Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Empires of the Maya, Aztec, and Inka Laura Drummond HIST 8420 September 14, 2016 Maya Aztec Inka https://worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/5565 EMPIRE Empires are polities which extend relations of power across territorial spaces over which they have no prior or given legal sovereignty, and where, in one or more of the domains of economics, politics, and culture, they gain some measure of extensive hegemony over those spaces for the purpose of extracting or accruing value. Paul James and Tom Nairn, Globalization and Violence, Vol. 1: Globalizing Empires, Old and New, London: Sage Publications, 2006, p. xxiii. Patterns & Periods of Indigenous Life • Nonsedentary – Hunters & gatherers 11000 – 7000 BCE • Semisedentary – Archaic 7000 – 2500 BCE • Fully Sedentary – Pre-Classic 2500 BCE – 1 CE – Classic 1 CE – 1000 – Post-Classic 1000 – 1500 Components of Empire • Permanent agricultural base • Urbanization – Eventually the forms of cities reflected the distinct areas of work, worship, administration as well as the social hierarchy • Specialization of labor • Stratified society • Commerce across a large region Mesoamerican Climate Zones Mesoamerica’s diverse geographic and climatic zones The Maya city of Palenque, located deep in the lowland rain forest in the northeast of the state of Chiapas, in the Tierra Caliente, was reclaimed from the jungle. Teotihuacán pre-dates the Aztec empire, within the territory later held by the. It is located about 30 miles northeast of the site of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, on a dry plain surrounded by distant mountains, in the Tierra Fría. Resplendent Quetzal and Quetzalcoatl, “the feathered serpent,” the God of Wind and Wisdom Components of Empire • Expansion of the empire by military aggression – After conquest, colonization • Exaction of tribute in the form of goods and labor • Identity of religious cult with government Religion and Empire • Religion was an effective tool of imperialism – Mexicas claimed to be the successors to Quetzalcoatl, the ancient plumed serpent god, who was supposed to return and inaugurate a new golden age – Mexicas claimed the Sun God had to be sustained by offerings of beating human hearts, justifying their constant warfare and taking of victims to be sacrificed Mesoamerica Maya Empire 331 CE-1000 CE Maya Culture • Skillful sculptors and painters • Architecturally advanced, used corbeled arch • Developed the codex from folded bark cloth paper Maya Religion • Distinctive world view: they were living in the last era which would have a catastrophic end • To stave that off, they sacrificed humans • Their end times beliefs led them to develop: – Complex calendrical systems – Astronomical and astrological knowledge – Sophisticated mathematics— including zero, base 20 numeric system, numeric symbols so they could count into the billions The world did not end on December 21, 2012. The Maya never said that it would. Maya Decline • • • • • Collapsed between 750 and 900 Nobles challenging divine right of kings Warfare Demographic stress—too many people Ecological stress—incapable of sustaining large populations Climate Change • Climate deterioration caused by human deforestation which altered vegetation in ways that mimic climate shifts • 800-1000 was the driest of the middle to late Holocene epoch, which coincided with the collapse of Classic Maya civilization Resistance to Spanish Domination • • • • 1525 Guatemala; 1546 Yucatan Maya culture has transformed over time Mayas still speak Maya Maya revolutionaries – 1761 Canek, a Yucatec Maya, led brief revolt against the Spanish – 1992 Rigoberto Menchú, a Quiché Mayan woman of Guatemala, won the Nobel Peace Prize for calling world attention to the atrocities of Guatemala’s dirty war. – 1994 Maya Zapatistas resisted NAFTA Aztec Empire 1325-1521 CE Tenochtitlán / Mexico City in the middle of Lake Texcoco Chinampas – “floating islands” in Xochimilco today Land reclamation technique for intensive agriculture Tenochtitlán “The Venice of America” Mesoamerican Ball Game Ullamaliztli / Pok-to-pok Ceramic ballcourt model, Nayarit, Mexico, 200 BCE – 500 CE (Loser?) Ballplayer Sacrifice Inka Civilization 1200-1546 The largest American pre-Columbian empire Inka Empire • Levied tribute upon the conquered, mostly in the form of forced labor • Created a more sophisticated central bureaucracy to administer the system in reaction to the contrasts of climate and terrain within the empire • Vertical archipelagos: Dispersed, specialized labor for production of different products throughout the varied ecological tiers necessity of redistribution and reciprocity Inka Religion & Empire • Cult of the Sun God required sacrifice (by live burial) of youths and children who had to be physically perfect • Food and animal sacrifices were routine • High priests were relatives of the supreme Inka ruler • Close identification of religion with government gave great power to the state • Feats of building demonstrate the empire’s ability to mobilize human labor Ancient terracing still in use near Pisac, Peru Irrigation system at Tipon, Peru Dry-laid stone (no mortar) from the Fortress of Sacsayhuaman on the outskirts of Cuzco Qhapaq Ñan “the great road” • Built without metal, the wheel, or stock animals • 17 types of bridges, including rope suspension bridges • Spanned complicated terrain • Had no engineering instruments • Had no conventional writing system Vicuña fawn Pre-Columbian America never: • • • • • Invented the wheel Discovered how to smelt iron Developed a phonetic alphabet Domesticated draft animals Built ships This just in: The Grolier Codex is real! • 13th century Maya codex • Discovered by looters • Long believed to be a 20th century fake • Confirmed as genuine by carbon dating, dye analysis and recent scholarship • Reported 09/12/2016