Homework Bell Ringer

Homework Bell Ringer

What was used as currency in the Yucatan before the arrival of the Spaniards?

Native Americans

Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas

Pre-Columbian America

Hunter-Gatherers crossed Bering Strait (Alaska) 15,000 BCE. By 9000 BCE hunting bands had reached southern tip of South America.

Over hunting of large animal made them extinct (no domesticated animals – cows, sheep, etc.)

Farming of three principal crops “three sisters” of corn, beans and squash – slowly introduced to North by 1000 BC to adapt to colder environment

Mesoamerica – General Features

Political – centered around city-states and temple centers. Urban life highly developed (Teotihuacan had 250,000 people – one of largest cities in premodern times).

Economics – agriculture highly organized (swamp lands and chinampas) w/o use of draft animals; extensive trade w/large market plaza (some international)

Religious – large portion of resources went to construction of temples; polytheistic – nature gods, war gods, city gods

Mesoamerican – General Features

Social – highly stratified w/bureaucracy highly trained in religion; patriarchal

Intellectual/Technological – although some metal were used for ornamentation – mostly stone; dual calendars for use in agriculture.

Art/Literature – hieroglyphic writing for religious purpose; codices burned by Spanish conquerors so little known

Olmecs (1500-400 BCE)

First civilization – organized in order to build complex irrigation projects in swampy delta.

Competition between city-states (large scale portraits of rulers to show strength; massive temples and tombs glorifying “divine” ruler)

Oldest known writing system, ball court and calendar system used by rest of Mesoamericans.

Decline – either by outside invaders or civil war.

Teotihuacan (100-650 CE), near Mexico City

Imperial Conquest – strong military, aggressive merchant class, by 200 had established control over most of highland Mexico

At height – city was 8 sq. miles, grid system, dominated by massive pyramid to sun (80,000 sacrificed at dedication); Imperial Palace w/royal apartments, temple to Quetzalcoatl, defensive walls

Section of city for foreign merchants (international trade) – trade of cacao, rubber, feathers, obsidian and vegetables

Destroyed by warfare , economic and cultural collapse and foreign nomadic invaders (similar to Romans)

Geography

Yucatan Peninsula – lush vegetation.

Sinkholes provide fresh water

Mayan People

Shorter than average height today, physically fit, fashion involved flattened skulls, jewelry.

Usually done as infant when skull was still developing. May identify social status (true in Egypt)

Paracas Culture (pre-Inca) in Andes

Maya (200-850) - Political

Comparable to classical Greece w/independent, competing city-states

Political competition will lead to patronage of art and architecture

Role in government based on skills in math/science Tikal

Palenque (dynasty of Pacal who traced heritage from mother’s side so needed to prove his right to rule through massive architecture and glyphs) – pop of 100,000

Maya (200-850) - Collapse

Collapse – elite overthrown by starving/overworked peasants – revolution?, outside invasion by wandering barbarians (comparable to Roman collapse)

Drought? - analysis of tree rings indicates major drought around 850

Population decline from 12 million in 750 to 1.8 million by 900.

Cacao Beans

Cacao beans constituted both a ritual beverage and a major currency system in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations.

The buying power of quality beans was such that 80-100 beans could buy a new cloth mantle.

In some areas, such as the Yucatan, cacao beans were still used in place of small coins as late as the 1840s.

History of Chocolate

The Maya (and later, the Aztec) mixed ground cacao seeds with water, chile peppers, cornmeal and other ingredients (sugar was an agricultural product unavailable to the ancient Mesoamericans) and made a spicy drink.

Reportedly, Christopher Columbus was the first European to taste cocoa (in Nicaragua, on his fourth voyage to the New World) and returned to Europe with the first cocoa beans to be seen on that continent.  Hernando Cortez, during his conquest of Mexico, found the Aztec Indians using cacao beans to prepare the royal drink in large golden goblets.

For all its magnificence, however, Montezuma’s “chocolatl” was very bitter, and the Spaniards found that it did not suit their taste.  Cortez and his countrymen sweetened it with cane sugar and began serving it hot. 

