Term
| Harappan (Indus Valley) 2500-2000 BC |
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Definition
| This culture existed along the Indus River in present day Pakistan. It was named after the city of Harappa which it was centered around. Harappa and the city of Mohenjo-Daro were the greatest achievements of the Indus valley civilization. These cities are well known for their impressive, organized and regular layout. Over one hundred other towns and villages also existed in this region. The Harappan people were literate and used the Dravidian language. Only part of this language has been deciphered today, leaving numerous questions about this civilization unanswered. |
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Term
| Mortimer Wheeler 1890-1976 |
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Definition
Mohenjo-daro excavated by Mortimer Wheeler who had the Aryan Invasion argument (i have to wikipedia what this actually is, i'm not sure) for the collapse of Harrapan civilization
during his career he performed many major excavations within Britain, including that of Roman Verulamium(modern-day St Albans), the late Iron Age hill-fort of Maiden Castle, Dorset and Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications in Yorkshire. The excavation methods he used, for example the grid system (later developed further by Kathleen Kenyon and known as the Wheeler-Kenyon method), were significant advances in archaeological method, although later superseded. He was influenced greatly by the work of the archaeologist Lieutenant General Augustus Pitt Rivers (1827–1900). The two constant themes in his attempts to improve archaeological excavation were, first, to maintain strict stratigraphic control while excavating (for this purpose, the baulks between his trenches served to retain a record of the strata that had been dug through), and, second, to publish the excavation promptly and in a form that would tell the story of the site to the intelligent reader.
When World War II was imminent he returned from excavating a site in Normandy during August 1939 to join the Middlesex Territorial Association at Enfield. He stayed there until 1941 when his unit was transferred into the regular army forces as the 48th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, which became a part of the 42nd Mobile Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment and went with the 8th Army to Northern Africa. There he served at the Second Battle of El Alamein. During September 1943 he commanded the 12th Anti-Aircraft Brigade during the landing of Allied Forces atSalerno, Italy, Operation Avalanche.
The next year, now 54 years old, he retired from the Army to become Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, exploring in detail the remains of the Indus Valley Civilization at Mohenjodaro. Soon after he returned during 1948, he was made a professor at the Institute of Archaeology, but spent part of the years 1949 and 1950 in Pakistan as Archaeological Adviser to the Government, helping to establish the Archaeological Department of Pakistan, and the National Museum of Pakistan at Karachi. He was knighted in 1952 for his services to archaeology.
He became known through his books and appearances on television and radio, helping to bring archaeology to a mass audience. Wheeler believed strongly that archaeology needed public support, and was assiduous in appearing on radio and television to promote it. |
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Term
| George Dales & Robert Raikes |
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Definition
| Harrapa site excavated by Dales and Raikes who had the Inundation and Tectonics theory for the collapse of the Harrapa civilization (which was that an earthquake triggered flooding which disrupts trade and makes Harrapa very vulnerable) |
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Definition
| conducted fieldwork investigating the origins of corn (maize) and rice under the auspices of the Andover (Mass.) Foundation for Archaeologic Research and stirred controversy with some of his interpretations derived from his work. His most notable discovery came during the 1960s when he found tiny ears of corn in a cave in the Tehuacán Valley in Mexico; these forebears of modern corn at first were believed to be as much as 7,000 years old but later were dated at 5,500 years old. During the 1990s MacNeish found remnants of cultivated rice paddies that were 9,000 years old along the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) basin. MacNeish’s 1992 discovery inNew Mexico of human fingerprints on human-made hearths that were believed as old as 38,000 years led him to discredit a widely held theory that humans first set foot in the Americas about 12,000 years ago by crossing the Bering land bridge from Asia, a hypothesis that raised the hackles of proponents of that theory. MacNeish was killed when he crashed after losing control of his car while driving between two archaeological sites. |
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Definition
| Excavated various Olmec sites, providing evidence of political power within the Olmec culture. |
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Definition
Pizarro's first expedition was in 1509 and he was the first mate. The captain was Balboa, another famous explorer. The expeditions purpose was to explore the land that is now Panama. The crew founded Panama City and Pizarro was an important townsperson there. Then in 1527 he made his first expedition on his own to find a rumored civilization called the Incas. Pizarro's first mate was a good friend, his name was Diego de Almagro. They sailed down the coast of western South America. There they went inland a little ways and found evidence of the Incas and gold. Then he returned to Panama with the news. The whole expedition took one year.
Then when he was back in Panama he made plans to sail back to Spain and tell the King and Queen the news and get more men and provisions for crops and other foods that were not abundant in Panama. With this news, the King appointed him the governor of Peru, the name of this land that he had found. Then he sailed back to Panama, where he made plans for a long expedition and war on the Incas that would make him the ruler of Peru.
