Early Societies in Americas and Oceania

Early Societies in Americas and Oceania Bentley Ch. 6

Agriculture in the Americas • 8000 – 7000 BCE, later than in other parts of the world but independently, peoples of middle America began to experiment with the cultivation of certain items • Squashes • Manioc • Beans • Chili peppers • Avocados • Gourds • Maize by 4000 BCE

Olmecs • Oldest known civilization in the Americas • Comparable to river valley civilizations in other parts of the world • Influenced all complex societies in Mesoamerican until arrival of Europeans

Olmec Society and Economy • Authoritarian in nature • Common subjects labored regularly for Olmec elite. • Traded with other regions in Mesoamerica • Constructed drainage systems to divert waters and prevent flooding.

Olmec accomplishments • Astronomical observations • Calendar • System of writing • Giant stone heads – movement without wheels. Artistic / monumental work

The Maya: Classical Americas • The Maya organized themselves politically into small city-kingdoms • Tikal became the most important political center between 600 and 800 CE, with 40,000 people. • Included temples, pyramids, palaces, and public buildings. • Mayan kingdoms fought constantly with one another – purpose was to capture instead of kill

ChichénItzá: Political Unification • In the 800s CE, the state of ChichénItzá in the northern Yucatan established a larger political framework for the Mayas. • Absorbed rather than enslaved captives. • Became a loose empire that brought political stability between the 800 – 1000 CE. • However, most Maya populations had began to desert their cities by 800 CE.

ChichénItzá

Mayan Society and Religion • Kings and ruling families at the top, followed by a large class of priests, a hereditary nobility that owned most of the land, merchants who came from ruling classes, a middle class of architects and artisans, and a large class of peasants and slaves. • Mayan priests and astronomers invented number 0 and calculated the solar year to within 17 seconds of modern calculations.

Mayan Religion and Writing • Most flexible and sophisticated of all early American writing systems, included both ideographic elements and symbols for syllables. • Wrote works of history, poetry, and myth. • Religious beliefs included importance of cycles and shedding of human blood.

Teotihuacan • Located in Central Mexico (31 miles north of Mexico City) • Agricultural village by 500 BCE • Between 400 and 600 CE, contained almost 200,000 inhabitants. • Ruled as a theocracy of sorts; priests in charge. • Two most prominent monuments were pyramids of the sun and moon; Pyramid of the Sun is the large single structure in MesoAmerica

Pyramid of the Sun

Society in Teotihuacan • Workshops and stores throughout; extensive trade and exchange networks • Known for ability to produce fine manufactured goods • Expanded upon Olmec writing • Recognized earth god, rain god, and performed human sacrifices • Declined after 650 CE

South American societies • Developed independently of Central American societies • Chavín Cult – not a cult in the modern sense of the word, but a centralizing religion • Popular from 900 BCE to 300 BCE • Large temple complexes and elaborate works of art • Andean society became more elaborate and complex in this time period.

Mochica • Classical time frame • Emerged in Peru during the period 300 to 700 CE • Specialization of labor • Only one of several large states in the region; none gained dominance due to geographic isolation • No evidence of writing • Wheel not used anywhere in the Americas  no draft animals • Organized from Andes Mountains to coast – trade along small strips / valleys of land.

Oceania • Austronesian peoples spread throughout Oceania • Developed agriculture in certain areas such as New Guinea • Others remained hunter-gatherers, such as the Aborigine of Australia • Traveled over vast expanses of open ocean in small boats and canoes. • Became important in trade in the region • Range was from Hawaii to Madagascar

Early Societies in Americas and Oceania