Mesoamerica

INTRODUCTION

The term Mesoamerica, literally Middle America, was introduced by anthropologist Paul Kirchhoff in 1943 to define a huge geographic and cultural area that included the central and southern portion of Mexico, all of Guatemala, Belize and part of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mesoamerica is home to many different cultures that flourished here before and after the contact with European people.

Within this vast and interconnected world, Kirchhoff recognized and organized a series of cultural traits that could be found widespread from north to south and east to west, in this portion of the American continent. His definition of Mesoamerica as a cultural area stemmed from a middle 20^th century archaeological tradition called cultural-history, which tried to define ancient cultures based on the distribution of certain objects and cultural features. Archaeologists today recognize that some of the artifacts and cultural elements defined by Kirchhoff are by no mean exclusive to a Mesoamerican tradition, but the utility of the term is still recognized along with some of its markers.

Some of the cultural traits used by Paul Kirchhoff to define Mesoamerica as a culture area are: presence of specific linguistic groups (Uto-Aztecan, Otomanguean, Totonac, Mixe-Zoquean, Mayan, Tarascan, Huave), specific agricultural techniques (among which chinampas, floating orchards) and crops (maize, beans, manioc, squash, chili peppers, yucca, cocoa), pictographic and hieroglyphic writing systems, screen-folding books (codices), construction of stepped pyramids and ball game courts,  combination of a 365 solar and 260 ritual calendar, communal important deities, like the rain god, whose name was Tlaloc, in Central Mexico, Cocijo, in Oaxaca, and Chaac in the Maya area, ritual importance of the number 13, human sacrifices, auto-sacrifices (through the perforation of body parts) performed by elite members, and long-distance trade of items such as jade, shells and obsidian.

MESOAMERICAN TIMELINE

·         Paleoindian Period (ca 10,000-7000 BC): hunter-gatherer groups, evidence of Clovis points associated with big game hunting (Santa Isabel Iztapan, Guilá Naquitz, Los Grifos, Cueva del Diablo)

·         Archaic Period (7000-2500 BC): transition from hunter-gatherers to village life and agriculture by the end of this period. Smaller and more refined stone tools and reliance on marine resources (Coxcatlán, Guilá Naquitz, Gheo Shih, Chantuto, Santa Marta cave, Pulltrouser Swamp).

·         Early Preclassic/Early Formative Period (2500-900 BC): appearance of pottery, transition from village life to a more complex social and political organization and elaborate architecture (Oaxaca: San José Mogote, Chiapas: Paso de la Amada, Chiapa de Corzo, Central Mexico: Tlatilco, Chalcatzingo, Olmec area: San Lorenzo, Western Mexico: El Opeño, Maya area: Nakbé, Cerros, Southeastern Mesoamerica: Usulután)

·         Middle Preclassic/Middle Formative Period (900-300 BC): increasing social inequalities, elite groups connected with wider distribution of luxury items, public architecture and stone monuments (Olmec area: La Venta, Tres Zapotes, Central Mexico: Tlatilco, Cuicuilco, Oaxaca: Monte Alban, Chiapas: Chiapa de Corzo, Izapa, Maya area: Nakbé, Mirador, Uaxactun, Kaminaljuyu, Copan, West Mexico: El Opeño, Capacha, Southeastern Mesoamerica: Usulután).

·         Late Preclassic/Late Formative Period (300 BC-AD 200/250): population increase, emergence of regional centers by the end of the Late Formative. In the Maya area this period is marked by massive architecture decorated with giant stucco masks (Oaxaca: Monte Alban, Central Mexico: Cuicuilco, Teotihuacan, Maya area: Mirador, Abaj Takalik, Kaminaljuyú, Calakmul, Tikal, Uaxactun, Lamanai, Cerros, Chiapas: Chiapa de Corzo, Izapa, Western Mexico: El Opeño, Southeastern Mesoamerica: Usulután).

·         Early Classic Period (200/250-600 AD): this period saw the apogee of Teotihuacan in the valley of Mexico, one of the largest metropolis of the ancient world. Characteristics of this period are: diffusion of regional centers, widespread Teotihuacan-Maya political and economic connections, centralized authority. In the Maya area this period traditionally sees the erection of stone monuments (called stelae) with inscriptions about kings' lives and events. (Central Mexico: Teotihuacan, Cholula, Maya area: Tikal, Uaxactun, Calakmul, Copan, Kaminaljuyu, Naranjo, Palenque, Caracol, Zapotec: Monte Alban, Western Mexico: Teuchitlán tradition).

·         Late Classic (600-800/900 CE): The beginning of this period is characterized by the collapse of Teotihuacan in central Mexico and the political fragmentation and high competition among many Maya sites. The end of this period saw the disintegration of political networks and decline in population in the southern Maya lowlands, whereas many centers in the northern Maya lowlands and other areas of Mesoamerica continued to flourish afterwards. (Gulf Coast: El Tajin, Maya area: Tikal, Palenque, Toniná, Dos Pilas, Uxmal, Yaxchilán, Piedras Negras, Quiriguá, Copan, Oaxaca: Monte Alban, Central Mexico: Cholula).

