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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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San José Mogote
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- Oaxaca, Mexico
- pottery-using village. - largest and most important settlement in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Early and Middle Formative periods - agriculture was practiced by `pot irrigation' - direct watering from a well - part of an Olmec-controlled trade system. - First monumental architecture & art - Polished magnetite mirrors - Exotic ceremonial artifacts (conch shells trumpets, turtle shell drums, stingray spines), - obsidian common - Tomb structures - Public buildings on Mound 1 replaced by elite residence - complex political center that ruled over a number of subsidiary settlements |
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San Lorenzo
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- Veracruz, Mexico
- 1500 BC to 400 BC - Major center of Olmec culture 1200-900 BC - Unwalled ceremonial center with pop. of 10,000 to 17,000 - 10 colossal heads - Ritual/sacred landscaping - 20 lagunas - Underground drainage - Artificial mounds/ridges- very elaborate drainage system constructed of stone carved pipes with lids - amount of labor involved must have been enormous - indicating a complex social system to ensure the task's completion. - " colossal stone heads," human portraits on a stupendous scale, the largest of which is 9 feet high. |
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La Venta
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- Tabasco, Mexico
- The most important Olmec ceremonial center -was an impressive center. - Pyramids were built of different colored clays. - Sculptured monuments, including four massive stone heads, were carved from basalt. - These structures reveal the craft skills and labor that may have been controlled by the Olmec rulers. - famous for its Preclassic stone sculpture, buried pavements of serpentine blocks (evidence of trade) and offerings of carved jade including six jadeite axes. - The end was violent, possibly caused by a conflict between the carrying capacity of the area and the large number of workers needed to construct the site's structures. |
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El Mirador
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- Petén, Guatemala
- Late Preclassic site - provides new perspectives on the beginnings of ancient Maya civilization. - At a time when most Maya settlements were thought to have been small, it was huge. - site includes several hundred structures. - Access to the West Group was controlled by a series of gates and walls, which may indicate the group as the sacred core of the site. – social structure |
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Monte Albán
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- Oaxaca, Mexico
- first state - A major ceremonial center of the Zapotec people in - on top of an artificially flattened mountain. - created to serve as the capital of the entire valley - monumental building, including a ball court - Hieroglyphic writing was in use, with bar-and-dot numerals, and dates were expressed in terms of the calendar round. Rapid growth - Carved monuments and Danzantes in public buildings - Monuments increasing devoted to militarism - Political capital of rapidly expanding territory - Erection of defensive wall - Greatest population ca. 400 AD 20,000 - Decline after 700 AD. |
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Tikal
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- Petén, Guatemala
- Pop. 50,000-80,000 750 AD - Elite marriages & military alliances connects to other cities - Elite tombs - Temple of the Great Jaguar (Temple I)—Lord Ah Cacau - Comb decoration - Temple II - North Acropolis (42 buildings) - Great Plaza - Large and important site of the Maya people in the rain forest - simple farming village. - peaked c 600-800 AD in the Classic period (c 300-900 AD) when it was one of the largest and politically most important Maya capitals. - Six statuesque limestone temple pyramids, giant paved plazas, shrines, palatial residences, ballcourts - archaeological data confirmed that there were close relations with Teotihuacán during the Early Classic period - was an important post in the great trading network that Teotihuacán had established in southern Mesoamerica. |
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Slash and Burn Agriculture
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- A primitive and widespread form of agriculture in which a forest was cleared by chopping and burning small trees. It is one of the earliest forms of cultivation.
- The clearance would be followed by planting of crops in the clearance -- seeds planted in holes poked into the ashes -- and their harvesting and replanting for a few years. - Without fertilizers, however, the land soon loses its nutritional value and the clearance must be left fallow, to grow over again, while other areas of forest are cleared. - wasteful method since soil fertility and crop yields, though initially high, decline rapidly, after which a new stretch of forest must be cleared. |
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Raised Fields (Chinampas)
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-system of cultivation on small, stationary, artificial islands made of vegetation and mud in shallow freshwater lakes
-created in the Valley of Mexico (Xochimilco) by massive Aztec reclamation projects -periodic renewal of this mud layer created a permanent supply of fertile soil so that as one crop was harvested it could be immediately replaced with another -separated by a system of canals which allowed both access and water circulation |
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Palenque
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- Chiapas, Mexico
- A Maya center - reached its height during the Late Classic, coming into power when Teotihuacán declined. - Ca. 600 AD monumental construction - Western frontier - No new elite construction after 800 AD - One of first Maya centers to experience collapse - A richly furnished tomb of the Classic period was found underneath the pyramid of the temple of the Inscriptions, equally important to Tutankhamun's in Egypt (jade ornaments, a number of sacrificed retainers, and a massive, elaborately carved sarcophagus). - buildings have fine relief decoration modeled in stucco or carved on limestone panels -known for unusual features (pillar and lintel doorways, mansard roofing) - A subterranean vaulted aqueduct joins the central palace complex, with its unique four-story tower, to the eastern terraces where the Temples of the Foliated Cross, the Cross, and the Sun are situated. |
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Toltecs
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- Important Mesoamerican people of composite origin
- warrior-dominated society - worshipped of tribal god Tezcatlipoca - emphasis on human sacrifice. - In the 10th century, they established their capital at Tula, north of modern Mexico City. - After conquering many Maya cities, this faction established itself at Chichen Itza and transported its architectural style but incorporated Maya features. - Evidence of Toltec influence (e.g. Mazapan ware, metallurgy, imported Plumbate Ware, massive architectonic decoration) has been found at many sites, including Chichen Itza. |
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Tula
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- The Toltec capital
- Hidalgo, Mexico - stepped pyramid on which there was a temple and buildi- The most impressive remains are the Atlantean columns, which are 15 feet high.ngs had colonnaded halls - mounds, low rectangular house mounds, and five ball courts - Toltecs were great warriors but also peaceloving. -monumental civic architecture featured talud-tablero architecture - Trade and craft production were very important activities - Containers of travertine were made at the site. - Heavy obsidian use and/or production occurred at Tula. - The spinning of maguey fibers for cloth and other materials was an important economic activity. - lost much of its influence by A.D. 1200. - The site was partially abandoned by this time. - Evidence of prehispanic looting is present. - After the collapse, the Basin of Mexico again saw political fragmentation. |
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Chichén Itzá
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- Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.
