ch10 Flashcards
similarities between civilizations
-sacrifice/ritual killing
-pottery-jade
-temples -capital/center
-statues -religious
-social hierarchy
-religions-appeasing nature
-celebration ceremonies
-captured peoples
-inspired by indigenous cultures-tribes
-All empires would collect taxes, have armies, and build temples. The Inca were so successful, it
seems, because they considered the most fundamental elements of Andean culture to strengthen
their hold on power.
—-throughout time people are people, they’re still doing these things! Even ze Romans.—–
INTRODUCTION
-Hernán Cortez’s description of Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital he and
his Tlazcalan allies conquered in 1521.: very extravagant, talking about lots of goods
-As the Spanish explorers in the Americas, and later the
French, English, and Dutch, saw monetary gain from reporting their exploits to their respective
monarchs, we often end up with a stilted or incomplete version of the Americas before 1500.
-Part of this can be attributed to the bias of European explorers, and misinterpretation of NativeAmerican beliefs and practices.
-the most misunderstood practice was that of human sacrifice witnessed by the
Spanish conquerors of the Aztec Empire.
-Among Mesoamerican and Andean peoples alike there
was a belief that all life, cosmic, human, animal, and plant alike, grew beneath the soil and sprung
forth above the surface. Furthermore, humans had a role in nurturing that life cycle.
-shamanism: an important religious tradition whereby shamans or
religious specialists could control the forces of the natural world. Often shamans would conduct
ceremonies requiring sacrifice from members of his community to ensure cosmic and earthly order.
-many different ways they sacrificed
-structures underground for things like sacrificing
-bloodletting too
-an important religious tradition whereby shamans or
religious specialists could control the forces of the natural world. Often shamans would conduct
ceremonies requiring sacrifice from members of his community to ensure cosmic and earthly order.
-While we cannot argue that we are close to aban-
doning the Beringian migration as the most likely theory, there is mounting evidence that suggests
a seaborne migration from Asia or even a “Solutrean” migration from Europe ten thousand years
before an ice-free corridor opened up in North America.3
Considering new theories may help us
explain how the Americas came to be populated and how civilizations developed so quickly here.
-A third weakness in our narrative of the Americas involves the demographic collapse of the
indigenous population that occurred after the arrival of European diseases. Especially in the
Circum-Caribbean, millions of indigenous peoples succumbed to European disease and overwork
in the first decades of the sixteenth century, giving them little opportunity to construct their own
historical narrative apart from the one that Europeans were writing.
-Fortunately recent advances in
archaeology and calendrics have helped us uncover much of this pre-Columbian past
MESOAMERICA
-Although scholars believe
that man migrated to Beringia and hence North America first, Mesoamerica was the first section
of the Americas where scholars have found evidence of large settlements, agriculture, and unique cultural traditions
-The region’s frequent volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and hurricanes gave it quite a staggering
amount of ecological diversity including mountains, coastal plains, and a peninsular limestone
platform (the Yucatán). The region’s climatic diversity is attributable to the fact that it sits in both
tropical and subtropical latitudes.
-Less is known about migration to Mesoamerica
-These early
residents hunted large and small game alike and consumed a wide range of plant resources.
-The Archaic period in Mesoamerica stretched from 8000 to 2000 BCE, during which scores of
cultures adapted to the region’s ecological diversity by domesticating wild food sources like “beans,
squash, amaranth, peppers, and wild Maize (teosinte).”4
The maize of large kernels of today took
thousands of years of domestication for Mesoamericans to produce, but by the formative period
it was a staple crop supporting tens of thousands. Groups living closer to the coast could also take
advantage of wetland crops, such as manioc.
Early Farming in Mesoamerica
-turned wild plants into domestic crops, so too did
their contemporaries in Mesoamerica with maize, squash, and tubers.
-Foragers in the southern
Mexican highlands lived on a diverse diet of plants and animals,
-Their contemporaries in the tropical lowlands further south
consumed tubers like manioc, sweet potato, arrowroot as well as fruits like avocadoes.
-While
Mesoamericans did domesticate most of these crops, they did so before becoming sedentary, a
fact revealing the existence of regional variations in the path to agriculture. Around 10,000 years
ago, Mesoamericans began to cultivate squash, both as a food source and as storage containers.
