Peoples and civilizations of the Americas, 600-1500

Classic-Era Culture and

Society in Mesoamerica, 600-900 The Postclassic Period in Mesoamerica, 900-1500 Northern Peoples Andean Civilizations, 600-1500

Classic-Era Culture and Society in Mesoamerica, 600-900

Several centuries of growth involving several peoples speaking different languages Mesoamericans were unied by similarities in material culture, religious beliefs and practices, and social structures

Political and cultural innovations did not depend on new technologies Increasingly powerful elites to organize and command growing numbers of laborers and soldiers

Teotihuacan *Teotihuacan was at the height of its power in 600 CE and verging on decline Religious architecture rose above a city center aligned with nearby sacred mountains and reecting the movement of the stars

Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, was a culture-god believed to be the originator of agriculture and the arts human sacrice The rapid growth in urban population initially resulted from a series of volcanic eruptions that disputed agriculture

The use of *Chinampas, sometimes called oating gardens, were narrow articial islands constructed along lake shores or in marshes heaped lake muck and waste material on beds of reeds that were then anchored to the shore by trees

The productivity of the citys agriculture made possible its accomplishments in art, architecture, and trade Apartment compounds Divine approval of and a material basis for the elites increased wealth and status

Their prestige and wealth were reected in their style of dress and diet The Teotihuacan did not concentrate power in the hands of a single ruler They enjoyed a relative peace during its early development Used their military to expand trade relations

The nal decades were violent The city was overwhelmed militarily by a nearby rival city or by nomadic warriors from the northern frontier Conict within the ruling elite

The Maya

The *Maya developed an impressive civilization in the region that today includes Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and southern Mexico tropical climate and fragile soils Rival kingdoms led by hereditary rulers struggled with each other from regional dominance

Swidden agriculture produced a high yield The high population levels of the Maya classic period, which ended about 900 CE Terraced hillsides and draining swamps Impressive religious temples and by creating rituals that linked the power of the kings to the gods

Everything was constructed without the aid of wheelsno pulleys, wheelbarrows, or carts The pyramids were sacred mountains reaching to the heavens. The doorways of the pyramids were portals to the underworld Religious Ritual bloodletting, hallucinogenic trances, piercing

Warfare in particular was infused with religious meaning Fought to secure captives rather than territory Development of the concept of zero, hieroglyphic inscriptions

Between 800 and 900 CE, the population expansion led to environmental degradation and declining agricultural productivity which provoked social conict and warfare

The Postclassic Period in Mesoamerica, 900-1500

Cultural characteristics of the classical period were carried over to the postclassic period The two periods are linked by similarities in religious belief, architecture, urban planning, and social organization

The Toltecs and the Aztecs are the major postclassic states They increased the size of their armies and developed political institutions

The Toltecs Little is known about the *Toltecs prior to their arrival in central Mexico Originally a satellite population that Teotihuacan had placed on the northern frontier The most important Toltec innovations were in politics and military

The Toltecs created the rst conquest state based largely on military power Established about 968 CE, the Toltec capital of Tula was constructed in a grand style Sometime after 1000 CE a struggle between elite groups identied with rival religious cults undermined the Toltec state

Around 1175 CE northern invaders overcame Tula itself The Aztecs of the Valley of Mexico became the most important of these late postclassic peoples

The Aztecs The Mexica, more commonly known as the *Aztecs, pushed into central Mexico in the wake of the collapse of Tula They began the construction of their twin capitals *Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco

Military successes allowed the Aztecs to seize control of additional agricultural land along the lakeshore Aztec rulers did not have absolute power, and royal succession was not based on primogeniture War was infused with religious meaning, proving the ruler with legitimacy

Territorial conquest allowed the warrior elite of Aztec society to seize land and peasant labor as spoils of war Clan members also fought together as military units Aztec kings and aristocrats legitimated their ascendancy by creating elaborate rituals and ceremonies

Commoners lived in small dwellings and ate a limited diet and led monogamous lives The nobility lived in large two-story houses and ate expensive foods and led polygamous lives

Aztec chinampas contributed maize, fruits, and vegetables to the markets of Tenochtitlan The imposition of a *tribute system on conquered peoples also helped relieve the pressure of a growing population Commerce was dominated by lightweight and valuable products

