Unit 4 - Lessons 14-15: Early Civilizations in the Americas

Aztec Civilization (A.D. 1200 - 1521)

(13th century) A political vacuum existed in the Valley of Mexico - A series of moderate-sized city-states prospered and competed > Into this settled and competitive world stepped a small and obscure group, the Azteca, or Mexica - Within 2 centuries, these insignificant players on the highland stage presided over the mightiest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas - Aztec empire covered both highlands and lowlands and affected the lives of over 5 million people > A brilliant strategist and able administrator, Ahuitzotl, was a single-minded militarist - Believed fervently in his divine mission to nourish the sun god - (1487) 20,000 prisoners are said to have perished when he inaugurated a rebuilt Great Temple of Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaloc in the central precincts of Tenochtitlán - Tenochtitlán: (Late-14th-century heyday) A sophisticated and cosmopolitan city with a social, political, and economic organization > Flexible enough to integrate large numbers of outsiders—merchants, pilgrims, and foreigners—as well as thousands of laborers into its already large permanent population > The Aztec capital reflected a society that depended on military strength and on its ability to organize large numbers of people to achieve its end > Thousands of hectares of carefully planned Chinampas (swamp gardens) that intersected with canals provided food for the large urban population - The symbolic center of the universe, a city set in a circle of water; like Aztlan itself, the mythic island surrounded by water > The greatest festivals of the Aztec world unfolded at the great pyramid, ceremonies marked by rows of brightly dressed prisoners climbing the steep stairway to their death - The victim was stretched out over the sacrificial stone > In seconds, a priest with an obsidian knife broke open his chest and ripped out his still-beating heart, dashing it against the sacrificial stone

The Early Horizon and Chavín de Huántar (900 - 200 B.C.)

(1943) Archaeologist Julio Tello identified a distinctive art style in stone, ceramics, and precious metals over a wide area of highland Peru - Named Chavín; after a famous prehistoric ceremonial center at Chavín de Huántar (Central Peru) - Theorizes Richard Burger, Chavín de Huántar was a four-stage artificial mountain; where rituals surrounded the circulation of water > Under these beliefs, the earth floated on a vast ocean - From there, water circulated through mountains to the Milky Way in the heavens; it became rain to water human fields before flowing back into the ocean - Chavín; represents a coalescence of traits and ideas from both the coast and the forest > Formed a flamboyant cultural manifestation over a local area of the highlands > The Early Horizon may have been a long period of cultural change and political adjustment

The Moche State (200 B.C. - A.D. 700)

(200 B.C.) Moche state had begun in northern coastal Peru, flourishing for 800 years - Its origins lay in the Chicama and Moche valleys, with great ceremonial centers and huge irrigation works - Apparently, Moche warriors went to war specifically to take captives > They would strip the captives of their armor and weapons > lead them in front of the warrior-priest - The prisoner's throat was cut and the warrior priest and others drank the blood of the slain victim while the corpse was dismembered - Consisted of farmers and fisherfolk as well as skilled artisans and priests > Depicted on pots with feline like fangs set in their mouths and wearing puma-skin headdresses > A few expert craft potters created superb modeled vessels with striking portraits of arrogant, handsome men who can only have been the leaders of Moche society - Michael Moseley believes that a series of natural disasters struck Moche domains in the late 6th century > The first may have been a major drought cycle (A.D. 564 - 594) > (Between 650 700) A great earthquake struck the Andes, choking rivers with debris from landslides - Within a half-century, Moche civilization collapsed

Monte Albán (500 B.C. - A.D. 750)

(900 B.C.) Founded on a hill overlooking 3 arms of the Valley of Oaxaca 400m (1,300ft) below - (200 - 350 B.C.) More than 16,000 people lived in the city - (Late Classic period, between A.D. 500 - 700) The population rose to a peak of 30,000 - (Between 300 - 100 B.C.) Zapotec rulers laid out the Main Plaza atop the artificially flattened hilltop - (After 200 B.C.) Reached the height of its power when it rivaled another expanding state, Teotihuacán, to the north

The Middle Horizon: Tiwanaku and Wari (A.D. 600 - 1000)

