http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== *Ancient American Civilizations* *Mesoamerica* *© 1998 by John W. Hoopes * *Paleoindian (?18,000-10,000 BC)* - corresponds to the period of the initial population of the New World via the Bering Land Bridge towards the end of the Pleistocene ("Ice Age"). The early limits of this period are poorly understood and hotly debated. The end of this period is marked by dramatic climate changes, including global warming, the receding of glaciers at upper latitudes, and a worldwide rise in sea levels. These changes, as well as possible human exploitation, led to the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna--mammoths and mastodons first, followed by species like horses, giant beavers, and ground sloths. Archaeological sites are usually quarries for stone material, short-term camps, or butchering locations. The latter typically have evidence of big game kills. Typical artifacts of this period include fluted projectile points such as Clovis, Folsom, and Magellan ("fish-tail") styles. *Archaic (10,000 - ca. 3000 BC)* - term used to refer to a period of mobile, band-level societies with economies based on small-game hunting, wild plant gathering, fishing, and shellfish collection. There is a continuation of the nomadic patterns of the Paleoindian period at first, but the Late Archaic sees the appearance of regular, seasonally-occupied sites. The trend for sedentism is most noticeable on the coasts, where sites with large shell middens indicate seasonal settlement. In general, the Archaic period is characterized by "incipient" or beginning agriculturalists. Experimentation with different plant foods increases through time, resulting in the domestication of species such as pumpkin, squash, avocado, chile peppers, amaranth, and early maize. Seasonally nomadic groups become more sedentary, with small "microband" groups coalescing into larger "macroband" organizations. Typical artifacts of this period include basketry, smaller projectile points, and early ground stone tools such as /manos/ and /metates/. *Early Preclassic (begins ca. 3000 BC and ends ca. 1000 BC)* - the term "*Early Formative*" is also frequently used for this period, which corresponds to the time during which permanent villages and later large chiefdoms appeared. The beginning of the Early Formative (3000-1000 BC) is signalled by the appearance of simple pottery vessels, typically in the form of /tecomates/, or gourd-shaped, rimless vessels. Village life is based primarily on agriculture, with special emphasis on the cultivation of maize, beans, and squash. Food storage becomes important, as does more efficient food processing in the form of manos and metates. Hunting remains important, as does shellfish collection on the coasts. Early pottery, in widespread use by 2400 BC, is decorated first with "plastic" decoration and later with slipping and painting. By at least 1700 BC, there is evidence for sophisticated pottery decoration in the Barra phase of coastal Chiapas. By 1600 BC, large houses, mica mirrors, and fancy figurines suggest the emergence of differences in wealth and social status. These provide the foundation for Olmec culture, which begins to flourish around 1150 BC on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Olmec culture represents the rise of chiefdom-level societies. It is characterized by elaborate stone sculpture, massive building projects, highly crafted artifacts of jade and other precious materials, and a distinctive art style that indicates the development of a powerful religious ideology. The most important Early Formative Olmec site is San Lorenzo. *Middle Preclassic (ca. 1000-400 BC)* - this period, also known as the "Middle Formative," is most important for the rise and spread of religious traditions related to Olmec culture. The trend towards political centralization that began in the Early Formative period continues, along with the other traits that accompany increasing social complexity. The Olmec art style flourishes, with elaborate expression in carved stone stelae, jade figurines, and pottery--all emphasizing the "were-jaguar" and baby motifs. Although San Lorenzo is abandoned, apparently as the result of conflict, other sites such as La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and Laguna de los Cerros grow in size and importance. Trade in valuable minerals, such as jade and obsidian, increases. Evidence for Olmec religious influence in artistic styles is found outside the Gulf Coast "heartland" at sites like Chalcatzingo, Oxotitlan, and Juxtlahuaca Cave. Long-distance contacts are evidenced by Olmec materials found as far away as El Salvador and Costa Rica. During this time there is evidence for early agricultural villages in both the Guatemalan highlands and the lowlands of the Petén and the Yucatán Peninsula. One of the earliest of these is the site of Cuello, Belize, where early pottery, house platforms and possible ceremonial structures have been uncovered. It's during this period that sites like Nakbe, El Mirador, Tikal and Uaxactún first develop into large villages. Influence from Olmec cultures of the Gulf Coast is found at sites like Seibal, where a buried cache of jade axes similar to those discovered at La Venta has been found. *Late Preclassic (400 BC to ca. AD 100)* - also known as the "Late Formative," this period sees the beginnings of early state-level societies in various parts of Mesoamerica. Increased population growth and sophisticated local religious traditions lead to the appearance