Declining: Early Mesoamerican Civilizations

Question 1

The Olmec - Definitive Information

Answer 1

• 1st known civilization builders “mother culture”
• 1200 BCE: Began in jungles
• Thrived 800-400 BCE
• Hot, humid, heavy rain = flooding
• Ceremonial centres, ritual ball games, ruling class = influenced Maya
• No evidence of written language
• Salt, tar, fine clay, wood, rubber, stone
• Floodplains - fertile soil - farming
• Oldest site - San Lorenzo
• Prayed to nature gods
• Large trading network helped boost economy + spread influence

Question 2

The Olmec - Theorized Information

Answer 2

• La Venta = tomb of ruler?
• San Lorenzo moved over land via logs + rafts?
• Cities = ceremonial centres, not permanent
• Collapse unknown, invaders? destroy monuments when rulers died?

Question 3

Colossal Heads - Definitive Information

Answer 3

• 1600-350 BCE
• Realistic style
• 16 heads
• Diff. details - headdresses, facial features

Question 4

Colossal Heads - Theorized Information

Answer 4

• Visual mass - signalling the importance of high-ranking member of society represented
• Symbol on the headdress = indicators of personal identity
• Thrones re-sculpted into heads - signalled lord’s trasntion to divine ancetor
• Lack of clear gendered features = social roles/authority weren’t tied to gender

Question 5

Jaguar Figures - Definitive Information

Answer 5

• Sculpted w/ jade - rich green colour = associated with maize
  - Maize = ideas of sustemces, fertility, preciousness, etc.
• Were-jaguar = human + Jaguar = deity

Question 6

Jaguar Figures - Theorized Information

Answer 6

• Shamanic role?
• Represented rain god
• Standing male figure - ruler?
• animated in rituals? buried in burials?

Question 7

The Zapotec - Definitive & Theorized Information

Answer 7

• Southern Mexico - mountainous valleys
• Fertile soil, mild climate, rainfall
• 1000 BCE: Villages until San Jose Mogote
• Monte Alban: 1st large urban centre
• Hieroglyphic writing system
• Calendar based on astonomy
• Decline?

Question 8

The Chavin - Definitive & Theorized Information

Answer 8

• Peru - Steep, rocky, bad soil, ice + snow = travel difficult
• hot day + cold night
• 3600-2500 BCE: villages emerged
• No evidence of political/economic systems
• Religious society
• “Mother culture” of Peru?

Question 9

The Nazca - Definitive Information

Answer 9

• 200-600 BCE
• dry, irrigation system, canals
• textiles & pottery
  Nazca Lines
• 1000+ drawings
• 1927: Discovered

Question 10

The Nazca - Theorized Information

Answer 10

• Headhunters? evidence in art
  Nazca Lines
• Purpose?
  
  • Worship? Astronomical + calendarial puprose? Water cult?
• Lines led to places where rituals were performed to obtain water + fertility of crops

Question 11

Moche Culture - Definitive & Theorized Information

Answer 11

• 100-700 BCE
• Irrigation system
• Wealthy - gold, silver, etc.
• Pottery
• No written language
• Religious beliefs unknown
• Decline = mystery

Question 12

The Maya - Pre-Classic Period (600-300 BCE)

Question 13

The Maya - Classic Period (300-925 BCE)

Question 14

The Maya - Post-Classic Period (925-1250 BCE)

Question 15

The Maya - Decline Period (1250-1500 BCE)

Question 16

The Maya - Spanish Conquest (1519-1546 BCE)

Question 17

The Maya - Gov., Law, Justice

Question 18

The Maya - Social Structure, Everyday Life, Urban & Rural Living

Question 19

The Fall of Empires - Mayan Empire

Question 20

The Fall of Empires - Aztec Empire

Question 21

The Fall of Empires - Incan Empire