(A.D. 600 - 1000) Flourished in the southern highlands - Saw the beginnings of monumental building at a highland site—Tiwanaku—influencing much of the Peruvian world TIWANAKU- - (A.D. 600 - 1000) Wealthiest highland districts lay at the southern end of the central Andes, in the high, flat country surrounding Lake Titicaca (A.D. 450) The eastern side of the lake was becoming a major population center + economic and religious focus for the region - Tiwanaku art style is related to earlier iconography found at Pukara > So powerful was the iconography and, presumably, the political and economic forces behind Tiwanaku - (after A.D. 1200) There was a serious political vacuum in the south when Tiwanaku inexplicably collapsed into obscurity WARI- - Wari (in the Ayacucho Valley) A highland urban and ceremonial center that stands on a hill\ > Associated with huge stone walls and many dwellings that cover several sq mi - Wari art styles show some Pukara influence, especially in anthropomorphic, feline, eagle, and serpent beings depicted on ceramic vessels - Wari people seem to have revered a Viracocha-like being - (A.D. 800) Their domains extended from Moche country in the Lambayeque Valley on the northern coast to south of Nasca territory, down the Moquequa Valley of the south-central Andes and into the highlands south of Cuzco - Abandoned in the 9th century A.D., but its art styles persisted on the coast for at least 2 more centuries - Both Wari and Tiwanaku were a turning point in Peruvian prehistory; a stage when small regional states became integrated into much larger political units

Andean Civilizations

(Late-15th-century heyday) Tawantinsuyu ("The Land of the Four Quarters"), the vast Inca empire, extended from high altitude mountain valleys in the Andes through dry highland plains > foothills > tropical rain forests > coastal deserts, some of the driest landscape on earth - Over many centuries, 2 "poles" of Andean civilization developed > One along the north coast of what is now Peru, the other in the south-central Andes > Only the Inca succeeded in joining the 2 into 1 vast empire - The northern pole was centered on the bleak and effectively rainless Peruvian desert plain > Extends south nearly 550km (350mi) along the coast as far as Collasuyu, reaching a width of up to 100km (62mi) in the area of the Lambayeque River - Some 40 rivers and streams fueled by mountain runoff flow across the plain > Can be used for irrigation only in areas where the surrounding desert is low enough - The southern pole embraced the high plains of the Lake Titicaca Basin, highland Bolivia, and parts of Argentina and northern Chile in the south-central Andes > Much of this region was too dry and cold to sustain dense human populations - The northern end of the Lake Titicaca Basin was somewhat warmer and better watered > Made both alpaca and llama herding and potato and quinoa agriculture possible - Andean civilization pursued many different evolutionary pathways > Came together in a remarkable mosaic of states and empires - Result of widely held spiritual beliefs and by constant interchange between the coast and the highlands and between neighboring valleys and large population centers - The development of Andean civilization; culminated in the Inca Empire

The Classic Maya Collapse

(after A.D. 600) Maya civilization reached its peak - At the end of the 8th century; the great ceremonial centers of the Petén and the southern lowlands were abandoned, the long court calendar was discontinued, and the structure of religious life and the state decayed COLLAPSE THEORIES- - Patrick Culbert has shown that population densities rose to as many as 200 persons per sq km (518 per sq mi) during the late Classic period > Over an area so large that it was impossible for people to adapt to bad times by moving to new land/emigrating - Newly collected paleoclimatic data from cores bored into lowland lake deposits and from a deep-sea core in the Carioco Basin off Venezuela > Provide a potential "smoking gun" for the collapse - Shows that 3 major droughts spread over the Yucatán during the 2,500-year period of Maya civilization > The first was from 475 - 250 B.C., when Maya civilization was still forming > Another lasted from 125 B.C. - A.D. 210, coinciding with the heyday of El Mirador, the greatest of the early Maya cities - (A.D. 150) The abandonment of El Mirador may have resulted, at least in part, from the continuing drought > (A.D. 750 - 1025) Most severe drought of all; coincided with the great Maya collapse of the southern lowlands - Ecological factors lay at the center of the collapse > The expanding Maya population was dependent on an agricultural system that made no allowance for long-term problems - Eventually, the system could produce no further riches, could not expand, and could only decline—with catastrophic results