-Rather than staying near their cultivated land, however, early planters formed mobile “agricul-
tural bands” that still hunted and would return to harvest mature squash or chilies. Over time,
these bands planted more and hunted less until eventually they formed sedentary agricultural
villages. But that process took at least 2,000 years.
-may have been in the much denser
tropics in and around Panama where residents first left foraging behind for agriculture.
-Over the next several centuries, village dwellings themselves revealed a growing emphasis
on permanence and increasing sophistication. Brick walls and plaster floors began to replace
hides and sticks. Unlike round huts, new rectangular houses allowed for expansion
-Expanding permanent dwellings allowed villages to
grow through natural population increase. Permanent dwellings also helped establish distinc-
tions between public and private space and public and private activities, effecting communal
and private property.
-invention of pottery tremendous help with storage
-Tasks in
construction, gathering, defense, and food production became more specialized and supervised,
leading to the beginnings of class. The elite developed, a strata usually comprising warriors,
priests, and administrators.
the formative period
-most residents of Mesoamerica
were sedentary, many living in small bands that moved only seasonally.6
However, by 300 CE
many of these small bands had been replaced by quite common large urban centers. This was a
rapid transition, to say the least.
-This rapidity was possible because of greater use of domesticated
crops and storage and improved technology, like pottery vessels.
-scholars start to see widespread sharing of obsidian, shell, jade, and iron
artifacts, a sharing which denotes significant interaction by this point.
-A social hierarchy also
began to develop in Chiapas, where there was a two-tiered settlement hierarchy of small centers
and villages. In other words, the elite had bigger houses. Over time and in more areas, plastered floors and dirt floors appeared in different dwellings and altars in others. Burials too indicated
social differentiation.
-The Olmec were the earliest
civilization in Mesoamerica and,
therefore, drove much of this
rapid development.
-notable accomplishment was their monumental stone sculpture. Other Mesoamerican cultures
had stone monuments, but the Olmec versions were unique in their sophistication, size, and
number.
-Stones had been transported as much as ninety km from their sources. The labor required to
do this demonstrates the power of these rulers.
-Aside from statue carving, Olmec elites also com-
missioned carved columns, drains, and embellishments in large houses. An inordinate amount
of iron trade also occurred, high ranking officials getting buried with iron things
-The import of jade sculptures was perhaps even more prominent with
thousands of tons of “serpentine blocks” buried in massive offerings at the Olmec center of La
Venta in southern Mexico.
-Many of these monuments were commissioned by or for elite members of an increasingly
sophisticated socio-economic hierarchy first seen in the Early Formative Olmec of San Lorenzo.
San Lorenzo itself stood at the apex of a three- or four-tiered settlement hierarchy which included
subordinate centers, villages, and special purpose sites. This increasing sophistication became so-lidified through Olmec politics as well.
-Early in the Formative Period most groups were organized
in tribes, but the Olmec soon began to form a set of chiefdoms that allowed for organized leader-
ship across generations, albeit through kinship ties.
-The Olmec also became the first civilization
in the region to develop a state, where the same hierarchy became more stratified and institutions
became more specialized.
-olmec not really an empire because: First, the Olmec never had a large enough population at their disposal to form a con-
quering army. Second, while there existed a number of significant urban Olmec sites, such as La
Venta and San Lorenzo, none of them has been identified as an Olmec capital. Finally, the art and
archeological records of surrounding societies don’t indicate an Olmec domination but rather the
existence of something of a theocratic state, as elites seemed to have both political and religious
authority and a considerable amount of influence.
-Why did the Olmec evolve at
all, and why did they evolve when they did? One theory involves the ecological relationship to
Mesoamerica’s lowland environment. Another holds that increasing productivity led to high popu-lation growth, which caused a pressure to organize politically. Control of these resources as well as the limited use of warfare accounted largely for the authority of individual chieftains. Other scholars have added to this observation, pointing out that the abundance but lack of diversity of Olmec area agriculture forced them to develop a competitive advantage vis-à-vis societies that lived closer to obsidian, salt, and stone deposits. (The Olmec would need to trade for these resources that werecentral for hunting and food production). A more sophisticated society would have that advantage.
-made collosal stone head, scholars think they’re portraits
-A fourth sculptural style,
one that corresponds to later periods, was
stelae. These stelae often depicted supernat-
ural beings and elaborately dressed individ-
uals engaged in specific actions. These stone
sculptures would be impressive for modern humans to achieve but are made more impressive
considering the fact that the Olmec possessed no metal tools with which to cut them.
