People and Civilizations of the Americas 600-1500

Mesoamerica Between 200 and 900 C.E. Influenced by the earlier Olmecs Both south and central Mexico developed new forms of political organization, innovated in math and astronomy Trade over wide distances Cities were built around raised platforms with pyramids Large full-time populations divided into classes, including religious and military elites Who controlled the rural peasants

Teotihuacan 30 miles NE of present day Mexico City 100-750 C.E., height of power around 450 Population of 125,000 to 150,000 people Enormous pyramids—one to the Sun, one to the Moon, one to Quetzalcoatl—the feathered serpent god, thought to originate agriculture and the arts Practiced human sacrifice

Chinampas Eventual 2/3 of farmers lived in the city and walked to their fields Marginal, swampy lands drained and made agricultural lands out of artificial islands in the lakes—which made year round agriculture possible Many wealthy families, but no one ruling family. Thought the powerful families ruled. No walls, but evidence of a military, perhaps responsible for protecting long distance trade and controlling the peasants

The Maya Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and Southern Mexico Difficult soils and climate Never centralized Rival kingdoms led by hereditary rulers—kind of like the city states of Greece Drained swamps and built elevated fields Evidence of irrigation and terraced hillsides Managed forests

Ceremonial Cities Open plazas with high pyramids, decorated palaces To awe visitors from surrounding smaller cities and the countryside Highly decorated buildings, and rulers Many rituals surrounding warfare Cities abandoned between 800-900 Signs of violence in some, though some survived for centuries

Toltecs Not too different from the culture developed at Teotihuacan Capital at Tula, north of present day Mexico City, and controlled territory throughout Central America A culture that glorified its military and used the discoveries of their predecessors to create an elaborate calendar of rituals Decline after 1150

Aztecs, aka Mexica Teotihuacan, Tula, and now the Aztecs with their capital at Tenochtitlan and adjacent Tlatelolco—which are the foundations of present day Mexico City—the population of Tenochtitlan was around 150,000 at the time of the Spanish Conquest The Spanish found this to be a lovely city built on a lake, which they drained Another Military focused group, whose military success allowed them to extend control throughout Mesoamerica

Political Organization The Aztecs introduced a monarch, chosen by a council of powerful aristocrats The monarch was expected to demonstrate his awesomeness by beginning and successfully completing a military campaign War was a powerful religious activity for the Aztecs and an important way for the aristocracy to gain prestige And to seize lands and peasants to increase family wealth Huge inequalities of wealth

Economy By barter—no money or credit But compared to the sparse markets of still medieval Spain, the markets of Tenochtitlan were rich

Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc Chief god was Huitzilopochtli, sweetly, southern hummingbird—the chief god of the Aztecs Required a diet of human hearts to sutain him in his dialy struggle to bring the Sun’s warmth to the world The Aztecs dramatically increased this feature of Mesoamerican societies Conquest the basis of this empire and human sacrifice its ritual center

Northern Peoples Important cultural centers in the SW desert regions of NA, and along the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys In the Eastern River Valleys, hunting and agriculture fueled a large complex society with ritual architecture In both the SW and the ERV, large scale irrigation suggests centralized political power The two regions developed different political traditions

SW Around 300 B.C.E. contacts with Mexico led to the introduction of agriculture based on irrigation, which allowed 2 crops a year The Hohokam of the Salt and Gila River Valleys show the strongest Mexican influence—with ball courts and raised platform mounds, similar crafts The Anasazi (Navajo for “ancient ones”) dispersed but related settlements in the 4 corners region of the SW, 450-750 C.E. Ritual life centered around the kiva—an underground room Chaco Canyon—650 rooms, 15,000 people

Hopewell and Mississippian Mound builders, Hopewell from 100 C.E. Several thousand dwellers in their ceremonial centers Mississippian influenced by these earlier people 800-1500 Slow improvements are seen in the productivity of agriculture, with increases in population Cahokia its high point, around 1200, a population of 20,000 and a big earth mound pyramid

Andean An unlikely environment, although really, we shouldn’t be surprised when complex, organized societies develop in challenging environments It gives a reason for centralization... Chavin (Chapter 2) connected a region of coastal environments, irrigated maize fields and mountainous herding areas They had to figure out the calendar, but they also figured out how to freeze dry food for storage Chavins organized by clan or ayllu. Land held communally

After 1000 B.C.E. Territorial states ruled by hereditary aristocracies and kings Organized ayllu to do communal work, such as roads, bridges, large irrigation projects, temples and palaces Ayllu sent members out to exploit resources in diverse ecological niches

Moche About 200 C.E.-700 C.E. 4 centuries after the collapse of the Chavins, the Moche came to dominate the north cultural region of Peru Massive irrigation allowed for the raising of maize, quinoa, manioc, beans and sweet potatoes Massive public works, used herds of alpaca and llama to move goods Highly stratified and theocratic—power in the hands of priests and military leaders Thought to be brought down by major drought

Inca In 100 years developed a vast empire By 1525 6 million people Strong resourceful leaders who outcompeted other groups of the area Like earlier Andean people they used clans to supply resources from diverse ecological niches Cuzco the capital, 30,000 people in 1520 (compared to Tenochtitlan’s 150,000) 13,000 miles of roads, that were not easy to build Record keeping using khipus, or quipus Ruled by a chiefdom, they were in a civil war when the Spanish arrive

Conclusion The Aztecs and Incas represent the culmination of a long line of civilizations Both depended on armies to hold together highly diverse empires that encompassed multiple ecological regions Religious specialists, religious architecture But different in that the Aztecs relied on extracting tribute, the Incans on reciprocal trade relationships organized by regional clans