·         Terminal Classic (used in the Maya area) Epiclassic (central Mexico) (800/900 –1000 AD): this period attested a political reorganization in the Maya lowland with a new prominence of the Northern Lowland (northern Yucatan). New architectural styles show evidence of strong economic and ideological connection between central Mexico and northern Maya Lowlands (Central Mexico: Cacaxtla, Xochicalco, Tula, Maya area: Seibal, Lamanai, Uxmal, Chichen Itzá, Sayil, Gulf Coast: El Tajin).

·         Early Postclassic (900/1000-1250 AD): Intensification of trade and connection between northern Maya area and Central Mexico, warfare-related themes in arts, constellation of small, competing kingdoms throughout Mesoamerica. (Central Mexico: Tula, Cholula, Maya area: Tulum, Chichen Itzá, Mayapan, Ek Balam, Oaxaca: Tilantongo, Tututepec, Zaachila, Gulf Coast: El Tajin).

·         Late Postclassic (1250-1521 AD):  this period is traditionally framed between the emergence of the Aztec/Mexica empire and its destruction by the Spanish conquest. Characteristics of this period are: increased militarization, competing empires across Mesoamerica, which finally became tributaries of the Aztecs (apart from the Tarascans/Purépecha of Western Mexico), intensive trades. (Central Mexico: Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Cholula, Tepoztlan, gulf Coast: Cempoala, Oaxaca: Yagul, Mitla, Maya: Mayapan, Tayasal, Utatlan, Mixco Viejo, West Mexico: Tzintzuntzan). 

CONTRIBUTIONS

American Indians of North, Meso-, and South America were the first to cultivate seventy-five percent of the many varities of food grown in the world today. Many pharmaceuticals in current use were first discovered by Indian healers centuries before the Europeans came to the Americans.

Freeze-dried food, syringes, rootbeer, rubberized clothing, beef jerky, and many of the tenets of the United States Constitution are only a few of the independent inventions and original discoveries that American Indian people gave to the world.

A. Ancient Writing

The symbolism and iconography of writing systems found throughout the ancient world are fascinating, but none more than those that evolved in ancient Mesoamerica.

Developing independently of Mediterranean or Asian cultures, there are several different types of pre-conquest writing that represent a unique intellectual achievement in this part of the new world.

1.    La Mojarra script

2.    Zapotecs

3.    Maya Hieroglyphic Writing

Maya Hieroglyphic Writing preserves a vast body of material, and is the only one thought to represent a fully enunciated phonetic script. Found on wall carvings, lintels, stela, portable carved objects, thousands of ceramic vessels, and four important manuscripts (some say three), it is the most widely studied. There are four Maya codices namely the Dresden Codex, Paris Codex, Madrid Codex and Grolier Codex, usually known by the name of the city in which they are now located. They are made from tree bark that has been flattened, covered with a lime paste & folded accordion-style. They are usually written on both sides.

4.    Mixtec Codices & Lienzos

There are fewer than twenty codices that are written in a purely native style on bark paper or animal skin. The greatest number of these are from Oaxaca and are of the Mixtec writing system (pronounced "Mish tek"). They primarily convey genealogical, ritual or mytho-historic information, but they have allowed scholars to reconstruct political history going back to the 11th Century or earlier.

There are also large sheets known as Lienzos or Mapas that continue the picture writing tradition that have been painted in the Mixteca area through this century.

5.    Borgia Codex Group

The painted manuscripts of the enigmatic Borgia Codex Group probably are of Mixtec origin, but it is clear that they contain information relating to the Mexica (pronounced "Mesh ee ka") and their ritual cult of Huitzilipochtli, so they may be of Mexica origin.

B. Maya Ceramics

The great number of Maya ceramics known today gives us a tantalizing glimpse at the ancient mythological culture of the Maya.

Many of the scribes and artisans who created these vessels employed the use of Maya hieroglyphic writing. They would often follow a pattern or sequence of glyphs (known as the "primary standard sequence") that was originally thought to be a chant or prayer for the departed. We now know that much of the writing on these vessels described perhaps their function and contents, and might even include the name of the owner or the scribe who painted it.

C. Mesoamerican Calendar

In the study of the ancient books, it's important to get to know the native calendar. Mesoamerica as a culture area is defined by the native use of this calendar, which can be found even among the earliest peoples.

It is a combination of a 260 day Sacred Calendar (twenty repeating day names and thirteen numbers that follow sequentially) and a 365 day annual calendar (divided into 18 periods of 20 days each followed by a special period with only 5 days). These are counted forward in an interlocking cycle. Each day of the year draws one element from the 260 day calendar, and one element from the 365 day calendar. In this way, no individual day name repeats for 52 years.

D. Archaelogical sites

1.    Palenque

Palenque is situated on a ledge overlooking the swampy plains that stretch northward all the way to the Gulf coast. Perhaps it is this positioning between two worlds, that gives Palenque a mystical charm that enchants scientist and tourist alike. The vista of the flat plains to the north, and the misty green of the lush mountain backdrop to the south, captures the imagination of modern visitors and most certainly inspired artists and architechs.

This ancient Maya site is located at the western frontier of the lowland Maya region. While the name Palenque comes from a nearby village, it is possible that the village was named after the ancient city or something similar sounding - bahlam kin - jaguar sun - the place where the sun descends into the underworld, the realm of the jaguar.

