ANTH 140- Exam 2

Guila Naquitz Cave, Oaxaca

• Means PLACE OF THE WHITE CLIFFS

• excavated by K Flannery in 1966

• stone tools came from 30 miles away

• Domesticated Squash

Tehuacán

• Coxcatlán & Purrón Caves 

  • Excaved by S. MacNeish in 1960s 

  • Maize domesticated 2700-2500 B. C. •

    •  AMS dates 

    •  Younger than previously thought 

• Decreasing mobility correlates with importance of maize in the diet

Richard MacNeish excavated…

Excavated the Tehuacán Valley in the 1960s 

Kent Flannery excavated…

Excavated the Guilá Naquitz in 1966 

Mesoamerican triad (Three sisters)

• beans

• corn

• squash

Mesoamerica

Distinct cultural and geographic region that thrived in the pre-Columbian era, extending from central Mexico much of central America

Teosinte

The ancestor of corn

• Teosinte doesn’t have a cob 

• Found in west mexico in highland weedy grass

Maize

• Called Zea mays in other places 

• Maize looks different in different areas because of what needs to be done to grow maize. 

• Genetic mutation

  • Doubling in chromosomes number 

  • Change of plant morphology 

• Massive husked ear and single primary tassel required human dispersal 

Oaxaca

Home of the Zapotec civilization, one of the earliest complex societies in Mesoamerica, and the later Mixtec culture

Zohapilco

a significantly early archeological site located in the Basin of Mexico, known for providing crucial evidence of early sedentism, household life, and stylized clay figurines

Basin of Mexico

famous for its dense sequence of human occupation, intense agricultural use of lake shorelines, and the evolution of complex, stratified states

Push Theories of Domestication

Push theories-

theories argue that people didn’t adopt farming because it was better right away—but because they had to, due to stress like climate change, population pressure, or limited resources.

Oasis hypothesis

• Climate change forced humans, animals, and plants into close contact → domestication followed.

Edge Hypothesis

• Early humans lived in fertile “edge zones” (like hills near river valleys)

• These areas had:

  • Wild wheat and barley

  • Animals like goats and sheep

• People already knew how to use these resources

Pull Theories of Domestication

Pull Theories-

• “Pull” theories argue that people adopted agriculture because it was attractive or beneficial, not because they were forced by crisis.

Conflict Models

• Domestication arose from social competition and inequality

Feasting Model

• Domestication developed to support large social feasts and displays of wealth.

• building alliances and status are important here

Consequences of Domestication

• The population increases

  • major increase in fertility

Jonathan Fried

Morton Fried's theory of evolution of societies throughout the social stratification (wealth, power and prestige)
1. Egalitarian societies = bands/tribes (no prestige, wealth or power differences)
2. Ranked societies = chiefdoms (prestige differences, not power or wealth)
3. Stratified societies = states/empires (wealth, power, and prestige differences)***
Achieves and inherited status

Wealth, power, prestige is found in what community

Morton Fried's theory of evolution of societies throughout the social stratification (wealth, power and prestige)

Egalitarian societies

bands/tribes (no prestige, wealth or power differences)

Ranked Societies

chiefdoms (prestige differences, not power or wealth)

Stratified societies

states/empires (wealth, power, and prestige differences)

Achieved statues

You achieve it

Escribed status 

Born with that status

Reciprocity vs. Redistribution

• Distribution , styles and raw materials indicate this is mainly exchange by "reciprocity"

• Face to face exchange between trading partners

• Chiefdoms are often characterized by "redistribution"

• Flow of goods to a central authority of institution and then away

Staple vs. Wealth Finance

• States often have "market exchange"

• Supply and demand

Cooperate vs. individual structure

Cooperate Structure

• Exchange was based on shared social and ritual networks, not controlled by powerful individuals.

Individual Structure

• Exchange was organized by ambitious individuals or elites seeking status and influence.

Exchange Network

• Distribution, styles and raw materials indicate this is mainly exchange by "reciprocity"

• Face to face exchange between trading partners

• Chiefdoms are often characterized by "redistribution"

• Flow of goods to a central authority of institution and then away

Platform Pipe

• A ceremonial smoking pipe carved from stone, often highly decorated.

• Found mostly in elite burials or ceremonial contexts

• Symbolic or spiritual meaning

Pan Pipe

• A musical instrument made of multiple hollow tubes of different lengths tied together.

• Used in music and ceremonies

• Likely part of:

  • Ritual performances

  • Gatherings or feasts

  • Religious events

Charnel House

A charnel house is a structure where the dead were temporarily placed before final burial.

How it worked:

1. Bodies were placed in the charnel house after death

2. They were allowed to decompose naturally (sometimes defleshed)

3. Remains were later:

   • Collected

   • Selected or arranged

   • Buried in mounds

Effigy Mounds

Effigy mounds are earthworks shaped like animals or symbols when viewed from above.

Common shapes:

• Birds

• Bears

• Deer

• Other symbolic figures

Mississippian Cahokia

Cahokia was the largest and most influential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture, located in the "American Bottom" floodplain of the Mississippi River,

Monk Mound

• Cahokia site, east saint louis illinois 

• Largest pyramid north of mexico 

• Built in 14 stages

Ritual and religious iconography provide the best evidence of inequality and hierarchy in the Mississippian society 

• Moundville alabama 

  • Extensive study of cover 3,000 burials 

  • High status infants 

  • Lowest status burials contained no offerings

Mound 72

• 6 burial episodes including 261 individual and several ritual caches 

• Of 261, 118 are retainer sacrifices 

• Central burial an adult male on a platform of 20,000 marine shell beads

Paramount Chiefdom

a complex, high-level political organization where a supreme ruler (paramount chief) controls multiple, often smaller, subordinate chiefdoms

platform mounds

flat-topped, earthen, or shell structures built by indigenous cultures in the Americas

Southern Cult