-The sculptures also contained a good enough
mix of naturalism and abstraction to give a nod to the spiritual world as well. For the Olmec as
shamanists, a direct connection existed between order on earth and order in the spiritual world.
-naguals or animal spirit companions that would aid in their jouney between worlds, such as the ruler’s throne being a portal between them
-debate about its being
a “mother” culture for the Aztec and Maya.
the maya
-The importance of the influence of the Olmec on the Maya may seem superficial, but it is quite
important, as the Maya’s rise to sophistication was so fast and so complete that it almost defies
explanation. After settling at the base of the Yucatán Peninsula around 1000 BCE, the lowland
Maya learned how to deal with drought, feed tens of thousands of people, and organize political-
ly—all before 250 BCE.
-The Late Classic period was one of tremendous growth. The city of Tikal, in present day
Guatemala, had reached a population of 80,000 by CE 750, while the population of its rival
Calakmul reached 50,000. To support these large populations, the Late Classic Maya had almost a
totally engineered landscape that included water management projects, flattened ridge tops, and
terraced hillsides. The population was fairly dense in cities and in surrounding countryside. Their
leaders had tombs built in their honor, imported luxury items like jade statues, feathers, cacao,
and other items from the Mexican Highlands. These activities all demonstrate real sophistication.
-The Late Classic Maya also had an advanced numerical annotation system of dots and bars
and used zero. Maya writing began as pictographs and
blended into quite artistic symbolism.
-Politically speaking, the Maya were never unified
under one ruler or even a set of rulers. Instead, the Maya
were a civilization that shared a set of cultural traits, a
language family, but no single ruler or sense of common
identity. Individual Maya Kingdoms rose and fell, but
none was ever able to dominate the entire Maya area.
-While their rule was perhaps not widespread, Maya
rulers did hold tremendous power and prestige within
their kingdoms. Rulers were kings at the top of a “steep”
social hierarchy that was reinforced by religious beliefs.
The king was a hereditary ruler chosen by the gods and
a member of one of several elite bloodlines. The Maya
priestly class organized a complex pantheon of both
gods and deified ancestors.
-This ancestor worship required not only ceremony
and temple building, but a complex understanding
of calendrics as well.
-Both the Maya and the Olmec understood time as “a set of repeating and interlocking cycles instead of the linear sequence of
historical time,”10 much as the concept is understood today. Long cycles alternated with short
cycles; the long periods involved the repeated creations and destructions of the world in their
creation stories—with an emphasis on repeated.
-Since cycles are by definition repeated, certain
dates are more important than others because they are attached to good and bad events in the
past. Calendar priests determined what those dates were and so had considerable power. They
also had the power to rewrite the course of events if this benefited the ruler.
Teotihuacán and the Toltec
-urbanization to the north in
Mexico’s central valley may have left the most permanent legacy. To the north of the Maya culture
area, the Valley of Mexico was the most “agriculturally desirable” zone in Mesoamerica. Climate
was temperate, and rainfall, although not abundant, was predictable—in contrast to the drenching
rains of tropical Mesoamerica. Lesser amounts of rainfall of course required aqueducts, reservoirs,
and canals if a city were to thrive.
-Cuicuilco was such a city that rose to prominence in the Valley
of Mexico by 150 BCE, only to be badly damaged by a volcanic eruption around 400 CE. The
subsequent decline of Cuicuilco allowed a competing city, Teotihuacán, to rise to prominence in
the area, and by 100 CE, its population reached 60,000 inhabitants.
-Its largest buildings seem to have had both a functional and a spiritual use. The
Pyramid of the Sun, the largest building in the city was built over a sacred cave likely connected
with creation myths.
-Teotihuacán had the modern equivalent of neigh-
borhoods; new houses were laid out on a rough grid with many homes organized into apartment
compounds.12 The dwellings were constructed of volcanic rock, mortar, and wood for the roofs.
The compounds also had a system of underfloor drains. Many of the dwellings in these complexes
are decorated with “polychrome wall murals” containing multiple religious themes and military
themes, some depicting play or everyday life, while others being much more abstract.
