Mesoamerica - the movement toward complexity

The Olmec

• Occupied lowlands of the gulf of Mexico coast about 3200 ya

• First in Mesoamerica to produce monumental arch

Olmec regal-ritual centres

• La venta (mexico) 1400 to 600 BC

• San Lorenzo (mexico) 1400 to 900 BC

Olmec regal-ritual centres importance

• home to the religious and political elite

• demonstrate the movement towards complexity

• evidence that olmec society was hierarchical

Olmec heads

may represent olmec rulers, human heads carved into large blocks of stone

The Maya

• centered in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and eastern mexico

• Flourished during the Classic period (AD 250 to 1000)

Maya urban centres

• Classic period maya sites including Tikal and Palenque

at are the dates of Tikal

• 300 BC to AD 900

significance of tikal

• largest maya city in the classic period

• population of 60000 at its peak

• monumental architecture - pyramids topped with temples (temple of giant jaguar tomb)

What are the dates of Palenque

AD 431 - 800

significance of palenque

• Maya capital

• Monumental architecture

Monumental architecture in Palenque - The palace

• served as residence and administrative centre

Monumental architecture in Palenque - sarcophagus

• Depicts the ruler Pakal suspended between life and death

Maya hieroglyphic script

• recorded text on monuments and created books called codices

Maya Calendar

• System based on astrological observations

• 365 day cycle with 18 months with 20 days and a short month with 5 days

Teotihuacan

• A city-state in central mexico

• Flourished between 100 BC and AD 650

Teotihuacan architecture

• Temples, marketplaces, craft workshops, apartment complex’s

• Two sacred structures: Pyramid of the sun and pyramid of the moon

Teotihuacan city planning

• covers 20 km

• 5 km long street called avenue of dead divides the city

• san jaun river was altered to conform to the citys grid

The aztec

dominated central mexico from AD 1350 until the arrival of the spanish in 1519

Chinampas

Raised agricultural beds built in lakes and swamps, increased the amount of land available for growing crops

What was the aztec capital city

Tenochtitlan

Tenochtitlan population

• Population was 150000 2000000

• the largest city in the americas when the spanish arrived

The Templo Mayor

• A large temple complex built in the ceremonial centre of tenochtitlan

• twin pyramids with stairways leading to temples at the top

when was the templo mayor built

built in stages between AD 1325 and 1520