The Aztec State

A mosaic of ever-changing alliances cemented together by an elaborate tribute-gathering machine - Controlled by a tiny group of rulers, the lord of Tenochtitlán being principal among them - Everything was run for the benefit of a growing elite > Maintained their power by ruthless and efficient taxation campaigns, political marriages, and the constant threat of military force - Tribute was assessed on conquered cities and taken in many forms, as raw materials > Gold dust, metal artifacts, or tropical bird feathers for ceremonial mantles and headdresses - Tribute and trade went together, for the Aztec empire depended heavily on professional merchants, pochteca > The Aztec merchants formed a closely-knit class of their own - Serving as the eyes and ears of the state, and sometimes achieving great wealth - Every Aztec was a member of a Calpulli ("big house"); A kin-based group of families that claimed descent through the male line from a common ancestor > The 4 quarters of Tenochtitlán were organized into neighborhoods based on such groups - None of the Aztecs' social and political institutions was new > Inherited them from the Toltecs and the rulers of Teotihuacán, even if, in the Aztec case, they worked within a more flexible and diverse milieu

The Toltecs (A.D. 650 - 1200)

A ruler named Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl; born in the year A.D. 935/947 - Moved the Toltec capital to Tollan, "the Place of Reeds" (the archaeologists'Tula), in its heyday a city of some 30,000-60,000 people, far smaller than Teotihuacán - (A.D. 900) Tula was a prosperous town of artisans that soon grew into a city of as many as 40,000 people covering 16 sq km (5.4 sq mi) - (A.D. 1000) Toltec lords laid out their capital on a grid pattern with a wide central plaza and ceremonial center bordered by imposing pyramids and at least two ball courts - (About 1200) Tula's temples, pyramids, and ball courts were torn to the ground when the Toltec empire fell apart

Lowland Mesoamerica

A search for Mayan origins takes us back nearly 4 millennia to the village farming communities that flourished in Mesoamerica when Egyptian civilization was at its height and the Shang state dominated northern China

Coastal Foundations (2600 - 900 B.C.)

Agriculture remained a secondary activity until comparatively recently in the lowlands - Despite this, sedentary villages of several hundred people flourished along the north coast (2500 - 1800 B.C.) - (Initial Period) Large monumental structures appeared, many of them U shaped, just before and during the transition toward greater dependence on maize agriculture > Aspero, Caral, Buena Vista, and El Paraíso, all along the coast between modern-day Lima, and Casma, Peru, were the early ceremonial centers of the coast and highlands - May reflect an ancient tradition of manipulating smoke and water to maintain communication with the cosmos > A period of continuous interaction and extensive trade between the coast and the highlands

Valley of Mexico: Teotihuacán (200 B.C. - A.D. 750)

As early as 600 B.C., a series of chiefdoms ruled over the Valley of Mexico - Teotihuacán grew rapidly during the ensuing centuries as thousands of people moved from outlying communities into the metropolis > Whether they moved voluntarily or as a result of conquest and compulsory resettlement is UNKNOWN - At least 80,000 people lived in the city by A.D. 100. - At the very core of Teotihuacán's being was the Sacred Cave under the 64-meter (210-foot)-high Pyramid of the Sun, an entryway to the Underworld > The cave was the focus of the powerful creation myth perpetuated by the city's leaders - (After about A.D. 650) Teotihuacán's ideology became increasingly militaristic > A time when the state may have become more oppressive > The end, when it came, was cataclysmic - The Ciudadela was attacked in about A.D. 750; its temples and palaces burned and razed - The destruction was part of a systematic desanctification of Teotihuacán both politically and ritually > To prevent new rulers from rising from the ashes

The World of the Fifth Sun

Aztecs were militaristic, but every deed, every moment of living, was filled with symbolic meaning and governed by ritual - Inherited the cyclical view of time, established by the movements of the heavenly bodies, which had lain at the core of Mesoamerican civilization for millennia - 365-day secular calendar measured the passing of seasons and market days > Ritual calendar on a 260-day cycle; Consisted of 20 "weeks" of 13 days each - Each week, each day, had a patron deity; all of them with specific good and evil qualities. - Once every 52years, the 2 calendars coincided, > A moment at which time was thought to expire until rekindled by the priests lighting a sacred fire in a sacrificial victim's chest - Then a new cycle began amidst general rejoicing - Aztec creation legends spoke of four suns preceding their own world, that of the Fifth Sun > A cataclysmic flood destroyed the world of the Fourth Sun > Primordial waters covered the earth > The gods gathered at the sacred city, Teotihuacán, where they took counsel - 2 gods were chosen to represent the sun and moon > They did penance for 4 days > immolated themselves in a great fire in the presence of the other gods - They emerged as the sun and moon, blown on their cyclical courses by the wind god Ehecatl > Thus was born the world of the Fifth Sun, but a world doomed to inevitable, cyclical extinction - From birth, in formal orations, in schools, through art, architecture, poetry, even in dress codes, the Aztecs were told theirs was a divine quest—to carve out an empire in the name of Huitzilopochtli