For this expedition he went down where he had gone before and a little farther. He went deep into the land and there he did not find any signs of Incas, so he traveled up the coast. Then he went inward towards the Incas. There he was invaded by a large Inca army. Many of his men were lost in the battle, and many provisions and maps that they had were lost. They returned to their ships and set sail back to Panama, realizing that the Incas were very powerful. Then on his last expedition he took a huge army and lots of supplies and went back to the Inca city. There he laid siege on the city and wiped it out, but he managed to capture the Inca ruler Atahualpa. Then he set a ransom of a room of gold and then the same room filled two times with silver. The Incas agreed and paid the ransom, but Pizarro killed Atahualpa anyway. Then the remaining men traveled down very far to Lima and Cuzco. In Lima Pizarro was murdered by Almagros son who wanted revenge for his father's death. Pizarro's half brother killed Almagro. |
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Definition
| indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean linguistic family. |
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Definition
| Early Intermediate Period state-based society centred on the northern coast of Peru in South America during the period AD 200–700. The site of Moche in the Moche Valley was the capital of the Mochica state and comprised two huge adobe platforms, an immense plaza, and an extensive residential area. Mochic society was stratified and militaristic. The Mochica state expanded through conquest, new territories being linked to the core area by a network of roads and paths. Fortified garrisons were established in some valleys. The construction of Moche was probably achieved through draft labour rendered to the state. Burial monuments are known, the higher levels of society being interred in platform mounds. Mochica pottery includes stirrup-spouted funerary vessels on which there are painted depictions of gods, ceremonies, and scenes from everyday life. The Mochica state seems to have lasted until c.AD 700 when it was absorbed into the Huari empire. |
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Term
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Definition
| Aztec civilization clearly can be seen as the culmination of many long-standing trends in Mesoamerican cultural development. Urbanization, mercantilism, and imperialism, for instance, all reached their Precolumbian heights under the Aztec regime. Since Aztec civilization was destroyed in the early stages of its growth, it is difficult to predict how complex their cultural system might have become. Still, archaeologists and ethnohistorians know more about the Aztecs than any other Mesoamerican group because of the presence of a host of documentary materials from the time of the Spanish Conquest. |
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Definition
| By 300 B.C., a great civilization had begun to evolve in an area adjacent to the Olmec lowlands, a region which today includes Mexico, Guatemala, Belize (the former British Honduras), El Salvador, and Honduras. Here the Maya built a number of huge urban centers whose distinctive remains have survived the ravages of time and nature. In these centers, archaeologists have uncovered abundant evidence of the artistic and intellectual achievements of the ancient Maya. Visitors to sites such as Tikal or Copan can see clear evidence of their architectural and sculptural skills. Other achievements of the Maya include writing, astronomy, pottery manufacture, and stoneworking, as well as less tanglible accomplishments in economic, social, and religious organization. |
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Definition
▪ Tenochtitlan
• island in shallow lake
• basin of Mexico
• ceremonial center= templo mayor
• Hernan Cortez (AD 1519)
◦ Spaniard conquered Aztecs
◦ strategic alliances with Aztec enemies
◦ substantial army of native Americans led by Cortez
◦ Spanish Inquisition ensues
◦ 90% of Native Americans die; genocide
▪ materials and ideas interconnected |
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Term
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Definition
◦ integration theories emphasize social cohesion
▪ Kent Flannery (Spencer and Hobbes, too)
▪ state acts to integrate and coordinate society
▪ single, unified functioning system
• ignores social differences and conflicts
• assumes rulers act for good of the group |
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Definition
▪ Copan
• central acropolis
• 18-Rabbit= powerful ruler
◦ Quirigua defeats Copan AD 737
◦ sacrificed 18-Rabbit by Cauac Sky of Quirigua |
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Definition
▪ Chavin Culture
• 900-200BC
• Chavin de Hauntar
◦ exchange of prestige goods and ideas
◦ carved stones
◦ iconography |
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Term
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Definition
• Inca Empire, Highland Peru (empire extends from Colombia-Chile, Pacific coast-western Amazon
◦ 1460s- Inca conquer Chimor State
◦ Cuzco: Capital of Inca Empire
▪ Sapa Inca
• Speaker of the Dead
◦ Machu Picchu
▪ summer estate for Inca rulers
▪ high mountain region
▪ well-preserved architecture
◦ complex bureaucracy
▪ pay tribute to rulers in Cuzco
▪ built huge and intricate road system
▪ messengers
◦ state religion
▪ Inca Elite
▪ Major Deity: Inti (Sun God)
• Inca rulers descended from him
▪ mummy cult |
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Term
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Definition
◦ first well known Mesoamerican Civilization
◦ impressive ceremonial centers
◦ massive carved-stone heads (colossal heads)
◦ religion and politics intertwined
▪ part human, part jaguar sculptures
◦ trade of goods and ideology
▪ prestige goods (separated status more so than in Mesopotamia)
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◦ hereditary status differences
◦ Matthew Stirling
▪ excavated Olmec sites
▪ first to realize how early/complex these people were
◦ Famous Sites
▪ San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes
▪ largest Olmec Sites
▪ San Lorenzo
• Early Formative (1200- 800 BC)
• swampy environment
• ceremonial center above river with buildings on platforms
• discovery of colossal heads
◦ sequence of rulers
◦ made of basalt, not from San Lorenzo, evidence of long distance trade and transport |
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Term
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Definition
Zapotec
◦ Monte Alban
▪ valley of Oaxaca
• Zapotec people
▪ series of hills in the center of valley
▪ 500 BC
▪ political crisis occurs
• population decreases, people leave
▪ 400 hectares, 15,000 people
▪ 4-tiered settlement hierarchy (state) |
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Definition
| Excavated the Maya site of Palenque where he found the tomb of the Maya ruler Pakal |
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Definition
-good evidence for the rise of agriculture- best research done by MacNeish
-dry valley w/ normally perishable materials in the cave site
-found remmenants of the enviro that began around 10,000 b.c b.c of the dry climate
-found that if one kind of plant or animal that was characteristic of a season then it would remain in one part of the cave and then people would move after that season
- if several seasons are represented in a single level, more permanent habitation can be inferred
-phase of macnieshs agricultural rise makeup→
Coxcatlan Phase: first evidence for the cultivation of domesticated maize or corn, populations increasing to several hundreds
-spiral trend into horticulture and agriculture |
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Definition
1. Palnque, Maya
2. Funerary Monument |
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Definition
• degree of social inequality
◦ Harappan civilization: no celebration of leadership, difficult to distinguish burials or homes of rulers |
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Definition
◦ Andean Civilizations
▪ South America
• environmental diversity
• lowlands/highlands
◦ low: Pacific coastal strip running the length of South America
