ANTH 235 Fall 2016 Final Exam essays
The natural environment has been used to help explain the rise and fall of archaeological cultures across the world. Evaluate the relative importance of environment with specific examples from Mesoamerica and the Andes.
The environment has always been a key factor of the success or implosion for civilizations all around the globe. Mesoamerica and the Andes, both hold a handful of societies that were created, expanded, and even destroyed by the natural environment in which they once flourished. Creation and expansion of certain civilizations were causes of extreme fertile land, large water sources, and strategic locations for protection from enemies and/or for trade with others societies. On the downside, …show more content…
These items paint a small part of a larger picture produced by complex societies, trying to understand their people’s unique rituals, culture, and daily lives. Though objects do inform us on certain aspects of life, people too often make board assumptions and attempt to make connections which do not necessarily hold …show more content…
More specifically, conventional gender stereotypes of how important male warriors were usually buried with weapons and other masculine objects can now be disproven. In one specific ancient tomb, a once believed man buried with such objects is now proven to be female. In other instances, certain males were originally thought to be females because they were buried with what are considered “feminine” objects, such as basket weaving equipment. Another incorrect gender association was the Tepexpan “Man” which is now known to also be female. Our current gender stereotypes shouldn’t influence us to make assumptions about a culture completely different from our own, with its own unique gender roles. Another example of a possible misinterpretation is in the Mesoamerican civilization of Tlatilco. Here, many figurines depicting deformed-looking people were uncovered. Some of these figurines were sometimes buried in the fields, giving the assumption to certain people that it “stimulates crop fertility”, but could’ve meant a variety of things, for instance its purpose could’ve been for ancestor/god worshipping. Also, certain objects can be broken or have missing pieces, so certain pieces of information can be missing causing false interpretations. If you cannot see the whole story, then you might not understand the true underlying meaning or
The natural environment has been used to help explain the rise and fall of archaeological cultures across the world. Evaluate the relative importance of environment with specific examples from Mesoamerica and the Andes.
The environment has always been a key factor of the success or implosion for civilizations all around the globe. Mesoamerica and the Andes, both hold a handful of societies that were created, expanded, and even destroyed by the natural environment in which they once flourished. Creation and expansion of certain civilizations were causes of extreme fertile land, large water sources, and strategic locations for protection from enemies and/or for trade with others societies. On the downside, …show more content…
These items paint a small part of a larger picture produced by complex societies, trying to understand their people’s unique rituals, culture, and daily lives. Though objects do inform us on certain aspects of life, people too often make board assumptions and attempt to make connections which do not necessarily hold …show more content…
More specifically, conventional gender stereotypes of how important male warriors were usually buried with weapons and other masculine objects can now be disproven. In one specific ancient tomb, a once believed man buried with such objects is now proven to be female. In other instances, certain males were originally thought to be females because they were buried with what are considered “feminine” objects, such as basket weaving equipment. Another incorrect gender association was the Tepexpan “Man” which is now known to also be female. Our current gender stereotypes shouldn’t influence us to make assumptions about a culture completely different from our own, with its own unique gender roles. Another example of a possible misinterpretation is in the Mesoamerican civilization of Tlatilco. Here, many figurines depicting deformed-looking people were uncovered. Some of these figurines were sometimes buried in the fields, giving the assumption to certain people that it “stimulates crop fertility”, but could’ve meant a variety of things, for instance its purpose could’ve been for ancestor/god worshipping. Also, certain objects can be broken or have missing pieces, so certain pieces of information can be missing causing false interpretations. If you cannot see the whole story, then you might not understand the true underlying meaning or