Postclassic Maya Civilization (A.D. 900 - 1517)

Chichén Itzá - In the northeast, came into prominence during the Postclassic period - The mosaics, carved facades, and sculpted serpents and warriors on the later temple show Toltec influence from the highlands - During its heyday, they maintained contacts with the Maya of the Gulf Coast lowlands, and through them with the Valley of Oaxaca and the highlands - (13th century) Chichén Itzá; the city of Mayapan moved into the economic and political vacuum and dominated the northern Maya world > Mayapan lies in the center of the northern Yucatán - Densely populated, walled city with about 12,000 inhabitants, built near a series of natural wells - (Mid-15th century) Mayapan's confederacy fell apart > (1519; 3 quarters of a century late) Spaniard Hernan Cortés and his conquistadors landed on the gulf lowlands, to change the face of Mesoamerica forever

The Late Horizon: The Inca State (A.D. 1476 - 1534)

During the Late Horizon of Peruvian prehistory (1400-1534), there was unification of the highlands and the lowlands under the Inca Empire - May have emerged as early as 1200 and lasted until the Spanish Conquest (1532-1534) > Was the shortest period, stopped in its tracks by Spanish conquest - Official Inca histories speak of at least 8 Inca rulers (1200 - 1438), but these genealogies are hardly reliable - (14th century) The Inca flourished in this competitive atmosphere because their leaders were expert politicians as well as warriors > A leader named Viracocha Inca rose to power at the beginning of the 15th century - Unlike his raiding predecessors, he turned to permanent conquest and soon presided over a small kingdom centered in Cuzco > (Around 1438) A brilliant warrior named Cusi Inca Yupanqui was crowned Inca after a memorable victory over the neighboring Chanca tribe - *The term Inca can refer to both the ruler and the people - He immediately took the name Pachakuti ("He Who Remakes the World") and set about transforming the Inca state > He and his henchmen developed a form of royal ancestor cult - At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Inca controlled the lives of as many as 6 million people > Most of them living in small villages dispersed around larger centers - Inca political and religious power was based on major ritual locations like Cuzco in the Andes > Where the ceremonial precincts were built of carefully fitted stone blocks - The Inca ruler held court in Cuzco, surrounded by plotting factions and ever-changing political tides > The empire had grown so large that communication became an increasingly lengthier process; compounded by the great diversity of people living within Inca domains - Tawantinsuyu was becoming a rotten apple > In the end, the Inca Empire was overthrown not by Peruvians but by a tiny band of foreigners with firearms who could exploit the inherent vulnerability of such a hierarchical, conforming society

The Rise of Highland Civilization: The Valley of Oaxaca (2000 - 500 B.C.)

Many of the foundations of highland Mesoamerican civilization were laid in two areas - Valley of Oaxaca - Homeland of the modern-day Zapotec people > (2000 B.C.) Maize and bean agriculture supported dozens of small villages and hamlets of 50-75 people - Some of these settlements grew to as many as 500 inhabitants; some nonfarming artisans and priests > (1300 B.C.) Largest settlement was San José Mogote; lay at the junction of 3 side valleys - A village of thatched houses with about 150 inhabitants sharing 1 lime-plastered public building - During next century, San José Mogote grew rapidly into a community of 400-600 people > Lived in rectangular houses with clay floors, plastered and white-washed walls, and thatched roofs over an area of about 20 hectares (50 acres) > (400 B.C.) At least 7 small chiefdoms (50 B.C.) At least some of the centers, like Monte Albán in the Valley of Oaxaca, achieved considerable size and complexity

Beginnings: Preclassic Peoples in the Lowlands (2000 B.C. - A.D. 300)

Maya Lowlands: The low-lying limestone peninsula of the Yucatán, the seat of Maya civilization - (2000 B.C.) Sedentary villages were common; dispersed in small communities across highly diverse agricultural environments in both lowlands and highlands - Preclassic/Formative Era: The first signs of political and social complexity appear in many parts of highland and lowland Mesoamerica (2000 - 1000 B.C.)

