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
The cultures and civilizations of the “Americas” Where did the Native Americans come from? Migrations from Asia ca. 30,000 – 15,000 yrs ago over Bering strait land bridge; Isolated for at least 15,000 years! Kingdoms and & Empires of the Americas Who was in Meso-America? (“Middle America”) • • • • • Olmec Teotihuacan Maya Toltec Aztec OLMEC Former kings? • 1500 -300 BCE; Gulf of Mexico • Carved enormous stone heads of volcanic rock • Chief god - human-like with jaguar face • urban centers; astronomy • Kings, elite, merchants, laborers • Hieroglyphics; calendar • Corn, beans, squash, manioc • • • • • • • • Temples Teotihuacan Quetzalcoatl Chinampas Apartment housing for commoners Obsidian tools Aristocratic govt Military protected long distance trade Decline – violence… Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Sun Pyramid of the Moon Maya • • • • • • • • • Yucatan Peninsula City States; hereditary Swidden agriculture; no metal tools Complex religion - 3 layers (heavens, now and underworld); trances Elite, tatoos, human sacrifice (elite capt) Writing, ball playing (pok-a-tok), astronomy, **Mayan math computation Calendar (365) math system (zero) Elite women – high; women important demise - war, drought, infighting MAYA Mayan Calendar Ritual “divine” cycle calendar Solar “civil” calendar “long count” calendar • first date is actually written 13.0.0.0.0. • three possible equivalences: • 13.0.0.0.0 = 13 Aug 3114 BCE (Gregorian) 13.0.0.0.0 = 11 Aug 3114 BCE (Gregorian) 13.0.0.0.0 = 15 Oct 3374 BC (Gregorian) • Assuming one of the first two equivalences, the Long Count will again reach 13.0.0.0.0 on 21 or 23 December AD 2012 • 13.0.0.0.0 may have been the Mayas' idea of the date of the creation of the world. Maya / Aztec Calendar Palenque Mayan Temples Toltec • Transmitted Teotihuacan & Mayan culture to the Aztecs • Conquest state; military power • Violent culture • Rivalries • Tula art ----- • Decline & invasion by the Aztecs The Aztecs • Nomads; settled on islands AZTECS • in Lake Texcoco • Adopted agriculture; gradually grew into an independent power, then empire • Capital city - Tenochtitlan – • Ruler chosen by nobility • War – religious significance (of course) – legitimized the ruler • War also increased holdings of nobles • War to get captives for human sacrifice • Society - hierarchy with Aztec ruler & nobility at top & slaves/criminals/debtors at bottom; women had rights • Tremendous inequalities - nobility vs commoners • Elaborate ritual; Huitzilopochtli; war/sun • Human sacrifice • Political tribute system; pd in food; goods • Economic: chinampas; barter • Dike in lake: salt/fresh water Who was in Meso-America? (“Middle America”) • • • • • Olmec Teotihuacan Maya Toltec Aztec • Pyramids of Tenochtitlán Huitzilopochtli god of war & sun needed human hearts Tlaloc God of Rain Quetzalcoatl god of wind & knowledge Canoe moving about the chinampas Aztec Society in Transition • Increasingly hierarchical • Conflict between nobles and growing “middle” • Violence • Discontent tribute tribes; sacrifice! • Empire under Montezuma II conquered by Spaniards (Cortes) Montezuma II Cortes Moche Andean Societies environmental challenges… Andean Cultures • Background: • Early – small coastal & foothills villages • by 2600 BCE cf - Old Kingdom Egypt Chavin (900-250 BCE) • Trade routes; controlled; linked regions • Maize <----> quinoa, potatoes, llamas • Adobe & stone; 1st metals; jaguar-man • Social stratification: priests, elite, etc. Technologies to meet the needs • Environment al challenges: • Altitude • Frosts • Arid / drought • Only llamas! • Compensations: • Calendar • New varieties potatoes & grains • Terraced farming • Freeze-dried vegetables & meat • Llama & alpaca wool Andean culture • • • • • • Khipus Ayllu Hereditary aristocracy & kings Mit’a Coca (not cacao) Colonists khipus Moche • Ca. 600 CE • Maize, quinoa, beans, manioc, sweet potatoes • Irrigation, canals, aqueducts • Alpacas & llamas • Textiles • Stratified society; theocratic • Women weavers Moche ceramic sculpture The Inca huge empire & strong central gov’t INCA extending length of South America Large professional military Built paved roads & suspension bridges used running messengers; quipus • Pastoralists; men and women • Capital Cuzco; sun god; royal family • Local rulers/chiefdoms; control by hostage taking • • • • Inca terraces; Machu Picchu Machu Pichu suspension bridge Northern Peoples Southwestern desert • Aztec influence incl. maize, squash, beans • Hohokam irrigation canals • Anasazi – kivas; cliff dwellings & canyon “appts”, pottery, weaving • Chaco canyon; Mesa Verde Anasazi cliff dwellings Mississippian culture • Oldest mounds – 3000’s BCE • “mound-builders” • Chiefdoms • “Hopewell” cultures • Towns – central plaza surrounded by mounds; burial mounds, temple mounds • Social stratification; trade • (not accepted as product of the Native Americans until late 1800’s!) How Mississippian towns might have looked Cahokia mounds city; Illinois Had more inhabitants than Paris at that time (1150) Etowah Indian Mound