1. Commonalities and Variations
Chapter 6 – Africa and the Americas
(600 B.C.E. – 1200 C.E.)

2. Continental Comparison
Important differences: -the Americas lacked animals suitable for domestication.
-Africa imported previously domesticated sheep, goats, chickens, horses, and camels. -metallurgy was less developed in the Americas. Writing: -limited in the Americas to Mesoamerica; most highly developed among the Maya – used hieroglyphs. -in Africa, was confined to north and northeast
Fewer and smaller classical civilizations in the Americas and Africa.

3. Civilizations of Africa
Africa had no common cultural identity in the classical era: - great environmental variation within the continent. - enormous size of the continent – many separate societies.
Africa is the most tropical of world’s supercontinents: -this mean poorer soils and less productive agriculture. -more disease-carrying insects and parasites.
Africa also shaped by interactions with nearby Eurasia and Arabia. -North Africa was part of the Roman Empire. -Arabia was a source for the domesticated camel.

4. Meroë: Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization
Nubian civilization was almost as old as Egypt: -constant interactions; trade and warfare. -remained a distinct civilization.
With Egypt’s decline, Nubian civilization came to focus on Meroë. -Civilization there flourished from 300 B.C.E.–100 C.E.
Ruled by an all-powerful sacred monarch (many females held position): -buried with human sacrifices.
The city of Meroë had craft specialization: -iron workings was especially prominent.

5. Meroë: Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization
Rural areas had combination of herding and farming: -paid tribute to the ruler. -farming was based on rainfall, not irrigation. -the population was less concentrated on the Nile, and less directly controlled by the capital.
Major long-distance trade was the source of much its wealth and military power: -had contact with the Mediterranean world. -also traded to east and west by camel caravans. -less Egyptian influence than earlier times.

6. Meroë: Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization
Decline of Meroë after 100 C.E.: -deforestation (too much wood used in iron industry). -conquest in the 340s C.E. by Axum. -penetration of Christianity; Christian dominance for 1,000 years. -penetration of Islam after about 1300.

7. Map of Africa

8. Meroë Architecture

9. Axum: The Making of a Christian Kingdom
Now modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.
Productive agriculture, plow-based farming.
Center of trade in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean; lots of state revenue from taxing merchants.
King Ezana adopted Christianity around 300 C.E.
Expanded into the Middle East, modern-day Yemen.
Both Meroë and Axum rivaled European civilizations, and had direct contact with the Mediterranean world.

10. King Ezana

11. Along the Niger River: Cities without States
Along the Niger River – migrations and creation of city-based civilizations between 300 B.C.E. – 900 C.E.
Little evidence of state structure and social inequality.
Iron smithing was the most prestigious profession.
Villages of cotton weavers, potters, praise-singers (griots) grew up around central towns; castes.
These middle Niger cities were stimulated by a network of West African commerce.
Large-scale states or empires emerged in West Africa in the second millennium C.E.

12. Jenne-Jeno

13. Civilizations of Mesoamerica
There was a lack of interaction with other major cultures, including with other cultures in the Americas.
Important civilizations developed in Mesoamerica and the Andes long before Aztec and Inca empires, roughly 600 B.C.E. – 1200 C.E.
Remarkable achievements without large domesticated animals or ironworking.

14. The Maya: Writing and Warfare
Mayan beginnings about 2000 B.C.E. in modern-day Guatemala and Yucatan region of Mexico.
Development of an advanced mathematical system.
Construction of elaborate calendars.
Creation of the most elaborate writing system in the Americas – pictographs and phonetic elements.
Large amount of monumental architecture such as: temples, pyramids, palaces, and public plazas.

15. The Maya: Writing and Warfare
Large engineering projects: aqueducts, terracing, and water management system – flourishing agriculture.
City-states were very fragmented (like Greece).
Rapid collapse in less than a century after a long-term drought began in 840 C.E.: -rapid population growth after 600 C.E. outstripped available resources. -political disunity and rivalries prevented a coordinated response to climatic catastrophe. -warfare became more frequent for scarce land.