Maya (200-850) - Religious

Gods ranked hierarchally. Could be evil like Jaguar

God. Believed that to avoid the

end of the world had to appease gods with blood sacrifice (for some an honor, others – sacrificing captives honors their strength)

Ball courts – gave was symbol of the portals to the after world – sacrifice dead (sometimes women teams)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrzuCtq0S1U&safe=active

Maya (200-850) - Intellectual

Sophisticated mathematics, concept of zero and place notation

Maya (200-850) - Intellectual

Records of astronomy and movement of heavenly bodies (arrival of Venus was traditional time for war) Side Note – Mayan Calendar end on

Dec. 21st, 2012 (winter solstice – also birthday of such people as Osiris,

Dionysus, Mithras, and Christ [before the Julian calendar])

Architecture

The Mayans had very advanced technology, but never made: the wheel, and the arch.

In lieu of proper curved arches, they used the "corbelled arch", which is basically two walls slanting toward one another until they touch.

Temple Structures

Temples - pyramidal structure, victims (alive or dead) hurled from top as sign of devotion. Rarely used as tombs, but possible (Palenque), some temples were civic buildings.

CHICHEN ITZA

Largest of the Mayan Temples at C.I. – French “archaeologist” dynamited side to search for treasures.

Ballcourt

Maya (200-850) – Art

Art was religious or royal theme – sculpture, bas-relief, mural painting, ceramic decoration, and jade jewelry

Mayan Literature

Literate society – works of poetry, literature, history and religious thought but very little survives (destroyed by Spanish)

Codex – accordion style birch-bark books

Toltecs (900-1250)

One of the most important of the nomadic barbarians that sacked Teotihaucan. (pillars of the warriors)

Extensive trade – with colonies throughout Mesoamerica; sea trade through Gulf of Mexico; land trade as far north as Anasazi.

Metallurgy introduced from South America (ca. 800)

Collapse – drought, nomadic barbarians, rebellions.

Aztecs Origins

Began as Chichimec barbarians – hired as mercenaries; would raid weaker civilizations

1193 began to settle around Lake Texcoco – later forced to move onto an island.

Aztecs (1325-1521) - Political

Military Tyranny1. Demands of tribute from subdued

neighbors (who had considerable political autonomy)

2. Control over regional trade through warrior-merchants

3. Wars to capture enemies and sacrifice to gods

4. Overall policy of terror in governing conquered peoples (similar to Assyrian)

Ruler claimed descent from gods – but not primogenitor – chosen among royal family. Prime Minister held great power as support to ruler.

Political Collapse

Moctezuma II (1503-1520) – height of Aztec power, capital of Tenochtitlan had pop. of 200,000.

Within two decades band of 500 Spanish adventurers led by Cortes in alliance with oppressed Aztec vassals defeat.

Reason for Spanish Ease of Conquest

Better Military Weapons (gunpowder and cannons)

Smallpox wiped out population

Horse – never seen – confused as god-like warriors

Used disgruntled natives as agents against Aztecs

Practice Regents

The Native American population of Mexico in 1492 has been estimated at 25 million; the population in 1608 has been estimated at 1.7 million. This decrease in population was mainly a result of

1. crop failures brought on by poor weather conditions 2. emigration of Native Americans to Europe and Africa 3. wars between various native groups 4. diseases introduced by the Spanish

Practice Regents

One reason the Spanish conquistadors were able to conquer the Aztec and Inca Empires rapid is that

1. these empires had no standing armies 2. the Spanish had better weapons than the Aztecs and

Incas did 3. the Spanish greatly outnumbered the Aztecs and Incas 4. the Aztecs and Incas joined together to fight the Spanish

Aztecs (1325-1521) - Economic

Chinampas – floating gardens

Much of agricultural produce of peasants was donated to gods in the form of taxes

Trade fairs coincided with religious festivals – ½ population lived in urban settings and involved in trade

Aztecs (1325-1521) - Religious

Polytheistic – over 100 – relatively fatalistic (fight between good/evil), world would end – to postpone day would make blood sacrifice to sun god, Huitzilopochtli (priest would be covered in blood or he would wear flayed skin of victim; sometimes flesh eaten).

