The Americas Before Columbus SSWH 8 ab Time

The Americas Before Columbus SSWH 8: a-b.

Time and Geography

The Earliest Americans • First Amerindian group from northeast Asia crossed Beringia land bridge 20, 00010, 000 BCE – Ancestors to Native Indian peoples from Canada to South America • Second group from Central Asia – descendants today are in western Canada – exception of the Navajo and Apache peoples, who migrated to the American Southwest between 1300 and 1500 CE • Last group from northeastern Asia – modern descendants are Inuit Eskimo peoples of northern Canada and Alaska The first Americans are believed to have migrated across the Beringia land bridge.

The Earliest Americans Paleoindian Americans – Clovis Culture – earliestknown hunting culture – Folsom points – smaller spearheads needed when megafauna died The Archaic Period – Conditions warmer and drier, so people depended on gathering as game disappeared – Little is known about social organization in this period An artists depiction of Paleo. Indian Americans hunting giant armadillo.

Agricultural Revolution in the Americas Result of environmental change • First occurred in Mexico • Chili, pumpkins, beans, plus maize • Farming spread across Mexico to Central America and coastal Peru by 1500 BCE • High productivity made possible the great civilizations Farming spread from Mexico to Peru

RELIGIOUS/INTELLECTUAL

EARLY MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS • Mesoamerica (Middle America): central Mexico and Central America • Earliest civilizations located on elevated plateaus or tropic lowlands • Polytheistic theocracies ruled by astronomer-priests of (semi-) divine status • Used accurate calendars to regulate agriculture and religion The ceremonies we very bloody

EARLY MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS • Cities were religious centers with pyramids, temples, palaces and ritual ball courts • Masses witnessed awe-inspiring, bloody ceremonies • Elites created writing and numerical systems • Extensive trade networks also catalysts for cultural exchange The ceremonies we very bloody

Olmecs and Chavin • Olmecs, 1500 -300 BCE – “People of the Land of Rubber” - solid rubber balls for ballgame – Southern Mexico - developed first culture with regional influence – Elite group – priests had great powers – Ruler probably a hereditary king/high priest – Established vast trade networks in Central America – Religious faith centered on worship of ancient feline - heads of basalt – Skill in stonework – The Great Pyramid – Primitive form of writing and number system

Maya, 400 – 1500 CE • • • Maya supplanted Olmecs Most advanced of all pre-Columbian Amerindians Hierarchy of cities ruled by kings Public buildings, temples, palaces, ball courts Wealthy hereditary elite held power, powerful priesthood

Maya, 400 – 1500 CE • Common folk were freemen, serfs and slaves • Noblewomen held positions in religion and politics, certain rights • Lower classes tended garden, domestic animals, weaving, and home religious rites • Religious belief was important in the order of daily life Mayan Indian

Maya • Pyramids: sacred mountains with chambers where priests mediated • Mayan cosmology has 13 heavens and nine hells • Human sacrifices common - companions for rulers for next world A human sacrifice

Maya • Prosperity brought decline - overpopulation and ecological collapse • 200 years later, Mayan achievements forgotten • Most notable accomplishments: – Accurate astronomy based on mathematics – Mayan calendar – Mayan only pre-Columbian people who Mayans were literate

Teotihuacan and the Toltecs • Teotihuacan (Place of Gods) 200 BCE – Another high culture in Valley of Mexico – Unfortified city, theocracy devoted to agricultural, crafts, and commerce not war – Pyramids and temples center of religious rituals, offerings to the gods – Largest and most impressive of ancient pre-Columbian centers: population 200, 000 – Hub of commerce: trade networks from northern Mexico to Central America – Final years more militaristic – Invading warriors destroyed Teotihuacán in about 650 CE – Two centuries of chaos and conflict among rival groups • Toltecs – Federation of nomads – Chief city was Tula

POLITICAL

THE MILITARISTIC AZTECS • Fall of Teotihuacán – warlike nomads migrated • Modern Mexico gets name from the Mexica, known later as Aztecs • Mexica-Aztec converted from despised nomads into elite of huge militaristic state • By 1500, with alliances and expansions, the Aztec Confederation dominated center of present-day Mexico down to Mayan Guatemala • Lives of ruling elites revolved around conquest and warfare Aztecs