of important centers in the Valley of Mexico, highland Chiapas, the Gulf Coast, and the Maya area.. In the Soconusco region, complex iconography representing the growth of widespread mythological systems is evident at sites like Izapa, in the Pacific foothills of Chiapas. Jade continues to be favored as a sign of elite status, and jade caches at sites like Chacsinkin (Yucatán) indicate that Olmec-style objects are being used by the Maya as well. Labor intensive agriculture, such as the use of raised- (or drained-) fields along margins of bajos and swamplands provides a stable subsistence base that nonetheless requires coordination and constant attention. One of the most significan developments of this period is the invention of writing systems for recording names and dates. Writing appears earliest in the Oaxaca Valley, then in Chiapas (Chiapa de Corzo), the Gulf Coast region (Trez Zapotes) and highland Guatemala (Abaj Takalik, El Baúl, and Kaminaljuyu). The first writing systems appear during this period, showing up at La Venta on the Gulf Coast and at San José Mogote in the Oaxaca Valley of southern Mexico. The earliest recorded dates come from highland Chiapas (Abaj Takalik), highland Guatemala (El Baúl), and the Gulf Coast (Tres Zapotes). The earliest known Long Count date is 36 BC (Stela 2, Chiapa de Corzo). This period also sees the emergence of Maya ceremonialism based on the observation of celestial events, as evidenced by stucco masks representing Venus, the sun, and other supernaturals at sites like Cerros (Belize), Uaxactún (Guatemala), and El Mirador (Guatemala). Kaminaljuyu, in the Guatemalan highlands, and El Mirador, in the heart of the Petén lowlands, become huge centers of ritual activity during this period. However, other centers, like Tikal (Guatemala) are also large and important. There is also a flourishing of art styles in western Mexico, particularly in the provinces of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima. *Protoclassic (AD 100 - 200) *- The term "Protoclassic" is often used to refer to a short period of time that follows the Late Preclassic. It corresponds to a period of experimentation with early writing systems and Long Count dates. It is also during this time that the first polychrome ceramics appear. This period is best thought of as transitional between the Late Preclassic and the Early Classic in the Maya area (to the north, in Central Mexico, it's actually the beginning of the Classic period). There is increasing evidence that, like the later Epiclassic period, the "Protoclassic" was characterized by major shifts in the power of individual ritual centers. Many of the prominent Late Preclassic centers, most nobably El Mirador, go into decline and are eventually abandoned. Some scholars have even begun talking about this period as a time of "collapse" similar to what followed the Late Classic period. In Central Mexico, this period actually sees the beginning of the "Classic" period as Teotihuacán succeeds Cuicuilco (destroyed by a volcanic eruption) as the dominant religious and economic center in the Basin of Mexico. At Teotihuacán, the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon and the Avenue of the Dead are erected at the "center of the universe" as monuments to the gods of creation. In highland Guatemala, Kaminaljuyú flourishes at this time, with large pyramids and rich burials. *Early Classic (AD 200 - 600) *- Perhaps the most significant phenomenon of the Early Classic period is the rise of Teotihuacan civilization in central Mexico. The city of Teotihuacan, believed by many to be the center of the universe, had begun to rise to prominence around AD 100. The period between AD 200 and 600 witnessed the city's growth to perhaps as many as 250,000 people. Teotihuacan was characterized by centrally planned ceremonial architecture built on a large grid. One of the most important ritual structures was the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, which became the focus of periodic festivals and celebrations of military victories. Teotihuacan belief and symbol systems had a profound influence on most of the other Mesoamerican cultures of this time. The Early Classic period in the Maya area is marked by the appearance of dynastic records with Long Count dates in the Maya lowlands, this period also sees the flourishing of stone sculpture, architecture with corbelled vaults, elaborately painted polychrome ceramics, and finely crafted jades. The cult of the Maya ahau, or dynastic ruler, is emphasized through the documentation of lineages and genealogies on carved stelae. It is during the Early Classic that the ruling dynasties at sites like Tikal, Calakmul, Palenque, Yaxchilán, and Copán are founded. Although Kaminaljuyú remains important for the first part of this period, Tikal and Calakmul are the largest Maya sites of the lowland region. The period is characterized by periodic conflicts between the ruling families of Maya city-states, which result in the capture and sacrifice of members of the nobility as well as the looting of royal tombs. Tikal dominates neighboring sites like Uaxactún until Tikal's own conquest by Caracól, a result of ongoing conflicts and "superpower" competition with the rival city of Calakmul. During the Early Classic period, there is evidence for extensive trade networks that extend as far north as Teotihuacán, in Central Mexico and as far south as Costa Rica. It is also during the Early Classic period that the Zapotec civilization flourishes at the hilltop site of Monte Alban