▪ dry deserts
▪ irrigation very important
▪ advantage of marine ecosystems
• supported less by agriculture, more by marine resources
◦ high: valleys
▪ Titicaca Basin
▪ shallow lakes
▪ hot, tropical, rainy |
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Definition
▪ the Bering Land Bridge
• people walk across from Russia/Syberia to Alaska
• glaciation of North America
• followed game animals and megafauna
• ice-free corridors |
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Term
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Definition
▪ pre-paleoindian sites
• Monte Verde, Chile
◦ 12,000- 13,000 BC
• mobile in small, family based groups
• hunting megafauna; fluted points (spear points) |
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Definition
▪ Teotihuacan
• Basin of Mexico
• civic-ceremonial center, Street of the Dead
◦ pyramid of the moon
◦ pyramid of the sun |
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Definition
▪ Northern Maya Lowlands (Yucatan Peninsula)
• less rainfall than gulf coast
• limestone environment; most water underground |
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Term
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Definition
◦ Origins of Agriculture in Mesoamerica
▪ Archaic period= gradual cultural change
• 8000-2000 BC
• mobile peoples
• evidence of domestication of plants; most still wild
• dry cave/rock structures
◦ Coxcatlan Cave, excavated by Richard MacNeish |
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Term
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Definition
◦ Monte Alban
▪ valley of Oaxaca
• Zapotec people
▪ series of hills in the center of valley
▪ 500 BC
▪ political crisis occurs
• population decreases, people leave
▪ 400 hectares, 15,000 people
▪ 4-tiered settlement hierarchy (state) |
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Term
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Definition
▪ Early Formative Period (2000/1500 BC-800 BC)
• Isthmus of Tehuantepec
◦ Pan-Isthmian Corridor
◦ Soconuzco- Pacific Coast of Mexico/Guatemala
▪ Social complexity by 1400 BC
▪ large villages of 1000 people, public buildings on low platforms
▪ 2-tiered settlement hierarchy
▪ increase of trade in prestige goods
• traded with Gulf Coast |
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Term
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Definition
◦ Famous Sites
▪ San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes
▪ largest Olmec Sites
▪ San Lorenzo
• Early Formative (1200- 800 BC)
• swampy environment
• ceremonial center above river with buildings on platforms
• discovery of colossal heads
◦ sequence of rulers
◦ made of basalt, not from San Lorenzo, evidence of long distance trade and transport |
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Definition
▪ La Venta
• Middle Formative (800-400 BC)
• oil country
• Main Pyramid, 100ft. High, sacred mountains
• Civic-ceremonial center
◦ ritual figurines
◦ cranial modification, like Chinese foot binding
• La Venta Tomb
◦ basalt columns
◦ 2 children buried with elaborate offerings of jade, shell ornaments, and stingray spines |
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Definition
◦ Southern Maya Lowlands
▪ Tikal
• temples in the middle of jungles
• stela and altars depicting rulers, sacrifice, etc. |
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Definition
◦ Cities and States of Ancient Mesoamerica
▪ Classic Period (AD 300-900)
• most people commoners or craftspeople
• Maya Region
◦ El Mirador, Guatemala
▪ Northern Guatemala
▪ Stucco Masks/imagery on walls
• Mayan version of creation story- fertility, gods/deities, etc.
▪ Izapa Stela 21
• sacrificial decapitation
• Copan
• central acropolis
• 18-Rabbit= powerful ruler
◦ Quirigua defeats Copan AD 737
◦ sacrificed 18-Rabbit by Cauac Sky of Quirigua |
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Definition
▪ Palenque
• boundary between lowlands and highlands
• Temple of the Inscriptions |
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Definition
◦ exchange of prestige goods and ideas
◦ carved stones
TEMPLE OF INSCRIPTIONS AND TOMB OF PACAL
◦ iconography |
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Definition
• North Coast of Peru
• 2000 BC- AD 600
• irrigation agriculture
• powerful rulers
◦ Lord of Sipan
◦ evidence from housing and burials
◦ preservation good because of dry climate
◦ ornamentation of the dead
• elaborate painted pottery and gold
• Huaca del Sol
◦ mobilized labor
◦ monumental building
◦ mud brick
• downfall after AD 500
◦ earthquakes
◦ el niño storms destroy irrigation systems |
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Term
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Definition
▪ Nazca State
• Nazca lines
◦ carvings in desert floor |
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Term
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Definition
◦ 1460s- Inca conquer Chimor State
◦ Cuzco: Capital of Inca Empire
▪ Sapa Inca
• Speaker of the Dead
◦ Machu Picchu
▪ summer estate for Inca rulers
▪ high mountain region
▪ well-preserved architecture
◦ complex bureaucracy
▪ pay tribute to rulers in Cuzco
▪ built huge and intricate road system
▪ messengers
◦ state religion
▪ Inca Elite
▪ Major Deity: Inti (Sun God)
• Inca rulers descended from him
▪ mummy cult
▪ Spanish Conquest
• Juan Pizzaro
◦ arrives in Cuzco
◦ brings epidemic diseases
◦ |
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Term
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Definition
◦ Machu Picchu
▪ summer estate for Inca rulers
▪ high mountain region
▪ well-preserved architecture |
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Term
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Definition
▪ Tenochtitlan
• island in shallow lake
• basin of Mexico
• ceremonial center= templo mayor |
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Term
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Definition
▪ Paleoindian Period (10,000-8,000 BC)
• Andean Preceramic Period (8,000-1,800 BC)
◦ highland domesticates (5500-4000 BC): guinea pig, llamas, squash, quinoa, chile pepper
◦ maize introduced from the North by 3200 BC
◦ coastal domestication later
◦ population growth and sedentism along coast 4000-2500 BC
◦ complex societies on the coast by 2500-1800 BC (Caral and El Paraiso) |
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Term
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Definition
• one of the most important Neolithic (7000 BCE to c. 2500 BCE) sites in archaeology, lies on what is now the "Kachi plain" of today's Balochistan, Pakistan. It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats) in South Asia.".[1]
• Mehrgarh is now seen as a precursor to the Indus Valley Civilization
• recent excavations attest to the continued occupation of the cachi plain at the foothills of the bolan pass frim 6000+ B.C. to the very end of the indus civilaztion |
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Definition
• prehistoric and pre-Mauryan character of Indus Valley Civilization was first identified by Luigi Tessitori at this site. Kalibangan's excavation report was published in its entirety in 2003 by the Archaeological Survey of India, 34 years after the completion of excavations. The report concluded that Kalibangan was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Kalibangan is distinguished by its unique fire altars and "world's earliest attested ploughed field".[3]
• Robert Raikes argues the civilization ended because the river dried up. |
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Definition
• one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilization. Located in Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt and dating from 2400 BCE. Discovered in 1954, Lothal was excavated from February 13, 1955 to May 19, 1960 by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
• Lothal's dock—the world's earliest known, connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the surrounding Kutch desert of today was a part of theArabian Sea. It was a vital and thriving trade center in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and Africa. The techniques and tools they pioneered for bead-making and in metallurgyhave stood the test of time for over 4000 years.
