Download History 1377: US History to 1877

01/02/2013
Instructor: Juan M. Galvan R.
Mesoamerica
Revised Spring 2013
OUTLINE
•Thesis
•Stages of Mesoamerican Civilizations
•The Agricultural Revolution
•Major Civilizations of Mesoamerica: Olmec, Maya,
Teotihuacan, Toltec, Aztec, Tarascan, etc.
•Spanish Conquest of the Aztec: 1519 – 1521.
•Conclusion
•Sources
Thesis
• Mesoamerica (Middle America) encompasses
most of Mexico and Central America.
Mesoamerica is one of the six cradles of
ancient civilizations, the other ones being the
Indus Valley, the Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley,
the Andes, and the Hwang Valley in today’s
central China. Mesoamerica is the core of
ancient American civilizations, and many of its
cultural traits extended as far north as Cahokia
and the four corners.
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STAGES OF EVOLUTION OF
MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
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40,000 to 8,000 BCE. Paleoindian. Hunter-Gatherers.
8,000 to 2,000 BCE. Archaic. Slow evolving domestication of plants, nascent village
life.
2,000 BCE to 200 CE. Formative or Preclassic. Evolution of farming, villages, and
pottery. Appearance of chiefdoms, public architecture, solar calendar, and long
distance trade. Olmec Civilization. Early Maya civilization.
200 to 900 CE. Classic. Blooming of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations with state
level societies ruled by kings and priests. Elaboration of cities and monumental
architecture. Intensification of architecture. Increased social stratification.
Advancement in artistic expression, literacy and science. Examples: Maya and
Teotihuacan Civilizations.
900 to 1521 CE. Post-Classic. Growth of city-states and empires. Expansion of
commerce. Intensification of warfare. Metalurgy. Dominance of Aztec and
Purhepecha (Tarascan) civilizations. Final destruction of Native civilizations by
Europeans.
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The Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution
• c. 10,000 ago.
Domestication of squash
and beans.
• c. 9,000 years ago.
Puebla-Tlaxcala region.
• Teosintle  Zea mays.
• c. 7,000 years ago.
Grinding stones
• Corn cooked with lime
(nixtamal). B vitamins
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“The Three Sisters”: Squash, Beans, Maize
EARLY MAIZE COBBS - TEHUACAN VALLEY (n.d.). Courtesy of the Robert
S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Philips Academy, Andover, MA.
http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/archive.html?f_itemNumber=1925&return=4-2
The Agricultural Revolution
4,000 years ago. Widespread presence of
grinding stones carved from basalt.
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The Olmec (1,800 to 100 BCE)
The Olmec (1,800 to 100 BCE)
Knowledge of the zero.
Hieroglyphic writing.
Astronomy.
Solar calendar.
Ballgame.
Chinampas.
La Venta c. 900 BCE. 9,000 inhabitants.
Chinampas
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The Olmec (1,800 to 100 BCE)
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Mesoamerican Ballgame
The Maya (1,500 BCE on)
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The Maya (1,500 BCE on)
• Intensive farming. Terraces. Canals. Shrimp farming.
• Astronomy. Calculated the length of the solar year
with a margin of error of only 23 seconds. Calculated
eclipses of the sun 33 years in advance.
• Medicine, hygiene, good nutrition, and fitness for
rulers, who lived into their nineties.
• Average life expectancy for commoners: Fourties.
• 600-800 CE. Tikal. 50,000 inhabitants.
Terrace Farming in Guatemala
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Chichen-Itza, Mexico
Kiuic c. 700 AD.
Teotihuacan (800 BC – 750 AD)
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Teotihuacan (800 BC – 750 AD)
c. 500 CE. 125,000 inhabitants.
Mathematics. Hieroglyphic writing. Astronomy.
c. 2,000 apartment complexes. c. 100 people per complex.
Intense agriculture.
Advanced technology.
Influeced Tikal (Guatemala)
Monumental construction.
Long distance trade
Invasions (nomads from the north) since c. 600 AD
Teotihuacán (800 BC – 750 AD)
Toltec, c. 900-1100 AD
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Blend of nomadic and Teotihuacan cultures.
Capital at Tula
Obsidian workshops
Turquoise trade with the Anasazi
Influenced Chichen Itza (Yucatan)
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Toltec, c. 900-1100 AD
THE AZTEC (Mexica), c. 1100 - 1521
THE AZTEC (c. 1100 – 1521)
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800s. CE. Nahuatl speakers in the valley of Mexico .
1100s CE. Aztec arrive.
Texcoco, Tlacopan (Tacuba), and Tenochtitlan-Tlatelolco.
1428. The Triple Alliance.
c. 1480-1521. Tlaxcallans.
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THE AZTEC: Tenochtitlan
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The Aztec: Malinalco
Aztec Education
• Universal education for males; optional for
females
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AZTEC SCHOOLS
• Telpochcalli. School for commoners.
History, religion, military fighting
arts, and a trade or craft (such as
agriculture or handicrafts). All males,
some females attended.
• Calmecac. School of the nobility.
• Trained leaders (priests, scholars/
teachers ), healers. and codex
painters .
• Studied rituals, ancient and
contemporary history, literature,
geometry, poetry, and the military
arts. All males and females
attended.
The Aztec Templo Mayor
Chinampas
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The Tarascan
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Contemporary to the Aztec
Apex, 1300-1500.
Dominated Western Mexico
Beat back Aztec invasions (1470s, 1510s).
Copper weapons
Fell to the Spanish in the 1530s.
The Tarascan: Tzintzuntzan
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THE INCA in The Andes
The Spanish Reach Mexico
• 1508. First Spanish crew
reached Yucatan, returned
to the Caribbean
• 1511. Pedro de Valdivia
expedition to Yucatan.
Shiprecked. 10 made to
Yucatan’s shores.
• Gonzalo Guerrero enslaved.
• Ichpaatun
• Died fighting the Spanish in
the 1530s
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Monument to Gonzalo Guerrero and his family.
Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Twentieth Century
Hernan Cortez and
the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, 1519-1521
Jorge Gonzalez Camarena, The Embrace
Mexico. 20th Century
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Conclusion
• Upon Spanish conquest, the demographic makeup of Latin
America changed dramatically, with a small but dominant
population of European descent and a much larger population
of color, especially of indigenous and African origin.
• Today, there are millions of speakers of indigenous languages
in Mexico and central America.
• The histories of Mexico and the United States have remained
deeply interlinked. A border between them really didn’t exist
until 1848, when the United States took over half of Mexico’s
territory.
Main Source
• Rodolfo Acuña, “Not Just Pyramids, Explorers
and Heroes”
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