Aztec commerce was carried on without money and credit Barter was facilitated by the use of cacao, quills lled with gold, and cotton cloth as standard units The island capital was designed in a complex grid

The Aztecs worshiped a large number of godsmost of which had a dual nature both male and female Most gods were associated with war Huitzilopochtli required a diet of human hearts to sustain the Suns warmth to the world War captives were the preferred sacricial victims

Northern Peoples

Southwestern Desert Cultures The Hohokam of the Salt and Gila river valleys of southern Arizona Strong Mexican inuence By 1000 CE the Hohokam had constructed an elaborate irrigation system The Anasazi to the north left the most vivid legacy of these desert cultures

*Anasazia Navajo word meaning ancient ones to identify a number of dispersed desert cultures located in what is now New Mexico and Colorado Economy based on maize, beans, and squash Large villages in underground buildings called kivas

Population of c. 15,000 Women shared in agricultural tasks and were specialist in many crafts Chaco Canyon culture, the largest Anasazi community, originated as a colonial appendage of Mesoamerica

There is no clear evidence of clear class distinction The abandonment of the major sites in Chaco Canyon in the 12th century most likely resulted from a long drought that undermined the cultures fragile agricultural economy

Mound Builders: The Mississippian Culture A north American chiefdom tradition emerged in the Mississippi river basin Population of c. 10,000 The hereditary leader was both the religious and secular responsibilities

Urbanized Mississippian sites developed from the accumulated effects of small increases in agricultural productivity, bow and arrow, trade networks Population growth and social stratication No evidence for the decline and abandonment of major urban centers

Andean Civilizations, 600-1500

Much of the regions mountainous zone is at altitude that seem too high for agriculture and human habitation Yet the Amerindian peoples of the Andean area produced some of the most socially complex and politically advanced societies of the Western Hemisphere

Cultural Response to Environmental Challenge From the time of Chavin all of the great Andean civilizations succeeded in connecting the distinctive resources of the coastal region The regions elds were periodically overwhelmed by droughts

The mountainous interior presented some of the greatest environmental challenges They also discovered how to use cold/dry climate to produce freeze-dried vegetable and meat products

Domestication of the llama and alpaca Record-keeping system more limited than the one found in Mesoamerica A system of knotted colored cords, *khipus was used to aid administration and record population counts

The clan, or *ayllu, provided the foundation for Andean achievement Members of an ayllu held land communallynot related The *mita was a rotational labor draft that organized members of ayllus to work the elds and care for the llama and alpaca herds

The mita system was an essential part of the Andean world for more than a thousand years Coastal regions produced maize, sh, and cotton Mountain valleys contributed quinoa as well as potatoes Wool and meat of llama and alpaca Amazonian regioncoca and fruits

Moche The Moche and the Chimu who followed them cultivated maize, quinoa, beans, manioc and sweet potatoes with the aid of massive irrigation works Coca is high elevations Complex networks of canals and aqueducts connected elds with water sources

Highly stratied and theocratic Rich clothing and jewelry conrmed their divine status and set them farther apart from commoners headdresses of the elite gold plates suspended from their noses and large gold plugs

The rapid decline of the major centers coincided with a succession of natural disasters in the sixth century Earthquake altered the course of the Moche The political leaders based their authority through control of the natural forces through rituals

Tiwanaku and Wari In the Andean highlands the Tiwanaku and Wari cultures paralleled that of Moche of the coastal regions *Tiwanaku vast drainage projects Intensive cultivation similar to that achieved by the use of chinampas in Mesoamerica

Large stones and quarried blocks were moved many miles to construct a large terraced pyramid, walled enclosures, and a reservoir large structures of nely cut stone that required little morter to t the blocks It is clear that the elite controlled a large, disciplined labor force in the surrounding region

Population of 30,000 It was not a metropolis like the largest Mesoamerican cities It was a ceremonial and political center for a large regional population

*Wari, northwest of Tiwanaku Shared culture and technology of Tiwanaku Perhaps as a consequence of military conict, both Tiwanaku and Wari declined to insignicance by about 1000 CE