I.
Classic-Era Culture and Society in
Mesoamerica, 200 – 900
A. Teotihuacan
1. Located about 30 miles northeast of
modern day Mexico City, Teotihuacan was
one of Mesoamerica’s most important
classic-period civilizations.
2. The height of its power was between
450 to 600 C.E. and had a population of
about 125,000 to 200,000 people.
3. The classic period civilizations like
that of Teotihuacan were built on the
political foundations of the Olmecs.
4. The people of the Teotihuacan
recognized and worshiped many gods
and lesser spirits such as the Sun, Moon,
and a storm-god.
5. One such god was Quetzalcoatl, the
feathered serpent.
6. The people of Teotihuacan did not
concentrate power in the hands of a
single ruler.
7. This is evident by the fact that there
are no representations of rulers within
their public art like other Mesoamerican
societies.
8. Some scholars suggest that the city
was ruled by alliances of elite families
suggesting an oligarchy.
B. The Maya
1. South of Teotihuacan, the Maya
developed an impressive civilization in
the region that today includes
Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and
southern Mexico.
2. The Maya were never unified
politically but instead struggled for
regional dominance like that of the early
Greeks.
3. Rulers of Mayan city-states served
both religious and political functions.
4. Based on surviving frescoes and
painted pottery, kings communicated
directly with the supernatural through
bloodletting rituals and hallucinogenic
drugs.
5. During warfare, elites from the
opposing side were captured and used
for human sacrifice.
6. Mayan society was patrilineal but
there is some evidence that some rulers
also used female lines to legitimate their
rule.
7. Only two women are known to have
ruled Maya kingdoms.
8. Less is known about the lower classes,
but scholars believe that women played a
central role in the household economy,
maintaining garden plots, weaving, and the
managing of family life.
The Postclassic Period in Mesoamerica,
900 – 1500
A. The Toltecs
1. Toltecs borrowed from the cultural
legacy of Teotihuacan in what scholars
refer to as the post-classical period of
Mesoamerica.
2. They created the first conquest state
based largely on military power.
3. Tula was the capital of the Toltecs and
it dominated central Mexico.
II.
4. Two kings ruled the Toltec state
together and evidence suggests this was
the reason for its decline.
5. According to tradition, a ruler
named Topiltzin and a priest of
Quetzalcoatl were exiled east beyond the
sea.
6. After this, the Toltec state began to
decline around 1156 C.E.
B. The Aztecs
1. After the collapse of Tula northern
peoples migrated into central Mexico.
2. One such group was the Mexica,
who are commonly known as the Aztecs.
3. They built their twin capitals of
Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco near the
shore of Lake Texcoco.
4. Rulers were selected among male
members of the ruling lineage.
5. War was essential in establishing
the legitimacy of the new ruler as well as
increasing the prestige of successful
warriors.
6. Incessant warfare allowed for the
warrior elites to seize land and peasants
as spoils of war.
7. Like other Mesoamerican cultures,
the Aztecs were polytheistic.
8. The major contribution of the
Aztecs to Mesoamerica was the cult of
Huitzilopochtli, or southern
hummingbird.
9. The Aztecs believed that
Huitzilopochtli required a diet of human
hearts to sustain him in his daily struggle
to bring the Sun’s warmth to the world.
Northern Peoples
A. Southwestern Desert Cultures
1. It is estimated that around 300
B.C.E. agriculture based on irrigation
arrived in present-day Arizona.
2. The most vivid example of these
desert peoples are the Anasazi –
Navajo for “ancient ones” that occupied
the four corners of Arizona, New
Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.
III.
3. The Anasazi had developed an
economy based on maize, beans, and
squash.
4. Cultural life centered in underground
dwellings called kivas, which were used for
pottery and weaving.
5. Men hunted, traded, and maintained
irrigation works; women shared in
agricultural tasks, were specialists in crafts,
and were responsible for food preparation
and childcare.
B. Mound Builders: The Adena, Hopewell,
and Mississippian Cultures
1. Moving east along modern day USA,
one of the first and oldest civilizations to
emerge are the Adena people of the Ohio
River Valley. 1000 B.C.E. – 200 B.C.E.
2. The Adena were known for their
elaborate mounds which were sometimes
used as burial sites.
3. These grave sites indicate a
hierarchical society with elites at the tope
who had access to mica and copper.
4. Around 100 C.E. the Adena culture
blended into a successor culture now called
the Hopewell.
5. They were dependent on hunting and
gathering with a limited use of agriculture
inherited from the Adena.
6. Hopewell is the earliest example of a
North American chiefdom – territory that
had a population of as much as 10,000 and
was ruled by a chief, a hereditary leader
with both religious and secular
responsibilities.
7. The Mississippian cultures were the
direct results of increases in agricultural
production, the adoption of the bow and
arrow, and the expansion of trade
networks. (700 – 1500 C.E.)
8. This lead to the building of cities
and a more complex social stratification.
9. The greatest of the these urban
centers was Cahokia, located near the
modern city of East St. Louis.
Andean Civilization 200 – 1500 C.E.
A. Cultural Response to Environmental
Challenge
1. Human labor was the essential
element that allowed Amerindian peoples
of eastern South America to overcome
many challenges.
2. Their system of record keeping was
called khipus – system of knotting
colored cords to keep information.
3. The basis of Andean life centered on
undertaking tasks collectively.
IV.
4. This collective nature of the Andean
people can be demonstrated with the
basis of Andean life, the ayllu – or clan.
5. Members of the same ayllu held
land communally and thought of each
other as brothers and sisters.
6. By 1000 B.C.E., a system called
mit’a arose which required members of
the ayllu to provide labor for specific
tasks.