Download Mesoamerican Prehistory

Mesoamerican
Civilizations
Chronology
Early Excavations
Predominant Cultures
Early Excavations
 Matthew Williams Stirling (1896-1975)
 In 1938, Stirling made an expedition to southern
Mexico to excavate Olmec artifacts. After discovering
colossal heads and taking pictures of them he sent
the photos to the National Geographic Society.
 Later he was advised to apply for grants from the
NGS which he received and was supported by the
NGS and the Smithsonian Institution between 1938
and 1946.
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/stirling_matthew.html
Early Excavations con’d
 Dr. Alfonso Caso, a Mexican archaeologist, led one of
the first explorations and restorations of this
archaeological zone.
 His project, completed in 18 stages, began in 1931
and finished in 1953.
 Based on studies of the architecture of the buildings,
tombs, ceramics, and jewelry, he determined that the
history of Monte Alban could be divided into distinct
epochs based on social organization, population
density, and exchange systems. In this manner he
established 5 epochs designated as Monte Alban I, II,
III, IV and V
http://www.mexonline.com/oaxaca/oxarc101.htm
Marshall Saville
 Marshall Saville, the
first Curator of
Mexican and Central
American
Archaeology at the
AMNH (1894-1907).
 He used the relatively
new technology of
the camera to great
effect in documenting
his excavations.
http://archaeology.about.com/gi/dynamic/o
ffsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=archaeology&zu=
http%3A%2F%2Fanthro.amnh.org%2Fant
hropology%2Fresearch%2Farchaeo.htm
Sonora, Mexico
 The Sonora-
Sinaloa
Archaeological
Survey Project
directed by
Gordon F.
Ekholm (19371940).
http://archaeology.about.com/gi/dynamic/o
ffsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=archaeology&zu=
http%3A%2F%2Fanthro.amnh.org%2Fant
hropology%2Fresearch%2Farchaeo.htm
Linda Schele


Linda Schele was a Mesoamerican scholar who died in 1998.
She is best know for her work on translations of Maya hieroglyphs and has written
several great books which include "Maya Glyphs: The Verbs" (Schele 1982), the
"Palenque Bodega" book (Schele and Mathews 1979), "The Blood of Kings"
(Schele and Miller 1986), "A Forest of Kings" (Schele and Freidel 1990), "Maya
Cosmos" (Freidel, Schele, and Parker 1993), and "The Code of Kings" (Schele and
Mathews 1998).
http://www.famsi.org/research/schele/
Mesoamerican Chronology














Contact ca. AD 1500
Late Post-Classic Period AD 1200-1500
Early Post-Classic Period AD 900-1200
------Late Classic Period AD 600-900
Early Classic Period (Mexico: AD 150-650/Maya: AD 250-600)
------Late Formative (Pre-Classic) Period 300 BC - AD 300
Middle Formative (Pre-Classic) Period 900-300 BC
Early Formative (Pre-Classic) Period 1500/1800-900 BC
------Archaic (Incipient Farming) Period 7000± - 2000± BC
------Early Hunters 11,000± - 7,000± BC
Early Hunters
 Hunter-Gatherers
 Mobile
 Small groups
 Pre-ceramic, pre-writing
Archaic
 Early hunter-gatherers transitioning to
horticulture.
 Beginning sedentism
 Pottery begins late
Pre-Classic (Formative)
 Nation States
 Development of cities
 Olmec
 Also Zapotec and early Maya (Late
Formative)
Olmec
 1939 Matthew Stirling was sent by the
Smithsonian and National Geographic to
investigate giant stone carvings.
 Olmec lived in this area between 1500 B.C.
and 100 A.D.
Olmec Area
Colossal Heads
Characteristic Traits
 Building of clay pyramids and temple mounds
 Particular sculptural style
 weeping or snarling jaguar/human infant
 were-jaguar
 colossal heads
 basalt monuments
 Fine jade carving
 Basic Mesoamerican civilization
 Artifacts with Olmec traits found in preclassic horizons
throughout Mesoamerica.
 “Cult of the Jaguar” considered a basic Olmec trait.
Classic
 Teotihuacan grows to a metropolis and its empire
dominates Mesoamerica.
 The greatest era of the cities of the Maya southern
lowlands, such as Tikal, Palenque, and Copán.
 The Classic Era ended earlier in Central Mexico, with
the fall of Teotihuacan around the 7th century, than it
did in the Maya area, which continued for centuries
more.
 The late period of continued Maya development is
sometimes known as the Florescent Era.
Teotihuacan
 Size and Construction
 At its height, around 125,000 people and covering 22
sq kilometers.
 More ceremonial centers than any other prehispanic
site.
 Planned and laid out along a rectilinear network of
roads and paths.