• Survived after Mohenjo-daro and Harappa |
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Term
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Definition
• a term sometimes used in modern anthropology and genetics[1][2][3] for the concept that, from a single origin in Africa 100-200 thousand years before present (kybp), humanity first spread eastwards to areas outside Africa along routes that were predominantly located around coastlines.[
• Sometimes, the theory is extended to cover onwards migration, via the Bering Strait (which was a land bridge during the last ice age), into North America, and then onwards to Centraland South America along the western coast.[14] Findings such as the report that the sediments in the Port Eliza caves on Vancouver Island, which indicated the possibility of survivable climate until 16 kybp in the area, have helped bolster the hypothesis recently.[15] However, despite such research, the postulate is still subject to considerable debate.[9][16] For the Pacific Northwest, Carlson,[17] and others have argued for a coastal migration from Alaska pre-10,000 B.P. that predates the migration of Clovis people moving south through an ice-free corridor located near the continental divide.[18] These people were followed by the Clovis culture, which some archaeologists believe moved south from Alaska through an ice-free corridor located between modern British Columbia and Alberta. Recent dating of Clovis and similar paleoindian sites in Alaska suggest that Clovis technology actually moved from the south into Alaska following the melting of the continental glaciers about 10,500 years ago.[19] |
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Definition
| a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization that was primarily occupied from 1500 BC to AD 1200. Kaminaljuyu has been described as one of the greatest of all archaeological sites in the New World by Michael Coe,[1] although its remains today - a few mounds only - are far less impressive than other Maya sites more frequented by tourists. When first mapped scientifically (by E. M. Shook over a period of decades from the 1930s on), it comprised some 200 platforms and pyramidal mounds, at least half of which were created before the end of the Preclassic period (AD 250). Debate continues about the size, scale, and degree by which, as an economic and political entity, it integrated both the immediate Valley of Guatemala and the Southern Maya area |
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Term
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Definition
• a large pre-Columbianarchaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm,Yucatán state, present-day Mexico.
• The site[18] contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation, and many have been restored. The buildings are connected by a dense network of formerly paved roads, called sacbeob.[19] Archaeologists have found almost 100 sacbeob criss-crossing the site, and extending in all directions from the city.[20]
• San José Mogote – became major town during the Guadalupe and Rosario phases. Covered between 100-200 acres and may have had a population approaching 100 people. Even larger number lived in smaller surrounding vilages. Eveidence of a rising elite, public architecture, and beginnings of hieroglyphic writing. And the 260 day calendar. |
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Term
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Definition
(10,000-8,000 B.C.)
Peopling of the Americas
-Bering land-bridge (Beringia)
-Pre-Paleoindian sites
*approx. 40,000-10,000 B.C.
*Monte Verde, Chile
-Paleoindian Period (10,000-8,000 B.C.)
*Pleistocene Megafuana: mammoth, mastodon, bison, horse
*fluted projectile points
hunting and gathering subsistence strategy.
-obsidian blades.
Origins of Agriculture in Mesoamerica
-Geography
*highlands: Valley of Mexico (Teotihuacan, Aztecs), Valley of Oaxaca (Zapotecs),
highland valleys of Chiapas & Guatemala (highland Maya)
*lowlands: Gulf Coast (Olmec), Yucatan (Maya), jungles of Belize & Peten region of
Guatemala (Maya), Pacific coast (various)
*seasonal changes: wet & dry seasons |
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Term
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Definition
(8000-2000 B.C.)
*by 5000 B.C. domesticated squash, gourds, chile, amaranth
*by 3400 B.C. domesticated corn & beans
*manos & metates
*Coxcatlán Cave, Tehuacán Valley
*rise of agriculture.
The initial phases of the Archaic involved the cultivation of wild plants, transitioning into informal domestication and culminating with sedentism and agricultural production by the close of the period.
*Guila Na
*burials are egalitarian
*difference in terms of male and female occupation
*layers and layers of occupation
*smallest
*highland domesticates (5500-4000 BC): guinea pig, llamas, squash, quinoa, chile pepper |
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Term
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Definition
(8000-2000 B.C.)
*by 5000 B.C. domesticated squash, gourds, chile, amaranth
*by 3400 B.C. domesticated corn & beans
*manos & metates
*Coxcatlán Cave, Tehuacán Valley
*rise of agriculture.
The initial phases of the Archaic involved the cultivation of wild plants, transitioning into informal domestication and culminating with sedentism and agricultural production by the close of the period.
*Guila Na
*burials are egalitarian
*difference in terms of male and female occupation
*layers and layers of occupation
*smallest
*highland domesticates (5500-4000 BC): guinea pig, llamas, squash, quinoa, chile pepper |
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Definition
(2000-800 B.C)
Early Formative Site on the Soconusco Coast
-social complexity by 1400 B.C.
-large villages of 1000 people; public buildings on low platforms
Olmec heartland : San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes.
Olmec Collosal Heads
-Excavations at La Venta
Jade Mask
-Decorative Motifs on Pottery
*main pyramid at the Olmec City of La Venta
*Olmec bloodletter
*Early Formative figurines
*fully sedentary agricultural villages *wattle-and-da |
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Term
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Definition
(800-400 B.C.)
Interregional interaction and Olmec “influnece” in Mesoamerica
-networks of elite exchange and interaction
*Middle Formative spread of Olmec ideology manifest in monumental art depicting rulers
*Central Mexico:Chalcatzingo
*Pacific coast |
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Term
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Definition
(400 B.C.-A.D. 300)
-sacrifice and the origins of Mesoamerican states,
*human sacrifice in the Late Formative (400 B.C.-A.D. 300)
*Monte Albán, Teotihuacan, Tikal, El Mirador
The Main Plaza at Monte Alban
Late Formative (400-100 B.C.), 400 ha, 15,000 people
-two room temple
-ballcourt
Danzante gallery at Monte Alban
danzante:
defensive wall at Monte Alban
Street of the dead at Teotihuacan- eamerges as an urban center at Late Formative (100 B.C.-A.D.300)
Plan View
of Teotihuacan
A.D. 1: 6-8 sq km
20,000 people
A.D. 300: 20 sq km
90,000 people
Pre-Clasic --elite lived in big houses or palaces in and around the center.
Peasants would provide food to sustain the elite in the centers. In return for food and labor the peasants were offered a psychologically and spiritually secure and ordered world, as well as access to some trade goods. Agriculture in Maya lowlands chancy business....religion helped the peasants cope with the the precariousness of their lives. Gods happy-crops would be good-as would life in general. |
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Term
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Definition
(300 A.D.)
growth in size and complexity of ceremonial centers.
-hieroglyphic writing....refined to new levels of sophistication.
-allowed scholars to understand many aspects of elite life relating to birth, death, marriage, warfare, politics, and religion that had previously been unknown.
-understanding of planetary movements and astronomy.
-365 day calendar.