- Pre-Classic, or Formative, period times (1500 BC-AD 300). - wells (Mayan cenotes) formed by the collapse of portions of the limestone formation of the area - parallels at Tula - Lack of surface water - Limestone - offerings thrown into the sacred cenote, or Well of sacrifice - show widespread trade contacts - was the dominant power in Yucatan until about 1200, when it was superseded by Mayapán. - At the center of the site is the Castillo or temple-pyramid of Kulkulkan -temples, large dance platforms, largest ball court in Mesoamerica (associated with sacrifice) - bas-relief carvings on a massive skull rack (tzompantli) shows the Ball Game to be associated with scenes of sacrifice. - relief carvings with themes of conquest and violence |
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Tenochtitlán
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- site
- was the capital city of the Aztecs. - The archaeological record of the Aztecs is somewhat impoverished, partly because the capital is under present-day Mexico City. - The Aztecs built artificial islands and constructed houses, other buildings, and chinampas them and then connected to the mainland by three giant causeways. - Although the island lacked building materials and had other disadvantages, there were plenty of fish and fowl. - By draining standing water and raising the surface of the swamp, intensive agriculture was possible. - The island was also a prime location for controlling transportation in the basin. - Basic residential units were occupied by nuclear or joint families. - Individual compounds permitted the public display of status and wealth. - In Aztec society, social position could be achieved through military or economic success. - developed into the largest and most powerful city in Mesoamerica. - joined with petty states, forming an alliance that put the Aztec empire in supreme political position in the region. - When the Spanish arrived, the site had a population of 150,000-200,000 people. - Cortés referred to it as "another Venice." - Cortés quickly and easily defeated the Aztecs. - Once victorious, the Spanish destroyed the ceremonial core of it, replacing temples with churches, governmental buildings, and residences. - Mexico City quickly grew over the Aztec center. |
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Tzompantli
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- artifact
- Skull rack on which, in the Aztec and some other Mesoamerican cultures, the skulls of sacrificial victims were displayed. |
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Talud-tablero
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- structure
- Important architectural features of Mesoamerican stepped pyramids in Mexico. -Each terrace consists of a vertical panel with a recessed inset, and a sloping batter or apron (talud) surmounted by a horizontal, rectangular panel with insert (tablero). - The technique was used primarily at Teotihuacán, where it is the dominant style for temple pyramids, and in a modified form elsewhere |
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Aztecs
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- The last pre-Columbian civilization to enter the Valley of Mexico after the collapse of the Toltec civilization in c 12 AD
- built a magnificent capital at Tenochtitlán and were later conquered by the Spaniards - dominant political group of the Late Post-Classic period. - last of seven Chichimec tribes left Aztlan - militaristic, and a person's status depended on his success as a warrior. - The chief god of the Aztecs, Huitzilopochtli, was a war god who required the blood of sacrificial victims, and only constant warfare supplied the altar of the god. - Human sacrifice was necessary also to ensure the daily rising of the sun. - great imperial city, so large that it could not be self-sufficient but had to rely on tributes from its provinces. - Luxury goods and necessities were brought to the city, and craftsmen produced jewelry, turquoise mosaics, featherwork, and carved stone. - mold-made clay figurines were common, and the black-on-Orange pottery was decorated with geometrical designs and stylized creatures. - hierarchical class system. -At the top was the ruling class (pipil) from whom and by whom the emperors were chosen. |
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Chichimecs
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- culture
- A collective name applied to various barbarian tribes who invaded the valley of central Mexico - The Aztec were one of the competing tribes. - period proper begins after the destruction of Tula and the decline of Toltec influence in about 1200 AD. - In 1224, a band of them entered the northern part of the Valley and established a kingdom at Tenayuca. - After their arrival the barbarians settled down again to farming life, became civilized, and were eventually absorbed into the Aztec confederation. - In the north, some independent ones maintained their nomadic and hunting way of life until the Spanish conquest. - are also associated with the introduction of the bow and arrow into the Valley of Mexico. |
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Calendar Round
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- artifact
- A ritually and historically important calendar used throughout Mesoamerica in which the solar calendar of 365 days ran in parallel with a sacred 260-day ritual calendar of named days. - The calendar round is a 52-year cycle, since both calendars begin on the same day only once every 52 years. - Coefficients for days and months were expressed by bar-and-dot numerals, a system that is first known in Monte Albán I and that became characteristic of the Classic Maya. - The basic structure of the Mayan calendar is common to all calendars of Mesoamerica. - To identify a date of the Calendar Round, they designated the day by its numeral and name, and added the name of the current month, indicating the number of its days that had elapsed by prefixing one of the numerals from 0 through 19. - A date written in this way will occur once in every Calendar Round, at intervals of 52 years. - It is the meshing of the two Maya calendars, the tzolkin and the Haab. |