2.    Tonina

The Tonina Ruins are about 12 miles down a dirt road from the city of Ocosingo (about halfway between Palenque and San Cristobal) and are said to be the last capital of the Maya empire.

Tonina consists of an artificial mountain of seven platforms on a calcareous hill that overlooks the valley. It has many underground passageways you can explore.

3.    Tikal

Tikal is one of the largest and most impressive Maya pyramid sites in Central America. It's located in rural Northeast Guatemala. Here you can see lots of pyramids spread across a large Maya city in the jungle.

E. Abacus-Mathematics

An abacus is a portable calculating device using a frame with rods that are strung with beads. Aztec and Maya people who lived in Mesoamerica, performed mathematical calculations using an abacus made from maize kernels, instead of beads, threaded on strings. It provided a faster and more accurate way of adding and subtracting than relying on memory alone.

This abacus, which was called a nepohualtzitzin, had three beads on the top deck and four beads on the bottom. Archaeologists have dated the presence of such counters at about A.D. 900 to 1000. The Aztec abacus, which was devised without any knowledge of the Chinese abacus (invented about 500 B.C.) required the same level of critical thinking and knowledge of mathematics to develop.

The Inca, whose empire was established in what is now Peru in about A.D. 1000, also were known to have a type of abacus. This consisted of a tray with compartments that were arranged in rows in which counters were moved in order to make calculations.

F. Chewing gum

For thousands of years Indians throughout the Americas chewed the sap or LATEX of plants for the same reasons people chew gum today — to relieve hunger and thirst and to freshen breath. Indian people also relied on chewing gum for routine dental hygiene.

The Gabrielino people of Southern California boiled milkweed sap and chewed the result for gum. Other American Indians used several substances for chewing gum, such as licorice and marshmallow roots, sweet gum and hollyhock. Plantain roots were sometimes chewed to relieve thirst. American Indians taught New England colonists to chew spruce sap as a breath sweetener. The practice quickly became a fad. Spruce gum was being sold by the lump in eastern United States by the early 1800s, making it the first commercial chewing gum.

Chicle, the original basis for modern chewing gum, is the milky latex of the tropical SAPODILLA tree (Manilkara zapota van Royen) that is native to northern Brazil, Mesoamerica, and parts of Mexico. The Maya, whose culture began in Mesoamerica in about1500 B.C., discovered how to tap the sapodilla tree. The Aztec, whose empire was established in Mesoamerica in about A.D. 1100, later adopted gum chewing. Although people from cultures throughout the world chewed gum, without the introduction of chicle, the multi-million dollar U.S. chewing gum industry would not exist.

G. Hair conditioners

North American Great Plains, Plateau, Northeast, California, and Southwest cultures

A hair conditioner is a treatment placed on the hair after it has been washed. Pre-Columbian Indians used hair conditioners for the same reasons people use them today — to add shine to the hair, make it more manageable, and relieve dryness. They also used botanical hair conditioners to relieve scalp itch and as a dandruff treatment.

The Aztec, whose empire was established in about A.D. 1100 in what are now Mexico and parts of Mesoamerica, used the berries of the yiamolli (Phytolacco octandra L.) to make a conditioner. They also used sunflower (Helianthus annus) seeds, boiling them to extract the oil. This was then used as a rinse, much like a modern hot oil hair treatment.

North American Indian people from a number of tribes used rendered animal grease as a hair conditioner. To this they added herbs to provide fragrance. The Omaha, who lived on the southern plains, added prairie rose petals (Rosa arkansana) and wild bergamot leaves (Monarda fistulosa L.). The Blackfeet, a Plains tribe, and the Kootenai, who lived in the northern plateau region used needles of the balsam fir (Abies balsamea). The Chippewa (Anishinabe), who lived in the upper Midwest, mixed balsam gum with bear grease. Balsam continues to be a popular ingredient in modern hair conditioners and shampoos.

The Cheyenne, who lived on the northern plains, made a tea of MINT (Mentha arvensis L.) that they used as a hair rinse North American Indians who lived in areas where CATTAILS grew, often used their pollen as a conditioner. American Indians living in what are now southern Arizona, California, and Baja California in Mexico rinsed their hair with conditioners made from JOJOBA seeds. (Simmondsia chinensis). Jojoba is another ingredient found in many modern shampoos and hair conditioners.

H. Medical research (ca A.D.1100 - A.D.1519) Mesoamerican culture

Aztec physicians routinely engaged in medical research using the empirical method of scientific inquiry. Their botanical gardens served as research centers. (See also GARDENS, BOTANICAL.) In his book, Aztec Medicine, Health, and Nutrition, author Bernard Ortiz de Montellano writes, "Experience in the gardens was reflected in the Aztecs' extensive and scientifically accurate botanical and zoological taxonomy. The gardens were also used for medical research, plants were given free to patients on the condition that they report the results, and doctors were encouraged to experiment with the various plants."

