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Transcript of Meso-America. Questions What are theories of how people originated in the Americas? What evidence...
Meso-AmericaMeso-America
Questions What are theories of how people originated in
the Americas? What evidence is there for pre-European Contact?
Where are the first Urban centers and what characterized them?
Where was the first metropolis? Where was the first Empire and what socio-
political changes took place with its development?
What was the Status of women and where did it change?
Identifications
Bering Strait Rainbow Bridge/Trans-oceanic theory Olmec Olmec Heads & hieroglyphics Tenocelome Zapotec Toltec & Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Sun Lake Texcoco & Chinampas
Identifications
Maya Copan and the Grand Palace Palenque City-State Kanal-Ikal, Zac K’uk & Pacal Popul Vuh Totilmeiletic Aztec & Tenochtitlan Calpullis
PEOPLING OF THE AMERICAS
Bering Strait & Trans-Oceanic or Rainbow Bridge Theories
Bering Strait Theory
Clovis First Culture 11, 500 yrs. projectile points
Trans-Oceanic/Rainbow Bridge Theory
Fossil Tooth, Alaska Monte Verde, Chile Pleistocene Man, Yuho Pinto Wash, Ca. Luzia Skeleton, Lagoa Santa, Brazil Nazca, Peru Chumash & Hawaiian Oral Tradition Muslim/African Pre-European Contact
Figure 6-1 p160
The Olmec“The Mother of Meso-America”
“People of the land of Rubber” Mexico city to El Salvador until 4BCE
First Cities Pyramids Stone Monuments Widespread Trade System of Writing: Hieroglyphics Ball Games
Olmec City StateOf La Venta
Olmec Heads1500 – 100 BCEEvidence of pre-European contact
Tenocelome
Zapotec Culture Monte Alban (Oaxaca Valley) 20,000 population Lasted centuries after decline of Olmec Temples, Pyramids Terraced Dwellings Theocracy Nobles & Priests, farmers & Artisans System of Writing Trade complex
p161
Zapotec Grand Plaza, Monte Albon, Mexico
Zapotec Hieroglyphics
Toltec Culture Teotihuacan – First Metropolis
3BCE – 800 CE
Pyramid of the Sun 5CE
p162
Center of Trade
Lake Texcoco
Irrigation water, fish, waterfowl, basalt, limestone and chert
Traded with people in Mayan areas Obsidian for tools and weapons from
Pachuca and Otumba Shells and copal from the gulf region Quetzal bird feathers from Mayan regions of
the South East.
Figure 6-2 p166
The Classical Maya
Mayan City-State of Copan
The Ruler “18 Rabbit” ordered the construction of the Grand Palace
Maya – Gender complimentary
Gender division of labor emerged Equitable Value among the sexes Women took care of the home &
prepared Maize Men were warriors and Hunters
p167
Tikal – City State
Palenque City-State
Political Power Women Rulers
Kanal-ikal 583-604 CE Her granddaughter Zac K’uk (612-615 CE)
Pacal (615-683 CE)followed the lineage of his mother and grandmother. His mother ruled outright for three years and
continued to influence politics for twenty-five years after Pacal took the throne.
He legitimized his rule by transforming her into the first mother goddess, conferring upon her divine status.
p166
Funeral Mask of Pacal
(615 – 683CE)
Leadership Claimed DivineDescent
p166
Han China Funeral Jade Body Suit
Mayan Cosmology Mayan Text Popul Vuh - records Mayan
Creation Xmucane – the grandmother who assisted
twin brothers in creating a garden. To make people she ground maize & mixed
with water Totilmeiletic & the Ancestor God/goddess
& the Maize God Father-Mother Reverence for women’s spirituality and
power
Mayan – City State Politics Aristocratic women
Marriage alliances Ruled as regents Conducted court rituals Numerous of sculptures of female leaders Prominent role in Ball until 8C Depicted as central characters supporting
battles One queen credited herself as a victorious
commander
Social & political rank came from men and woman
Almehen “noble” denotes women and men
p163
Ritual Sacrifice
Palace Lintel – 800 CE
Blood lettingDecapitationPregnancy & childbirth
Ball Court – Chichen Itza
Toltec City-State of Chichen Itza
p165
Decline, Rise & Fall
Southern Maya - decline around 900 CE
Rise of Northern Yucatan - The Toltec's Uxmal Chichen Itza Mayapan
Last Capital before - decline in the 1400s.
Figure 6-3 p168
Aztec EmpireTenochtitlan (1325CE)
1 of 3 city-states
Socio-political structure Divine & secular rule – Hereditary
Council of Lords Prime Minister
Positions in Government & Bureaucracy Male Nobles raised with manual labor, military
rule and education Chose career in military, Government service or
priesthood Given estates & special right to hire communal labor
Commoners, indentured workers and slaves
Economic power
Military City-States Power primarily derived from tribute system
(resembled Sparta) Cloth, feathers, gold, soldiers Human sacrifice used to intimidate and
maintain power over incorporated peoples Cultivation of corn Extensive trade
Calpullis – Aztec Neighborhoods
large kinship groups A thousand members
elected military & Civil chief’s ran its affairs served an as intermediary with the central
government provided taxes conscripted labor to the state maintained temples and schools administered the land held by the community
p162
Gender Division of Labor
Men Trained for war Served army upon
adulthood priesthood
Women Worked in the home Textile production Priestesses Permitted to own & inherit
property Entered into contracts Obedience & chastity
desired behavior (European interpretation?)
Aztec – Gender Complimentary Society
Gendered division of labor Equal value
Birth ceremonies No taboo on menstruation Ritual duties for both genders Elder women – place of respect &
consultation Education differed by gender & class
Marriage & Widows
Girls of 18 and boys of 20 both influenced spouse selection
Men asked both parents for her hand Both punished for adultery Both could divorce with ease
Remarriage easy Both had right to sexual gratification Birth likened to going to war
Bodies matured by the time they had children Midwives had extensive medical knowledge Higher standard of hygiene than European’s
Women’s Economic Role
Noble women managed estates, engaged in trade, Conducted rituals
Common women managed the household, prepared food, manufactured textiles, conducted rituals & often engaged in trade
Midwife Prostitute (European interpretation?) Slave
p171
Aztec Religion & Warfare Adopted gods
Great Goddess of Teotihuacan who became Xochiquetzalli “flowery Plumage” associated with sexual love and handicrafts
Aztec’s contributed their own culture and rituals that created a belief system that focused on human sacrifice used fear to keep their tributary states in
check. Gruesome rituals served as a reminder of their power.
p164
Limitations of Power - politics Technically shut out of politics Informal contributions Exceptions
Moctezuma I daughter, Atotoztli ruled in her own right
Queen Tecuichpo, child of Moctezuma II managed d to secure large amounts of land for she and her children during Spanish conquest.
Early Capulli leaders
p171
Aztec Codex
System of Writing
p168
