K'ank'in = Yellow Sun
- Xul = Dog
- Muwan = Owl
- Yaxk'in = New Sun
- Pax = Planting Time
- Mol = Water
- K'ayab' = Turtle
- Ch'en = Black Storm
- Kumk'u = Granary
Venus Cycle
The Mayans had highly advanced in astronomy and had no trouble mapping out Venus’ cycle with extreme accuracy. The Mayans achieved this by studying the starts many years until the completion of the cycles of the stars. Venus was viewed as a symbol of war, so the cycle was used to determine the times when was war favorable. Through divination and the placement of Venus in the sky, Mayans would consider going to war or not.
The Long Count
Because the combination of days and months between the Haab’ and Tzolk’in would repeat every 52 years, the Mayans figured they would need another way to identify dates over longer periods of time. Thus, the Long Count was formulated which consisted in the naming of years. Unlike the modern numbering system using the decimal scheme, they used a modified version using a 20 base scheme. One day was known as “K’in.” Twenty of these days were know as a “Winal.” Eighteen Winals made a “Tun,” and twenty Tuns made a “K’atun.”
Baktun = 20 katuns = 144,000 days or about 400 years (394.52 of our years)
Katun = 20 Tuns = 7,200 days or about 20 years (19.73 of our years)
Tun = 18 Uinals = 360 days or about 1 year (less 5 days of one of our years)
Uinal = 20 Kins = 20 days or 1 Maya month
Kin = 1 Day = 24.017 hours
May 01, 2009
Mayan Trade and Economy
MAYA TRADE ROUTES
Trade in Maya civilization was a vital element in maintaining cities. The economy was based primarily on the trading of food like corn, squash, and beans. They also bartered for almost any other basic need because it was essential in their supply and demand economy. The types of trade differed significantly, from long-distance trading spanning the length of the Mayan region and beyond, to small trading between farm families. This long distance trade surely went along with the exchange of writing, mathematical skills as well as astronomical knowledge between groups.
The rise of merchants facilitated growth in the middle class as well as the elite class of many communities. Cacao beans were worth transporting for long distances because they were luxury items. A large tomato was worth one bean, a turkey egg was 3 beans, 4 cocoa beans could buy a pumpkin, and 100 could buy a rabbit or a good turkey hen, and 1000 a slave. Possible the most important goods involved in long distance trade were Salt, Obsidian, Jade, Cacao and Quetzal feathers.
The large cities acted as redistribution centers where traders obtained merchandise to sale in smaller cities. The largest known trading center was Tikal. Many goods where exchanged, but primarily the every day goods such as clothes, fruits, vegetables, meat, and pottery. Even the best farmers had to trade some of their crop to purchase salt, chocolate and other merchandise.
SALT SOURCES
• Diet
•Preservatives
•Rituals
•Medicinal
•Birth
•Death
•Armor
OBSIDIAN SOURCES
¨Volcanic glass
¨Daily and ritual life
¨Tools & weapons
¨Art
¨Available to all households unlike Jade
¨Sacrificial Blade
¨Used in some US hospitals today for heart bypass surgery
JADE
¨Beneficial for Kidneys
¨Revered above gold
¨Life
¨Fertility
¨Power
¨Kings & royality (bright green)
SURPRISE CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!
