EARLY SOCIETIES OF MESOAMERICA

1. EARLY SOCIETIESOF MESOAMERICA

2. Possible Migration Routes:indians are not only asians • Genetic Evidence • DNA evidence indicates several different sources to Amerindian DNA • Route 1: The Bering Land Bridge • Asian migration across a land bridge from Asia • Lower sea levels made this possible, probably route through glaciers • Migration due to hunter-gatherers following game • Route 2: Sea-based migration down coasts of Western Americas • Strong evidence of Paleolithic sea-based migration in Asia • Would explain how humans bypassed ice, barriers • Currents would drive ancient sea-farers down coast • Route 3: The Ancestors of the Polynesians • Early humans settled Southeast Asia and Australia by boats and sea routes • They island hopped across Pacific to South America • Would account for older archaeological remains in South America • Route 4: Sea-based Migration across North Atlantic • Early humans from Europe followed islands, ice pack of ice shelf • DNA in Great Lakes area indicates someone from Europe migrated to this region • Route 5: Across the narrow passage from Africa to South America • Would presuppose a sea-based migration • No DNA evidence so far to suggest this route

3. Paleolithic Migrations To the Americas

4. What Blood Types Tell Us • B Allele • Highest occurrence is in Central Asia • Lowest in the Americas/Australia • Relatively high frequency pockets in Africa • B is the rarest ABO blood allele in Americas • A Allele • Highest found in small, unrelated populations in Americas • Absent among Central/South American Indians. • O Blood Type • Very common around the world • High in Indians of Central/South America (around 100%) • Also relatively high among Australian Aborigines • High in Europe (in populations with Celtic ancestors) • Lowest frequency found in Eastern Europe, Central Asia • Conclusion • Diego Negative • All Africans, Europeans, East Indians, Australian Aborigines, and Polynesians are Diego negative. • Diego Positive • The only populations with Diego positive people may be Native Americans (2-46%) and East Asians (3-12%). • This nonrandom distribution pattern fits well with the hypothesis of an East Asian origin for native Americans. • Also supports conclusion that most Amerindians in Meso-America, the Caribbean, and South America have a common origin.

5. Waves of Migration • Blood Groups • Use Haplogroups • Shows four waves • Patterns • First Wave • c. 20-13,000 years ago • Patagonians, Fuegians • Pericu of Baja California • Second Wave • c. 12,000 years ago • Amerindians • Third Wave • c. 10,000 years ago • Na-Dene Amerinds • Fourth Wave • c. 6,000 years ago • Aleut, Eskimo

6. The First Americans • Patagonians and Fuegians • Lacked A, B, N Mitochondrial DNA common to Amerindians • Clearly the first to arrive as they lacked DNA common to northerners • Arrived between 13-20 thousand years ago • Extensive DNA Study • 1-2 different migration waves in peopling of southern South America. • Three hunter-gatherer groups from Tierra del Fuego cluster together • Mesa Verde, Chile • Remains dated from 30,000 BCE to c. 12,000 BCE • Indicates earlier arrival date that previously thought • Suggests migration by canoe from SE Asia, Australia • Land-living Ona (Selk’nam) • Called Foot Indians: split off from ancestral Patagonian group • Gave rise to the Tehuelche: Confined to Tierra del Fuego • Walked around naked when Europeans discovered them • Boat Oriented • Yamana and Kawesgar • Distant relatives who split off 6,000 years ago • Use boat technology identical to oldest known to man

7. The Na-Dene Amerindians • Arrived 10,000 Years Ago • Likely route was by sea-route and boats, the by foot • Closest relatives are the Aleut and Inuit-Eskimo • Groups tend to be clanish and clickish • First settlements • Settled in Taiga area of Alaska, Northwest America • Athabaskan-Eyak Indians (Interior Regions) • Haida and Tlingit Coastal Indians of Alaska’s Panhandle • Hunter-gatherer-fisher • Natural Highways of Migration • Yukon River • Great Slave Lake, Great Bear Lake River Systems • Later Migration • Languages are clear indication of migration • Aspects of languages are unique to Amerindians • Clusters exist in Canada and United States distant from main areas • Coastal Na-Dene of Pacific Northwest • New Mexico and Texas • Navaho (Pueblo Indians) of New Mexico, Arizona • Came to practice extensive agriculture • Likely descendants of Anazsi civilization • All Apache Indians • Originally hunter-gatherers • Later become horse nomads after 1492

