Early Societies in the Americans and Oceania - CHAPTER 6: TRADITIONS AND ENCOUNTERS 6TH EDITION - AP World History

ORIGINS OF MESOAMERICAN SOCIETIES

• Migration across Bering land bridge
  • Probably 13,000 BCE, perhaps earlier
• By sea from Asia
• Speculated during cool period of Earth, there was probably ice that connected Siberia/Northeastern Russia to Alaska
• By 9,500 BCE, reached the southernmost part of South America
• Hunter-gatherer societies
  • Evolve into agricultural societies

OLMECS (1,200-100 BCE)

• Known as "the rubber people"
• Ceremonial centers
  • Ruling class lived:
    • San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes
  • Go on specific dates to celebrate holidays
  • Trading/market
• Olmec heads
  • Height loft, weight = 20 tons
  • Transported by dragging, rolling on logs
    • Cut, smooth, 20 logs
  • 1,000 workers per head

AGRICULTURE/HERDING

• Staple: maize
  • Smaller, harder version of corn
• Herding: turkeys, barkless dogs
  • Both food
• No draft animals (ex. birds)
  • No development of wheeled vehicles
    • Transportation done by human motor power

OLMEC SOCIETY

• Probably authoritarian in nature
  • One leader with absolute authority, treated like a god
• Large class of conscripted laborers to construct ceremonial sites
  • Able to do other jobs, not slaves
  • Also tombs for rulers, temples, pyramids, drainage system 

MYSTERIOUS DECLINE OF THE OLMECS

• Ceremonial centers destroyed
• No evidence of war
  • No other society involved
• Revolution? or Civil war?

MAYA (300 BCE - 900 CE)

• Huge cities discovered in 19th century
• Terrace farming
  • Steps in hillside to allow flat O grade/tilt to the land so the water can sit
  • Maize
  • Cotton
    • Used for textiles
  • Cacao beans
    • Used for chocolate/currency
• Major ceremonial center At Tikal 

MAYA WARFARE

• Warfare for purposes of capturing enemy soldiers
• Ritual sacrifices for enemies
  • Enslavement
  • Small kingdoms engage in constant conflict until Chichen Hza begins to absorb captives
    • Had choice to either convert to religion or die
    • Some chose death being loyal warriors
    • Center of empire develops

MAYAN RITUAL CALENDAR

• Complex math
  • Invention of "0"
• Calendar of 365.242 days (17 seconds off) 
  • Solar calendar = 365 days, ritual calendar 260 days
  • Tan concurrently with each other
• Management of calendar lends authority to priesthood
  • timing of auspicious moments of agriculture 

MAYA LANGUAGE/RELIGION

• Ideographs/Syllable ABC
  • Most writings destroyed by Spanish conquerors
  • Deciphering work began in 1760s
• Popoluuh: Maya creation myth
  • Believed that there were two people: she who has borne children, he who has begotten sons that grow through the use of maize/water to make their body, with the maize forming the skin and flesh while the water is the blood
• Agricultural cycle maintained in exchange for honors/sacrifices
• Bloodletting rituals
  • Human sacrifices followed after removal of fingers, piercing to allow blood flow 

MAYA BALL GAME

• Ritual game
• Use their feet, similar to soccer
• High ranking captives, POW (Prisoners of War) as contestants
• Execution of losers immediately follows after match
• Bloodletting rituals for the gods
• Use hardened, heated rubber ball
  • Can lead to concussions

CITY OF TEOTIHUACAN

• Highlands of Mexico
• Lakes in area of high elevation
• Village of Teotihuacan, 500 BCE, expands to become massive city
  • Important ceremonial center
• Extensive trade network, influenced surrounding areas
• Begins to decline c. 650 CE, sacked in middle of 8th century, massive library destroyed
  • Made it difficult to understand what their values were/what they believed in
  • Books weren't there as it either did not exist or it burnt with the city

ANDEAN SOCIETY

• Migration into South America, ca. 1,200 BCE
• Climate improves ca. 8,000 BCE
  • Helps with agriculture
• Largely independent from Mesopotamia
• Highly individualized due to geography

CHAVIN CULT

• New religion in central Andes, 900-1,500 BCE
• Little known about particulars of the religion
  • Actual name unknown
• Intricate stone carvings --> focused on art
• May have arisen when maize became an important crop
• Andean society became increasingly complex

MOCHICA STATE

• Valley of the Moche River
• Dominated Northern Peru 300-700 CE
• Little known about them
  • Paintings survive
  • No writing
  • Evidence of labor specialization
• One of many states in region, none able to consolidate into empire

OCEANIA (1,500 BCE-700 CE)

• Prehistoric land bridges, lower seas permit migration
• Outrigger canoes for open sea travel 
  • Larger canoes that have a stabilizing arm on the sides
• Early hunter-gatherer societies in Australia
• Early agriculture in New Guinea 

LAPITA PEOPLE

• Found throughout Pacific Islands
• Agriculture, animal herding
• Political organization based on chiefdoms
• Trade over open ocean declines 500 BCE
  • Greater independence of settlements
    • Were lead by the chief of that local area/village