EARLY SOCIETIES OF MESOAMERICA (And Oceania) Chapter 5

1. EARLY SOCIETIESOF MESOAMERICA (And Oceania) Chapter 5

2. THE OLMECS • Olmecs: The "rubber people" -1st society of Mesoamerica • Earliest center, on the coast of Mexico Gulf, 1200 B.C.E.Earliest ceremonial center at San Lorenzo • The other two later centers: La Venta and Tres Zapotes • Olmec society • Authoritarian in nature • Colossal human heads - possibly likenesses of rulers • Rulers' power as shown in construction of huge pyramids • Commoners labored regularly for the authoritarian elite. • Traded in art, jade, obsidian, animal skins • Decline and fall of Olmec society • The cause remains a mystery • Olmecs systematically destroyed their ceremonial centers • Most likely, civil conflict ruined their society • Influence of Olmec traditions • Maize, ceremonial centers were common to later societies • Other legacies: Calendar(used by others), rituals of human sacrifice, ballgame • Olmecs did not leave written records

3. OLMEC ART

4. THE MAYA • The Maya • highlands of Guatemala • Teotihuacan became dominant during the 4th century C.E. • Besides maize, also cultivated cotton and cacao • Tikal • Most important Maya political center, 300 to 900 C.E. Maya warfare • Victorious warriors won enormous prestige • War captives became slaves or sacrificial victims to gods • Chichén Itzá • Rose as a power by 9th century CE. • Organized a loose empire in the northern Yucatan • Tried to base society on assimilation of captives. • Maya decline • Began in 800 C.E., the Mayas (except in Chichén Itzá) deserted their cities • Causes of decline remain unclear –Invasion; dissension;civil war; water problems; natural disasters???????

5. MAYAN SOCIETY • Maya society • Kings, priests, and hereditary nobility at the top • Merchants were from the ruling class, served also as ambassadors • Professional architects and artisans were important • Peasants and slaves were majority of population • Maya Science • Maya priests understood planetary cycles and could predict eclipses • Besides the solar year of 365 days, also had ceremonialcalendar of 260 days and 20 months • Zero-invented by Maya • Use of terraces to to trap silt for agriculture • Maya writing • Maya scribes used writing extensively • Only four books survived the destruction by Spanish conquerors • The Maya ballgame • Played by two individuals or two teams • Very popular, every ceremonial center had stone-paved courts

6. MAYAN RELIGION • Religious thought • Popol Vuh, a Maya creation myth • Gods created humans out of maize and water • 1st ceremonial city was Kaminaljuyu • Bloodletting rituals • The most important rituals, to honor the gods for rains • Sacrificing captives ledto many wars for victims • Also voluntary bloodshedding

7. MAYAN TRADE

8. TEOTIHUACAN • The city of Teotihuacan • Built in the highlands of Mexico • Colossal pyramids of sun and moon dominated the skyline • Between 400 and 600 C.E., the city had 200,000 inhabitants • Paintings and murals reflect the importance of priests • Teotihuacan society • Rulers and priests dominated society • Two-thirds of the city inhabitants worked in fields during daytime • Artisans were famous for their obsidian tools and orange pottery • Professional merchants traded extensively throughout Mesoamerica • No sign of military organization or conquest • Cultural traditions • Inherited Olmecs' culture • Honored an earth god and a rain god • Decline of Teotihuacan • Military pressure from other peoples since 500 C.E. • Began to decline 650 C.E.; Invaders sacked city, mid-8th century

9. Norte Chico • 3000 B.C.E. to 1800 B.C.E. • 1st complex society of Americas. • Fishing based • No pottery or writing found. • Lacked defensive walls. Self contained. • Difficult to know what government or life was like for this group of Andean Peoples.

10. CHAVIN AND MOCHE • The Chavín Cult • Very popular around 900 to 800 B.C.E. • Vanished completely by about 300 B.C.E. • Cult was probably related to introduction of maize • Cult left large temple complexes and elaborate art works • Complexity of Andean society • Techniques of producing cotton textiles and fishing nets • Discovered gold, silver, and copper metallurgy • Early Andeans did not make use of writing • Mochica (300-700 C.E.) • One of several early Andean states, located in northern Peru • Mochica ceramics: lives of different social classes • Mochica did not integrate the whole Andean region

11. ANDEAN GEOGRAPHY

12. Oceania • Early Societies in Australia and New Guinea • Early migrations • Human migrants arrived in Australia and New Guinea at least 60,000 years ago • By the mid-centuries of the first millennium C.E., human communities in all habitable islands of the Pacific Ocean • About 10,000 years ago, rising seas separated Australia and New Guinea • Australia: hunting and gathering until the 19th and 20th centuries C.E. • New Guinea: Turned to agriculture about 3000 B.C.E. • Early hunting and gathering societies in Australia • Small communities, seasonal migrations for food • Plant-based diet of the Australian peoples • Animals and fish were also in their diet

13. Austronesian Society • Austronesian peoples • From southeast Asia, spoke Austronesian languages • seafaring skills • Settled in north New Guinea, 3000 B.C.E. • Early agriculture in New Guinea • Austronesians introduced root crops and herding animals • Indigenous peoples soon began to cultivate crops and keep animals • Agriculture brought population growth and specialization