-To support its massive population, Teotihuacán needed to secure supplies and tribute from
surrounding areas. Many neighboring areas were conquered through a combination of trade
and military conquest. Force was used to secure trade routes to the south and thus have access
to goods as diverse
-they had become the region’s undisputed merchant
power, its subsistence base increased
-The reach of Teotihuacán’s leadership even extended into Maya
kingdoms like Tikal where it influenced, and may have even ousted, a Maya ruler
-Teotihuacán was able to sustain impressive growth and expansion for more than five
centuries, but ultimately its size and complexity seemingly contributed to its decline.
-At about
650 CE, roughly half of Teotihuacán’s public buildings and a number of temples, pyramids, and
palaces were burned. Many were knocked down and torn apart as well. This does not seem to be
the work of invaders, but instead internal and external groups who attacked declining symbols
of power.
-Years of population growth and demands on and from the elite came to a head with a period of
prolonged drought in the early ninth century. Resulting famines and infighting caused population
losses in Maya settlements nearing eighty-five percent and in many areas abandoned farmlands
were retaken by the forest.
-While many of these Late Classic Maya sites would never recover from their demographic
decline, Mesoamerica remained fertile and southern Mexico remained temperate, so a number of
polities rose to prominence in the area after the abovementioned declines. Tula, which had been
founded by Teotihuacán leaders as an administrative center, emerged in the Valley of Mexico
-Tula would become the capital of the Toltecs, who saw their principal city grow to
a population of 35,000 by 800 CE. Like all Mesoamerican cities at the time, Tula would expand
its influence through trade.
-While much of the Hohokam culture area sits in
what is now the United States, it was heavily influenced by the culture of Mexico. Not only did
the Hohokam build ball courts, they also erected platform mounds and dug irrigation canals like
those found in Mexico.
-toltec ceramics, ball courts, rain dances adopted by cultures like
the Anasazi and Hohokam in modern day Arizona and New Mexico.
-One important difference that the Toltec developed from their predecessors was their
desire to conquer. Perhaps influenced by the rapid decline of Teotihuacán, the Toltec wanted
to rise to prominence quickly. Their construction of Tula was hasty and conflict with neighbors
went beyond typical captive taking or territorial gain.
-The Toltec viewed their conquest as a
“sacred war” where man would aid the gods in their fight against the powers of darkness. The
Toltec eventually merged their sacred war with that of the northern Maya in the Puuc Hills
of the Yucatán. The northern Maya elites had already adopted “divine war” when the Toltec
invaded the Yucatán city of Chichén.
-Chichén would become the Toltec administrative center
in the peninsula in the late tenth century but they did not completely drive out the city’s Maya
founders. In fact, the Itza Maya ruled the region under the Toltec and continued to do so well
into the post-Columbian period.
the aztec
-The
Aztec capital was the magnificent city of Tenochtitlán, founded around 1325 CE by a Nahuatl-
speaking, previously nomadic group called the Mexica. Tenochtitlán was composed of a network
of dozens of smaller city states who used the lake environment to plant wetland gardens and
used raised causeways to separate the gardens and move around the city. Some fields were raised
as well, a feat which drained them and helped them contribute to supporting a population that
totaled around 300,000 people (including the population of the neighboring city of Texcoco).
Eventually a network of canals was created that drained fields, fed crops, and provided for navi-
gation with canoes. Not only were these raised fields a source of multiple crops, but also the lake
-However, as the population grew to over a million, other means of support were needed, so
the people looked to outside tribute. Beginning in 1428, the Mexica sought independence from
their Tepanec patrons and allied with other outlying towns to form the Triple Alliance, which dominated basin they made their home
-The unified Aztec people were
led by the Mexica ruler Itzcoatl
and his advisors.
-In making an
alliance with Texcoco, the Aztec
were able to build a causeway
between the cities and help
improve the infrastructure of
Tenochtitlán.
-They then began
construction on the Great
Temple, a central market, and
a larger network of gardens or
chinampas.
-The Great Temple
would become the orienting
point for the entire city and
would become the site of
thousands of human sacrifices.
-aztecs best known for their human sacrificing, though it wasn’t a random manner. They had little tradition to build upon in the first place, Their rise to power had to have been quick and dramatic. Furthermore,
they possessed a worldview that held that even though they had achieved greatness, decline was
inevitable. This view was present in their philosophy and their ceremonies—including those of
sacrifice. This view was also important for ritual victims, because upon their death, they believed
that they would be freed from the burdens of the uncertain human condition and become a
carefree hummingbird or butterfly.
