Early Mesoamerican
Civilizations
The Olmec and the Chavin
The Isolated Americas
Total and complete—all the ideas,
technology, agriculture, writing, etc. flying
around Eurasia was absent from here
 Environmental challenges: north-south
axis, lots of mountains, changing terrain
kept people separated and not alike
 Around 1000 BC the development of
some trade, some domestication of plants
led to urbanization and social
stratification

The Olmecs
A cultural force
—considered the
mother of Mexican culture
 Flourished between 1200-400 BC
 Coincides with the Greeks, the Zhou, the
Assyrians (western Asia), the Israelites in
the Promised Land (Canaan); after the
Hittites

The Olmecs
Famous for their 16
giant head sculptures
probably “portraits”
of important leaders
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Agriculture led to development of urban
areas—corn, beans, and squash, maybe
manioc
As leaders emerged, they organized irrigation
and public works projects
Large-scale religious and civic buildings
became the cultural draw
The Olmecs
Special buildings and large
artificial platforms were
sites of gatherings—people
would visit from surrounding
areas for these
 Cities laid out according to
astronomical patterns like stars
 Produced high quality crafts like jade figurines,
necklaces, etc. that distinguished their culture
 Ball game—rubber ball through a small stone
hole in the wall, went on for days, players
often died

The Olmecs
Rulers controlled
People with aweInspiring religious
Rituals; rulers were
Associated with the gods through sacrifices and
bloodletting
 Polytheistic, most gods dual natures (gender),
the jaguar was important symbol/god
 Political center at San Lorenzo, then moved to
La Venta

The Chavin
Located in Peru, in the
Andes Mountains
 The coast of Peru had a
dependable food supply (maize),
which lends itself to urbanization
 Coastal populations traded textiles, food,
ideas with those in the mountains and each
other; Chavin de Huantar (capital) located at
crossroads of trade
 Chavin is simply one group that dominated a
long time and seems to have inherited culture
from this area

The Chavin
Large labor projects
indicate developed elite &
maybe military control of
neighbors to help construct
buildings with very elaborate
drainage system beneath
them to resist floods
 Like Olmec, used religious rituals to attract
“followers”/gain influence—jaguar again a
major religious symbol
 Chavin de Huantar seems like a pilgrimage
site

The Chavin
Social Classes: class of
priests, main king and more
local leaders existed, highly
skilled artisans, must have
been a large lower (slave?)
class to build
 No evidence of destruction of society—
increased warfare did occur at certain
times, but when this group lost power is
unknown
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Compare the Contemporaries
Use of religion by elites to control some
aspect of society
 Role of lowest class of people
 Geographical advantages/disadvantages
 Do this for:
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Chavin
Olmec
Egypt
China
Mesopotamia