The Origins of Maya Civilization (Before 1000 B.C. - A.D. 300)

Norman Hammond was able to trace the roots of Maya culture back to the 2n millennium B.C., at the Cuello site in northern Belize - Cuello: A small Maya ceremonial center, today comprising an acre-square, 3.6-meter (12-foot)-high platform with a low pyramid SAN BARTOLO, NAKBÉ, AND EL MIRADOR (C. 1000 - 300 B.C.)- - (400 - 200 B.C.) San Bartolo site in Guatemala was occupied > San Bartolo: Little-known location marked by a small pyramid where wall paintings unexpectedly came to light on rooms inside it - Nakbé: The two settlements were once linked by a causeway, but smaller Nakbé was occupied much earlier (1000 B.C.) > (300 B.C.) Reached the height of its powers but subsided into complete political and economic obscurity within a few generations as its neighbor, El Mirador, rose to prominence - (150 - 50 B.C.) El Mirador grew to cover 15.5 sq km (6 sq mi) of low, undulating terrain, part of which flooded during the wet season > El Mirador was a maze of pyramids and plazas - Brigham Young University archaeologists have uncovered at least 200 buildings at El Mirador; a great complex of pyramids, temples, and plazas > Yields some of the earliest examples of Maya writing, inscribed on potsherds and occasionally on stucco sculpture KINGSHIP, GLYPHS, AND POLITICAL CYCLES- - Kingship was at the heart of lowland Maya civilization - Maya rulers linked their actions to those of the gods and ancestors; sometimes legitimizing their descent by claiming it reenacted mythical events > In a real sense, Maya history was linked to the present, to the Otherworld, and to the legendary Olmec of the remote past - Maya kingship unfolded within an intensely sacred setting, artificial landscapes where complex ceremonies took place throughout the year and on longer cycles of time > The calendar was vital to Maya life; the complex geography of sacred time was just as important as that of space for determining political strategies and social moves MAYA SCRIPT- - The decipherment of Maya script ranks among the greatest scientific achievements of the 20th century > Group of scholars succeeded in assembling the dynastic histories of Maya lords at several important centers like Palenque and Tikal

The Olmec (1500 - 500 B.C.)

Olmec: A series of chiefdoms along the Gulf Coast of Veracruz and Tabasco - May have exercised some influence over adjacent areas of Chiapas and central Mexico in early Preclassic times - Olmec society flourished during a period when art motifs, religious symbols, and ritual beliefs were shared between developing chiefdoms in many regions > Result of regular contacts between the leaders of widely separated communities and through day-to-day trade - (1500 - 500 B.C.) Olmec peoples lived along the Mexican southern Gulf Coast > Their homeland was low-lying, tropical, and humid, with fertile soils > The swamps, lakes, and rivers were rich in fish, birds, and other animals - Creatures formed an important part of a new and remarkably sophisticated art style that was to leave a permanent imprint on Mesoamerican life - The origins of the Olmec are a complete mystery - (1500 to 500 B.C.) Olmec peoples lived along the Mexican southern Gulf Coast > Their homeland was low-lying, tropical, and humid, with fertile soils - The swamps, lakes, and rivers were rich in fish, birds, and other animals, creatures > Formed an important part of a new and remarkably sophisticated art style that was to leave a permanent imprint on Mesoamerican life - The origins of the Olmec are a complete mystery OLMEC CITIES- - (1250 B.C. - 900 B.C.) San Lorenzo Known for magnificent monumental carvings > Portraits of rulers that were often mutilated by the Olmec themselves, perhaps when they died - La Venta (most famous Olmec site) near the Gulf of Mexico > (400 B.C.) The city was destroyed; monuments intentionally defaced

Classic Maya Civilization (A.D. 300 - 900)

