Americas, 500 BCE – 1200 CE
WHAP/Napp
“In contrast to Eurasia, in the Americas civilization was just emerging in the
classical period. The civilizations of the Toltecs and the Olmecs in central Mexico,
the beginnings of Maya civilization to the south (in an area called Meso-America,
comprising Mexico and Central America), and the various Andean civilizations,
such as those of the Chavín and Paracas cultures in Peru, began to organize labor
and leisure activities in novel forms. As elsewhere, civilization meant greater social
divisions, with a tiny elite on the top living off the production of the many peasants.
In all cases, the ability to evolve into civilizations rested on the cultivation of maize,
which required much intensive care but yielded much in calories. The society that
emerged in central Mexico was more hierarchical than those farther south. Sharp
differences among slaves, commoners, warriors, and priests were common, with the
priests occupying the highest places in society. In the Maya lands, the jungles
throughout the region made it possible for peasants to escape, and so Maya
civilization appears to have been somewhat less brutal than those father north.
Here, some elaborate irrigation networks meant hard work for the peasants but
sufficient surplus to make possible the building of elaborate ceremonial centers and
temples.
In the Andes, civilization was predicated on different patterns of work. The genius
of Andean civilization was seeing the subtropical mountains not as barriers but as
regions that provided the widest possible access to different agricultural goods. This
was possible because in the steep mountains the Andean peoples could grow
products of different climates over a short space, often within less than a day’s walk.
Thus villagers could live in the high valleys, at 9,000-foot altitudes, in a moderate
climate zone where they could cultivate potatoes. Just a bit lower, farther down the
valley, the climate was warm enough for growing maize, whereas on the lowest
hillsides at 4,000 feet, people could grow the coca plant, whose consumption was
used for alertness when doing tiring work. Relatives might live a day’s walk up the
mountain, on the high treeless puna above 11,000 feet, where only llamas and
alpacas grazed. For many Andean people, it was possible to maintain selfsufficiency on a household or family level, especially when combined with reciprocal
work obligations with relatives and neighbors. Agricultural work, when joined with
reciprocal labor, turned into a celebration, with the hosts providing ample food and
drink for those who helped them.” ~ Experiencing World History
1- Compare the rise of civilization in Eurasia with the rise of civilization in the
Americas.
__________________________________________________________________
2- What was the significance of maize in the Americas?
__________________________________________________________________
3- Why were the Maya somewhat less brutal toward peasants?
__________________________________________________________________
4- Describe agriculture in the Andes.
__________________________________________________________________
5- How did many Andean people maintain self-sufficiency?
__________________________________________________________________
Notes:
I. Civilizations of Mesoamerica
A. Atlantic and Pacific oceans ensured that cultures of Western Hemisphere
had long operated in a world apart from their Afro-Eurasian counterparts
B. And cultures were often isolated in Americas due to geographic barriers
C. Achievements but without large domesticated animals or iron-working
II. Mesoamerica
A. Stretching from central Mexico to northern Central America
B. Shared intensive agricultural technologyMaize, beans, chili peppers, etc.
C. Market exchanges, polytheism, belief in cosmic cycle of creation/destruction,
human sacrifice, ceremonial centers, calendar, hieroglyphic writing
D. During the first millennium BCE, Olmec civilization (a “mother civilization”
of Mesoamerica) engaged in trade thereby leading to the diffusion
1. Olmec  Stone heads
III. The Maya
A. Major classical civilization of Mesoamerica
B. Ceremonial centers constructed as early as 2000 BCE in present-day
Guatemala and the Yucatán region of Mexico
1. Classical phase of Maya civilization, between 250 and 900 CE
a) Mathematical system with concept of zeroPlace notations in math,
capable of complex calculationsCareful observation of night skies
b) Predicted eclipses of sun/moonelaborate calendars most elaborate
writing system in the AmericasTemples, pyramids, etc.
c) By 600 CE, drained swamps, terraced hillsides, flattened ridge tops,
and constructed an elaborate water management system
C. Highly fragmented political system of city-states, local lords, etc.
D. Engaged in frequent warfareextensive capture and sacrifice of prisoners
1. One Maya city, Tikal, contained around 50,000 people with another
50,000 or so in the surrounding countryside by 750 CE
a) But no Maya city-state succeeded in creating a unified Maya empire
b) More closely resembled the competing city-states of ancient Mesopotamia
or classical Greece than the imperial structures of Rome
2. Collapsed with completeness rare in world history
1. Drought in 840 CE led to drop in population
2. Cities were deserted
IV. Teotihuacán
A. At roughly the same time as the Maya flourished, the giant city of
Teotihuacán, to the north in the Valley of Mexico, thrived
B. Begun around 150 BCE and built to a plan
C. A population between 100,000 and 200,000Largest urban complex in
AmericasBut much is unknown about the city
D. Broad avenues, spacious plazas, marketplaces, temples, palaces, apartment
complexes, slums, waterways, reservoirs, drainage systems, and murals
E. Along the main north/south boulevard, now known as the Street of the Dead:
grand homes of elite, headquarters of state authorities, temples, pyramids
F. Off the main avenues, the streets are in a grid-like pattern
G. But the art of Teotihuacán, unlike that of the Maya, has revealed few images
of self-glorifying rulers or individuals
H. City did not have a tradition of written public inscriptions as the Maya did
but a number of glyphs or characters suggest a limited form of writing
I. The city cast a huge shadow over Mesoamerica, from 300 to 600 CE
V. Civilizations in the Andes
A. Around 900 BCE, located in the Andean highlands at a village called Chavín
de Huántar Shamans made use of the San Pedro cactus and its
hallucinogenic properties to penetrate the supernatural world
1. On trade routes to both the coastal region to the west and the Amazon
rain forest to the east became a pilgrimage site
B. Moche Peru’s northern coast, flourished between about 100 and 800 CE
1. Economy rooted in complex irrigation systemgoverned by warrior
priestshowever, fragile environmental foundations/drought, etc.
VI. Peoples of the Americas
A. Three GroupsCivilizations in Mesoamerica/AndesBut also gathering
and hunting peoplesAnd semi-sedentary peoples in the eastern woodlands
of U.S., Central America, Amazon basin, and Caribbean islands
B. In Chaco canyon in what is now northwestern New Mexico, between 860 and
1130 CE, five major pueblos emerged
C. Unlike the Chaco region in the southwest, the eastern woodlands of North
America and especially the Mississippi River valley hosted an independent
Agricultural Revolutionby 2000 BCE, domesticated local plant species but
few plants were not sufficient to support a fully settled life
 What geographic factors limited contact with the Americas and within the
Americas?
 You are the teacher. What facts must a student know about the Olmecs?
 You are the teacher. What facts must a student know about the Mayas?
 You are the teacher. What facts must a student know about Teotihuacán?
 You are the teacher. What facts must a student know about the Chavín?
 You are the teacher. What facts must a student know about the Moche?
Strayer Questions:
 With what Eurasian civilizations might the Maya be compared?

