Mesoamerican Archaeology

Front 1

7 myths of the Spanish conquest

Back 1

1) NOT just a few great men
2) NOT skilled warriors
3) Many native participants
4) Conquest never "complete"
5) Miscommunication
6) NOT total desolation
7) NOT the result of Spanish biological/cultural superiority

Front 2

the result of the Republicos de Indios

Back 2

Indians declared Christian
-"people" now, couldn't simply be killed

Front 3

Encomienda

Back 3

Land in trust
-receive tributes from those on land
-granted for aiding Spanish
-temporary
-value determined by # of people living on land

Front 4

Repartimiento

Back 4

Indian settlements required to supply 1/4 of men to work each week for "fair" wages

Front 5

Who were the primary agents of Native acculturation post-conquest?

Back 5

Native nobility

Front 6

Haciendas

Back 6

-developed from repartimiento
-debt bondage: payed for work, but could only buy from hacienda
-if you couldn't afford something, you owed more labor

Front 7

Lacandon Maya

Back 7

-avoided conquest by fleeing to Lacandon Forest
-mixed Maya descent
-no contact until 1700s
-logging, govt. encroached on land

Front 8

What happened to native mesoamerican nobility post-conquest

Back 8

either:
-died or
-benefitted greatly: tribute collectors, land holders

Front 9

Congregacion

Back 9

colonial policy that forced widespread native groups to resettle near a church
-allowed for more Spanish control

Front 10

Where did Cortes first land?

Back 10

Villa Rica de Veracruz, 1519

Front 11

How many men did Cortes bring with him?

Back 11

~400 Spaniards

Front 12

Where did Cortes stop on the way to Tenochtitlan?

Back 12

-Tlaxcala

-Cholula

Front 13

Who is the major source for the Maya?

Back 13

Bishop Diego de Landa

Front 14

Who did the Inquisition often target in Mexico?

Back 14

The spiritual or powerful
-excuse to seize land and possessions
-charges of idolatry

Front 15

Spanish biological conquest

Back 15

-loss of traditional farming
-erosion
-intro. of new weeds
-livestock depleted land of resources
-epidemic disease

Front 16

What remained of preconquest land use?

Back 16

household garden plots

Front 17

Espanoles

Back 17

Spanish, born in Spain

Front 18

Criollos

Back 18

Mexican-born Spanish

Front 19

Mestizo

Back 19

mixed Spanish & Mexican ancestry

Front 20

Indios

Back 20

indigenous people

Front 21

Ladinos

Back 21

Indios "acting" Spanish

Front 22

Negros

Back 22

mixed African & Mexican ancestry

Front 23

1972 law on ownership

Back 23

ALL archaeological, historical, and artistic heritage belongs to federal govt. and INAH

Front 24

What aspects of archaeological remains belong to the govt. and INAH?

Back 24

monuments
objects
architecture
flora/fauna
human remains

Front 25

INAH as an institution

Back 25

very powerful
-constructs history!

Front 26

CRM in Mexico vs the United States

Back 26

-Mexico: any work underground

-U.S.: only federally funded work

Front 27

where do the majority of archaeology students study in Mexico?

Back 27

ENAH

Front 28

How are community museums created?

Back 28

-first must petition INAH
-then, created by locals

Front 29

What are possible internal factors of the Maya collapse?

Back 29

1) Warfare
2) Demographic expansion
3) social distance btw. elites and commoners

Front 30

What is a possible external factor of the Maya collapse?

Back 30

-collapse of trade networks
-fall of Teo

Front 31

Fall of Teotihuacan

Back 31

AD 600 - internal discontent

Front 32

Fall of Monte Alban

Back 32

AD 800

Front 33

New emphases in Postclassic Mesoamerica

Back 33

1) increased militarism
2) the ballgame
3) Quetzalcoatl
4) human sacrifice

Front 34

what replaces jade as the primary luxury item in mesoamerica?

Back 34

turquoise

Front 35

Epiclassic center w/ 17 ballcourts

Back 35

El Tajin

Front 36

Role of Quetzalcoatl

Back 36

-feathered serpent deity
-1 of the creators of humankind
-assoc. w/ rulers, priests, merchants
-some people named after deity

Front 37

Architectural style at Chichen Itza

Back 37

1) Maya Puuc style
2) similar to Tula (blocky construction, colonnaded halls, emphasis on Quetzalcoatl)

Front 38

Why is the temple of Quetzalcoatl an unusual find at Chichen Itza?

Back 38

not a common deity among the Maya

Front 39

structure of rule at Chichen Itza

Back 39

-largely unknown
-no genealogy referenced
-possibly a confederacy of rulers

Front 40

collapse of Chichen Itza

Back 40

AD 1220
cessation of new buildings
movement to Mayapan

Front 41

Who is the legendary founder of Tula?

Back 41

Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl

Front 42

What was the structure of rule at Tula?

Back 42

mercantile state

Front 43

how was Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl ousted?

Back 43

Tezcatlipca & followers

Front 44

In what ways is Tula similar to Teo?

Back 44

-warrior orders/units
-specialized artisans (Pachuca obsidian)

Front 45

where were Atlantean statues found?

Back 45

Tula

Front 46

Fall of Tula

Back 46

1220
-"invasion" by Chichimecs
-Toltec diaspora

Front 47

the last singular dominant regime in Oaxaca

Back 47

Monte Alban

Front 48

Change in function at Cholula

Back 48

-takeover by Tolteca-Chichimeca
-est. cult of Quetzalcoatl
-became pilgrimage site, nose piercing ceremony

Front 49

Apoala

Back 49

legendary birthplace of the Mixtec, emerge from cave

Front 50

figured worlds

Back 50

frames of meaning around which one shapes identity, life

Front 51

materilization

Back 51

material object embodies values

Front 52

How did Xaltocan iconography change?

Back 52

-Pre conquest by Aztecs: war, sacrifice
-Post: flowers

Front 53

what kinds of documents do we have for the Aztec?

Back 53

codices
lienzos
Spanish accounts
Mexica accounts
tribute lists

Front 54

Aztlan

Back 54

mythical place of Aztec origins - island

Front 55

Tepanecs

Back 55

Mexica originally served as mercenaries for
-Tepanec ruler named first tlatoani

Front 56

Triple Alliance

Back 56

Tenochtitlan
Texcoco
Tlacopan

Front 57

pochteca

Back 57

Aztec tribute collection

Front 58

ixiptla

Back 58

god impersonators