CACAO
¨Culinary
¨Medicinal
¨Economic trade
¨Agricultural
¨Mayan belief that ka'kau' was discovered by the god Hunahpú and given to humans after they were created from maize by the goddess Ixmucané. (Bogin 1997, Coe 1996, Montejo 1999, Tedlock 1985)
¨Medicinal
¨Economic trade
¨Agricultural
¨Mayan belief that ka'kau' was discovered by the god Hunahpú and given to humans after they were created from maize by the goddess Ixmucané. (Bogin 1997, Coe 1996, Montejo 1999, Tedlock 1985)
Bolon Yookte' K'uh
*was a prince of Xibalbá
* as well as a wealthy , he was god of commerce and trade
* he is an old god
*sometimes with the ear of a jaguar
*was a prince of Xibalbá
* as well as a wealthy , he was god of commerce and trade
* he is an old god
*sometimes with the ear of a jaguar
April 30, 2009
Mesoamerica is a region that extends from Central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries. This culture area included some of the most complex and advanced cultures of the Americas, including the Olmec, Teotihuacan, the Maya, and the Aztec. Archaeological research has established a set of phases with regionally distinct and sometimes even site specific phase names. There are an abundance of phase names in use in Mesoamerica, so we will look at the stages or periods known as Paleo-Indian, the Archaic, the Preclassic (or Formative), the Classic, and the Postclassic.
In the beginning the Paleo-Indian period refers to mobile hunter-foragers. Evidence for this period is scarce but we do know that the type of religion was based on the co-residing group is sacred, and so are the plants and animals upon which life depends.
Next, the Archaic period concentrated on plants and animals that came to characterize specific regions. The religion was based on sedentism and food production that paved the way for important social changes, the focus of sacredness shifted as well, the most important food crops received more ritual attention than did other useful plants and animals. The early development of pottery, often seen as a sign of sedentism, has been documented as a number of sites.
For all peoples of Mesoamerica, the world around them was vital and living, and had spiritual substance, a theory sometimes referred to as animism. The earth itself was perceived as a living being, caves and springs were entries into a new world, the start of the beginnings and endings of a cyclical religion. Mesoamerica creation myths have in common the idea that the present world is one in a series, that previous worlds were destroyed, along with their inhabitants. We will look at the stages of these creation myths in just a minute.
Now on to the Formative period, the first complex civilizations to develop in Mesoamerica were the Olmec, who arose in the marshy lowlands of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. They created sculptures from stone, jade and ceramics. San Lorenzo now remains as a huge platform upon which the Olmecs erected and buried some of their colossal heads, which were portraits of their rulers. The next site is La Vento, which shows the type of architecture that we associate with great civilizations, a massive pyramid towers over its surroundings, and was the cornerstone of an extensive and elaborate group of platforms and plazas. Another one of its main sites is Tenochtitlan, which was surrounded by a lake and was a verdant green island crosscut by glittering canals and plastered roads. The city’s center was dominated by the pyramids of the Great Temple precinct and to the south, the city’s main plaza, an expansive open square. Religion was based on the most important family in the tribal village or chieftain claimed a special and more direct relationship to supernatural powers. Public practice of religion became an institution, requiring the loyalty of all members of a society. Mesoamerican culture developed and thrived around such foods as maize. Village agriculture was the mainstay of Mesoamerican life in this time. The late Formative period saw the rise of the Maya in the southern Maya highlands and lowlands and at a few sites in the northern Maya lowlands. By 1500 BC civic ceremonial architectures was in evidence, with two important types of building, the ball court and the elite residence, that would be found in virtually every important Mesoamerican site. In the Valley of Oaxaca, San Jose Mogote developed some of the earliest examples of ceremonial structures, the use of adobe, and hieroglyphic writing. Also, one of the first to demonstrate inherited status, signifying a radical shift in socio-cultural and political structure.
The Classic periods developed many states and proto-states, particularly in the central highlands of Mexico and the Maya lowlands. States were Tikal, which was founded when Teotihuacan sent out traders, envoys and colonists all over Mesoamerica and one group reached the Maya region in 378 AD and they even installed one of their own as king. Tikal comes to be politically, economically, and militarily dominate much of the southern Maya lowlands during the Early Classic. Towards, the end of the early classic conflict would lead to Tikal’s military defeat at the hands of Caracol in 562 and a period commonly known as the Tikal Hiatus. We know all of this because the Maya documented their history with the hieroglyphic script that they inscribed into stone, and painted into books and onto ceramic vessels and plastered walls. This practice, plus the Maya refinement of the Mesoamerican calendric system, lasted for over 600 years. The Maya remain the best-know of Mesoamerican cultures. The collapse of Maya civilization in the lowlands was a gradual process, beginning with environmental degradation that ended with the tropical forest reclaiming the farmlands within a few centuries.