Solar Calendar (365 days/year)
-18 months of 20 days each
-And a short-month of 5 days, which was a time of ritual danger
-260-Day Ritual Calendar
-52-Year Calendar round
-Human sacrifice...not as prominent as in Aztec Empire
-Vision Serpent
-knowledge of the zero
• and they developed an arithmetical system (based on 20 rather than 10 as ours is)
• charted the movements of the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies, and were able to make highly accurate predictions of eclipses of the sun and moon.
◦ related to agricultural needs? time of year to burn, plant, and harvest
-Artistic Achievement: huge stone monuments, stucco masks on the facades of buildings, wall paintings, pounded bark screens, and small jade ornaments.
Ancient Maya also developed a complementary architectural style which featured corbeled vault, rather than a true Roman arch.
-Built large pyramids with small temples on top and palaces.
-ball courts, sweat baths, and observatories.
-ball game religious.
-Achievement: beautiful painted pottery. |
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Term
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Definition
22 sq km, 150,000-200,000 people
*Pyramids of the Sun and Moon
*apartment compounds (50-100 people)
*trade networks
*Murals
*obsidian
-Classic Period Lowland Maya States
*city states: Tikal, Copán, Palenque
*shifting patterns of conflict & alliance
*Evidence: Lowland Maya carved stone showing ruler and bound captives.
*Tikal, Guatemala
*Temple 2
*Plan of Tikal 123 km 100,000 people
*Copán, Honduras
-stelae
*esp. depictions of ruler 18-Rabbit
*captured & decapitated by Cauac Sky of Quiriguá in A.D. 737
-hieroglyphic stairway
*Palenque, Mexico
-Temple of the Inscriptions
-Tomb of Lord Pacal (died A.D. 683) excavated by Alberto Ruz |
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Term
| Culture of Classic Period Mesoamerica |
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Definition
-non-elites
*thatched & wattle-and-daub houses
*agriculture: corn, beans, squash
-nobles
*lived in palaces & supported by tribute payments
*noble status legitimated by religion
*controlled prestige goods
*esoteric knowledge
-hieroglyphic writing
-calendar |
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Term
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Definition
transformational rituals
channeling power/becoming gods
bloodletting
human sacrifice -relatively rare ritual
ballcourt ceremonies
connecting with the underworld
prestige goods mark noble status |
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Term
| Theories of Classic Period Collapse |
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Definition
1.) Environmental degradation due to Land Use
2.) Internal Conflict/Rebellion
3.) Intensive Warfare
4.)Climate Change
-population at urban centers declines, cities abandoned
-cessation of construction of monumental palaces
-cessation of raising stelae
-cessation of hieroglyphic |
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Term
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Definition
-environmental degradation due to land use
-burning/intentional destruction
-intensive warfare
-climatic change |
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Term
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Definition
-loss of soil fertility
-erosion
-not enough food/malnutririon
-anemia
-internal conflict/ rebellion |
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Term
| Postclassic Period (A.D. 900-1521) |
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Definition
-political fragmentation
-Tula & Chichén Itzá
Evidence of Malnutrition -Anemia spongey bones
Drought...in a coastland area not a big deal
Collapse is due to multiple factors
-significant changes
-Increasing importance of merchants and long distance trade.
-Growing militarism
-Early post classic period,between the fall of the Teotihuacan and the rise of the Aztecs, one of the most important in the Mesoameircan civilization, yet one of the least known.
The Classic period Collapse
-Population at urban canters declines; many cities are abandoned
-Cessation of the construction of monumental buildings and palaces
The Classic Period Collapse (A.D. 700-900)
-political fragmentation and depopulation of cities
*Teotihuacan (A.D. 700)
*Monte Albán (A.D. 800)
*lowland Maya states (A.D. 900)
-theories
*environmental degradation (Copán data)
*political upheaval (burning of Teotihuacan)
*warfare
*climatic change
*multiple factors Teotihuacan’s great power had declined by 800 A.D.
-10th century A.D. Toltecs of Central America and Maya of Chichen Itza in Yucatan |
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Term
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Definition
continued to intensify certain trends present in Teotihuacan empire, lacked centralized control and economic influences which were an important characteristic of Teotihuacan’s expansion.
-Toltecs emerged as dominant force by the 10th century
-Aztecs claim Toltecs as their ancestors
-Toltecs settled in Tula-originally seminomadic people from Northern Mexico
-It has been suggested that drought conditions caused frontier people, such as the Toltecs, to move south where the climate was better.
Tula: of Urban proportions
Teotihuacan and Tula exploitation of obsidian
obsidian major source of wealth for the city.
militarism and sacrifice became a daily order--Tezcatlipoca’s philosophy had prevailed
-Postclassic Period
-importance of trade increases.
Toltecs
-had a major effect on the Maya speaking people who lived in the highlands of Guatemala
-invaders absorbed by local populations -Mexicanized Maya Culture.
-western Mexican peoples adopted a number of Mesoamerican traits and became involved with economic exchanges with Central Mexico.
-Western Mexico introduced metallurgy to the Toltecs-- working with copper,gold,silver
-Tula influence can be seen in Chichen Itza-column depicting warrior.
*Militarism great increase in the Early Postclassic Period
-Toltec-bridge between Teotihuacan and the Aztecs
-Tula acted as one of the great centers of the time..not the only one.
-No evidence in advance in technology, however advances in military
-Influenced by Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. |
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Term
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Definition
The Aztecs come to power!!
Aztecs 15th century AD
-seen as uncultured barbarians.
-Sacrifice
Creation Myth:
Mixtec Codex(sacrifice and fertility)
Popul Vuh
-Sacrificial knives and stones
The Aztec Empire
-Rise of the Aztecs: Great War of 1426-1428
-ritual human sacrifice and Aztec imperial expansion
-Tenochtitlan
*150,000-200,000 people
*Templo Mayor
Aztecs evolved from a poor seminomadic group to the rulers of the most powerful empire
-Painted mural fro Maya lowlands depicts war captives and decapitation
-Autosacrifice/bloodletter/offferings of goods
The Relationship between Nobles, Commoners, and Deities
-Aztecs civilization can be seen as the culmination of many long standing trends in Mesoamerican cultural developments .
-Urbanization
-Mercantilism
-Imperialism
-Aztec civilization destroyed in the early stages of its growth-difficult to predict how complex their civilization may have become.
-Much is known about the Aztecs because of the presence of a host of documentary materials from the time of the Spanish Conquest. |
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Term
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Definition
shrewd politicians and excellent warriors.
