Cultures of Middle America

TOPIC:

Olmec civilizationThe Olmec were the first great Mesoamerican civilization. They thrived along Mexico’s gulf coast, mainly in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco, from about 1200 to 400 B.C. The Olmec were great artists and traders who culturally dominated early Mesoamerica from their mighty cities of San Lorenzo and La Venta. Olmec culture was greatly influential on later societies, such as the Maya and the Aztec.

Culture!!The ancient Olmec had a rich culture. Most of the common Olmec citizens labored in the fields producing crops or spent their days fishing in the rivers. Sometimes, massive amounts of manpower would be required to move immense boulders many miles to the workshops where sculptors would turn them in to great stone thrones or colossal heads. The Olmec had religion and a mythology, and the people would gather near the ceremonial centers to watch their priests and rulers perform ceremonies. There is some evidence that suggests that the Olmec practiced both human sacrifice and cannibalism.

San Lorenzo & La Venta!!Two major Olmec cities are known to researchers: San Lorenzo and La Venta. These are not the names the Olmec knew them by: their original names have been lost to time. Many important works of art have been found in and around San Lorenzo, including the sculptures of the hero twins and ten colossal heads. La Venta was also a mighty city, with thousands of citizens and far-reaching influence in the Mesoamerican world. Many thrones, colossal heads and other major

pieces of Olmec art have been found at La Venta. Complex A, a religious complex located in the royal compound at La Venta, is one of the most important ancient Olmec sites.

Olmec Trade and Commerce!!The Olmec were great traders who had contacts with other cultures from Central America to the Valley of Mexico. They traded away their finely made things and in return, they obtained different materials or goods such as crocodile skins, seashells and basic necessities like salt. They also traded for cacao and brightly colored feathers. Their skill as traders helped disseminate their culture to different contemporary civilizations, which helped establish them as the parent culture for several later civilizations.

Art!!The Olmec were very talented artists whose skills are still admired today. They are best known for their colossal heads: these massive stone heads, thought to

represent rulers, stand several feet high and weigh many tons. The Olmecs also made massive stone thrones, which were evidently used for rulers to sit or stand upon. The Olmecs made large and small sculptures, some of which are very significant. The Olmecs also made countless smaller pieces, including Celts, figurines and masks.

Decline of the Olmec!!La Venta went into decline around 400 B.C. and the Olmec civilization vanished along with it. The great Olmec cities were swallowed up by the jungles, not to be seen again for thousands of years. Why the Olmec declined is a bit of a mystery. It may have been climate change: the Olmec were dependent on a few basic crops and climate change could have affected their harvests.

The MayasThe Mayas were an important culture that established a great civilization and built many cities in this region of Middle America. They were developed in parts of Central

America (Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador) and the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico’s southeastern tip). They may have been influenced by Olmec culture.

Farming!!Mayan life was based on farming. Most of the ancient Maya were

farmers. They were very good farmers and grew more food than they needed. This extra food was called surplus crops. The surplus was stored in warehouses throughout the empire, to feed anyone who needed it. When farmers were not farming, they helped to build the wonderful temples and estate of the nobles, and other buildings in the city. The women on the farms helped in the fields at planting and harvest time. But most of their time was spent cooking, cleaning, and sewing. Women took produce to market to trade for other goods. They carried produce in baskets balanced on their heads.  They used a special technique called slash-and-burn agriculture, they first cleared the land by cutting down the trees, and then they burned the tree stumps, saving the ash to use as fertilizer. Finally, they planted seeds. After a few years, however, the soil would be worn out. The farmers would then have to clear and plant a new area. They grew a variety of crops and other plants, this includes beans, squash, peppers, papayas, and avocados. But their most common crop was maize, or corn. In fact, maize was so important to the Mayas that one of the gods they worshiped was a god of corn, and since the corn needed the sun and rain to grow, they also worshiped them.

Religion!!The Maya were deeply religious, and worshiped various gods related to nature, including the gods of the sun, the moon, rain and corn. At the top of Maya society were the kings, or “kuhul ajaw” (holy lords), who claimed to be related to gods and followed a hereditary succession. They were thought to serve as mediators between the gods and people on earth, and performed the elaborate religious ceremonies and rituals so important to the Maya culture. They made temples for them and human sacrifice to their religious ritual.

A.D 250 – 900!!The Classic Period was the golden age of the Maya Empire. Classic Maya civilization grew to some 40 cities; each city held a population of between 5,000 and 50,000 people. At its peak, the Maya population may have reached 2,000,000.

