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41 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Where and When did the Mayans exist?
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- southern Mexico through Guatemala and Belize as well as parts of Honduras and El Salvador.
- Around 2000 years ago. - part of Mesoamerica |
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What is the Olmec?
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- sites along the Gulf Coast of Mexico
- 1200-300BC - earliest evidence of political complexity - constructed ceremonial centers in towns with populations numbering in thousands. |
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What kind of art did the Olmec have?
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1) monumental structures of human heads carved out of volcanic rock
- showed what type of power the leaders had. - significant was the headgear on the sculptures, related to some sort of ball game perhaps? 2) hollow clay sculptures of infants with adult heads 3) jade and other hard stone sculptures. |
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What is Monte Alban?
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- the first city in Mesoamerica
- located in the Oaxaca Valley - 500-350BC - 10,000-17,000 ppl - surrounded by a defensive wall. - central plaza where monumental structures were built along with a ball court. |
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What is Teotihuacan?
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- a city
- 80,000 ppl - located in Mexico - 3 massive pyramid structures including the "Pyramid of the sun" |
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What is the "Pyramid of the sun"
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- located in the city of teotihuacan
- the largest pyramid in the city - 64 meters tall, covers a volume of 1 million square meters. |
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When did Mayan cities first develop?
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- during the "classic period"
- 250-900AD. - around 900AD many mayan cities collapsed which is commonly known as the Mayan Collapse. |
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Where did Mayan cities first develop?
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- lowland zones running from Sierra Madre mtns (tropical rain forests) in the south to the caribean sea (scrublands of the Yucatan) to the north.
- most early cities developed in the south while later on they developed in the north. |
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What were cenotes?
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- sinkholes that were a critical source of water.
- where most mayan cities in the north were located. |
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What was the main agricultural method the Mayans used?
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- slash and burn cultivation
- fields are cleared, exploited and left fallow where a forest can later regenerate. |
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What were Mayan cities like?
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- dense forest undergrowth with a central area consisting of pyramids with royal residences, ball courts and open plazas.
- cities stretched further out of the central area to include large residential areas. |
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What is Copan?
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- located in Honduras
- Copans center consists of 2 large pyramids and an elabroate ball court |
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What is the hieroglyphic stairway?
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- an inscription recounting the dynastic history of the city running down the entire face of the northern pyramid.
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What is Rosalia?
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- a temple located in the southern pyramid that was left untouched.
- chipped stone and elaborate art work. |
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When and where is the earliest documentation of kingship?
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- at the site of Tikal
- around 100AD - his name was Yax Ehb' Xook |
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Who was Yax K'uk Mo'?
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- the first king of Copan
- 426 AD |
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Was their inequality in Mayan cities?
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- royal burials existed by were not very elaborate.
- small quantities of elaborate goods were buried along with royal members - mayan houses that were in residential areas did not contain high status objects suggesting they had no access to them or they could not afford them. |
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What is the Aguateca?
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- a site in Guatemala that was burned and abandoned.
- significant because it contained evidence that a scribe lived there. - in the scribes house were high status artificats suggesting they were part of the elite. - on the other side of the house were cooking vesells and tools used for weaving. |
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What role did clothing play in the lives of the Mayans?
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- a very significant role since the Mayans were known for their colourful clothing and rich woven cloth.
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What was the mayan hieroglyphs?
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- the mayan writing system.
- signs represented syllables but could also represent a concept. - its main goal was to record the timing of ritual events in the lives of the rulers instead of for economic purposes. |
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What was the first tradition?
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- the use of a segment of an image to represent a whole.
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What was the second tradition?
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- the recording of a complex calender.
- the earliest recorded calender date comes from Stela C at the Olmec site of Tres Zapotes - 300 BC - multiple overlapping systems. |
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What were the 4 units of measuring time?
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1 kin=1 day
1 uinal= 20 days 1 tun= 360 days 1 katun= 7200 days 1 baktun= 144000 days |
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What is the Popol Vuh?
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- a mayan myth
- tells the epic tale of hero twins and their battle with the lords of the underworld. - the tale expresses the skill and the trickery the twins needed to defeat the lords. - a ball game is played to the story of Popol Vuh |
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What else were significant to the mayan society?
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- blood letting in Yaxchilan
- ball game. |
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What was Dos Pilas?
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- a site where radical transformation occured.
- a defensive wall with defensive tactics were present on this site |
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What contributed to the mayan collapes around 900AD?
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- introduction of violence and warfare.
- mayan populations were increasing, they were unable to support all the people. - possible droughts. |
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What was tenochtitlan?
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- the capital of the Aztec empire.
- the largest city in mesoamerica and one of the largest cities in the world. - located along Lake Tetzcoco. - contain the great twin pyramids of the Templo Mayor, the spiritual center of the Aztec universe. |
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What happened to tenochtitlan?
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- Spanish soldiers arrived in 1519 and conquered them in 1521 when the last kind Cuauhetmoc tried to escape by canoe but what caught.
- the spanish built their cathedral near the ruins of Templo Mayor as act of symbolic power. |
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What was the Florentice Codex?
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- a major source of information on Aztec history and culture compiled by Bernardo de Sahagun.
- contains interviews with Aztec informants. |
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What is the Toltec Empire?
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- this empire preceded the Aztecs between 950 and 1150AD after Teotihuacan.
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What was Tula?
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- the largest city of the Toltec empire but had a significantly smaller population then that of the teotihuacan and the aztec empire.
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What 3 cities formed the Triple Alliance?
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- tenochtitlan, texcoco and telapocan.
- the mexica from the Aztlan region dominated these 3 cities. - the mexica were the last group of settlers to arrive but were able to prevail as the more dominant group. |
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What were chinampas?
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- raised agricultural fields within swamps.
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what role did agriculture play in the Aztec Empire?
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- large populations in the Aztec empire relied heavily on an intesification of agri.
- grid system of chinampas as well as extensive terrace walls to farm hillsides. |
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What was the Codex Medoza?
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- a list of tributes by province.
- listed were textiles, warrior costumes and shields, tropical feathers, rubber balls and insence as well as honey, salt, chili and cocoa beans. - tributes had to be transported by people. |
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What was Otumba?
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- a site located in the outskirts of the Aztec Empire.
- significant for craft production. - craft workshops making obsidian blades, ceramic figurines, basalt grinding stones. - obsidian was the main rock used. - needed specialized craftsman. |
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What were Cuexcomate and Capilco?
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- site in Morales, south of Mexico.
- outskirts of the Axtec empire. - produced artifacts used in preparing food. - houses contained goods that were traded over a long distance. |
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Was the Coyolxauhqui?
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- a child of Coatique that was killed by Huitzilopochtli. she was beheaded and a sculupute was made.
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What type of caches existed in burials?
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- 3 leveled chambers where each level depicted sea, land, sky where king Tlaloc was buried.
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What was the Aztec Ritual?
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- "skull masks" which were worked human skulls were found as offerings.
- human sacrifice played a critical role in aztec ritual as well as the sacrifice of war captives or slaves. |