8. Largest Group: Amerind • Came From Asia • Mitochondrial DNA indicates • Likely Asian origin • Two likely routes • Down the West Coast of the Americas • Across central regions of North America • Creation myths • Tell of a variety of originations of their respective peoples. • Sometimes people were "always there” • Other times humans were created by gods or animals • Some migrated from a specified compass point • Others came from "across the ocean“ • Geographic Distribution of Languages • Indicates waves of migration • Indicates clusters of similar, related settlers in a given area

9. Amerindian Language Families

10. The Last to Arrive • Aleuts of Alaska • Inuit (Eskimo) of Arctic • Very close relatives exist in Arctic Asia • DNA/Blood Types identical to North Asians • Languages have close Asian relatives • Arrived 6000 years ago • Ice-Age had ended long ago • Migratory Hunter-Gatherers • Seasonal hunters of sea lion, whales, walrus • Followed game across northern coasts • Settled Arctic area all the way to Greenland • Still today semi-nomadic • Tended to inhabit coastal islands, tundra • Stopped penetration at forests of north

11. What about “Europeans”? • The Solutrean Hypothesis • Suggests an early Cro-Magnon migration into the America • DNA Evidence exists • Technological Remains • Lack of certain archeological remains • Stone tool technology of Solutreans in prehistoric Europe • May have later influenced the development of the Clovis tool-making culture • Clovis spear points found all throughout North America • Strong similarities between Solutrean and Clovis toolmaking styles • No predecessors of Clovis Technology in Eastern Asia, Siberia, or Berinigia • Probable Migration • Came From Ice Age Europe probably by boat like Eskino (Inuit) hunt • By way of British Isles, Iceland, Greenland – island hopping • Which Amerindians? • Paleo-Indians who produced the Clovis Point in North America • Some Indians from Great Lakes have European mitochondrial DNA

12. THE FACE OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN Inuit Aleut Incan Fuegian

13. EARLY PRE-HISTORY • Migration to Mesoamerica • Humans traveled from Siberia to Alaska, 40,000 years ago • Probably came in search of big game • By 7000 B.C.E., reached southern-most part of South America • As hunting became difficult, agriculture began, 7500 B.C.E. • Modern theorists question Bering Strait migration • Early agriculture in Mesoamerica • Valley of Mexico was first center of agriculture • Beans, chili peppers, avocados, squashes, gourds cultivated • By 5000 B.C.E., discovered potential of maize, the staple food • Later, developed tomatoes • Agricultural villages appeared after 3000 B.C.E. • No large animals, no wheeled vehicles • Ceremonial centers, by the end of the 2nd millennium B.C.E.

14. Migration in Meso-America • Migration • A common them in legends, writings of Pre-Columbian Age • Linguistic distributions clearly show migration • In Mesoamerica • Commoners required to migrate seasonally to labor on lands of • Nobility, state, religious centers • People exited from existing communities to establish new ones • Quite common amongst tribes of both continents • Major way new tribes were formed • Dynastic Migration • Ruling elites are said to have come from somewhere else • They migrate, take over and assimilate into the society • Migrations from town to town were common • Often accompanied a change in status or wealth • Rapid growth of cities • Shows that numbers migrated from rural to urban • Common in the Mayans • Northern Mesoamerica semi-nomadic groups moved almost daily • People captured in war were forced to migrate as captives

15. The Linguistic Matrix

16. THE OLMECS • Olmecs: The "rubber people" • Earliest center, on the coast of Mexico Gulf, 1200 B.C.E. • The other two later centers: La Venta and Tres Zapotes • Olmec society • Authoritarian in nature • Colossal heads – possibly rulers • Power shown in pyramid construction • Trade in jade and obsidian • Decline and fall of Olmec society • The cause remains a mystery • Olmecs destroyed ceremonial centers • Most likely, civil conflict ruined their society • By 400 B.C.E., other societies eclipsed the Olmecs • Influence of Olmec traditions • Maize, ceremonial centers were common to later societies • Other legacies: Calendar, rituals of human sacrifice, ballgame • Olmecs did not leave written records

17. OLMEC ART

18. 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 inhabitants worked in fields • Famous for obsidian tools, orange pottery • Professional merchants traded widely • No sign of military organization • Cultural traditions • Inherited Olmecs' culture • Honored earth god, 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