The Postclassic period culminated the establishment of the great tribute empire of the Aztecs, a political entity that covered much of modern Mexico. Mayapan rose and dominated the north for 200 years, after this it revolved around a number of large towns or city-states. The early portion of the postclassic correlates with the rise of the Toltec and an empire based at their capital, Tula. The religion of this time was what I had mentioned before, creation myths. They believed that they and we are in the 5th world, a product of the fifth creation of the life-giving sun. Each of the five worlds has had a patron deity and a human-or nearly human population. The four previous worlds were catastrophically destroyed, and the present world is scheduled to have a cataclysmic end (the Maya predict that the present world is scheduled to end on the date equivalent to our December 23, 2012. Creating humans gods accomplished by grinding up the bones of extinct humans and mixing them with the blood of the gods. Humans owed a debt to the gods with was repaid with the blood of a sacrifice, either drawing one’s own blood, or the sacrificial killing of an animal or human being. The era before the present one saw the exploits of two sets of twins who battled gods in the underworld. The creator couple gave birth to the first set of twins, which included Han Hanahph, an avatar of the Maize God. After his decapitation he miraculously conceived twin sons, the Hero Twins who themselves battled scheming gods and died in the underworld, but were reborn. These cyclical patterns of death and regeneration are typical of this culture. The Postclassic ends with the arrival of the Spanish and their subsequent conquest of the Aztec between 1519 and 1521. This was the end of their culture as they knew it.
The Colonial period from 1521 to the 1800’s found the suppression of indigenous culture and the Republican period brought independence to Mexico.
In the beginning the Paleo-Indian period refers to mobile hunter-foragers. Evidence for this period is scarce but we do know that the type of religion was based on the co-residing group is sacred, and so are the plants and animals upon which life depends.
Next, the Archaic period concentrated on plants and animals that came to characterize specific regions. The religion was based on sedentism and food production that paved the way for important social changes, the focus of sacredness shifted as well, the most important food crops received more ritual attention than did other useful plants and animals. The early development of pottery, often seen as a sign of sedentism, has been documented as a number of sites.
For all peoples of Mesoamerica, the world around them was vital and living, and had spiritual substance, a theory sometimes referred to as animism. The earth itself was perceived as a living being, caves and springs were entries into a new world, the start of the beginnings and endings of a cyclical religion. Mesoamerica creation myths have in common the idea that the present world is one in a series, that previous worlds were destroyed, along with their inhabitants. We will look at the stages of these creation myths in just a minute.
Now on to the Formative period, the first complex civilizations to develop in Mesoamerica were the Olmec, who arose in the marshy lowlands of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. They created sculptures from stone, jade and ceramics. San Lorenzo now remains as a huge platform upon which the Olmecs erected and buried some of their colossal heads, which were portraits of their rulers. The next site is La Vento, which shows the type of architecture that we associate with great civilizations, a massive pyramid towers over its surroundings, and was the cornerstone of an extensive and elaborate group of platforms and plazas. Another one of its main sites is Tenochtitlan, which was surrounded by a lake and was a verdant green island crosscut by glittering canals and plastered roads. The city’s center was dominated by the pyramids of the Great Temple precinct and to the south, the city’s main plaza, an expansive open square. Religion was based on the most important family in the tribal village or chieftain claimed a special and more direct relationship to supernatural powers. Public practice of religion became an institution, requiring the loyalty of all members of a society. Mesoamerican culture developed and thrived around such foods as maize. Village agriculture was the mainstay of Mesoamerican life in this time. The late Formative period saw the rise of the Maya in the southern Maya highlands and lowlands and at a few sites in the northern Maya lowlands. By 1500 BC civic ceremonial architectures was in evidence, with two important types of building, the ball court and the elite residence, that would be found in virtually every important Mesoamerican site. In the Valley of Oaxaca, San Jose Mogote developed some of the earliest examples of ceremonial structures, the use of adobe, and hieroglyphic writing. Also, one of the first to demonstrate inherited status, signifying a radical shift in socio-cultural and political structure.
