Mesoamerican Archaeology 101 Slides

1. Mesoamerican Archaeology 101 Slides Special Thanks to Antonio de la Cova, Visiting Assistant Professor of Latino Studies at Indiana University.

2. Overview • Olmec 1300-400BC South Gulf Coast of Mexico • Teotihuacan 200BC-600AD Central Mexico • Classic Maya 300-900AD Southern Mexico, Guatemala • Aztecs 1200-1521AD Central Mexico

3. B. 4000BC • Domestication of Corn, Beans, Squash is underway • Domestication of Plants came before Villages • C. 1600-1400BC • Appearance of 1000s of Villages • waddle and daub construction, 4 by 6 m • villages of 10 to 12 houses with 50 to 60 persons. • Grinding stones, deer, rabbits. • Egalitarian graves.

4. D. Olmec • 1300-400BC • South Gulf Coast of Mexico • First in a series of complex cultures. • “Mother culture” of Mesoamerica

6. La Venta. • Island in mangrove swamp. • Giant sculpted heads of basalt. • Some hieroglyphs. • Tomb near central pyramid contained two juveniles with Jade figurines. • Buried mosaic of basalt blocks.

7. La Venta: Pyramid C1 looking NE

8. La Venta Altar

10. La Venta Stelae

11. San Lorenzo • Platform and ceremonial complex. • Pyramid: 33 m high, 130 X 75 m base. • Carved Stelae and altars with snake and jaguar motifs • giant sculpted heads. • 20 artificial ponds used for water storage or irrigation. • Hallucinogenic Marine toads.

12. San Lorenzo

13. Olmec Seated Figure

15. E. Teotihuacán 200BC-600AD Central Mexico • Located near natural Springs and caves. • Natural trade route from Gulf coast to central Highlands. • 50 A.D.: 60 to 80,000 people with pyramids of moon and sun started. • 500 A.D.: 100 to 200,000 people. • Pyramids completed: • Pyramid of the Sun, 200 times 200 m base, 60 m high. • Pyramid of the Moon: 150 x 150 m base, 45 m high. • City laid out in quadrants. • Residences of the elite, 50 x 50 m walled compound.

16. Panorama of Teotihuacan

17. Teotihuacan: Pyramid of the Sun

18. Hundreds of workshops: • 25% of population were artisans. • Stone, textile, ceramics, jewels, metals. • Burials of cracked human bones and depictions of human sacrifice and warfare. • Influenced rest of Mesoamerica. • Kaminaljuyu in Guatemala. • Trade goods in Oaxaca, and in Maya areas. • 600 A.D.: Site loses population • Evidence of invasion, burning, and class conflict.

19. Teotihuacan: Orange Ware Vase

20. Teotihuacan: Deformed Cranium

21. F. Classic Maya 300-900AD S. Mexico, Guatemala. • 300 to 600 A.D.: Maya influenced by Teotihuacan. • 600 to 900 A.D.: classic Maya. • Achievements: • Some cities of 50,000 or more, Tikal, Copan, Cobá. • Large, steep, beautiful pyramids. • Maya hieroglyphics writing: history of royalty

23. Copan: Inscribed Stelae

24. Tikal: A view from the Great Plaza

25. Ball Court (Lower Right) in the Great Plaza of Tikal

26. Copan: Temple with corbel arch

27. Cobá Ball Court

28. Cobá Pyramid

29. Cobá

30. Palanque Palace

31. Palenque’s Temple of the Inscriptions

32. Detail of a Bonampak Mural

33. Chichén Itzá: El Castillo/Templo de Kukulkán

34. Red Jaguar Throne Inside El Castillo

35. ChichénItzá: Chac Mool and Serpent Columns at Temple of 1000 Warriors

36. Mayan calendars and astronomy • Solar calendar: • 356 days: 18 months by 20 days each with five additional unlucky days • Agriculture and marketing • Lunar calendar: • 260 days: 13 months by 20 days each, • astrology, fate of individuals and the empire.

37. Chichén Itza: The Observatory

38. Causes of the rise of Mayan civilization: • Trade Networks: Trade in obsidian, salt, stone; Cobá • Hydraulic Theory: Irrigation works in a Campeche • Social-environmental circumscription: • limited water resources • forced to population to congregate around cenotes • administrators that controlled water became the elite • works for Chichén Itza

39. Chichén Itzá’s Cenote

40. Labna, Yucatan: Palace with Sacbe

41. Aztecs • 1200-1521AD • Central Mexico

42. An Artist’s Recreation of Tenochtitlán

43. Tenochtitlán: The Central Plaza with the Templo Mayor

44. Tenochtitlán: The Templo Mayor

45. Tenochtitlán’s Skull Rack