Post midterm ARTHI terms

Mesoamerica

mexico and central america

Resources

• basalt for olmec heads made from tuxla mountians

Maize agriculture

maya did spread to the andes

Ballgame

ceremonial game played in different ways by elites throughout mesoamerica, possibly to solve disputes, make big decisions

Calendar systems

365 day calendar and 260 day calendar system

vigesimal counting (10 not 20)

pantheon of deities

all mesoamerican cultures had deities

la venta

olmec archaeological site

massive offering 4

an olmec cavity, lots of labor involved, maybe meant to be viewed by deities

offering 4

greenstone and serpentine with figures and elongated celt pillars, depicts a gathering, elongated heads, found and reburied

olmec heads

large basalt sculptures known for their large lips, smooth form, smashed noses and almond eyes (characteristic of olmec), which were moved over 600km, depicted will ball caps

chalchihuitl

the name for jade in Nahua (aztec), which was precious and powerful due to color and rarity (montagua valley)

nahuatl

the language of the mexica/aztec

votive

celts

representations of corn and ideas of fertility, made of greenstone

el principe

stone, big lips, individual, ball cap

kunz axe

blue green jadeite votive object, representation of a deity which is impersonating jaguar, could be a crying baby,

portable objects

small and non monumental objects which were important adornments for legitimizing rule (ie pectorals) which were carved, connected rulers to gods

arroyo pesquero

olmec estuary environment with lots of corn effigies, celts

las limas figurine

shows that humans care for deities in olmec culture, four directions carved into knees and shoulders

oxtotitlan

chalcatzingo

carved relief depicting an elite leader on a throne, surrounded by clouds, representing the animate earth and the power of caves

petroglyph

incised pictures on rock

monument 9

chalcatzingo monument: a huge doorway like sculpture reterned to mexico, 1.8m tall, 1.5m wide, with feline eyes and a cruciform mouth

lidar

remote sensing laser technology to generate 3D map

popul vuh

maya origin stories gods from caves created people from mud, wood, and finally maize that were able to care for deities

san bartolo murals

above eye level in a building, made of stucco, depict 4 maya babies emerging from a gourd, representing four directions + ball cap, depicts the maize god in red to show importance, even cinnabar maybe, first depiction of tamales, clouds depict breath and speech, serpent along bottom, footprints represent travel, holding bundles of goods

corbel vault

arched doorways indicating passage of time, connect to sacbes which were maya roads through the jungle

tikal

ceremonial center of ancient maya, including temple 1 which is the largest, jaguar related, and tomb for a king, stories read of real historical figures, tikal lasted 80 years

maize god

one of the most important deities to maya

topoxte

dead and rotting body made of shell and greenstone, depict death in a grandiose way maya

hun’unal

side profile maya headdress ornament of fish deity

yaxchilan

place of lintels with lady xoc and shield jaguar

lady Xoc

wife of shield jaguar, depicted

Shield Jaguar

ruler of yaxchilan

Structure 23

yaxchilan lintels located in a building close to a ball court, with 3 doorways, depict bloodletting from lady xoc, lady xoc reviving shield jaguar, and shield jaguar receiving helmet for legitimizing rule

Structure 20

shield jaguar lintels, no laxy xoc

Piedras Negras

Esmeraldas

Caracol

allied with calakmul to defeat tikal

Dos Pilas

had a leader from tikal, then was overtaken by calakmul

Calakmul

northern rivals with tikal, enventually overtaking

Chik Nahb Complex Murals

at calakmul, depict a rare market scene, show a fluorishing economy, humanoid and realistic depictions

Maya blue

thought to symbolize water, fertility, highly sought after for jade and greenstone, quetzal feathers,

teotihuacan

dont know their rulers and systems, language, but seems related to aztec word, place where gods were created. was dense, grid like, and had many sectors, about 200,000 people, and huge labor efforts for buildings indicating a strong leadership system

urbanism

teotihuacan was the first urbanized center, place of pilgrimage, consisted of apartment complexes, barrios, many ethnic groups, densely packed, grid structure, complex builidng efforts

apartment complexes

1 story living structures in teotihuacan

street of the dead

monumental sector of teotihuacan, in which temple of moon, sun, and feathered serpent were located

pyramid of the moon

temple on top, many construction phases, built over hundreds of years, 4 foreigners buried in regalia, animal sacrifices

pyramid of the sun

5 levels, constructed early, natural cave underneath connecting to underworld, built to honor rulers? axis lines up with sun shadows

temple of the feathered serpent

tablud tablero style, human sacrifices, depictions of feathered serpent on exterior, man-made cave underneath sun hits at a certain angle it looks like snakes are climbing the stairs, snakes

tlaloc

teotihuacano war/storm god

plaza of the columns

spearthrower owl

ruler of teotihuacan

sihyaj kahk

yax nuun ayin

someone from tikal who became the ruler of teotihuacan, depicted with goggles similar to tlaloc

spearthrower owls son

yax nuun ayin

siyaj chan kawil

son of yax nuun ayin, who evoked maya rulers

stela 31

depicted teotihuacano rulers in lots of regalia

stela 32

depicted yax nuun ayin wearing goggles similar to tlaloc, along with regalia

copan

prominent maya city in honduras, all 16 rulers carved around altar

tablud tablero

style of terraced (staired) pyramids

rosalia

quezallapanecoyotl

kopilli quetzali

montezuma’s headress created from many quetzal feathers, movement to repatriate to mexico

tenochtitlan

capital of aztec on lake texcoco, where the eagle was sitting on a cactus, templo mayor was in the middle brought prisoners for sacrifice

pictographs

triple alliance

aztec alliance between tenochtitlan, texcoco, and tlacopan

chinampas

farming in lakebeds (aztec)

mexica

aztec empire which spoke nahuatl

nahua

ethnic group of aztec empire

huitzilopochti

establishing patron of mexica empire, red god of war, snake, recorded on codex mendoza, nomads departed chico motex, looking for eagle-cactus-snake combo to establish empire, found it at tenochtitlan

coatlicue

coyolxauhqui

sister of huitzlopochli, bell-cheeked and earrings mythical figure that may be a sacrifice victim because she tried killing her mother

templo mayor

depicts eagle-cactus combo, located in tenochtitlan axis mundi, twin temples on the top, reconstructed 7 times, sun rises in between rain and fire temples, ritual activities

florentine codex

friar-created encyclopedia of general nahuatl and spanish encyclopedia, discrepancies between language tellings

sandi rodriguez

uses mate paper to relate tragic events to colonial issues

uto-aztecan language family

hohokam

southwestern culture known for agriculture and irrigation, oval ball courts

ancestral puebloan

sophisticated stone buildings, no unified political systems, ceremonia kivas of sandstone and wood

mogollon

ballcourt

i shaped in mesoamerica, oval shaped in the southwest

kiva

underground ceremonial sites of pueblo people, symmetry connects to chacoan order, 2 stories, in part residential, burials in gound, storage, hospitality, administration

cacao

grew in tropical climates, imported to southwest for fermented drink

macaw

scarlet feathers

feathers

used in mexica headdress, valued for

paquime, casas grandes, chihuahua, mexico

northern mexico puebloan largest settlement

chumash

native people of Santa barbara area

shell beads

chumash currency, required specific skills and tools, adornments

tomols

chumash canoes made of redwood, steamed, tied, inlaid with cosmological shell inserts, transport of people, trade routes, and fishing, status symbols

basketry

watertight reed twine/coil baskets