in the Oaxaca Valley of southern Mexico. The city, which had been founded as early as 500 BC, reaches the peak of its population during the Early Classic period. *Late Classic (AD 600 - 900)* - The beginning of the Late Classic period is marked by major upheavals in central Mexico. Between AD 600 and 700, the center of Teotihuacan suffers from a dramatic decline, with repercussions throughout Mesoamerica. The city loses most of its population, either through warfare, disease, or abandonment. This is not an end to Teotihuacan's influence, which persists for several centuries through peoples descended from Teotihuacan lineages. The period of the flourishing of Maya civilization in the Petén, Chiapas, western Honduras, and the Yucatán Peninsula. Populations of Maya centers like Tikal swell to almost 100,000 people, supported by intensive agricultural techniques that include raised fields and labor-intensive harvests. Maya architecture and artwork reach their highest expression, as evidenced by centers like Palenque, Yaxchilán, Copán, Dos Pilas, and Chichén Itzá. Maya vase painting becomes a fine art, with depictions of Maya royal life and scenes from mythology (such as the Popol Vuh). Pyramid/tombs are constructed to honor Maya /ahaus/, whose lives are filled with ceremonial activities centering on bloodletting rituals, calendric events, dynastic rites of succession, and warfare with lords of other Maya centers. Around AD 800, there is evidence for a dramatic increase in the frequency, prevalence, and scale of warfare, which takes its toll on the social landscape. By the end of the Late Classic period, the ceremonial cycle of stela carving and the dedication of buildings comes to an end at most of the centers in the Petén, probably as a result of increased warfare and environmental stress. However, ritual activity continues in the northern Yucatán Peninsula, especially at sites like Chichén Itzá and Uxmal. *Epiclassic (AD 800 - 1000)* - term used to refer to the events that characterize the transition between the end of the Late Classic period and the beginning of the Postclassic. Among the important markers of this period is evidence for the "collapse" of Classic Maya culture in the southern lowlands, including frequent images of warfare and sacrifice. At the sites of Dos Pilas, Aguateca, and Punta de Chimino in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala there is evidence for defensive fortifications in respons to large-scale warfare as well as significant environmental degradation. By contrast, in the northern lowlands (the Yucatán Peninsula), this period sees the flourishing of Maya culture at sites like Uxmal, Sayil, and Chichén Itzá. Here, the Epiclassic period is marked by increasing evidence for contact with cultures from the Gulf Coast and Central Mexico. In central Mexico, the Epiclassic is the period duiring which important centers like Cholula, Cacaxtla, and Xochicalco rise to prominence. There is evidence for a continuity of rituals similar to those practiced at Teotihuacan. Many Epiclassic centers may have had populations that included the descendents of prominent lineages and refugees from Teotihuacan. *Early Postclassic (AD 1000-1300)* - The Early Postclassic is best known for the rise of Toltec culture, which actually had its origins in the Epiclassic period. The dominant center of Toltec culture was at Tula, in the state of Hidalgo, north of the Valley of Mexico. Centers like Cholula remained important foci of ritual activity, although they also appear to have suffered from periodic military conflicts. It is during this time that we see the flourishing of several of the noble lineages mentioned in Mixtec codices, whose genealogies and histories are recorded in these screenfold books. *Late Postclassic (AD 1300-1519)* - term used to refer to the last period of occupation prior to the arrival of Cortes and the Spanish Conquest. The most prominent culture of the Late Postclassic period is that of the Aztecs, who used military and ideological force to dominate a large part of ancient Mexico. The group commonly referred to as the Aztecs was actually multiethnic, established as the result of an alliance between the Mexica and the inhabitants of Texcoco and Tlacopan after the defeat of the Tepanec kingdom based at Aztcapotzalco.. The Aztec twin cities of Tenochtitlán and Tlatelolco, located on an island in Lake Texcoco, became the center of the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs had a highly centralized, tribute state based on the extraction of labor and goods from conquered populations. Maya civilization survived into the Late Postclassic at important ceremonial centers in the northern Yucatan as well as in the highlands of Guatemala. The southern lowlands, where many centers of Classic Maya culture flourished, were never completely abandoned. The island kingdom of Topoxte (in the middle of Lake Yaxha) and the kingdom of the Itzá around Lake Tayasal survived until the 17th century and are among the last strongholds of Maya resistance to Spanish domination. However, in general, sites are smaller and ferocious competition between rulers of small kingdoms is evident. Among the last Maya sites in the Yucatán are Mayapán and Tulúm. In the highlands of Guatemala, the Quiché kingdoms of Utatlán and the Cakchiquel capital of Iximche prevail. Although the Maya were never conquered by the Aztecs, Postclassic Maya culture was strongly influenced by traditions the Gulf Coast and Central Mexico. *Return to Home Page * *Send email to Prof. Hoopes *