Saw new adaptations to the challenging lowland environment - Many communities now lay at the summits of hillocks and ridges; the quarries at their base used to build pyramids, temples, and other structures > Became large reservoirs surrounded by artificial hills and plazas that were catchment pavements to funnel water into them - Maya architects built gravity canals; released water from the elevated central reservoir system into tanks and surrounding irrigation systems - Over centuries, Maya agriculture slowly created a highly engineered infrastructure that became increasingly productive over time > As populations rose, especially on the outskirts of cities, the Maya expanded the scope of their agriculture - (1st century A.D.) They began draining and canalizing swamps > Turning hitherto unfarmable lands into grids of raised field systems elevated above low-lying, seasonally inundated land that bordered rivers THE RISE OF TIKAL AND UAXACTÚN- - (Until about A.D. 600) The largest states were in Guatemala's northeast Petén; a multicenter polity headed by the "Sky" rulers of Tikal > (17th century) Maya civilization reached its height in the southern lowlands - (A.D. 900) Collapsed suddenly in the Yucatán - Yax Ch'aktel Xok was not the earliest king > Was the one who served as a founding ancestor for the great royal clan of Tikal that ruled in coming centuries - Tikal's hieroglyphic texts identify 31 rulers (18 known by name) after the founder > Earliest dating to A.D. 292, the last known one to A.D. 869; making for 577 years of recorded history - Uaxactún - Fostered a powerful royal dynasty, whose monuments, like those of the Tikal kings, soon depicted rulers with sacrificial victims cowering at their feet > Noble victims taken in hand-to-hand combat for later sacrifice in public rituals. - Portraits signal a crucial development in Maya history; increasing role of warfare and campaigns of deliberate conquest - (A.D. 557) Tikal went into decline after its defeat by the lord of a new rising state, Caracol > prospered anew during the late Classic period CARACOL AND CALAKMUL- - Carocol: Lies in south-central Belize, 70km (43mi) southeast of Tikal > Controlled important crystalline rock supplies, was an important rival - Imposing ceremonial core covered at least 2.25 sq km (0.9 sq mi) during the 17th century > When between 30,000-50,000 people lived there, and as many as 100,000 lived in the surrounding countryside - Calakmul: Had a ceremonial precinct covering about 2 sq km (0.7 sq mi) and a surrounding residential area over 20 sq km (7.7 sq mi) in extent > (A.D. 514 - 814) More than 50,000 people lived in the urban core of a great city and important rival of Tikal PALENQUE AND COPÁN- - Palenque: Another Maya capital, but in the western lowlands > Remarkable not only for its fine buildings but also for its rulers' obsession with their ancestry - Two Palenque rulers, Pacal the Great ("Shield") and his oldest son, Chan-Bahlum ("Snake-Jaguar"); ruled in the 17 century A.D., stand out for their vision and wisdom > Palenque's dynastic history began on March 11, A.D. 431, when Bahlum-Ku'k ("Jaguar-Quetzal") became ruler, and lasted until sometime after A.D. 799.1 - Copán: Located in Honduras, it is adorned with pyramids and plazas covering 12 hectares (30 acres) > Rising from the vast open spaces of the Great and Middle Plazas to an elaborate complex of raised enclosed courtyards, pyramids, and temples (Acropolis) - Successive rulers built their architectural statements atop those of their predecessors in an archaeological jigsaw puzzle of the first magnitude > (Very late Classic era, after A.D. 771) New political pattern emerged indicative of changed conditions and stressful times - Carved inscriptions began to appear in the houses of local nobles, as if the rulers were now granting the privilege of using inscriptions to important individuals > Perhaps as a way of gaining their continued support in times of trouble > This proliferation of inscriptions in the southern lowlands and elsewhere may also reflect minor nobles' taking advantage of confused times and a disintegrating political authority to claim their own brief independence. - Confusion accelerated > (A.D. 800) Maya populations were declining sharply, and both monument carving and major construction soon came to an end

The Initial Period

Saw the development of distinctive coastal and highland societies at either end of the Andean world - On the north coast, and on the shores of Lake Titicaca far to the south THE COAST (AFTER 1800 B.C.)- - (After 1800 B.C.) A set of interacting kingdoms developed in the Moche, Casma, Chillón, and other river valleys where irrigation agriculture flourished - Centuries before, communication networks had arisen; linked to neighboring coastal river valleys + lowlands and highlands > People had moved from the coast inland - The subsistence base changed from fishing to large-scale irrigation agriculture - At first, each family may have worked to irrigate its own sloping gardens > gradually each community grew so much that essential irrigation works could be handled only by cooperative effort > Eventually evolved over many centuries into elaborate public works - Embraced entire inland valleys, controlled by a corporate authority; held a monopoly over both the water and the land it irrigated LAKE TITICACA BASIN: CHIRIPA AND PUKARA (1000 B.C. - A.D. 100)- - As Chavín de Huántar rose to prominence in the northern highlands, a separate Early Horizon tradition of complex society developed around Lake Titicaca far to the south > The plains landscape of the basin was gradually transformed by ever more intensive agriculture and herding - At Chiripa on the southern shore of the lake, farming and herding were integrated into much earlier hunter-gatherer traditions > Chiripa itself remained a small village until about 1000 B.C. - When a platform mound was built in the community; modified many times over the centuries - Another major center flourished at Pukara, 75KM (47mi) northwest of Lake Titicaca > Had a large residential area and an imposing ceremonial complex on a stone-faced terrace, complete with rectangular sunken court and one-room structures on 3 sides - The kingdom's power was confined to the northern Titicaca Basin > Ceramics and other artifacts from as far afield as the north coast reflect widespread trade connections