-Military skill
Triple Alliance with Tlacopan and Texcoco
Aztecs superior in alliance spread control throughout valley and beyond to the farthest reaches of Mesoamerica
-A social contract
-Elites had special ritual roles & carried out the most potent
forms of ritual so as to petition the deities for prosperity &
fertility on behalf of all their people
-Commoners depended on elites to carry out these rituals
-Commoners receive security and prosperity
-In return, commoners provided allegiance & tribute to nobles
-Elites gain in wealth, but have special religious and political
roles and were often sought for capture & sacrifice
-series of reforms, rising to power in Mesoamerica
-change nature of human sacrifice
*elevate human sacrifice to become centerpiece of religion
*scale increased; more frequent with larger numbers
-still sacrificing captives from combat
-justification for imperial expansion
-skull racks
Forced conquered cities to pay tribute
Tenochtitlan
island in shallow lake basin of Mexico
ceremonial center= Templo Mayor |
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Term
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Definition
-The Spanish Conquest (A.D. 1519)
*Hernan Cortez (AD 1519)
* epidemic disease: smallpox, flu, TB
Spaniard conquered Aztecs
-strategic alliances with Aztec enemies
-substantial army of native Americans led by Cortez
-Spanish Inquisition ensues
-90% of Native Americans die; genocide
-materials and ideas interconnected |
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Term
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Definition
Andean Civilizations
-South America
-environmental diversity
-lowlands/highlands
-low: Pacific coastal strip running the length of South America dry deserts
*irrigation very important
*advantage of marine ecosystems
-supported less by agriculture, more by marine resources
high: valleys
Titicaca Basin
*shallow lakes
*hot, tropical, rainy |
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Term
| Three sisters (corn, beans, squash) |
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Definition
| three most important crops of early Mesoamerica civilizations |
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Term
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Definition
introduction of more diverse food sources
*Gradual adoption of agriculture
*Gourds and Squash (8000 BC)
*Chile and amaranth (5000 BC)
*Maize and beans (4000 BC) |
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Term
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Definition
Beadle agrued that teosinte is the ancestor of maize
*a wild grass found in many parts of highland Mexico
*through simple genetic mutations teosinte could have been transformed into maize.
*Flannery has pointed out that the teosinte hypothesis and its explanation of genetic changes are very similar to the hypothesis for the rise of domesticated wheat in the Near East
*In Coxcatlan times teosinte would have been low in eating preference among the inhabitants of the Tehuacan and other highland Mexican valleys
*(A third class crop according to Flannery)
-Tranformation from teosinte to domesticated maize may have taken 1000s of years, much experimentation, and labor for early farmers.
*Hunters and gathers did not often eat teosinte (like wise in Near East with wheat)
* Flannery believes the early farmers of Mesoamerica domesticated teosinte becasue they had to, not b/c they wanted to. |
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Term
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Definition
Spanish conquest brought in many diseases
Juan Pizzaro arrives in Cuzco, brings in many epidemic diseases.
-How was it so easy for the Spanish to conquer the Aztecs?
-One key reason, the Spanish conquistadors introduced a combination of diseases such as small pox. The native Americans had no natural defense mechanisms against these diseases, this severely weakened Aztec resistance to their attackers and caused widespread death. |
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Term
| Effects of Spanish Incursion |
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Definition
Aztec empire still in a state of flux
*empire’s “unfinished” quality
*Cortes and his small band of soldiers took on hundreds of thousands of Aztecs and defeated them...more to the story
-Cortes gained many allies on his march from Veracruz to Tenochititlan.
-various Mexican groups believed they could use Cortes to bring down the hated power
-supplied men and weapons/supplies
-far more than 500 Spanish soldiers that defeated the Aztecs
Spaniards had weapons which were superior to those of the Aztecs
-Horses
-different philosophy of warfare
-Aztecs goal was to fight and gain captives for sacrifice
-Spanish fought to kill. (much easier to kill an opponent than capture one)
-Spanish advantage(no problem with guarding and feeding captives after battle)
-Moctezuma II believed that Cortes(when first arrived in 1519) was Quetzalcoatal (or a representative...received him in a friendly fashion giving him the upper hand.
*Rapid spread of deadly diseases, which was abetted by Spanish colonial policy, concentrated the native peoples into towns to be used as labor posts,
*massive population decrease, along with attempts to diminish native ideologies and traditions, virtually finished off indigenous Mesoamerican civilization before the end of the 16th century
*(some aspects of Precolumbian cultures still exist) |
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Term
| Settling In Theory (MacNeish) |
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Definition
Richard MacNeish's “Settling In” Theory
-uncovered best info to date about the rise of agriculture in Mesoamerica.
-dryness of Tehuacan-preserved materials in the valley cave sites.
*Excavations provided a wealth of information about the beginnings of food production and settled life in this area.
-data discovered enabled excavators to define a long cultural sequence that began roughly in 10,000 B.C. and continued until Spanish Conquest.
*summer months microbands joined together to take advantage of rich vegetable resources. 1st indications of agriculture.
*Population increasing.
Macroband camps: work together (100 people living in valley)
-agriculture produce kept increasing in the percent of early Mesoamerican’s diets
Wild precursors
doesn't explain when domestication occurs
MacNeish Theory
*hunter-gathers of Tehuacan Valley gained knowledge of agriculture, and seasonal changes in all microenvironments in the valley
*Schedule seasonal movements: maximum advantage of particular seasons in particular environments (returned year after year to most beneficial environments)
Horticulture--->agriculture |
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Term
| Seasonal Scheduling Theory (Flannery) |
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Definition
Flannery's Seasonal Scheduling Hypothesis
ecological systems theory
maintaining equilibrium between population size, technology, and available resources
mobility and population growth
carrying capacity low
*increasing dependence on domesticated plants eventually forced the inhabitants of highland |
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Term
| Role and Nature of Nobility |
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Definition
Role and nature of nobility?
True believers in ideologies not the commoners but the rulers
-less flexible in changes ideas and ideologies
-seen in Aztecs-sacrifice
-Aztecs elites can not take back ideas of sacrifice and fertilty..people most committed to these ideologies.
-self interest in believing these things
-religious ideologies..social cohesion...explains why many civilizations were unstable
-People were not dupes could see through ideologies...rebel..no longer contribute to rulers...could explain why several civilizations collapsed..(Maya period) collapse under own weight.