Since medical knowledge was passed orally from healer to healer in other North American Indian cultures, no direct evidence exists that medical research was conducted as systematically as that of the Aztec. However, it is clear that American Indian healers possessed sophisticated knowledge of the properties and correct dosages of medicinal plants. North American Indians used botanical ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES and routinely used ANTISPASMODIC MEDICATIONS that could produce harm if not given in the correct dosages. The sophistication of their medical knowledge indicates that they were astute observers of the effects of botanicals against illnesses.

I. Parkas (precontact) North American Arctic and Subarctic cultures

Parkas — loose-fitting, hooded jackets — were invented by the Inuit people who lived near the Arctic Circle. The parka has been adopted by the non-Indian world and has become a popular and fashionable winter-wear design throughout the world. Although the design is an American Indian invention, the word parka is of Russian word given to this unique style of jacket. Parka in Russian means "reindeer fur coat." The Inuit call a parka an anorak. Caribou and seal skin provided the most common material used to make Inuit parkas, but polar bear and fox fur, ground squirrel pelts, and even the skins of birds, were also used to make them.

J. Vanilla (precontact) Mesoamerican cultures

Just as cacao must be processed before it becomes CHOCOLATE, vanilla beans must be cured to bring out their vanillin, the essential oil that produces the flavor. The indigenous people of Mesoamerica discovered this four-step process. First they wilted the beans to begin the enzyme-producing reactions that provide the flavor. Next they heated the beans to speed the flavor production and to prevent them from fermenting or rotting. This also turned the pods their characteristic dark brown color. Next they dried the pods at room temperature. Finally they conditioned them by putting them in closed BOXES for about three months.

The Aztec, whose empire was established in what is now Mexico in about A.D. 1100, called ground vanilla beans tlilxochitl which means, black pods. They used vanilla to flavor chocolate, a drink made from the roasted and ground seeds of the CACAO tree. Vanilla beans were so valued that they were one of the ways in which common people paid tribute to the Aztec emperors.

K. Welding, sweat (ca. 1000 B.C.)South America Andean cultures

Welding is the process of joining metals together through the application of heat. Long before contact with Europeans, the Chavin, whose culture arose in the Andes in about 1000 B.C. invented welding. Their invention is referred to as sweat welding. They used this technique to produce three-dimensional objects of silver and gold. The ancient Chavin metalsmiths learned that by placing the edges of metals together and applying high heat, they melted together. An interesting aspect of this invention was that placing two metals together caused the melting point of the metal with higher melting point to be lowered. This allowed these metal workers to work with PLATINUM, which has a melting point much higher than any precontact furnace was capable of producing. These ancient Andean metalsmiths also discovered how to join metal by SOLDERING, crimping, stapling, and by using interlocking tabs.

MESO-AMERICAN CULTURE

AZTEC EMPIRE

During the same period as the Inca Empire, the Aztec Empire dominated Mesoamerica from Mexico and Guatemala to the territories of Salvador and Honduras for nearly 100 years. This empire consisted of the native speaking people known as the Nahuatl-speakers and those of the Culhua-Mexico, who had migrated from the Pacific Northwest and inhabited the area which would become the capital of Mexico, Tenochtitlan. The people of this culture were refined workers, merchants, farmers and fishers. Also, they were fervent worshippers of the many gods of the Sun, and fierce defenders and conquerors of their territory. In 1519 when Hernan Cortes landed in this region and came upon this civilization, they were the sole heirs of a flourishing community. Only two years after his landing, the Aztec Empire crumbled and the capital was burned to the ground.

The Aztecs began their reign in 1427 after the leader, Itzcoatl, with the assistance of surrounding cities, defeated the Tepanecs and gained control of the Mexican basin. Leadership of the nation was passed on from brother to brother and then to the eldest son of the eldest brother. Leaders were then chosen by religious leaders and people of political power, based on their skills on the battlefield and their ability to speak eloquently.

For the Aztecs, warfare had a much different goal than for most of their counterparts. The goal of the battles was not to destroy the enemy and ransack the village but to capture the community and integrate them into the Aztec society, thus providing a much more productive and expanding kingdom. The temples of these cities were burned and the worship of Huitzilopochtli was installed. Warfare was also used to capture victims for ceremonial use. Prisoners of war were sacrificed on huge alters in front of large crowds. The heart of the victim was cut out, symbolically offered to the gods, and the lifeless bodies of the victims were rolled down the long stairs, staining the steps with blood.

Aztec religion was closely tied into the calendrical system they adopted based on the cosmos. The Aztec god was a form of energy in one way or another. This energy could then be distributed to mankind through several different forms from lakes and streams to sunlight and wind. Each part of the Aztec world was represented in one fashion or another by some deity, which in turn either blessed or punished the peoples. These deities were then represented in the calendars of the Aztec, namely the Day-Count and the Solar Year. The Day-Count calendar was based on 20 day signs, (i.e. dog, water, deer, grass, etc..) and 13 day numbers. This was an endless cycle which constantly repeated itself, providing a 260-day year and determined the type of day it was going to be, based on the meaning of the signs. The Solar Year was used to determine planting and harvesting times and to organize festivities. This system was based on a 365 day cycle and when combined with that of the Day-Count, it provided a perfect 52 year cycle, which measured historical events for the Aztec.