THE MILITARISTIC AZTECS • War shaped their religion and social structure • Aztec religion included human sacrifices, cannibalism • Aztec government and society – Emperor (semi-divine status), officials, priests – Class of warriors – Ordinary free people – Serfs and slaves – Upper class women had some rights and freedoms The Aztec Empire

SOUTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS • • Inca - Andes Mountains of modern Peru Militaristic empire Achieved first unification of entire Andean area Pre-Columbian Peru a complex mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups The first image of the Inca in Europe

SOUTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS • Culmination of centuries’ developments in agriculture, commerce, religion, architecture, and government • Collective food basket very nutritious: fish from Pacific Ocean, tubers from highlands, fruit from tropical forests • Industries: fishing, farming, textiles, metallurgy One of the main events in the conquest of the Inca Empire was the death of Atahualpa, the last Sapa Inca of the empire on 29 August 1533

The Chavín • Chavín’s capital on trade routes connected coast with mountains • Use of llama fomented trade and led to construction of roads • Chavín hegemony from trade and cultural exchange, rather than political power or military might • Chavín jaguar cult spread and lasted for centuries • Blunt-tipped pyramids, platform mounds, artificial water works • Priests organized irrigation projects, supervised labor force • Triumph: feed population in difficult topographical areas • Chavín culture collapsed: overpopulation, increased social stratification, and rising militarism • Chavín never became a true political state • Influenced succeeding theocratic kingdoms of north and central Peru

Ancient Andean Lifeways • Ayllu or clan - basic unit of society and government • Village: 2 -4 clans, male head who expected absolute loyalty • Priests, agricultural calendars, ayllus: labor farming + building • Religion – worship spirits that lived in rivers, cave, mountains • Rulers were demigods Ayllu people

Ancient Andean Lifeways • Textiles and fibers important: fishing nets, roofs, rope bridges, cotton, (alpaca) woolen cloth • Women and girls spun and wove cloth • No known writing system • Northern and Central areas: El Niño – drought, famine led to downfall of these states • Southern and Central civilizations expanded with alliances, colonizing, and warfare Ayllus

The Incas • Southern Andes centered on the town of Cuzco • Conquered Andean region: (Argentina to Ecuador) - 8 million people • Rule of Pachacuti Inca – Split inheritance: each Inca ruler kept his lands; new emperor to conquer new territories • Inca rulers claimed direct descent from the Sun • Government: regimented, enforced conformity, social welfare • Control of people: deported inhabitants, established colonies • Cultural impact: Quechua (official language along with Spanish) • Material Culture: – Kipus for recordkeeping, counting, reciting oral traditions – Superb road builders and architects – Irrigation systems, dams, and canals, terraces – Machu Picchu, fortress-city, built without technology • Spaniard. Francisco Pizarro, arrived in 1533 to rob the gold of Cuzco

North Americans • Ancestral Puebloan civilization (Anasazi) – Began agriculture about 400 CE – Chaco phenomenon: 14 “Great Houses” multi-story stone and timber pueblos – Road system in nearly straight lines converged on Chaco Canyon – Regional trade center wielding great power – Puebloan clans migrated west, south, east about 1300 -1500

Ancestral Puebloan civilization (Anasazi)

North Americans Mississippian and Cahokia Civilizations • Mysterious mound-building cultures based on hunting • Cahokia – largest, most important settlement from this period • May have had social hierarchy • Some mounds were for religious rituals, others were tombs • Ended mysteriously about 1300 Mississippians

REVIEW

Discussion Questions 1. Archaeologists often have to guess at the significance of ruins and artifacts, as in the case of the Chaco Canyon roads. How do you think the archaeologists of the future will look at the remnants of our road systems such as the freeways of Los Angeles, or Washington DC’s Beltway? What suppositions might they make, based on the remains of our highway system? 2. When the Spanish met the great Amerindian cultures of Latin America, they considered them to be barbaric people. What aspects of their own culture might have convinced the Spaniards of the accuracy of their attitude? What aspects of the Native American cultures might qualify as “civilized? ”