19. TEOTIHUACAN THE CITY

20. Teotihuacan and Tula among the Maya • Mayan Origins • Original home: southern Mexico, Yucatan, Central America • Tikal: 600-900 CE expanded from Belize into Yucatan, Mexico • Evidence that a group, its ideas (Teotihuacan?) migrated into area to establish states • Toltec Origins • Several lineages such as Cocom, Xiu, Itza were called dzulob or foreigners • Chronicles of Chilam Balam kept by villages indicate this origin • Founders had special knowledge that gave them right to establish a state • Many leaders recorded in Mayan records for 700 years but had Nahua names • Popul Vu and Chronicles of Cakchiquels • Show migration as common in region and in founding of cities in area • Indicate Nahua or Tolan connections • Teotihuacan Influences • Use of aspects of Teotihuacan writing and phraseology suddenly appear in Mayan • In 378 CE in Mayan Long Count, Tikal conquered Uaxacatun • A stella erected to commemorate the event: its iconography is from Teotihuacan • After that the iconography occurs in other Mayan stella • Chichen Itza • Early founders are clearly Toltec • Could have been an indication of Toltec invasion of the area

21. EARLY GEOGRAPHY

22. The Mayans

23. THE MAYA • The Maya • Earliest heir of the Olmecs, lived in highlands of Guatemala • Kaminaljuyú, a ceremonial center, but not a full-fledged city • Teotihuacan became dominant during the 4th century C.E. • After the 4th century, society flourished in lowlands • Besides maize, also cultivated cotton and cacao • Tikal • Most important Maya political center, 300 to 900 C.E. • A bustling city of 40,000 people • Enormous plazas, scores of temples, pyramids, palaces • Maya warfare • Victorious warriors won enormous prestige • War captives became slaves or sacrificial victims to gods • Chichén Itzá • Rose as a power by the 9th century • Organized a loose empire in the northern Yucatan • Maya decline • Began in 800 C.E., the Mayas (except in Chichén Itzá) deserted their cities • Causes of decline remain unclear

24. 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 • The Maya calendar • Maya priests understood planetary cycles and could predict eclipses • Besides the solar year, also had a ritual year of 260 days and 20 months • Combined attributes of two calendars determined the fortune of activities • Maya writing • Contained both ideographic elements and symbols for syllables • 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

25. MAYAN RELIGION • Religious thought • Popol Vuh, a Maya creation myth • Gods created humans out of maize and water • Gods maintained agricultural cycles • Gods placated • Exchanged for honors and sacrifices • Priests interpreted calendars • Bloodletting rituals • Most important rituals, to honor the gods for rains • Sacrificing captives let to many wars for victims • Also voluntary bloodshedding

26. MAYAN TRADEMayan Weaving

27. EARLY Migrations in Central Mexico • c. 800 Chichimeca and Nonoalca • Migrated into valley; may have sacked Teotihuacan • Created Tulan Empire, a militaristic state • After fall of Tula, Tolteca people became migratory • 987 CE conquer or found Maya city of Chichen Itza • Chichimecs were nomadic wanders in Central Mexico • Tolteca and Chichimeca became progenitors of later royal dynasties • Quetzalcoatl was a prince of Tula, perhaps a god worshipped by Toltecs • Either the hero was deified or the god’s worship spread • It spread throughout Mesoamerica including the Maya as Kukulcan • Michoacan • Tarascan monarchy looked back to Chichimeca • They had settled among the lake dwellers • The Michoaque or Tarascans are linked with the Nahua and Otomi • Toltec ancestry different from Chichimec

28. TOLTECS AND TULA • Toltecs • Collapse of Teotihuacan in central Mexico, 9th to 10th century • Toltecs migrated to central Mexico about the 8th century • Established large state, powerful army from mid-10th to 12th century • Tula • Capital city of Toltecs • Center of weaving, pottery, obsidian work • Close relations with societies of coast, Yucatan • Toltec decline • Civil strife at Tula, beginning in 1125 • Nomadic incursion of 1175 • End of 12th c., no longer powerful • Quetzalcoatl • Originally a human prince of Tula, dedicated to his people • Tricked, driven from power • Gradually became a hero, god in struggle with evil deities

29. The Mythical Migration of Roots • Aztecs or Mexica • Migration of the Aztecs from the north towards Mexico valley • Began c. 1000 CE; reached Central Valley c. 1250 CE • Glorifying their Chichimec ancestry • The Aztec rulers chose a member of the Colhua royal family, Acamapichtli • He became their first emperor (tlatoani) after the foundation of Tenochtitlan • The Aztecs • Circular Migration • Sometimes it starts in Basin of Mexico at Colhuacan • Means the “Place of the Owners of Grandfathers” • Often disguised as Teo- (true) Colhuacan • Aztlan • Situated on an island in a lake like Lake Texcoco • Duran, Spanish Chronicler records Mexica account • Moteuczoma sent envoys to locate Chicomoztoc, Colhuacan • His accounts indicate a primitive, idyllic version of Tenochtitlan • Account indicates Aztecs could not go back after “fall from grace”