The fall of the Aztec Empire was based not only on the actions of the Spaniards, but on the revolt of surrounding smaller communities which belonged to this huge collaboration of peoples. Cortes had found the weakness of this Empire that being the Empire was nothing more than a collection of smaller groups of people who were tied together by one thing: membership in this society. Many of these communities despised the Aztecs and wanted freedom from their rule. Cortes saw this and exploited it to its fullest. By gathering up more than 150,000 of these native peoples and 9,000 of his own troops, he completely dismantled the Aztec Empire and in the process gained control of those who were fighting for their own freedom. Finally, after the city of Tenochtitlan became infected with the small-pox epidemic, and half of the city was wiped out, Cortes seized the city and laid it in ruins. By August 13th, 1521, the Aztec empire was decimated and Spanish rule soon spread throughout the newly gained land.

TOLTECS

The Rise of an Empire

The Toltec Empire appeared in the Central Mexico area in the 10th century AD, when they established their central city of Tula. It is believed that the Toltecs were refugees from the northern Teotihuacan culture and migrated after its fall in 700 AD.

Little is known directly about the Toltecs because the Aztecs plundered the Tula ruins for building materials for their nearby capital, destroying most of the historical evidence that remained. Much of what we know about the Toltecs comes from legends carried on about them by later cultures.

The Toltec Empire was the first of the extreme militaristic cultures in the region that used their might to dominate their neighbors, a trend associated with the later cultures in the region, especially the Aztecs. Eventually the empire spread across most of Mexico, Guatemala, and as far south as the Yucatan, as they conquered lands previously controlled by the Mayans.

Art and Entertainment

The Toltec Empire and leaders created an unmatched mystique in the minds of the Central American people. The Toltec leaders were thought of as being alongside deities. Later cultures often revered them and copied their legends, art, buildings and religion. Many future rulers of other cultures, including Mayan leaders and Aztec emperors, claimed to be descended from the Toltecs.

The Toltecs sported the familiar ball game played by many central American cultures and may have sacrificed of the losers. Toltecs are known for their somewhat rougher form of architecture, a form that would later inspire the Aztec builders. Toltec art is characterized by walls covered with snakes and skulls, images of a reclining Chac-mool (red jaguar), and the colossal statues of the Atlantes, men carved from great columns.

Religion and Legend

Religion in the Toltec Empire was dominated by two major deities. The first, Quetzalcoatl, is shown as a plumed serpent. This deity of learning, culture, philosophy, fertility, holiness and gentility was absorbed from earlier cultures in the area. His rival was Tezcatlipoca, the smoked mirror, known for his warlike nature and tyranny.

The greatest ruler of the Toltecs was Ce Acatl Topiltzin who was renown for being the leader and high priest of Quetzacoatl at the time when Tula and the Empire were established. According to Toltec legend, Tezatlipoca's followers drove Topiltzin and the followers of Quetzalcoatl out of the city around 1000 AD. They fled south, where they were able to defeat the Maya at the city of Chichen Itza, and take it for their own. An interesting twist in Topiltzin's legend is that he vowed to return to Tula from the east in one of his sacred years and take his vengeance. This legend lived all the way to the time of the Aztecs, who attributed the arrival of the Spanish as the return of Topiltzin, an event that they feared greatly.

The Decline

The Toltec Empire lasted until the 12th century, when it was destroyed by the Chitimecs and other attacking groups. The Toltec people were absorbed by the conquerors and in the south they became assimilated with the Maya, subordinates to the people they once conquered. After the fall of the Toltecs, central Mexico fell into a period of chaos and warfare without any single ruling group for the next 200 years, when the Aztecs gained control.

MAYA

The Mayan civilization is divided into three time periods which engulfed 3,000 years. The first is the Pre-Classic Period spanning from 2000 B.C.-250 A.D. The second is the Classic Period which spanned from 250 A.D.-900 A.D. The third is the Post-Classic Period which spanned from 900 A.D.-1500 A.D. The Maya lived in the eastern one third of Mesoamerica, mainly on the Yucatan Peninsula. They are a group of related Native American tribes who have the same linguistic organization.

The best known group of Maya are the Maya Proper. The Maya Proper generally occupied the Yucatan. There are other groups of Maya such as the Huastec, who occupied northern Veracruz; the Tzental who occupied Tabasco and Chiapas and the Quiche; and the Cakchiquel and the Pokomam who occupied the Highlands of Guatemala. With the exception of the Huastec, all of these Mayan groups occupied a continuous landscape and they were all part of the Mayan culture. This culture was the greatest civilization among the original cultures of the New World (western hemisphere). Even though the Mayans had common organization, they were not unified under one empire. As suggested above, there were many separate groups with similar cultural backgrounds. The Mayans had common artistic and religious components, but politically they were independent Mayan states.

Agriculture was the main basis of the Mayan economy in the pre-Colombian era. Maize was the primary crop of the Maya. Cotton, beans, squash and cacao were also grown. They had many techniques of spinning, dyeing and weaving cotton. The Mayan culture also domesticated the dog and the turkey, but had no larger animals or machines with wheels.