-For the Aztec, ritual provided a kind of protection against excess; there was order in it, even
if it was violent. Men had no independent power, and gods were very abstract in their doling
out of gifts. Finally, in the Mexica worldview, the earth receives rather than gives, much like it
does in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Through fertility and death, humans satisfy that hunger.
The process of birth and death is not “dust to dust” but the transition from one form of flesh to
another. All man can do is order his portion of this natural cycle.
early andes
-Humans arrived in South America after migrating through North and Mesoamerica; they
began to craft small campsites and fishing villages along the Pacific coast. Then replaced by residential and ceremonial centers. This transition was
made possible through a new focus on irrigation and communal agriculture.
-These Pacific coast and Andean cultures left an incredible amount of material culture (much
of it well-preserved because of the dry climate) for archeologists to analyze. Their work shows that parts of the Classical Andes—modern Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia—possessed the same level of cultural complexity as did China, Persia, and India during the same period. -Through
this material culture, the Classical peoples begin to separate themselves from their ancient and
often less complex ancestors.
-While it is tempting to lean heavily on artifacts for knowledge of the period, there is a danger
of overreliance. For example, pottery of the Moche culture-“shock value” or aesthetic quality should not be
confused with universality.
Norte chico
-The Pacific coast developed large ceremonial and residential centers, which were organized
around distinct status and rank among citizens.
-it was politically “pristine.” Scholars find no evidence that any outside polity influenced its de-
velopment.
-it endured for more than 1,300 years. This longevity gave the Norte Chico
great influence in what would ultimately become a distinct Andean civilization. For example,
large platform mounds of Norte Chico would also appear later in the highland center of Chavín
de Huantar.
-The final reason Norte Chico stands out from other early civilizations is its devel-
opment happened very quickly. By 2800 BCE, there were a number of similar large sites all with
residential complexes, plazas, and platform mounds.
-The Aspero site is the archetype of these large sites.
-While there are a number of large sites like Aspero, there doesn’t seem
to have been a central Norte Chico chiefdom or state. There was no Norte Chico capital and
no real evidence of conflict or warfare.
-This absence of conflict may be connected with the fact
that scholars find no indication of differentially-distributed sumptuary goods, such as jewelry,
clothing, and exotic trade materials, in Norte Chico.
-it was a civilization because they tried to centralize.
-maritme theory that they became advanced through fishing, though insufficient evidence pour cette
-more likely Norte Chico
complexity involves agriculture and fishing meeting
at the middle, in a “shared labor” theory. A number
of coastal sites contain not only remnants of cotton
fishing nets, but other inland products like avocadoes
and corn as well.
-A larger temporary labor force would produce more
canals and aqueducts, a cycle that explains much of the Norte Chico’s economic expansion.
-Some of this cooperation may have even taken the form of pilgrimages to Norte Chico sites and the construction of monuments within Aspero, Caral, and other sites to commemorate them. The dry season of July and August presented a lull that would have been a good time for such pilgrimages.
Evidence of communal cooking and eating exists, along with that of communal building.
Chavín de Huantar
-a crucible site for Andean culture.
-The Late Initial Period (1800 – 800 BCE), where Peru
saw the beginnings of a mix of Andean, coastal, and Amazon cultures.
-lots of access to regions,access made
it a pilgrimage center, an importer of luxury goods, and a disseminator first unifying Andean style.
-Old Temple
-built
around the lanzón (great lance) which was a
kind of supernatural conduit. The lanzón is
similar in style to the Tello Obelisk which was
found in a corner of the Old Temple courtyard.
The obelisk contains carvings on all of its sides,
carvings which primarily represent tropical
and mythical origins or “gifts of the cayman.”
-The images and rituals at this site help establish what scholars refer to as the “Chavín cult.”22
The Chavín cult presents a universalist message based on the combined elements of coast and
highlands that helped bring people to sites like this for ceremony and construction. In other
words, these ideas helped move the Andes into the state phase.
-also seems to be a leader/priest like Egypt, so state also grew through spiritual power
-not a developed civilization, but it did help create the importance of
religion and ceremonial life in the Andes,
moche
-Later, other
groups in Peru, groups like the Moche, would build on religion and ceremony to help with state
formation.
-the Huaca del Sol or temple of the sun: royal residence
-contained over 143
million bricks,Each
column probably represented a tax-paying Ayllu (kinship-based community), meaning that the
Huaca or temple was a literal representation of how the empire was held up by its individual units.