30. EARLY AZTECS • The Mexica • Known as Aztecs, arrived in central Mexico about mid-13th century • Tough people, wandering, fighting for century in central Mexico • Settled at Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City) about 1345 • Plentiful food supplies and chinampas by Lake Texcoco • The Aztec empire • Military campaigns against neighboring societies, mid-15th century • Conquered and colonized Oaxaco in southwestern Mexico • Made alliance with Texcoco and Tlacopan • Empire ruled 12 million people and most of Mesoamerica • Tribute and trade • Tribute obligations were very oppressive • Empire had no bureaucracy or administration • Allies did not have standing army • Tribute from 489 subject territories • Tribute flowed into Tenochtitlan

31. AZTEC WORLD

32. MEXICA SOCIETY • Warriors • Military elite at top of rigid social hierarchy • Mostly from the Mexica aristocracy • Enjoyed great wealth, honor, and privileges • Mexica women • No public role, but enjoyed high honor as mothers of warriors • Honor of bearing children was equal to that of capturing enemies in battle • Priests • Ranked among the Mexica elite; specialized in calendrical and ritual lore • Advisers to Mexica rulers, occasionally, became supreme rulers themselves • Cultivators and slaves • Cultivators worked on chinampas (small plots of reclaimed land) • Often worked on aristocrats‘ land • Paid tribute and provided labor service for public works • Large number of slaves, worked as domestic servants • Craftsmen and merchants • Skilled craftsmen enjoyed some prestige • Tenuous position of merchants: • Supplied exotic goods and military intelligence • Under suspicion as greedy profiteers

33. MEXICA RELIGION • Mexica gods • Tezcatlipoca: giver/taker of life, patron deity of warriors • Quetzalcóatl: supporter of arts, crafts, and agriculture • Ritual bloodletting: common to all Mesoamericans • Huitzilopochtli: the war god • Human sacrifice encouraged by devotion to Huitzilopochtli • Large temple at the center of Tenochtitlan • Hundreds of thousands sacrificed to this war god • Rivalry between Huitzilpochtli, Quetzalcoatl • Quetzalcoatl protector of humans • Tricked by some gods, fall from grace • Driven into exile with promise to return

34. Caribbean Migrations • The Saladoids • Migrated c. 6000 BCE to islands • Known by the style of the pottery they made • Ancestors of the Taino • Arawak and Carib Indians • Arawak • Migrated from north coast of South America c. 1000 CE • Settled the islands of the Caribbean • Largely peaceful, traded with other islands, mainland • Carib • Originated in the Orinoco Area • Language indicate they migrated from interior of Brazil • Master boat builders, sailors • Traded goods for gold, silver of mainland • Very warlike and aggressive

35. EARLY ANDEAN SOCIETY • Geography • Impacted north-south movement and communication • Created micro-cultures – small cultures isolated within region • Early migration • By 12,000 B.C.E. hunter-gathers reached South America • By 8000 B.C.E. began to experiment with agriculture • Complex societies appeared in central Andean region 1000 B.C.E. • Andean societies located in modern day Peru and Bolivia • Early agriculture in South America • Main crops: beans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, cotton • Fishing supplemented agricultural harvests • By 1800 B.C.E., produced pottery, • Temples and pyramids appeared

36. 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 • Cities began to appear shortly after Chavíncult • 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

37. ANDEAN GEOGRAPHY

38. COMING OF THE INCA • After Chavin and Moche • Several regional states dominated Andean South America • All built upon previous accomplishments, civilizations • Chucuito • Chucuito dominated highlands around Lake Titicaca • Cultivation of potatoes, herding llamas and alpacas • Traded with lower valleys, chewed coca leaves • Chimu • Powerful kingdom in lowlands of Peru • Arose prior to mid-15th century • Extensive Irrigation networks • Cultivation of maize and sweet potatoes • Capital city at Chanchan, massive brick buildings

39. THE INCA • The Inca empire • Settled first around Lake Titicaca among other peoples • Ruler Pachacuti launched campaigns against neighbors, 1438 • Built a huge empire stretching 4000 kilometers from north to south • Ruled the empire with military and administrative elite • Inca bureaucrats relied on quipu • Mnemonic aid made of an array of small cords to keep track of information • Cuzco and Machu Picchu • Capital of the Inca: had 300,000 people in the late 15th century • Machu Picchu hidden in mountain, jungles: last retreat of Inca • Inca roads • Two major roads linked the south and north • Runners carried messages across empire • Paved with stone, shaded by trees • Supported centralized government, facilitated spread of Quechua