The Maya had a sophisticated system of writing. It was developed in order to record their transition of power through the generations. This writing was composed of inscriptions on stone and wood, and was usually used on the inside or outside of their architecture. The books they made were called folding tree books. These books were made from fig tree bark and usually placed in the royal tombs. Few of these books have survived due in part to the tropical climate of the region. Also, few of these books have survived due to the Spanish Invasion. Cortez and others claimed their symbolic writing system was the devil's work. Four of these books (codices) survive today. They are as follows: The Dresden Codex, The Madrid Codex, The Paris Codex, and the Grolier Codex.

The art of the Maya reflected their lifestyle and culture. Their art was composed of delineation and painting upon paper, building plaster, wood, stone, clay, stucco molds and terra cotta figurines. The advanced process of working with metal was also developed by the Maya, but was of scarce usage. Much of Mayan art consisted of inscriptions and architecture, ordered by the kings who wanted to have it done of themselves. They did this to ensure their place in Mayan history. They also produced fine pottery, which was comparable only to the pottery of Peru. Art was encouraged by men and women of power who strove to create the history of the Mayan people. These art works justified their society and their interactions with surrounding groups.

Cacao beans, copper bells and many other things were used as units of exchange. Copper was not only used for exchange, but for ornamentation as well. Other things, such as gold, silver, jade, shell and colorful plumage were also used as ornaments. The use and making of metal tools was relatively unknown.

The reason for the downfall of the Maya is unknown. However there are several possible reasons for their downfall including soil exhaustion, water loss and erosion, and the competition between agriculture and the surrounding Savanna. Other possibilities include catastrophes such as earthquakes and hurricanes, disease, abundant amounts of high social structure and invasions by other surrounding people and cultures.

The collapse of the Maya has many explanations ranging from the hypotheses stated above, to single catastrophic events. However, even with all these possibilities, no one really knows what happened to them. The collapse of the Maya remains one of the most intriguing events in human history.

TEOTIHUACAN

The Teotihuacán are one of Mexico’s most mysterious cultures. Because they disappeared before the Spanish arrived, there is no documentation from the Spaniards about their culture. Even the Aztecs in nearby Tenochtitlan knew little about them because their culture arrived so much later than the disappearance of the Teotihuacán people.

Teotihuacán the City

The main basis of anthropological knowledge and speculation about the Teotihuacán culture is based on the city of the same name Teotihuacán. The city is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Mexico City in the Basin of Mexico. Teotihuacán was the first metropolitan city of the Americas with a probable population of 125,000 during the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. The city declined between the seventh and tenth centuries A.D. until it was finally abandoned. Excavation of the city has given us many clues about their culture.

Teotihuacán the Culture

The discovery of Teotihuacán artifacts and pottery in other sites in Latin America and the abundance of the cultural artifacts of other groups found within the city of Teotihuacán lead to the conclusion that the Teotihuacán were actively involved with trade. There is mounting evidence that the Teotihuacán were involved in trade relationships as far away as the Mayan lowlands, the Guatemalan highlands, northern Mexico and the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

We also know the Teotihuacán were extremely religious due to the amount of religious artifacts and buildings in the city. Impressively, Teotihuacán contains more temples than any other pre-hispanic Mesoamerican site. There are two main pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, dedicated to worship. Also, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl with magnificent heads of plumed serpents built into the walls were built for religious purposes. Each precisely drawn out compound in Teotihuacán contains at least one smaller temple or shrine to their gods, suggesting that the people worshipped communally within each compound.

Besides the religious significance of the compounds, they also give evidence to the social structure and residence pattern of the Teotihuacán. The different sizes, amount of artifacts and architectural differences of the complexes point to the conclusion that Teotihuacán had a social structure divided by class. In addition, biological studies of the skeletal material at the sites suggests that the males within one of the complexes were closely related. This study indicates a patrilocal family residence pattern which means that the females of the Teotihuacán moved in with their husband's family after marriage. Further evidence suggests that the residents of the compounds may have shared certain economic skills such as working obsidian. In addition, there may have been foreign communities living within Teotihuacán.

The Decline of Teotihuacán

The city of Teotihuacán declined from one of the largest metropolitan cities in Mexico in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. to virtual abandonment in the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. Although archeologists can document the actual abandonment of the city, there is little evidence pointing to why it may have been abandoned. An increase in the amount of militarism in the art and artifacts of that period suggests an increase in warfare which could be a possible explanation. After 750 A.D. there is evidence of ritual-like burning of the monuments and temples of the city which has been associated with loss of power and decline.

ZAPOTEC

The most famous Zapotec city is Monte Alban, located in the Valley of Oaxaca in the highlands of Mexico. It is argued that the foundation for this great city was provided by the Olmec, but the actual construction is credited to the peoples of Oaxaca, Morelos, and the Valley of Mexico (Sabloff 46). Olmec influence appears to retreat around A.D. 100. Over the next 800 to 900 years the Zapotec transformed Monte Alban into a bustling central city. By Post Classic times Monte Alban was essentially deserted. Many of the remains found today are from tombs and burials of the later Mixtec influence (Lathrop 58).

The beginnings of Zapotec occupation of Monte Alban date to Pre-Classic times, starting around 500-400 B.C. Simple tombs were found, some containing a grey pasty pottery. Solid figurines, similar to the Tlatilco type also dated back to Pre-Classic times. The Temple of Danzantes is thought to be the first permanent structure in Monte Alban. It is faced with stones depicting nude males, many resembling the Olmec in features. They are also thought to be prisoners caught by the Zapotec during battles (Sabloff 54).

