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Olmec and Chavin

Olmec and Chavin. Mesoamerica. Earthquakes Volcanoes Mountain ranges Valley of Mexico Tropical highlands Rain forests Gulf of Mexico. Ecology and Economy. Specialized technologies developed Exploited plants, minerals (obsidian, quartz, jade) Trade across ecological boundaries

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Olmec and Chavin

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  1. Olmec and Chavin

  2. Mesoamerica • Earthquakes • Volcanoes • Mountain ranges • Valley of Mexico • Tropical highlands • Rain forests • Gulf of Mexico

  3. Ecology and Economy • Specialized technologies developed • Exploited plants, minerals (obsidian, quartz, jade) • Trade across ecological boundaries • Enhanced trade  increased agri production--< urbanization  emergence f powerful religious and political elites • Never a political unified region, though shared technologies, religious beliefs, political organizations, art, architecture, and sports

  4. Olmec • 1200-400 BCE • On bay of Campeche • Veracruz and Tabasco

  5. Olmec Economy and Development • Urbanization due to agri production • Fishing • Corn, beans squash (domesticated) • Manioc • Produced food surpluses  specialization and social stratification  emergence of religious and political elites • Who organized the digging of irrigation and drainage canals; raised fields; large scale building

  6. Economies • Trade among (perhaps) San Lorenzo, TresZapotes, and La Venta • Exchange of specialized products • Salt, cacao, clay, limestone

  7. Achievements and society • Large artificial platforms (mounds) • Elite residences? • Center for rituals and politics ? • Cities laid out in alignment w/stars (importance of astronomy) • Labor sources? • Skilled labor? • Kingship (both religious and secular) • Colossal Heads • Rulers? Important figures (celebrities?) • Near major urban centers

  8. Achievements and society • Organized labor • Increased food production • Reliable • Diverse • Religious rituals • Gods and blood • Human sacrifice • Polytheistic • Dual natured deities (male/female; human/animal) • Jaguars, crocodiles, snakes, sharks, condors • Shamans and healers • Form of writing, calendar, ball games • Not an empire

  9. Chavin • 900-250 BCE • Andes Mountains • Diverse environment • Mountains • Coastal plains • Jungles •  specialization due to region • Seen through trade b/w foothills and mountain areas

  10. The largest pyramid of Caral is Pirámide Mayor; which is 450 ft. By 500 ft. and 60 ft. tall. A 30-foot-wide staircase rises from a sunken circular plaza at the foot of the pyramid, passing over three terraced levels until it reaches the top of the platform. The platform top contains the remains of an atrium and a large fireplace. It should be pointed out; the pyramid is not really a pyramid at all, but more akin to the platform mounds used for the same purposes by the ancient Mississippians of central United States.

  11. Economic Significance • Chavin de Huantar • Intersection of trade routes connecting multiple areas • Allowed rulers to control trade and gain economic advantages • Ceremonial and commercial center • Maize  food surplus  urbanization • Reciprocal labor obligations (think family) • Roads, bridges, temples, palaces, irrigation, textiles • Llamas

  12. Society and religion • Platform building (cut stone and adobe) • Relief carvings • Polytheistic • Serpents, condors, jaguars • Belief in afterlife (burial sites) • Metallurgy develops here • Gold, silver, gold alloy • Pottery, sculpture, textiles • Class distinctions • Priests  chiefs/kings  peasants populations

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