40. INCA MAP

41. INCA SOCIETY • Trade • No large merchant class • Incas bartered agricultural surplus locally • Not much specialization • The chief ruler • Chief ruler was viewed as descended from the sun • In theory, the god-king owned everything on earth • After death, mummified rulers became intermediaries with gods • Aristocrats and priests • Aristocrats enjoyed fine food, embroidered clothes, and wore ear spools • Priests led celibate and ascetic lives, very influential figures • Peasants • Delivered portion of their products to bureaucrats • Besides supporting ruling classes, revenue also used for famine relief • Provided heavy labor (mita) for public works • Society ruled as a socialist type centralized state

42. INCA RELIGION • Inca gods: Inti and Viracocha • Venerated sun god called Inti • Considered other natural forces divine • Also honored the creator god, Viracocha • Sacrifices of animals, agricultural products, not humans • Moral thought • Concept of sin • Violation of established order • Concept of after-death • Punishment and reward • Rituals of absolving sins • Through confession, penance

43. The Inca • Emergence, c. 1200 CE • Emerged in the area of Cuzco • Originated as city-state, small population • Wide-ranging Expansion, 1438 CE • Significance of Conquest, Expansion • Each Inca had to conquer land, goods • Booty became treasury for mortuary temple • No conquest, no treasure, lousy temple to gods • Movements • Transportation • Empire was linked by roads and royal runners • Roads used to transport goods to and from capital, store houses • Social Movement • Local nobles educated in capital and returned to lands to rule • Local nobles sent tribute to Inca’s capital • Labor Movement • Mita: each village owed specific number of laborers, days to Inca • Workers moved to work on projects for the Inca • Mita also provided soldiers to the Incas armies to expand the state

44. Ayllu & Mitmaqas Colonies • Ayllu • All Inca divided into social groups • Kinship groups spread across geography • Each Ayllu • Claimed land at different elevations • This insured a variety of produce • Grazing land within ayllu held in common • Farming land given to families based on size • Conquered peoples had their own ayllus similarly structured • Mitmaq • Inca colonies • Each ayllu contributed people • Relocated to new territories • Each new mitmaq required to bring lands under cultivation • Each mitmaq served as a garrison to control new lands • Each mitmaq spoke Quechua, Amyara, the Incan languages

45. Quechua Shows Colonization

46. INDIGENOUSAMERICANCULTURALREGIONS

47. SOCIETIES OF THE NORTH • Pueblo and Navajo societies • Two large settled societies in the contemporary American southwest • By about 700 C.E., began to build stone and adobe buildings • Iroquois peoples • Agricultural society in the woodlands east of the Mississippi River • Five Iroquois nations emerged from Swasco society, 1400 C.E. • Women were in charge of Iroquois villages and longhouses • Mound-building peoples • Built earthen mounds throughout eastern North America • Mounds used for ceremonies, rituals, dwelling, burial sites • Showed influence of contacts with Mesoamericans, Mayans • Cahokia • The largest mound at Cahokia, Illinois • 15-38,000 people lived in Cahokia society, c. 12th century • Burial sites reveal existence of social classes and trade

48. American Southwest • The Anasazi • Nomadic Hunter Gathers became Sedentary farmers • Semi-permanent farming villages later arose with extensive trade • Settlements linked by extensive pedestrian roads like Inca roads • Original trade goods were surplus foods • Area lacks trees, metals, etc. for which Anasazi traded food, finished goods • Trade goods from the Great Basin, North Mexico, Pacific, Mississippi area • Many trade goods (copper, feathers) from Central Mexico • Mined turquoise for trade to Mesoamerica • 300 Year Great Drought c. 1200 forced abandonment of towns • Semi-sedentary, farming an area for 30 years and migrating to new site • Environmental stress could have weakened civilization • Area had thin soil, little water so overfarming relatively easy • Internal conflict, invasion by new nomads likely cause of migration • Descendents • Likely Descendents: Hopi, Navajo, Zuni • Pueblo Indians have similar building techniques, farming, pottery • They also had trade contacts with Mesoamerica

49. The Anasazi& MovementArchaeology andSpace Age Technology have revealed an extensive network of roads

50. GEOGRAPHIC MAP