Nobles seen as having a special relationship with the gods or seen as gods themselves
-their job was to maintain a good relationship with the gods for the good of the masses, (fertility, prosperity) |
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Term
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Definition
Early Formative Period
2000-800 BC
sedentism
rely primarily on agriculture for food
thatch and wattle(pole)/daub(mud) houses
pits in middle of homes for storage/burials
bell-shaped pits
burials around the house
no children marked by differences in offerings
ritual figurines |
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Term
| Sland and Burn Agriculture |
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Definition
Classic Period Maya
Slash and burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock herding. Slash and burn agriculture typically uses little technology and other tools, and is almost always done for subsistence activity |
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Term
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Definition
classic period
-canals dug between plots |
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Term
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Definition
Classic period
-Mountain environment
-erosion could be a problem |
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Term
| Fortified Citadels of Harappa |
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Definition
civic cermonial center with a 12m high platform separate from the rest of the city
was a walled community before the rise of the Indus civilization. Made use of baked brick and highly organized drainage and sewage systems. Consisted of monumental public buildings. Massive baked brick platforms have been uncovered at several points around the citadel. Believed the platforms were to elevate the community above the periodic flooding. The principal buildings on the citadel were the great bath, the granary, and a large area incorporating the college and assembly hall. |
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Term
| Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro |
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Definition
| the most unusual of all the buildings. It is a considerable accomplishment in water engineering. It consisted of a community swimming pool restricted to the elite that was 39 feet long, 22 feet wide, and almost 10 feet deep. One side had an enclosed portico, behind, which were, rows of small rooms. The other side had eight small private bathrooms, separated by a passage with a drain running down the center. The apparent concern for ritual ablutions and cleanliness suggests the function of this complex may have been connected with the religious life of the city. |
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Term
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Definition
| unrelated to any other script, and had yet to be cracked. It contains at least 396 distinctive symbols placed on a corpus of over twenty five hundred inscriptions. They have been found mostly on square seals but also on small copper tablets and incised graffiti or stamped messages. Inscriptions were short rarely more than 10 signs with a max of 17. |
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Term
| Social Organization of Indus Valley Civilization |
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Definition
| Not well known like that if Mesopotamia. Indus shared an ideology that played a major role in the centralizing tendencies. Many believe they used the caste system. A caste system may be minimally defined as a social order in which all members of a society belong to exclusive groups, most often defined by their occupational task. You must marry within their caste, and marriage between castes and even certain types of social contact result in pollution and require acts of ritual ablution in order for one to be cleansed. Status within a caste system is derived not from wealth but by ones caste identity. |
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Term
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Definition
Obsidian has been a vital commodity in Mesoamerican cultures for thousands of
years. One of the major sources of that obsidian, and one that is immediately distinguished from other sources by its distinctive green color, is the volcanic center
Sierra Las Navajas in Hidalgo, Mexico (Figure 1). This obsidian source has been
reported in the archaeological literature under several names, including Sierra de
las Navajas, Cerro de las Navajas, Cruz del Milagro, Cerro de Minillas, El Ocote,
Huasca, Rancho Guajalote, Cerro Pelon, and the Sierra de Pachuca
eto-Calleja and Lo´ pezAguilar, 1989; Thiemer-Sachse, 1994; Tenorio et al., 1998). In an effort to avoid continuing confusion, the currently accepted nomenclature for archaeologists working in and around the area appears to be “the Pachuca obsidian source.” In any case, the mines of Sierra Las Navajas were without question the most important highland Mesoamerican obsidian quarries during pre-Colonial times, providing obsidian to the major sociopolitical centers of Teotihuaca´n ). It has been traded since at least the Early Formative Period, and has been found in archaeological contexts as far south as Copan, Honduras (Braswell et al., 1994), and as far north as Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma. The reasons for the popularity of Pachuca obsidian are manifold, and each can |
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Term
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Definition
| Ra (aka Re) Sun-god of Heliopolis (known to the Egyptians as Annu), head of the Heliopolitan ennead. He was considered self created and the creator of all. He is the father of Tefnut and Shu. Ra has been known by many names and takes many different forms. This makes him one of the most confusing gods to understand. At sunrise he is Khepera, represented by the sacred scarab. Around noon, when the sun is at its full power, he is Ra. At sunset, when the sun is said to be weak and growing old, he is Tem or Temu. He travels across the sky with the sun upon his head in two boats. The boat used in the morning is called Matet, which means becoming stronger. From midday on he travels in the Semktet (growing weak) boat. When he has set, he begins his journey into the underworld or the Duat/Tuat. Here he encounters many dangers and foes. Chief amoung them is a creature called Apep. He usually wins his battles with Apep and is then born anew as Khepera. On a number of occasions Ra has been merged with other solar deity. For example, one of the oldest sun gods was Horus (Heru), not be confused with Horus, son of Osiris. When these two gods merged they/he was called Ra-Harakhty, meaning Horus of the Horizon. In later times Ra was merged with the Theban god Amen, to become Amen-Ra. |
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Term
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Definition
The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Quiché document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque in Quiché, the Twins have also been identified in the art of the Classic Mayas (200-900 AD). The Twin motif recurs in many native American mythologies; the Mayan Twins in particular could be considered as mythical ancestors to the Mayan ruling lineages.
The sources on the Twins are both written (Popol Vuh, early Spanish historians), and iconographic. Classic Maya iconography clearly demonstrates that the earlier Twin narratives must have diverged considerably from the 16th-century Popol Vuh myth; to what extent, is a matter of dispute. |
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Term
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Definition
-during last ice age so much water trapped as ice that the sea level was up to 400 meters lower
-sea between Alaska and Asia very low
-may have crossed land bridge following animals i.e. mammoths, mastodon, giant sloth
getting to Alaska wasn’t a problem getting further than Alaska is where the debate comes→ |
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Term
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Definition
theory about people coming to the americas
one along the coast, one along the front range of the rockies
people clearly here by 10,000 b.c but debats about if it was earlier→
Monte Verde Site, Chile
-clearly 12000-13000 b.c.