There is plenty of evidence that the Zapotec were using the 52 year calendar cycle, because of hieroglyphics, numerals and calendrical inscriptions. The well known Temple J dates back to around 200-100 B.C. It is often referred to as an observatory and is curiously shaped like an arrow. On the face of the structure are 40 stones with carvings of places thought to be conquered by the Zapotec.

From 0-500 A.D. Monte Alban was at its peak. Teotihuacan influence is found in certain styles and pottery decorations. They most certainly were trading goods with the Teotihuacan. Intricate funeral urns appear in the burials and the tombs are decorated with paintings of gods and priests, all brightly colored.

By 500-1000 A.D. the Zapotec had strong cultural ties with Teotihuacan. Many of the structures and paintings show their influence. After A.D.1000 up to the conquest, Monte Alban was slowly deserted, leaving the city to crumble and rot in the highlands of Mexico.

The Zapotec most likely didn't inhabit the city itself. It was more of a religious and ceremonial center that people gathered at for these purposes. There are no water sources nearby and the city's size is restricted by the hills surrounding it (Lathrop 59). It is believed that the residents of Monte Alban lived in terraces built on the hillsides surrounding the city center, perhaps a few lived right in the city (Sabloff 207).

OLMEC

Among the various Mesoamerican Pre-Classic period (1200 BCE-400 BCE) groups, the Olmec are the most well-known. The Olmec heartland was centered in La Venta in Tabasco, and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan and Laguna de los Cerros in Veracruz. The Olmec were a highly developed and well organized group with a complex calendar and hieroglyphic writing system. They also created unique art objects.

Olmec cities were constructed around a central raised mound, which was used for religious ceremonies. Around 900 BCE, these raised mounds were replaced with pyramid-shaped structures. Society began to separate into divisions arranged in a hierarchy, as is shown in the change in residential patterns. The houses were made of wooden walls with clay and palm roof tops.

An irrigation system that ran through the city supplied water for crop production. Crops were supplemented by fishing and hunting. The Olmecs had access to many waterways which were used for fishing and the transportation of people and trade goods. Basalt, found in the distant Tuxtla Mountains, was used to construct plazas, religious pyramid structures, and the large stone heads the Olmecs are known for carving. As it came from other areas, basalt likely was a traded commodity that demonstrates links with other cultures in the surrounding areas.

Olmec religion strongly featured animals and animal symbolism; they likely practiced shamanism. Hallucinogenic drugs from a  marine toad and/or several mushroom species may have been used by the shamans to enter trances. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacan is an example of an Olmec ceremonial site.

Olmecs are most well-known for their colossal head statues. The heads were possibly modeled after notable citizens, probably leaders. Most of the colossal heads were defaced or destroyed in some way. They were likely altered after the regional center in which it is affiliated with lost prominence, by a conquering group, or the Olmecs did this themselves after a ruler died as a sacrifice to the gods or animal spirits. The facial features of the heads were people with slanted eyes and large lips. Many have argued over whether the Olmecs were of African or Asia descent, because of these facial features. Others believe that this is just an overgeneralization. Most of the heads were deformed, which was likely done at birth for noble children, as the Mayan culture did.

Other motifs in Olmec art consist of jaguars, serpents and monkeys. Many of the art objects show a transition between human and animal figures, which demonstrates a connection between the two. Most sculptures were made of jade, which was also not found in the Olmec region. This must have been traded from an outside location.

SOUTHERN INDIANS IN MESOAMERICA

THE LOST CITY OF THE INCAS IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURY

The Americans, whose task it was to explore the hills between the Apurimac and Urubamba rivers some thirty miles north of Pampa de Espiritu Santo found no trace of anything resembling the Incas’ lost city.

American Explorers at Pampa de Espiritu Santo

However, according to a subsequent theory, they were tantilisingly close, and so was Hiram Bingham, who visited Pampa de Espiritu Santo briefly after discovering Vitcos in 1911.

In July 1964, another American, Gene Savoy, hacked a large area of Pampa de Espiritu Santo out of its cocoon of jungle to reveal a considerable city with some three hundred houses, sixty larger buildings, a bridge and watercourses, all of them of characteristic Inca construction.

In the surrounding plain, traces of Inca roads were discovered in the fall of 1964. These crossed the peaks of the Marcacocha-Picchacocha range which lay close to the border between Inca- and Spanish-occupied Peru during the thirty-five years of Vilcabamba’s independence between 1537 and 1572.

New Evidence Revealed

Savoy concluded that Pampa de Espiritu Santo was, in fact, Vilcabamba, a view since endorsed by the explorer and author John Hemmings. Hemmings cites two documentary sources that were not yet discovered when Bingham reached Macchu Piccu in 1911 and apparently not taken much into account by Savoy in 1964.

These were a dispatch not published until 1935, from General Martin Hurtado de Arbieto, commander of Viceroy de Toledo’s army in 1572 and the first part of Historia General del Piru (General History of Peru) written between 1580 and 1616 by the Spanish friar and chronicler Fray Martin de Murua. Murua’s history was discovered in 1945 and published in 1962.