The Classic periods developed many states and proto-states, particularly in the central highlands of Mexico and the Maya lowlands. States were Tikal, which was founded when Teotihuacan sent out traders, envoys and colonists all over Mesoamerica and one group reached the Maya region in 378 AD and they even installed one of their own as king. Tikal comes to be politically, economically, and militarily dominate much of the southern Maya lowlands during the Early Classic. Towards, the end of the early classic conflict would lead to Tikal’s military defeat at the hands of Caracol in 562 and a period commonly known as the Tikal Hiatus. We know all of this because the Maya documented their history with the hieroglyphic script that they inscribed into stone, and painted into books and onto ceramic vessels and plastered walls. This practice, plus the Maya refinement of the Mesoamerican calendric system, lasted for over 600 years. The Maya remain the best-know of Mesoamerican cultures. The collapse of Maya civilization in the lowlands was a gradual process, beginning with environmental degradation that ended with the tropical forest reclaiming the farmlands within a few centuries.
The Postclassic period culminated the establishment of the great tribute empire of the Aztecs, a political entity that covered much of modern Mexico. Mayapan rose and dominated the north for 200 years, after this it revolved around a number of large towns or city-states. The early portion of the postclassic correlates with the rise of the Toltec and an empire based at their capital, Tula. The religion of this time was what I had mentioned before, creation myths. They believed that they and we are in the 5th world, a product of the fifth creation of the life-giving sun. Each of the five worlds has had a patron deity and a human-or nearly human population. The four previous worlds were catastrophically destroyed, and the present world is scheduled to have a cataclysmic end (the Maya predict that the present world is scheduled to end on the date equivalent to our December 23, 2012. Creating humans gods accomplished by grinding up the bones of extinct humans and mixing them with the blood of the gods. Humans owed a debt to the gods with was repaid with the blood of a sacrifice, either drawing one’s own blood, or the sacrificial killing of an animal or human being. The era before the present one saw the exploits of two sets of twins who battled gods in the underworld. The creator couple gave birth to the first set of twins, which included Han Hanahph, an avatar of the Maize God. After his decapitation he miraculously conceived twin sons, the Hero Twins who themselves battled scheming gods and died in the underworld, but were reborn. These cyclical patterns of death and regeneration are typical of this culture. The Postclassic ends with the arrival of the Spanish and their subsequent conquest of the Aztec between 1519 and 1521. This was the end of their culture as they knew it.
The Colonial period from 1521 to the 1800’s found the suppression of indigenous culture and the Republican period brought independence to Mexico.
April 29, 2009
Meso- American Government and Political Organization
Olmecs and Mayans
The Olmecs lived in Mexico during the period from about 1200BC to about 800BC. According to some historians, the Olmecs came to Mexico from West Africa – the Saharan Region, some 3500years ago. Other historians attribute the Olmecs’ ancestry to American Indians and possibly Asians. Nonetheless, the Olmecs established the first Mesoamerican civilization and their culture went on to influence many succeeding cultures in aspects pertaining to religion, language, and social class.
The Olmecs’ civilization possessed a high degree of societal organization and class stratification. The following diagram outlines the hierarchical structure of the Olmecs’ society.