Avenue of the Dead-major north to south axis.
East and West Avenues divided the city into quadrants.
The “citadel” was at their center.
In front of this was the great compound.
Temples and Pyramids
 Constructed with Talud-tablero architecture
 cut stone facing
 Framed panels (tablero)
 sloping basal elements (talud)
 5000 known structures.
 Pyramid of the Sun
 212 ft high, 700 ft wide, 35,000,000 cu ft of fill (equivalent
to 10 modern oil tankers).
 cave located underneath with sacred objects in it.
 Pyramid of the Moon
 located at the north end of the avenue of the dead.
 Temple of the Feathered Serpent (at the Citadel)
 Residential structures
 apartment compounds
Pyramid of the Sun
Maya
 Slow, gradual change.
 Did not develop overnight.
 Due to several factors resource concentration,
population growth, beginnings of cultural
variability, development of ideologies,
migration of ideas from other cultures
 Small Kingdoms, No centralized state.
 succession of regional centers
 not really dominant over neighbors
 Productive agriculture
Mayan
Regions
Palenque
Uaxactun
Tikal
Floating Gardens-Chinampas
The Mesoamerican Ballgame
 Called tlachtli by the Aztecs, game played with
hard rubber ball.
 Spanish document stone rings as goals, but
those dating before 700 A.D. do not have
them.
 Typically i-shaped courts, balls weighing up to
5 pounds.




ball had to be kept in motion
could not be hit with hands or feet
associated with fertility, death, militarism and
sacrifice.
sacrifice of defeated team members
documented in late accounts.
Ballcourt
Calendar System
 Calender Round
basic unit was a day, not broken down further.
 two recurring cycles of time 260-day and 365-day ran
simultaneously making up a period of 52 years.
 260-day cycle (Maya:Tzokin, Aztec:Tonalpohualli)
 primarily religious and divinatory
 guidance of daily affairs
 20 named days, combined with numbers 1-13, in which the exact
combination of name and number would recur every 260 days.
 not based on natural phenomenon.
 365-day cycle (Maya:Haab, Aztec:Xihuitl)
 18 named months of 20 days each, plus 5 additional days of
apprehension and bad luck at the end of the year.
 Days numbered from 0-19, and to return to any given date, 52
years would have to pass.
 Prophesy that “this world” will end in 2012.

Collapse of the Maya
 Circa A.D. 800-900
 Monumental architecture ends
 Depopulation of large centers
 Theories:


Drought
Warfare
Post-Classic
 Collapse of many of the great nations and cities of




the Classic Era, although some continue, such as in
Oaxaca, Cholula, and the Maya of Yucatán, such as
at Chichen Itza and Uxmal.
This is sometimes seen as a period of increased
chaos and warfare.
The Toltec for a time dominate central Mexico in the
11th - 13th century, then collapse.
The northern Maya are for a time united under
Mayapan.
The Aztec Empire rises in the 14th century and
seems on the path to asserting a dominance over the
whole region not seen since Teotihuacan, when
Mesoamerica is discovered by Spain and conquered
by the Conquistadors.
Toltec
Atlantids from Tula Grande
The Aztec
 From A.D. 1200 to A.D. 1370 the Basin of Mexico was
occupied by various central Mexican peoples.
 Chichimec people settled in the area from the North and
gradually overcame the people living there at that time.
 primarily due to Xolotl, who ruled a somewhat barbaric
horde.
 Technically squatted in the area of Tenochtitlan and were
know as the Mixeca but today Aztecs is more common.
Basin of Mexico
Tenochtitlan
Spanish Arrival: Cortes
 Spanish arrive in A.D. 1519 at Vera Cruz.
 March inland to Tenochtitlan
 Received by Moctezuma II, who was then held
captive by Cortes and his men.
 Moctezuma II dies, replaced by nephew (dies
almost immediately from small pox), replaced
by another nephew: Cuahtemoc.
 Cuahtemoc is forced to surrender in AD 1521.