The Spanish Conquest (A.D. 1517 - 1521)

The Aztec empire was at its height when the aggressive and militaristic ruler Ahuitzotl died (1501) - The following year, Moctezuma Xocoyotzin ("the Younger") was elected to the throne, a complex man said to be a good soldier, but given to introspection - (1517) Reports reached Tenochtitlán of mountains moving on the Gulf of Mexico, of white-bearded visitors from over the eastern horizon to the Maya of the distant Yucatán > Moctezuma became obsessed with ancient Toltec legends, with the departure of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, who had sailed over the eastern horizon vowing to return in the year 1 Reed - By grotesque historical coincidence, Hernan Cortés landed in Vera Cruz (1519, 1 Reed) > Convincing Moctezuma that Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl had returned to claim his kingdom - The conquest of the Aztec pitted an isolated, battle-hardened expeditionary force of about 600 men against a brave, driven people who were convinced > Like their illustrious predecessors, that every act of war was imbued with deep symbolism - This small and determined band of Spanish, gold-hungry adventurers was accustomed to long and arduous military campaigns, and it was inevitable that they would prevail - 10yrs passed before the whole of Mexico (New Spain) was under secure Spanish control > Tens of thousands of people died in bloody encounters > Hundreds of thousands of people died from exotic diseases; influenza and smallpox introduced by the newcomers

The Late Intermediate Period: Sicán and Chimu (A.D. 700 - 1460)

The highland states traded regularly with several emerging polities on the coast, each of them founded on extensive irrigation systems - The decline of Moche in the Lambayeque Valley had left somewhat of a vacuum, filled by the Sicán culture after A.D. 700 - (900 - 1100) Sicán reached its peak, centered on the Lambayeque Valley and remarkable for its magnificent goldwork - (1050 - 1100) An El Niño caused widespread flooding and disruption - (1375) An expanding Chimu state overthrew Sicán and absorbed its domains into a new empire > Chimu built large storage reservoirs and terraced hundreds of miles of hillside to control the flow of water down steep slopes - So effective were these irrigation techniques that the Chimu controlled more than 12 river valleys with at least 50,600 hectares (125,000 acres) of cultivable land, all of it farmed with hoes or digging sticks > The focus of the Chimu state was Chan Chan; a huge complex of walled compounds lying near the Pacific at the mouth of the Moche Valley - Chan Chan covers nearly 10.3 sq km (4 sq mi); central part consisting of 9 large enclosures laid out in a sort of broken rectangle > The Chimu state (Chimor) extended far south, at least to Casma and perhaps reaching to the vicinity of modern Lima - The main focus of civilization lay on the northern Peruvian littoral, where the soils were fertile and large-scale irrigation was a practical reality > Chimu depended on a highly specialized agricultural system - Once that system was disrupted—whether by natural or artificial causes—military conquest and control of the irrigation network were easy > Especially for aggressive and skillful conquerors such as the Inca, who conquered the Chimu (1460s)

Highland Mesoamerica

The roots of Aztec civilization goes back at least 1,500 years - Sprang from both indigenous and lowland roots - Lowlands and highlands were linked inextricably to one another

The Spanish Conquest (A.D. 1532 - 1534)

When Francisco Pizarro arrived, the Inca state was in some political chaos - Its people already decimated by smallpox and other diseases introduced by the first conquistadors - (1525) Inca Wayna Capac had died in an epidemic > The empire was plunged into a civil war between his son Huascar and another son, Atahuallpa, half brother to Huascar - Atahuallpa eventually prevailed, but as he moved south from Ecuador to consolidate his territory, he learned that Pizarro had landed in Peru > The Spaniards had vowed to make Peru part of Spain and were bent on plunder and conquest > Pizarro arrived in the guise of a diplomat - Captured Atahuallpa by treachery > ransomed him for a huge quantity of gold > brutally murdered him > A year later the Spaniards overthrew the Inca capital with a tiny army > Despite pockets of resistance, the world's last preindustrial state collapsed