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24 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What was the earliest site in Mesoam.?
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Cuello, an early sedentary village
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When did the Olmecs emerge as a people/civilisation?
What were the first sites? |
3500-2500 bp
San Lorenzo; 3250-2900 bp= resource poor and swampy. La Venta; 2800-2400 bp= small island of swamp. Complex trading ie Jade and Obsidian. Large villages, public buildings and temples. |
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What were the dates and cities of the Valley of Oaxaca civilisations?
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Excavated by Kent Flannery
found shells and seven competing colonies. San Jose Mogote- 3400-3150 bp Monte Alban - 2400-1300bp; central with best rainfall and largest popn. |
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Summary of formative period.
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Techniques of draining fields and terracing hillsides
temples arranged around central plazas hieroglyphics; jaguar motif popular in Olmec. celestial phenomena |
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What are the most famous structures of Teotihuacan?
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Pyramids of the Sun and Moon (aligned the same way as the pyramids of Egypt, Temple of Quetzalcoatl, Palace of the Quetzal butterfly.
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Characteristics of Teotihuacan.
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Had palace of the Gods and largest population
Expanded 2100bp covered 9km2 + 600 people and several public buildings. By 1850 bp 12.9 sq km 20 000 people and two major religious complexes built. between 1850-1300bp; residential neighbourhoods 120 000 people. Ranking was according to relationship to king and religion based on ancestor worship. burnt down in 750 A.D. and terminated occupation of city |
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What was the subsistence base of indigenous groups in Mesoamerica?
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Maize, beans and squash.
first evidence for plant domestication in the Western Hemisphere. |
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Where is the first evidence for plant domestication found and how old is it?
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1. Guila Naquitz Cave, Oaxaco; Mexico.
2. Squash seeds, stems and rind fragments. Diff. from wild samples 3. 8-10 000 bp 4. Seeds larger, rinds thicker, and stems bigger. |
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How did the first domestication occur?
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Bruce Smith; seedbed selection.
Larger natural varieties grow faster. Would have weeded out smaller, slower ones=more room for faster varieties. Changed until no longer resembled wild ancestors = domesticated. |
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Who headed the Tehuacan Valley Project.
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Richard MacNeish headed a team of 50 scholars from different disciplines.
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What did the Tehuacan Valley Project study?
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Studied the process of domestication of maize.
Resulted in a sequence of Archaeological cultures of 12000-500 years ago. Evidence from a series of occupied caves. |
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What were the 6 phases uncovered by Richard MacNeish?
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1. Ajuereado Phase; 12000-9000
2. El Reigo Phase; 9000-7000 3. Coxcatlan Phase; 7000-5400 4. Abejas Phase; 5400-4300 5. Purron Phase; 4300-3500 6. Ajalpan Phase; 3500-2850 |
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Describe Ajuereado Phase?
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12000-9000bp
-Seasonal hunting -Small and impermanent sites -occupied by family groups (microbands) of fewer than 10 people. -antelope and jackrabbit and smaller fauna and wild plants incl. avocado |
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Describe the El Reigo phase?
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9000-7000bp
-at the end of Pleistocene climate was drying. -due to increase aridity, decrease in hunting and increase reliance on plant foods. -wild squash, beans, chilli peppers, avocado -more complex settlement system. Combination of seasonal microbands and macrobands during the wetter spring + summer. |
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Describe the Coxcatlan phase
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7000-5400bp
-reliance on wild foods and increase macrobands. |
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Describe Abejas Phase.
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5400-4300bp
-increasingly sedentary pattern of central-based bands established -larger semi-perm. villages/home-bases est. -wild food collection 1st ev. of domestic plant contribution- squash and maize. |
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Describe the Purron Phase.
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-4300-3500bp
-very little is known about this phase but pottery used for 1st time. |
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Describe Ajalpan Phase.
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3500-2850bp
-foraging and domesticated maize, beans, and squash. -increase sedentism from last phase. -simple irrigation canals to water crops - evid. of abandonment of nomadic lifestyle and increase imp. of ag. (canals repr. commitm. to stay in one place) |
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How old is the oldest maize and what is the dating used?
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4700B.P. dating using AMS (less needed then C14 so could be done accurately)
-maize held tightly in by glumes so could not have fallen to ground to regerminate=could not have survived in wild. THis means that domestication would have to have been taking place for a while though no ev. found yet. |
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How was the diet analysed in Tehuacan?
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-Carbon Isotope analysis of bones of 12 ind.
-13-in plants=C4 pathway more readily used than in C3 pathways (trees) -measure conc. of C13 in bones=what they eat ie trees or grasses. -C4 plants/grasses use more C13 than C3 -analysis shows early jump in C4 plants early and stayed consist. for several millenia. -combined with MacNeish's reconstruction=long period of increasing sedentism before adopt. of ag. = like Near East. |
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How did agriculture happen?
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-suggested Mesoamerican equivalent of Natufian.
-Flannery - Climate cond. encouraged more desirable form of Teosinte -conc. on encouraging growth = neglected other resources and increased sedentism due to intensification of a food source. -1st step toward inevitable destruction of foraging system (upsetting prior equilibriumP and est. of new equilibrium based on ag. |
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what were the dates and characteristics for the three periods in Mesoamerican?
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Preclassic (Formative) Period
-4000-1750 B.P. -Lowlands -Valley of Oaxaca -Maya Country Classic Period -1750-1100B.P.= Maya Post-Classic Period -Until 1519 -Valley of Oaxaca -Valley of Mexico -Mayans, Toltecs, Aztecs |
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What were the three centers of Mesoamerican civilisation?
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1. Valley of Oaxaca (Monte Alban, Olmecs)- highlands.
2. Mayas (Tikal, Copan, Palenque, Bonampak) - lowlands 3. Valley of Mexico (Teotihuacan, Toltecs, Aztecs) |
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What were the common characteristics of the Olmec and the Chavin which classified both as state societies?
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Both had;
Monumental works Social stratification denser and larger settlements Specialist classes Innovations in agricultural production Written languages/record keeping |