-pieces of mastodon site, no question that its an archeological site
-30,000 b.c. people may have come here |
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Term
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Definition
-narrow sort of pinched area of Mexico, east to west
-mountains move into hills
-area of interaction movement of people
-SEE EARLIEST development of complex societies- gulf coast region and pacific coastal region |
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Term
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Definition
pacific coast of the isthmus
-early formative site
-social complexit by 1400 b.c
-large villages of 1000 people, public buildings on low platforms
-2 tiered then later 3 tiered
-increased evidence for trade, esp in wealth and prestige goods
traded with////
Olmec-earliest known complex society, 1200 b.c gulf coast
-Olmec traded with everywhere
-known for ceremonial centers
-massive carve stoned heads, elaborate art on politicas |
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Term
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Definition
• High status people able to transform from human into jaguar
• In contat w/ people all over meso not just the gulf coast
• Hereditary status differences
• Argued to be the first state society |
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Term
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Definition
first archeologist to figure out how important the Olmec were
-Heartland is gulf coast- hot tropical rainy wet
-3 important sites: san Lorenzo, la venta, tres zapotes
- rulers performed rituals to contact gods to ask for prosperity and fertility for all the people
-Art Evidence
• Stela (free standing monument): flying=deities or elites
• Throne made of basalt: entrance into cave/underworld. Ruler is shown seated ½ way in underworld and ½ in human world
• Were-jaguar- supernatural deity of some sort |
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Term
| Shamanistic Transformations |
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Definition
belief in ability to transform into a powerful figure
• Done through trance states- alcohol shrooms also through the marine toad –bufo marinus
-Olmec bloodletter: associate w/ elite- connection btwn religion and rulership/high status |
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Term
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Definition
• Basalt-closest source 100 km away
• Not portraits of gods
• All different and have diff head dresses
-Food- fish wildlife agriculture on reich levee soils
-5-10,0000 homies, 500 hectares
-complex chiefdom bordering a state
-no evidence of irrigation |
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Term
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Definition
• Largest site in valley of Oaxaca in early formative, by middle formative chiefly center
• Evidence suggests that ruler may begun to lose influence
o The site site decreases to half the size
o Main temple burned
o Increase in warfare in all parts of valley of Oaxaca
o Evidence for new rituals→
• Monument 3- carve stoned monument
o Shows someone dead lying down
o Symbol on it shows a heart glyph-heart sacrifice in valley of Oaxaca
o Has a date on it in glyph writing, glyph=names
-main plaza |
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Term
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Definition
: a sacrificial victim means dancer
-danzante gallery: several images of decapitations, 350 monuments
-defensive wall |
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Term
| ** MONTE ALBAN WAS THE FIRST STATE IN MESOAMERICA |
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Definition
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Term
| Mixtec noblewoman and priest |
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Definition
• elaborate housing→palaces/high status houses
• portraits of rulers
• paid tributes
• divine origins→sacred powers, ability to contact gods and ancestors or becoming the gods for a time-transformational rituals makes mask of god over them
• Bloodletting (autosacrifice) and human sacrifice
• Ball court games- a ritual and way to connect w/ underworld
• Warfare- acquiring goods, tribute, no evidence of territorial conquest
• Nobles set apart b/c of prestige goods (info or knowledge that other people didn’t have
• Jade. Polychrome Vase
• History religious themes written on murals and CODICES (ancient manuscript in book form |
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Term
| Mixtec noblewoman and priest |
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Definition
• elaborate housing→palaces/high status houses
• portraits of rulers
• paid tributes
• divine origins→sacred powers, ability to contact gods and ancestors or becoming the gods for a time-transformational rituals makes mask of god over them
• Bloodletting (autosacrifice) and human sacrifice
• Ball court games- a ritual and way to connect w/ underworld
• Warfare- acquiring goods, tribute, no evidence of territorial conquest
• Nobles set apart b/c of prestige goods (info or knowledge that other people didn’t have
• Jade. Polychrome Vase
• History religious themes written on murals and CODICES (ancient manuscript in book form |
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Term
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Definition
o 365 Days/ yr
o 18 months of 20 days each
o A short month of 5 days, time of ritual danger
• Whe the world could go out of balance
• Must appease the gods and keep things okay
• 260 day ritual calendar
o 52 year calendar round: ritually dangerous
• Each day has 2 days: a ritual one and a regular calendar one |
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Term
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Definition
| best evidence for internal conflict/rebellion |
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Term
| Temple of Quetzalcoatl (Teotihuacan) |
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Definition
god in Mexican religion
-he travels to underworld and defeats the underworld through sacrifice
-part of the reason why there was a creation of time and space |
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Term
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Definition
we know it’s a temple b/c there are heads and masks on the surface of the building
-Tunneled into the temple during the 1980s
• very hard to do b/c they can cave in
• went into the core
• Amazing discoveries= over 100 bodies at the base of the temple dressed as warriors. Necklace made of upper jaw bones→illusion to sacrifice. Arms were tied behind back→bound captives. OVER 100 sacrificial victims |
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Term
| Pyramid of the Sun and Moon at Teotihuacan |
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Definition
same political organization as Harappan civilizations
-Less evidence of inequality
• continuum
• no burials or houses that distinctly represent rulers
• a lot of imagery in the form of painted murals
• images of elites are not personalized
• rulership by committee
• pattern of houses
• teo apartment compound-holds 50-100 people, tons of diff rooms and courtyards
• Teo House alter
-Sun
• 20 feet high
• Massive in scale |
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Term
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Definition
captured Copan in 737 A.D. led by Cauac Sky
18 rabbitt is captured and sacrificed by cuac sky to quirigua
Copan,
Hieroglyphic stairway→ each of the blocks in the stairway have a glyph on them |
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Term
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Definition
-sacred agreement
-people wil be allowed to practice agriculture/fertility and prosperity well being but in turn they must make sacrifices to the gods. Ultimate form of sacrifice is death. People are consuming the earth and when they die they are being consumed by the earth. Defines the relationship between people and god. Defines relationship between people and god. And relationship btwn nobles and commoners |
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Term
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Definition
1. Human Sacrifice: people captured in warfare, heart sacrifice, decapitation sacrifice- displayed on small racks both communicating sacred duties of nobility also message to enemies.
2. Bloodletting- drew your own blood, done by piercing earlobes tongue genitals blood drips down onto pieces of paper with a ceramic bowl paper burned like incense.
Used different tools-stingra spines, obsidian, stone tools, thorns
3. Burning of incense
4. Burning of nobility: most victims were nobles or elites, from opposing side during war captives/prisoners |
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Term
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Definition
maya hieroglyhic most elaborate system,
-dynastic themes, religious thems
things were written on carved stone books and murals
-only in new world
-about histories of rulers |
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