Temples, palaces and Courts: The Classic Maya built many of their temples and palaces in a stepped pyramid shape, decorating them with elaborate reliefs and inscriptions. These structures have earned the Maya their reputation as the

great artists of Mesoamerica. All of these, including courts for playing the ball games, were ritually and politically significant to Maya culture.

Advances in mathematics and astronomy: They also made significant advances in mathematics and astronomy, including the use of the zero and the development of a complex calendar system

based on 365 days. Codices: The Maya made paper from tree bark and wrote in books made from

this paper, known as codices; four of these codices are known to have survived.Even though researchers concluded that the Maya were a peaceful society, there was a less peaceful side of Maya culture, including the war between rival Mayan city-states and the importance of torture.

Mysterious decline of the Maya!!One by one, the Classic cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned, and by A.D. 900, Maya civilization in that region had collapsed. The reason for this mysterious decline is unknown. All three of these factors–overpopulation and overuse of the land, endemic warfare and drought–may have played a part in the downfall of the Maya in the southern lowlands. But they did not disappear entirely; in fact, a few cities of the Maya civilization later revived in the Yucatan Peninsula and by the time Spanish conquerors reached the Americas in the 1500s, though, Maya power had faded.

The Aztecs

The Aztecs were people who lived in the Valley of Mexico, they began looking for a place to build a new capital. When the Aztecs saw an eagle perched on a cactus on the marshy land near the southwest border of Lake Texcoco, they took it as a sign to build their settlement there. They drained the swampy land, constructed artificial islands on which they could plant gardens and established the foundations of their capital city, Tenochtitlan, in 1325 A.D. A powerful military tradition would enable the Aztecs to build a successful state, and later an empire. By the 1470s, they began expanding their territory to surrounding lands. Their large empire extended stretched to the Gulf of Mexico in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west.

Architecture and Art!!The Aztecs were themselves appreciative of fine art and they collected pieces from across their empire to be brought back to Tenochtitlán and often ceremonially buried. Aztec art ranged from miniature engraved precious objects to massive stone temples. Perhaps some of the most striking art objects are those which employed turquoise. Common forms of pottery vessels include anthropomorphic vases in bright colors. Aztec art depicted all manner of subjects but especially popular were animals, plants and gods, particularly those related to fertility and agriculture. The Aztecs studied astronomy and made a calendar much like the Maya one.

Aztec class structure!!Aztec society had a strict class structure. The emperor was the most important. Next were the members of the Royal family, nobles, priests, and military leaders. Soldiers were next in importance. Below soldiers came the artisans –skilled creators of jewelry, pottery, sculpture and other goods- and merchants. Then came the farmers, they made up the largest class of people. The lowest position in Aztec society was held by slaves, most of whom were prisoners captured in battle.

Religion!!The Aztecs worshipped many gods whom they believed controlled both nature and human activities. To please the gods, Aztec priests regularly made human sacrifices. Most victims were battle captives or slaves. In bloody ritual ceremonies, priests would slash open their victims’ chess to “feed” human hearts and blood to the gods. The

Aztecs sacrificed as many as 10000 people a year. To supply enough victims, Aztecs warriors often fought battles with neighboring peoples.

End of the empire!!In the late 1400s the Spanish arrived in the

Americas, seeking adventure, riches and converts to Catholicism. One group of conquistadors, or Spanish conquerors, reached Mexico in the 1519. Led by Hernan Cortes their motives were to find gold, claim land, and convert the native people to Christianity. The Aztec emperor Moctezuma II cautiously welcomed the strangers. He believed Cortes to be the God Quetzalcoatl, whom the Aztecs believed had left Mexico long ago. According to legend, the god had promised to return in 1519. Moctezuma gave the Spanish gold and other gifts, but Cortes wanted more. He took the emperor prisoner, enraging the Aztecs, who attacked the Spanish. They managed to drive out the conquistadors, but Moctezuma was killed in the fighting.

Within a year, Cortes and his men came back. This time they had help from other peoples in the region who resented the Aztecs’ harsh rule. In addition, the Spanish had better weapons, including armor, cannons, and swords. Furthermore, the Aztecs were terrified of the enemy’s big horses –animals they had ever seen before-. The Spanish had also unknowingly brought diseases such as smallpox to the Americas. Diseases weakened or killed thousands of Aztecs. In 1521 The Aztec Empire came to an end.

Middle America today

Guatemala

Belice

El Salvador

Honduras

Mexico