Chapter 11 - Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas, 600-1500
Kiva
A chamber built wholly or partial underground, used primarily by males for religious ceremonies and political meetings. Constructed by the Anasazi
Calpolli
A group of up to a hundred families that served as the building block of an altepetl in ancient Mesoamerica
Tribute System
A system in which defeated peoples were forced to pay a tax in the form of goods and labour. This forced transfer of food, cloth, and other goods subsidized the development of large cities. An important component of the Aztec and Inca economies
The introduction of agriculture, and eventually population growth and settled village life
After contacts with Mexico were made in around 300 B.C.E., what occured in modern-day Arizona?
Aztecs
Also known as the Mexica, the Aztecs created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325 - 1521 C.E.). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax
Yes; Mayan women with ruling lineages did play an important political and religious role, consorts (spouse of reigning monarch) participated in bloodletting rituals and other important public ceremonies and legitimated their husband's rule
Although few women ruled Maya kingdoms, did Mayan women have a good place in society or no?
Women held substantial power and exercised broad influence in Aztec society
Although warfare gave increased power and priviledge to males, women had what?
Hopewell
An early Native American culture that was centered in the Ohio River Valley and spread into many surrounding areas. These people are noted for the building of extensive earthworks and large, elaborate mounds used for burial or ceremonies.
Altepetl
An ethnic state in ancient Mesoamerica, the common political building block of that region
To protect long-distance trade and to compel peasant agriculturalists to transfer their surplus of food to the city
Archaeological evidence shows Teotihuacan had a large, powerful military created. What would've the city used this military for?
They brought marginal lands into production, drained swamps, constructed irrigation canals, and built terraced hillsides
As Teotihuacan experienced rapid population growth, what did the elites do using labor resources of lower classes?
Tenochtitlan
Capital of the Aztec empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. It's population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins
No; they mainly used hunting and gathering
Did Hopewell culture use a lot of agriculture like other cultures discussed?
Chiefdom
Form of political organization with rule by a hereditary ruler who held power over a collection of villages and towns. Less powerful than kingdoms and empires, these were based on gift-giving and commercial links
The people of Teotihuacan did not concentrate the power in the hands of a single ruler
How did Teotihuacan differ from other classical-period civilizations?
Divine approval of and a material basis for the elite's increased wealth and status
How did Teotihuacan's role as a religious center and commercial power affect the elites?
The Mexica were pushed into central Mexico from the Toltec collapse, and as their power grew through polticial alliances and conquest, they created a Mexica-dominated power called the Aztec Empire
How did the Aztec empire begin?
The Maya classical period used much more intensive agriculture due to high population levels
How did the Maya farming style of today compare to the Maya farming style of the Classical Period?
The cosmos was divided into three layers; humans are located in the middle layer, heaven the layer above and a dark underworld underneath. The temples in Maya cities reflected this idea where the top of the temple was the heavens and the doorways of the pyramids were entrances of the underworld
How did the Maya view the cosmos? How did this view affect temple architecture?
Into a altepetl lead by a tlatoani
How did the Mexica first organize themselves?
Agriculture
How did two-thirds of Teotihuacan's population make their living?
Chaco Canyon Anasazi traded turquoise with Toltec-era peoples for various trinkets, such as shell jewelry, copper bells, macaws, and trumpets
How far did the Chaco Canyon Anasazi trade?
It was viewed as a sacred duty to the gods and essential to the well-being of society
How was sacrifice viewed in Teotihuacan? (note: many places in Mesoamerica practiced sacrifice and most likely held similar views)
The state was made largely on military power and conquest
How was the Toltec state created?
The Aztecs regarded the Toltecs as powerful and influencial predecessors, similar to how the Roman regarded the Greeks
How was the relationship between the Aztecs and Toltecs similar to that of the Romans and the Greeks?
The people living in Teotihuacan practiced human sacrifice
How was the religion in Teotihuacan similar to the religion in Olmec centers?
The religious architecture was aligned with nearby sacred mountains that reflected movement of stars
How was the religious architecture set up in Teotihuacan?
They were unified through similarities in material culture, religious beliefs/practices, and social structures
How were Mesoamericans united despite differences in language and absence of regional political integration?
Year-round agriculture because of subsurface irrigation and resistence to frost
How were chinampas crucial to substaining the region's growing population?
The cities of the classical period were built around raised platforms and pyramids devoted to religious functions, but the classical cities were more impressive and architecturally diversified
How were the cities of the classical period similar to the Olmec centers?
Anasazi (Ancient Pueblos)
Important culture of what is now the southwestern United States (700-1300 C.E.). Centered on the Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Mesa Verde in Colorado, the group built multistory residences out of adobe brick and worshiped in subterranean buildings called kiva
Teotihuacan was larger than all but a few European and Asian cities
In 450 C.E., Teotihuacan was at its height and had a population of between 125,000 and 150,000 people. What's unique about this size of population?
The high nobility denied them priviledges due to the fact the nobility was jealous
In the Aztec Empire, a specialized class of merchants controlled long distance trade, bringing valuable products (cacao, gold, jewels, and animal skins) and political/military intelligence for Aztec elite. Despite the merchants becoming wealthy and powerful, how did the high nobility treat them?
Maya
Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar
The Aztecs introduced a monarchical system similar to that found in more powerful states
Once the Aztecs gained more economic independence, greater political security, and territorial expansion, what happened to the Aztec government?