-Huaca de la Luna or temple of the moon: place of worship
-at their capital which had the same name
-undoubtedly a leadership class with several administrative levels. The
first administrative level was that of the divine kings who are depicted in murals and ceramics from
this period. The second was of noble administrators. Below that were bureaucrats who organized
the already extant clan system. Below them were the long-standing clan leaders. The lowest level
was composed of commoners, many of whom lived in single story adobe houses. Most commoners
mastered some craft like metallurgy or weaving. Others were highly skilled and perhaps worked
exclusively for the rulers.
-living outside capital were mostly farmers by long canal, chicama valley
-Llamas!
-each conquered valley had its own huaca, all connected to Moche through lima bean message relay racers, yay!
-Their
buildings, their murals, and their pottery alike reflected their
great skill and the high level of societal stratification.
-The Huaca
del Sol at Cerro Blanco for example contained millions of bricks
and more than 100 types of geometric symbols.
-Moche murals
contained a unique series of squares depicting both abstract and
mythological concepts
-sacrifice is designed to terrify or at the very least impress a subject population. While it is important to con-
textualize this sacrifice, we must also remind ourselves that this is not a modern civilization with a middle class or even a democratic tradition. It was archaic in the sense that a small group of people
was supported by a large population underneath them. This kind of relationship required brutality.
-While the Moche were notable because of their art and material culture, their use of violence
to achieve and hold power threatens to cloud our image of the north coast peoples.
Huari
-The Huari, on
the other hand, were able to build a successful empire in nearby areas combining intimidation and
militarism with diplomacy, trade, and ideology.
-previous Andean polity, partially by coopting
neighboring groups through taxation, distribu-
tion of goods, feasting and religious ceremonies.
-region.25 The
Huari Empire carved out a centralized state in a
region where none had previously existed by coor-
dinating local irrigation and labor systems. By 700
CE, Huari maintained a population of 25,000 and
an over 700 kilometer-wide “zone of influence”
connected by a road network that may have been
the model for the Inca road system.
- In fact, it was
ultimately Huari diplomacy and organization,
rather than Moche violence in ritual killings, that
provided a more useful precedent for the Inca.
chimu
-The Chimu Kingdom was perhaps influ-
enced more directly by remnants of the Moche, occupying as they did more or less the same geo-graphic area.
-capital of Chan Chan
-Through their
system of split inheritance, the Chimu forced the
newly-ascended ruler to build his own material
wealth. This expectation meant conquest of new
territory and an increase in taxes.
-It also meant
the construction of a new palace where each ruler would be buried along with hundreds of his
attendants and llamas who were sacrificed to accompany him in the afterlife.
-a chimu ruler also buried with a sample of the wealth he had accumulated in his lifetime in the form of textiles,
wood carvings, pottery, or jewelry.
-earthquakes meant that the Chimu had to work hard to
reclaim or make any use at all of Moche irrigation canals, they did manage to revive and extend
the Moche system to eventually provide Chan Chan with diverse agricultural products from maize
to cotton to peanuts. The Chimu also employed violence in their rise to power; however, their
conquest by the Inca cut short it
south coast peoples
-The south coast of Peru developed somewhat distinctly because it is extremely arid. In certain
areas along the coast there has never been recorded rain. Surviving there meant accessing and
controlling Andean runoff that sometimes went underground.
-As a result, the south coast’s popu-
lation was much smaller, but in many ways was culturally richer.
-The Nazca had civilization along the coast
-There was a large center at Cahuachi as early as 200 BCE, but it was largely ceremonial rather
than residential. Forty huacas were also built in the areas surrounding Cahuachi but also were
without large permanent populations.
-The Nazca maintained a regular pilgrimage to Cahuachi
involving music, feasts, and fertility rites.
-There was some captive sacrifice
-Nazca leadership was probably a confederacy of clans, making the forty huacas the hubs of political and sacred activities.
-The Nazca are well known for their pottery and textiles. Their pottery depicted mythical feline
or otter figures, many of which
were associated with water and
fertility—in this climate, water
essentially is fertility.
-The same
figures are represented on the
Nazca lines/geoglyphs that were
created by clearing the desert
floor of stone and leaving the
motifs. The straight lines were
probably “ritual walkways.”
Others argue that the Nazca
Lines were an astronomical
calendar centered around the
agricultural cycle.
-came to end with drought