Skilled Artisans, Traders, Wealthy Olmecs
Common people – corn farmers, hunters, other farmers
Mayans have been influenced by the Olmec Indians. The very first hieroglyphics were written, and cities started to appear. The early Mayan economy was based on agriculture and the exchange of farm goods. The Maya grew Indian corn, or maize. It was a staple food of many Indians in Central America for centuries. The Mayans developed the slash-and-burn farming method. A Mayan farmer would clear the cornfield by cutting bushes and girdling trees, and then he would allow the piled brush to catch fire under the sun. The ashes were then scattered among the stumps of the trees, and a sharp stick called a mattock was used to poke holes in the ground for the seeds to be laid. This method was used for centuries and it made farming the basis of the Mayan economy. It is estimated that as many as one hundred and fifty days out of the year were free from farm labor. Using the time off from farming, the Mayans built magnificent cities and temples to honor their many gods. In early Mayan history, homes were built with wattle-and-daub walls in an oval shape with a thatched roof of palmetto fronds. These homes stayed dry when it was raining, and cool when it was hot. They contained very little furniture, and were used only for eating and sleeping. Decedents of the Maya still continue to build and live in these huts today. The Mayans used stone to construct temples and pyramids. Some of their best creations include: the Caracol, an astronomical observatory in Chichen-Itza, the tomb of Lord Pacal, the royal palace, which was used to look out for invaders over the Usumacinta River, El Castillo, or the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, and the Temple of the Magician, which was rebuilt five times to follow the rounds of the Mayan calendar every fifty two years. The great architecture was only one of the many aspects that made the Maya such an advanced civilizationThe Mayan civilization was not one unified empire, but rather a multitude of separate entities with a common cultural background. Similar to the Greeks, they were religiously and artistically a nation, but politically sovereign states.
Olmecs and Mayans
The Olmecs lived in Mexico during the period from about 1200BC to about 800BC. According to some historians, the Olmecs came to Mexico from West Africa – the Saharan Region, some 3500years ago. Other historians attribute the Olmecs’ ancestry to American Indians and possibly Asians. Nonetheless, the Olmecs established the first Mesoamerican civilization and their culture went on to influence many succeeding cultures in aspects pertaining to religion, language, and social class.
The Olmecs’ civilization possessed a high degree of societal organization and class stratification. The following diagram outlines the hierarchical structure of the Olmecs’ society.
Skilled Artisans, Traders, Wealthy Olmecs
Common people – corn farmers, hunters, other farmers
Mayans have been influenced by the Olmec Indians. The very first hieroglyphics were written, and cities started to appear. The early Mayan economy was based on agriculture and the exchange of farm goods. The Maya grew Indian corn, or maize. It was a staple food of many Indians in Central America for centuries. The Mayans developed the slash-and-burn farming method. A Mayan farmer would clear the cornfield by cutting bushes and girdling trees, and then he would allow the piled brush to catch fire under the sun. The ashes were then scattered among the stumps of the trees, and a sharp stick called a mattock was used to poke holes in the ground for the seeds to be laid. This method was used for centuries and it made farming the basis of the Mayan economy. It is estimated that as many as one hundred and fifty days out of the year were free from farm labor. Using the time off from farming, the Mayans built magnificent cities and temples to honor their many gods. In early Mayan history, homes were built with wattle-and-daub walls in an oval shape with a thatched roof of palmetto fronds. These homes stayed dry when it was raining, and cool when it was hot. They contained very little furniture, and were used only for eating and sleeping. Decedents of the Maya still continue to build and live in these huts today. The Mayans used stone to construct temples and pyramids. Some of their best creations include: the Caracol, an astronomical observatory in Chichen-Itza, the tomb of Lord Pacal, the royal palace, which was used to look out for invaders over the Usumacinta River, El Castillo, or the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, and the Temple of the Magician, which was rebuilt five times to follow the rounds of the Mayan calendar every fifty two years. The great architecture was only one of the many aspects that made the Maya such an advanced civilizationThe Mayan civilization was not one unified empire, but rather a multitude of separate entities with a common cultural background. Similar to the Greeks, they were religiously and artistically a nation, but politically sovereign states.
February 14, 2009
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