1. Chapter 6: Early societies in the americas and oceania
Kourtnie Bridge Maya Johnston
Sydney Perkins Colin Velasco
Period:2

2. Civilization [question 1]
1] what is civilization? What are characteristics of civilization?
A civilization is a society distinguished by reliance on sedentary agriculture, ability to produce food surplus, existence of non- farming elites and social stratification.
2] how did the civilization of your chapter develop and grow more complex before 600 BCE? What were the effects of this increasing complexity?
Made permanent residents
Olmecs advanced in agriculture
Maize became staple food crop of Mesoamerica
Traded Jade and obsidian [population growth-> economic growth]
Mayas made a calendars and writing [scripts]
Got more land and established supplies

3. Early civilization [question 2]
Where did early civilizations in chapter 6 develop [geography] and why did they develop in those locations?
Early civilizations developed in Mesoamerica because it was rich in plant and animal life. Both early Mayan and Olmec civilizations developed along the Gulf of Mexico in what is know known as central America. Due to the favorable weather conditions and rich soil, agriculture thrived, which is what resulted in these civilizations.

4. State [Question 3]
What is a state? Who ruled early states of chapter 6? Which segments of society usually supported the ruler?
A state is a lot of small kingdoms, but each kingdom had about 10,000 people in it. The higher classes supported the ruler. The most influential leader of the Mayans was K’inich Janaab Pakal [Pocal the Great]. He was the king of the Mayan Empire for 68 years and was responsible for the construction of most of the Palenque’s inscription and monumental architecture of which exceeded all other forms of architecture at the time.

5. State [question 4]
Was the state able to expand and conquer neighboring states? Why or why not?
Mesoamerica did expand because of migration, however they didn’t fight over territory and instead became one big state.The mayans were war cravels and conquered their neighbors for land, citizens, and captives for ritual sacrifice. This was possible due to m\Mayan advances in technology such as bow and arrow, blowgun, and throwing spears, which were advanced weapons for that time

6. Pastoral civilizations [question 5]
What role did pastoral civilizations play in regards to building empires in chapter 6?
Lapita people carefully crafted stone tools and had tools for agriculture -> closest they got to weapons.
It is thought that the Olmecs were the ancestors of the Maya and played a significant role in shaping forms of religion, architecture, and social structure, although the Mayans were the inventors of many aspects of Meso-American cultures such as the first calendar and nieroglyphic writing in the Western Hemisphere.

7. Culture [question 6]
How did culture play a role in unifying populations in chapter 6
The mayas believed that the shedding of blood would have the gods send them things they needed [blood- shedding ritual]
Popol Va made the myth of blood- shedding ritual
Mayas a ball game that also goes with the blood-shedding ritual
The maya calendar to identify/ understand human events in the cycle
Mayas writing = Mayas script had elements like symbols and syllables

8. Architecture [Question 7]
What architectural forms did your early civilizations produce?
The teotihuacan came up with the colossal pyramids of the sun and the moon. [dominated the skyline]. Mesoamericas came up with monumental pyramids, temples, and palaces. Alongside with agriculture villages.

9. Art [chapter 8]
Which social class encouraged the development of art in the ancient civilization?
Able to weave with wool
Made small works of art fashion from jade, vasalt, or ceramics and local products such as animal skin.

10. Writing [Chapter 9]
What form of writing developed in your ancient civilization?
In the Ancient civilization they made a script that contained both ideographic elements and symbols for syllables. The script was used for history, poetry, myths, and they kept genealogical administrative and astronomical records.

11. Literature vs culture [question 10]
What was the relationship between literature and culture?
Writing was important to the Mayas as they were to the early complex societies in the eastern hemisphere. When spanish conquerors came in, he destroyed all the books about religious beliefs. You could only find forms of scriptions on temples and monuments and have only 4 books remaining dealing with astronomical and calendrical matters.

12. Religions [Question 11]
What pre 600 BCE religions strongly influenced later eras?
There were not religions that strongly influenced later eras because there religions and beliefs were more personal such as the blood shedding ritual and the maya ball game [myths].
Mayan religion was heavily influenced by that of the Olmecs around 1500 B.C.E., who developed their own unique form of religion such as blood- letting, sacrificial practices, and wide variety of gods, introducing one of the earliest forms of polytheism to North America.

13. Trade routes [Question 12]
What trade routes and outside peoples did your early civilization utilize?
They used routes around melanesia and polynesia [oceania] for early societies of mesoamerica they migrated from Syberia to Alaska. The teotihuacan societies arose to the north in the highland of mexico -> expanded in human populations. They migrated to Meso-America highlands. Mayas were from Mesoamericas lowland.

14. Social and gender identities [Question 13]
How did social and gender identities develop pre-600 BCE in chapter 6 early civilizations?
Gender equality appeared because of agriculture because when the men didn’t get enough hunting in, they relied on the womans
With trade migration and communication, society and social developed