6. 1. Cahokia: 600 – 1400 CE1. Cahokia: 600 – 1400 CE
Mississippian CultureMississippian Culture
•Height: 1200 CE
•No written records survive
•Strategic location for
trade & manufacture
– Decorative copper
– Iron tools (hoes)
– Pottery
•Largest settlement north of
Mesoamerica
6,000-40,000 population
7. Traits of Mississippian Culture
• CitiesCities: Chiefdoms: Chiefdoms
– Centralized Rule or just Trade
Centers
– Earthwork MoundsMounds – buildings
atop
• Economy
– MaizeMaize-based agriculture
– Widespread trade networkstrade networks
• Rocky Mts., Great Lakes, Gulf
of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean
• Social inequalitySocial inequality
10. ““Chunkey”Chunkey”
• Huge 47 acre arenas?
• Roll a disc-shaped stone; try to place the spear as
close to the stopped stone as possible.
• Gambling?
11. 2. Central & South America2. Central & South America
• OlmecOlmec –
Mesoamerica
• 1400 BCE- 400 BCE
• ““Rubber People”Rubber People”
• Norte ChicoNorte Chico–
Andes Mountains
• 3000 – 1800 BCE
12. AgricultureAgriculture
• Slash & Burn
• Beans, chilis,
avocados, gourds,
tomatoes
•Maize!!Maize!!
• No evidence of
irrigation.
• No large animalsNo large animals
to domesticateto domesticate
• Dogs, Turkey,
Guinea Pigs…
13. Regional TradeRegional Trade
• Artifacts of jade, obsidian, andjade, obsidian, and
magnetitemagnetite came from distant
locations – for animal skins?
LUXURIES!LUXURIES!
• Suggests access to extensive
trading networktrading network: 150 – 250
miles range.
14. • No evidence of complete writing system… but
they started…
• CalendarCalendar
later societies copied & perfected
15. ShamanismShamanism
– Shaman was able to assume
powers of certain animals
•Nahuales – spirit guides
– Combining spirituality & intellect
of man, w/ ferocity & strength of
jaguar
•Birth of mankind/gods fromBirth of mankind/gods from
undergroundunderground
•10+ distinct gods,
including corn god
•Corn God
•Tree of Life
21. 3.3. Norte Chico/ Caral-SupeNorte Chico/ Caral-Supe
• 3000 – 1800 BCE
– Same time as Egypt and Sumer
were developing
– 2000 years before Olmec- why?
• Central Coast of PeruCentral Coast of Peru
• Ruth Shady, 1997, Peruvian
Archaeologist
22.
23. Norte ChicoNorte Chico
• Cities- Small
• Some economic specialization
Agriculture: CottonAgriculture: Cotton
• Squash, beans, guava grown by inland people in irrigated
river valleys
Trade:Trade:
• Sardines & Anchovies from coastal
people for Fishing Nets made of cotton
• No pottery, no writing…
QuipuQuipu
• Few sculptures, carvings…Flutes!
28. Change… or Continuity?Change… or Continuity?
• Writing
• Calendar from Olmec
• Monolithic Architecture
• Bloodletting
• The Ball Game
• Kingly lines tied to
Jaguar lore
Professional Mayan Scribe Class
29.
30.
31. Priestly ClassPriestly Class
• Rituals, ceremonies
• Math, Astronomy
• Calendar
– Ritual Year
– Solar Year
– Alignment =
Possible
Catastrophe
43. South AmericaSouth America
Chavin – 700 BCE
Tihuanaco – 1000 BCE;
500 CE
Moche / Mochica – 100 – 800 CE
Paracas & Nasca – 100-800 CE
Huari - 500-700 CE
44. 5. Chavin5. Chavin
1200 BCE : Began
900 – 200 BCE: Height900 – 200 BCE: Height
Mosna & Huachesna Rivers
Chavin de Huantar
Andean Highlands North of Lima
45. 7. Tihuanaco7. Tihuanaco
• 300-1000 CE flourish
• Large courts, palaces
• Huge blocks of stone
• Altiplano of Bolivia
along shores of
Lake Titicaca.
• Urban; Stratified
Social Hierarchy
• Militarism
• Forced to join Inca
Federation
Name: The Mounds were later named after the Cahokia tribe, an historic Illiniwek people living in the area when the first French explorers arrived in the 17th century. As this was centuries after Cahokia was abandoned by its original inhabitants, the Cahokia tribe was not necessarily descendants of the original Mississippian-era people. Most likely multiple ethnic groups settled Cahokia.
Variations of game throughout N. America: Cherokees, Choctaws, Chicasaws
Name was what Aztec called them – due to ball game, and ability to make rubber.
Coatzacoalcos River Basin
Rolling the cylinder printed symbols indicating allegiance
to a king, a striking difference from the Old World, where
the oldest known writing was used for keeping records by the first accountants.
Don’t know what they called themselves.
Olmec Weir Jaguars and Weir Jaguar Babies
Jade mask and figurines
Lintel 24 at Yaxchilan, depicting Lady Xoc drawing a barbed rope through her tongue. In front of her, her husband and the ruler of Yaxchilan, Shield Jaguar, is shown holding a torch.
Lady Xoc again – having a revelation from the feathered serpent god
King, Relatives, Priests, Scribes, Artisans, Merchants & Peasants, Slaves
Naturalistic pottery, including a lot of erotic pottery.