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Cenotes
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- geology; geography
- A type of natural well or reservoir, common in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, formed when a limestone surface collapses, exposing water underneath. - Cenotes are the major source of water in Yucatán and they are associated with the cult of the rain gods, or Chacs. -the Maya word for a sinkhole, a natural well in the Yucatàn that provides water for drinking and bathing - In ancient times, especially at the Maya site of Chichén Itzá, precious objects, such as jade, gold, copper, and incense -- and human beings, usually children, were thrown into the cenotes as offerings. - A survivor was believed to bring a message from the gods about the year's crops. |
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Pochteca
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- term
- In Aztec society, the class of long-distance merchants who traveled to foreign lands to trade and to spy. - It was a hereditary guild of armed merchants who traveled into distant lands looking for luxury goods to bring back to the royal house. - Quite often would seize lands of hostile peoples through which they passed, or they would provoke incidents that led to the intervention of the regular Aztec army. |
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Teotihuacan
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- Prior to 200 BC
- One of few ancient cities laid out on a gridded street pattern - Probably built in accordance with master plan; likely uncompleted - 3 mile Avenue of the Dead - Rapid, unprecedented growth - Approached pop. of 200,000 at zenith - No royal tombs - Elite homes - Residential apartments and compounds - Explanations - Springs/lakes = canals and irrigation - Obsidian and jade trade - Ideological (most temples) - Decline 600 to 900 AD - Increasing evidence of militarism - Evidence of fires at ceremonial-religious-elite structures |
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Mesoam. Ballgame (tlachtli)
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- As early as 1000 BC
- Probably began with Olmec - 5 lb rubber ball - Variations in courts and play - Spanish accounts - Associated with fertility, death, sacrifice, militarism - Ulama persists today |
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Mesoamerican Writing
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- Earliest appeared 2500 years ago in Mesoamerica
- 4 distinct systems are known - Composed of pictographic, ideographic, and phonetic elements - Maya commemorate events: birth, auto-sacrifice, accession, marriage, death, military exploits - Long Count: kin as smallest unit (360 = tun) - Enables precise dating of recorded events - 3114 BC base date for Maya calendar/history - Calendar Round - Sacred Almanac (260 day year) - Vague Year (365 day year) -18,980 day year Calendar Round reoccurs every 52 solar years |
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Aztec Markets (versus Inca)
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-exchange system that frequently involves currencies and generally extends beyond close kinsmen and a small group of trading partners
-market participants try to minimize their costs and maximize their returns to make a profit -located at Tlatelolco, Tenochtitlàn’s sister city -cacao beans were the most common form of money for labor or goods (counterfeiting was practiced: they were punished if found out → the importance of profit as a motive) |
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Human Sacrifice
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-under the Aztec, whose perception of the universe as a continuing battle between the forces of generation and destruction, made sacrifice a prerequisite for the continuation of the world
-religious act that has been of profound significance to individuals and social groups throughout history |
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Chac Mool
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-a life-size stone figure in a relining position, with flexed legs and head raised and turned to one side
-served as altars and were often placed in temple doorways to receive offerings |
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Sacred Almanac
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-main (ritual) part to the Calendar Round: 260-day count
-religious and divinatory in function -one cycle of numbers 1-13 and the other of 20 named days (these days slightly differed amongst Mesoamerica) |
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Vague Year
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-365 day part of Calendar Round
-18 months, each with 20 days -Mayans were aware of the leap-year condition, but didn’t fix calendar for it (just had 52 year cycle) |
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Atlantean Columns
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-a carved human figure serving as a decorative or supporting column, such as at the Mesoamerican site of Tula
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Mayan Long Count
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-means of recording time in the Mesoamerican Preclassic period: the only one to refer to an initial fixed date, which was perhaps the equivalent of 3113 BC
-Mayas are not thought to have invented this system of calculation -the units of measure are kin, uinal, tun, katun, and baktun -- mainly progressing by 20s |