Quetzalcoatl represented forces of creation, virtue and learning (similar to Shiva)

Humans could achieve heavenly salvation but had to go through a transitional stage (“purgatory”)

Warfare was often regarded as a sacred ritual – fallen victims regarded as human sacrifice.

Temple of the Sun – Mexico City

Aztecs (1325-1521) - Social

Very rigid social structure Nobility controlled bureaucracy Females worked in home (especially textiles) –

could be priestesses; could own property, monogamous, arranged marriages

Majority were landless indentured workers and slaves (not inherited – could sell yourself to cover debt)

Commoners part of larger kinship groups called calpulli led by chief (provided tax and conscript labor to king)

Aztecs (1325-1521) - Intellectual

Calendar - Aztec year consisted of eighteen months, each having 20 days = 360 days to which five dots were added inside the circle. These dots, known as Nemontemi, were sacrificial days. 

WritingChinampasKnowledge of herbal remedies

Aztecs (1325-1521) – Art/Literature

Hieroglyphic – no phonetic significance but could be used for religious ideas

Art – temples, carvings, and jewelry

South America

Series of coastal sites – along quick running rivers (little fertile land)

Most abandoned due to geographic overuse of only marginally good land

Began mountain terracing to supplement farming.

Nazca (400 BC – 450 CE)

Evidence of military struggle (taking heads of slain enemies as trophies)

Famous for monumental desert designs only visible from sky (straight lines for 7 miles) – shape of spider, humans, birds

Incan Geography

Inca (1438-1531) - Political

Quechua-speaking clans stretched from Colombia to

Chile, and eastward to Bolivia and Argentina.

The empire was divided into four provinces, each under a governor. Capital at Cuzco

From 9 to 13 million people were under Inca rule.

Inca (1438-1531) - Political

The Incas had a bureaucracy in which most of the nobility served. Local rulers continued in office in return for loyalty. They were exempt from tribute and received labor or produce from their subjects.

Unified by: The Quechua language, Incan Trail, the use of colonists, and the forced transfer of rebels (like Assyrians)

Inca (1438-1531) - Economics

All local resources were taken and redistributed: there were lands for the people, the state, and religion.

Labor on state and religious land was demanded rather than tribute in kind.

Less trade than Aztecs

Inca (1438-1531) - Religion

The Inca worshipped the dead, founding culture heroes, and their king whom they regarded as divine.

The worship of nature and its cycles suggest that for them time and space were sacred, and consequently the calendar was religious and each month had its own festival.

Human and animal sacrifices were held only on special occasions such as the enthronement of the the king, when 200 children would be killed, or in times of crises such as famine, or epidemics.

Inca (1438-1531) – Intellectual/Technological

Terrace Farming Military Outposts w/fine masonry Roads and suspension bridges. Lacked wheel

Inca (1438-1531) – Art/Language

Beautiful pottery and cloth. Their metallurgy was among the most advanced in the Americas.

Lacked writing system, instead using knotted strings (quipu) for accounting.

Compare Aztecs to Romans

1. roads2. autonomy but tribute3. adapted ideas from conquered

peoples4. polytheistic

vs

Results of Conquest (Encounter)

Cultural Diffusion – Spanish and Catholicism dominate most of Central and South America (and North American Mexico)

Poor social status, racial descrimination against native americans

Declining population of natives due to use in mines, encomienda farms, and disease led to rise of importation of African slaves.

Practice Regents

One way in which the Aztec and Inca civilizations are similar is that they both

(1) defeated the Spanish conquistadors(2) developed advanced architectural

techniques(3) lacked strong central governments(4) settled primarily in river valleys

Practice Regents

A study of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations of Latin America would show that these civilizations

1. developed advanced and complex societies before the arrival of the Europeans

2. established extensive trade with Pacific Rim nations 3. were strongly influenced by their contact with Asian and

African civilizations 4. were relatively large, but not well organized

Practice Regents

In Latin America during the early period of Spanish colonialism, the deaths of large numbers of the native people led to

1. a decline in Spanish immigration to the Americas

2. the removal of most Spanish troops from the Americas

3. the importation of slaves from Africa 4. improved health care in the colonies