In what ways did Teotihuacán shape the history of Mesoamerica?

What kind of influence did Chavín exert in the Andes region?

What supports scholars' contention that Moche represented a regional
civilization in the Andes?
1. As for early agriculture in
4. The heartland of early Andean
Mesoamerica, it can be said that
society was
(A) The settlers developed food
(A) The region now occupied by
crops brought from Siberia.
the states of Peru and Bolivia.
(B) Horses and oxen played
(B) The region now occupied by
important roles in
the states of Mexico,
transportation and farming.
Honduras, and El Salvador.
(C) The settlers developed maize
(C) The islands of the Pacific
as their staple food around
Ocean.
5000 B.C.E.
(D) The region of the Amazon
(D) The settlers supplemented
basin.
their diet with meat from
(E) All of the above.
cattle.
(E) All of the above.
5. During the period of the Chavín
cult,
2. The Olmecs
(A) Large temple complexes were
(A) Established the first complex
built.
society in Mesoamerica.
(B) Carvings of wild animals
(B) Built ceremonial centers with
were created.
pyramids and temples.
(C) Weavers produced cotton
(C) Lived in an area where rubber
textiles.
trees flourished.
(D) Gold, silver, and copper
(D) Constructed elaborate
jewelry was made.
drainage systems.
(E) All of the above.
(E) All of the above.
6. The Olmec society produced
3. Which of the following would not
(A) Paintings that depicted the
have been seen at Teotihuacán?
daily lives of the ruling elite.
(A) The Pyramid of the Sun
(B) Books on astronomy.
(B) The Pyramid of the Moon
(C) Huge sculptures of human
(C) A large quantity of books
heads.
(D) Iron tools
(D) Colorful murals on walls of
(E) Orange Pottery
temples.
(E) All of the above.
Thesis: Compare the rise of civilizations in Eurasia and the Americas.