Arbieto wrote to Toledo that Vilcabamba grew sugar cane, cotton, coca - all tropical produce - and Murua noted several times that Vilcabamba was in “hot country”. These descriptions fitted Pampa de Espiritu Santo at its relatively low height - for the Andes - of 3,300 ft. but not Macchu Piccu which lay at 7,970 ft., well over twice that altitude.

Pampa de Espiritu Santo as the Lost City

In fact, Yupanqui had written in his Relacion that Manco Capac’s “principal residence” had a warm climate and Vitcos served the same purpose as a hill station in India “for it is in a cold district.”

In addition, Vilcabamba’s plant and animal life, as detailed by Martin de Murua, and Arbieto’s observation that like Cuzco, Vilcabamba lay in a broad valley, also pointed to Pampa de Espiritu Santo

John Hemnmings believed, too, that Ungacahoa, the swampy lake on the way to Vilcabamba mentioned by Antonio de Calancha, was more likely to have been Oncoy Cocha than Bingham’s Yana Cocha: “cocha” in the Incas’ Quenchua tongue, meant “lake” and “Unga-” was most probably a Spanish misspelling of “Oncoy”.

If Oncoy Cocha were the lake in question, the route Calancha described would have led the Spaniards to Pampa de Espiritu Santo, not Macchu Piccu. All Calancha’s place name clues along the route to Vilcabamba indicated northwest movement from Vitcos into the valley beyond. Macchu Piccu lay in the opposite direction

The Pueblo Indians

The Pueblo Native Americans of Arizona and New Mexico have very ancient roots and a unique lifestyle including community living in pueblo structures.

The Pueblo Indians live mostly in New Mexico and Arizona along the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers. Their villages were named “pueblos,” meaning “towns,” by the Spanish in the 1500s, and this term came to be applied to the Native Americans living in the unique apartment-like structures. While retaining much of their culture and religion prior to the Spanish, they have added some conveniences from those days, including livestock and more crops.

Pueblo Dwellings

The pueblo living structures are exclusive to the Native Americans of this region. They are often built on the ground near the side of the mountain or mesa, or up in a crevasse backed up on the side of a mountain or mesa, with units built on top of each other, where the roof of one unit serves as the floor and balcony of another. The pueblo often surrounds an open plaza.

The floors of the pueblo units are connected by ladders. Most units have no windows or doors, particularly the first floor, and are entered by the roof, making them more secure from attack. In case of attack, the outside ladders could be pulled up. These pueblo structures are made from stone, adobe, and mud, and can house hundreds, even thousands of people.

Remnants of thousands of such pueblo structures of the Ancient Pueblo People, or Anasazi, are still seen in this region, including Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Over 25 pueblos are in use today in Arizona and New Mexico, the most well-known being the Taos, Zuni, and Hopi. The oldest continuously inhabited pueblos include Acoma in New Mexico and Old Oraibi in Arizona, both settled by the 11th century C.E.

Two Divergent Groups of Pueblo Indians

There are two main groups of Puebloans that diverge in language and culture. The Western or Desert Pueblo Indians, which includes the Hopi, and Zuni, are dry farmers, are exogamous and have multiple kivas (places of worship often underground). They trace their ancestry to the Ancient Pueblo People who left the area in the 12th and 13th centuries C.E., and their mythology tells of their original emergence as a people from the underground. They are well known for their Kachinas and sacred ceremonies. The Hopi, Zuñi, Keres, and Jemez tribes are matrilineal, living with the wife's family.

The Eastern or River Pueblo Indians are mostly irrigation farmers, are patrilineal, are not exogamous, and hold to a dualistic culture which includes kivas built in twos. Their complex culture divides their world into two, such as winter and summer, where a separate chief oversees the tribe in the summer and one in the winter. They are chiefly Tanoan speakers, such as the Towa, Tewa and Tiwa.

Languages of the Pueblo Peoples

The differing cultures and languages of these tribes illustrate the varied origins of these people. The Hopi speak an Uto-Aztecan language, which language family stretches from Idaho to Central Mexico, and is thought to include the Anasazi and Aztecs. The term “Anasazi,” is a Navajo word meaning the “ancient ones,” or the “ancient enemy.” The Zuni language is an isolate, having no known language family.

The Keresan family of languages is a linguistic isolate and includes Acoma, Laguna, Santa Ana, Zia, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, and San Felipe. Some have hypothesized an origin with Siouan.

The Tanoan is a group of three branches of the Kiowa-Tanoan family consisting of several languages: Towa (Jemez), Tewa, and three Tiwa languages of (Taos, Picuris, and Southern Tiwa (Sandia, Isleta). It is suggested that these languages are remotely related to the Uto-Aztecan languages.

North American Indian

Most scientists agree that the ancestors of today's native American people came to North America from Asia. These first Americans descended, or came, from cave men in Asia and arrived some 13,000-14,000 years ago at the end of the period known as the Pleistocene. They probably came to the New World on foot, walking across a land mass known as Beringia -exposed by lower sea levels where the Bering Strait is today. These were the first people to live in North America. 
That is why they are called Native Americans. These people have lived in North America for thousands of years, and today there are still about 2 million Native Americans in the United States and 1 million in Canada...