16. Map of Mayan Civilization

17. Mayan Hieroglyphics

18. Mayan Pyramid

19. Teotihuacán: The America’s Greatest City
Begun around 150 B.C.E., and was planned.
By 550 C.E., population was 100,000–200,000.
Much about Teotihuacán is unknown.
City was centrally planned in a grid-like pattern.
Thousands of specialized (Mayan) artisans.
City mysteriously collapsed around 650 C.E.
The Aztecs dubbed Teotihuacán, the “city of the gods.”

20. Civilizations of the Andes
Despite bleak deserts, the coast supported human civilization from the flowing rivers.
The Pacific Ocean provided a rich marine environment.
The Andes Mountains also offered advantageous resources.

21. Chavín: A Pan-Andean Religious Movement
Temple complexes centered around a village: Between 2000 and 1000 B.C.E., a number of ritual sites. By 900 B.C.E., Chavín de Huántar became a focal point.
Village became a major religious center: Chavín had a population of 2,000 to 3,000 by 750 B.C.E. with a distinct social hierarchy.
Links to all directions via trade routes: artwork shows that the temple complex had connections to all directions in the high- and lowlands.

22. Moche: A Civilization of the Coast
250 miles of coast, 100–800 C.E.: thirteen river valleys made up this coastal population center.
Rich fisheries and river-fed irrigation. Guano (excrement) from the coastal islands was used as fertilizer.
Elite class of warrior-priests: these religious-military elites were very wealthy, and presided over human sacrifices.
Fine craft skills: metal-workers, potters, and weavers left artifacts showing sophisticated skills.
Fragile environment: the region was prone to earthquakes, droughts, and floods. By the 8th century C.E., the Moche civilization had collapsed.

23. Wari and Tiwanaku: Empires of the Interior
400–1000 C.E.: these two civilizations developed out of ancient settlements. Both had large capitals with impressive monumental buildings.
Highland centers with colonies in the lowlands: these states did not control continuous bands of territory.
Distinctions yet little conflict: the two civilizations developed different agricultural styles and state systems. They shared related cultural and religious systems, but spoke distinct languages.
These states collapsed and broke into smaller kingdoms, the Inca would use their state system, highways, and culture.

24. Map of the Andes Civilizations

25. Bantu Africa: Cultural Encounters
Agricultural peoples from modern-day southeast Nigeria and Cameroon.
Over time, following migrations, 400 distinct Bantu languages developed.
Bantu-speaking peoples interacted with established societies in eastern and southern Africa.
Disease: Bantu brought new diseases to people with little immunity.
Bantu advantages largely displaced, absorbed, and eliminated gathering and hunting peoples.

26. Bantu Africa: Society and Religion
Wide varieties of Bantu cultural traditions, practices, and rituals developed, 500–1500 C.E.
Less patriarchal gender systems. Gender parallelism rather than strict hierarchy was the main practice.
Ancestor or nature spirits rather than a Creator God. The various religious traditions focused on the impact of the spirits of ancestors or the natural world.
Localized not universal faiths and rituals. The Bantu believed in constant communication with the spiritual world.

27. Map of the Bantu in Africa

28. Alternatives to Civilization: North America
Gathering and hunting peoples still populated much of the Americas.
Some semi-sedentary agriculture societies, but no large urban centers.
Mound-building cultures (eastern woodlands).

29. The Ancestral Pueblo: Pit Houses and Great Houses
Slow start to agriculture and settled society. Initially, dwellings were smaller pit houses dug into the ground with a buffalo hide for shelter. Kivas, or ceremonial pits, were used for rituals.
Chaco Phenomenon, 860–1130 C.E. With settled agriculture, populations grew and larger settlements formed. These above-ground structures were known as pueblos.
There were a variety of cultural achievements before an extended drought contributed to the Pueblo collapse.

30. Pueblo Bonito

31. Map of North America (Second-Wave Era)

32. Peoples of the Eastern Woodlands: The Mound Builders
Independent agricultural revolution, but would later indirectly get maize and beans from Mesoamerica.
Burial mounds of the Hopewell culture: massive earthworks that indicate a high level of social organization and wealth.
Cahokia, 900–1250 C.E.: the dominant center of the region. There was a massive terraced pyramid, a population of at least 10,000, and long-distance trade networks.
There was trade, social stratification, and large population centers. But linguistic divisions did not lead to cultural unity.

33. Burial Mounds