Toltecs
Powerful postclassical empire in central Mexico (900-1175 C.E.). It influenced much of Mesoamerica. Aztecs claims close ties to this civilization
Chinampas
Raised fields constructed along lake-shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural yields Floating gardens/farm land (first used by the Teotihuacans but became a unique farming feature that only the Aztecs will do later)
Cahokia
What Mississippian city has the largest mound constructed in North America and marked Mississippian culture reaching its height?
Its location on the Missouri, Mississippi and Illinois rivers
What affected Cahokia's political and economic influence?
Hopewell culture
What began to spread through the Mississippi River Valley in 100 C.E.?
Decades of urban decline, social conflict, and increased levels of warfare preceded this collapse of the cities in some areas. The fall of Teotihuacan disrupted long-distance trade in ritual godods. Rising reigional population, climatic change, and environmental degradation undermined the fragile agricultural activities. Growing warfare also undermined political legitimacy of ruling lineage and disrupted the economic relationships that tied rural agriculturalists to Maya cities
What caused the Mayan classical era to end? (ended between 800 and 900 C.E.)
Most likely due to drought that undermined the fragile agricultural economy
What caused the decline and dispersal of the Anasazi?
The central position and prestige of the priestly class
What class did the temple and palace murals show as presitigious and what else did they say about that class?
Mississippian Culture
What did Hopewell culture later influence?
They organized periodic rituals of feasting and gift giving to link diverse kinship groups and guarantee the access of specialized crops and craft goods
What did chiefs do? Remeber: Chiefs had both secular and religious roles
Maize, beans, and squash
What did the Anasazi develop an economy around?
A tribute system
What did the Aztecs impliment in order to feed the population of Tenochtitlan
They infused warfare with a religious meaning and celebrated it in elaborate rituals
What did the Maya do to warfare?
The adoption of the bow and arrow and the expansion of trade networks. The improved economy led to population growth, the building of cities, and social stratification
What did the development of urbanized Mississippian chiefdoms, caused from the accumalated effects of small increases in agricultural productivity?
They had several thousand inhabitants and served as ceremonial and political centers
What did the largest Hopewell towns serve as? How big were they?
They controlled smaller cities and a broad agricultural zone by building impressive religious temples and by creating rituals that linked the power of the power of the kings to the gods
What did the most powerful classical period Mayan cities do?
They were built to house burials and serve as platforms for religious rituals. Some were orientated to mark sunrise and moonrise patterns.
What did the mounds of Hopewell culture serve for?
The formation of larger villages and led to an enriched cultural life centered in kivas
What did the successful introduction of certain crops do to the Anasazi culture and people?
Developing new forms of political organization, great strides in astronomy and mathematics, and improved the productivity of agriculture
What do archaeologists define as a Classical period?
A struggle between two chieftains, along with the sharp decline, beginning in 1150, from internal power struggles, and a military threat from the north
What do historians believe lead to the fall of the Toltec state?
It directed the collective religious, social, and political obligations of the ethnic group
What does the altepetl do?
The lack of walls suggests that Teotihuacan had a relative peace during its early development
What does the lack of walls and other defensive structures before 500 C.E. in Teotihuacan suggest?
Religious rituals
What dominated public life in Tenochtitlan?
A group of calpolli who controlled land allocation, tax collection, and local religious life
What is the basic building block for the altepetl?
The introduction of maize, beans, and squash from Mesoamerica
What played an important role in the development of complex societies in North America?
They served both priestly and political functions
What purpose did the rulers and other elites serve in society?
North American chiefdom
What was Hopewell an early example for?
They loved decoration, and bright carved decorations cover nearly all the buildings (these carvings were often religious allegories, genealogies of rulers, and important historical events). They also loved beautifully carved altars and stone monoliths near major temples
What was Mayan art like?
A form of hieroglyic inscription that signified whole words or concepts as well as phonetic cues or syllables
What was Mayan writing like?
Population of Mesoamerica was higher, resulting in intensification of agricultural practices and increased warfare
What was a difference between postclassical period Mesoamerica and classical period?
The tribute system in Tang China was more of a symbolic character, whereas the tribute system in the Aztec empire, 1/4 of Tenochtitlan's food requirements was satisfied by tribute payments
What was a difference between the tribute system in Tang China and the Aztec Empire?
Teotihuacan
What was one of Mesoamerica's most important classical-period civilizations?
It told the year since the mythical creation day
What was the "long count" calendars of the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures used for?
They never shared a single, unified state despite sharing a single culture, and instead consisted of city-states throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize
What was unique about Maya poltics?
Mayan mathematics provided the basis for the calendars and the astronomical observations they were based on. They had a concept of 0 and place value but limited notational signs
What were Mayan mathematics like?
They used irrigation in areas with long dry seasons, terraced hillsides, and managed nearby forests (they favored trees and shrubs useful to them) and promoted the conservation of deer and other animals hunted for food
What were other things Mayan agricultarlists did?
The Mayan made a ritual calendar (260 days, 13 months), a solar year calendar (365 days, 18 months, plus 5 extremely unlucky days), and a lunar calendar
What were the Mayan contributions to the Mesoamerican calendar systems?
To secure captives rather than territory (elites almost always killed, commoners more likely forced to work for captors)
What were the Mayans goal when fighting in a war?
Chaco Canyon, Nex Mexico
Where is the largest Anasazi communities located
