Chapter 8 Outline

Introduction

     Indigenous states arose in Mesoamerica relatively free of outside influence.

A state is a hierarchically organized political formation that administers large and complex societies.
The first states were established in the Near East during the fourth millennium B.C.
State-level societies existed in Mesoamerica prior to European contact.

The terrain was varied.
Climates ranged from snow-capped mountains to sweltering heat at sea level.
Enormous linguistic and ethnic differences existed.

Corn, beans, and squash were domesticated in the area between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago and were staple crops.
They shared a ceremonial realm that included a calendar, stepped pyramids, ritual sacrifice of blood, writing systems, and specific styles of dress.

San José Mogote
San Lorenzo and La Venta
El Mirador
Monte Albán
Teotihuacán
Tikal
Palenque
Tula
Chichén Itzá
Tenochtitlán

By the latter half of the third millennium B.C., inhabitants of both coastal and highland settlements were making pottery.
San José Mogote is located in the Valley of Oaxaca and has been inhabited almost continuously to the present.

Between 1500 and 1150 B.C., the site was the only settlement containing several public buildings.
Inhabitants depended on maize, avocados, and other domesticated products that were supplemented with wild plant and animal foods.
Clay figurines were found in association with rituals and burials.
Evidence of trade was present.

Monumental architecture emerged and certain craft activities were only found at this site.
Trade was conducted up to 150 miles away.

The valley's largest architectural complex prior to 500 B.C. rose 50 feet above the rest of San José Mogote.
Later, this large complex was replaced by elite residential compounds.
San José Mogote became a second-tier community following the establishment of the city of Monte Albán in 500 B.C.

Olmec occupation of La Venta is dated to between 900 and 400 B.C.
Clay and earthen pyramids were up to 100 feet high.

Pyramids were built of different colored clays.
Sculptured monuments, including four massive stone heads, were carved from basalt.
These structures reveal the craft skills and labor that may have been controlled by the Olmec rulers.

The area was first settled by 1500 B.C.
By 1250 B.C. ceramic designs related to the Olmec occupation were being used.
Peak occupation occurred between 1150 and 900 B.C.
Building activities ceased after 900 B.C.

Twenty lagunas, depressions made by humans, were lined with waterproof blocks and may have been used for ritual bathing.
Massive mound and plaza construction occurred.
Part of the site was located on top of an artificially enhanced natural rise that was 164 feet above the countryside.

The site is located in the dense Petén forest of Guatemala and is still almost inaccessible today.
The origins of the Maya can be traced locally and did not arise from the Olmec Horizon.
Most of the occupation dates between 300 B.C. and A.D. 250.

The site includes several hundred structures.
Some were as large as any built during the Maya Classic period.
The site is not arranged according to a grid plan.
Structures at El Mirador are distributed over a 6 square mile area, with the architectural core covering about 0.8 square miles.

Access to the West Group was controlled by a series of gates and walls, which may indicate the group as the sacred core of the site.
Three major features form the West Group, including the Central Acropolis and the huge Tigre and Monos Complexes.
The East Group is known largely for the Danta Complex, a massive series of sculpted terraces and platforms.

Around 500 B.C., the pattern of settlement in Oaxaca shifted with the establishment of the hilltop center of Monte Albán.
The site was located at some distance from good farmland.
The city grew rapidly in size and population, covering 0.4 square miles with 15,000 people.

More than 300 stone monuments were displayed in one of Monte Albán's first public buildings.
Figures on the stones probably represented captives or prisoners of war.
Monumental construction increased.
Greater similarities in pottery styles were found.

Influence outside of the valley diminished.
Late in this phase, the population of the city reached to 25,000-30,000 inhabitants.
Around A.D. 700, major construction at Monte Albán ceased, and the city began to decline.

The hilltop location was not typical of centers in other regions.
Political and religious functions surpassed the regional commercial role of the site.
The site was not laid out according to a grid plan, and few major roads were constructed.

The basin, located 7,000 feet above sea level, contained the largest expanse of flat, agricultural land in all of highland Mesoamerica.
Prior to 500 B.C., occupation was established at Cuicuilco.

The site grew rapidly and became one of the region's primary centers, along with Cuicuilco.
The site may have reached 3 square miles with a population of at least 20,000 by this time.

The urban center reached almost 7.5 square miles and the population expanded to 90,000 inhabitants.
Some have suggested that water canal construction and agricultural intensification would have been required for the settlement.
The use and production of obsidian may have contributed to the growth of Teotihuacán.

The city had more temples than any other Mesoamerican site.
Between the fifth and seventh centuries A.D., Teotihuacán reached its maximum size, covering 8.5 square miles with a population of 125,000 people.
The city was divided into quadrants by axis roads.
At the intersection was the Great Compound, thought by some to be the city's central marketplace.
Also at the intersection was the Cuidadela, a huge political and religious area.

The Pyramid of the Sun was over 200 feet tall and about 700 feet on each side.
The exteriors of these structures were believed to have been faced with white plaster and painted red to enhance their visibility.

Over 2,000 of these units were eventually built during the site's later history; these compounds were the principal type of residential structure.
The interiors of the compounds were divided into different apartments.
The average structure housed 60 people.
Occupants of the units varied in socioeconomic status.
Each compound contained at least one temple or shrine.
Certain neighborhoods in Teotihuacán were associated with foreign residents.

The site decreased by more than half during this period.
Militarism is a prominent theme in art between A.D. 650 and 750.
Ritualized burning of structures may have occurred.
After A.D. 750, Teotihuacán was in decline.

In the early 1900s, the Maya were believed to reside in vacant ceremonial centers, inhabited by small groups of priests.
The priests were thought to direct rural, peasant populations through periodic rituals at the centers.
Recent investigations have revealed thousands of mounds at Tikal that have been identified as residential structures.
Researchers now believe that the population during the Maya Classic period, between A.D. 250 and 900, was much larger than it is today.
Farmers used several strategies to intensify agricultural production.
Communities had craftsmen, groups of peasants, and ruler-priests.

For most of Tikal's history, the core of the city was the Great Plaza.
The Temple of the Great Jaguar is over 150 feet high and was located at the end of the plaza.
Another side of the plaza is framed by the North Acropolis, a huge platform that appears to have been a burial place for Tikal's leaders.
Tikal's greatest complex is the Central Acropolis.
The complex spreads over four acres and contains 42 multistory buildings.
Tikal's lords lived and conducted their activities in the Central Acropolis.
Temple III was a funerary monument to Chitam, the last well-known Tikal ruler.

The site was occupied in the Early Classic period, but remained small until the seventh century A.D.
New structures were built by a powerful lord, named Pacal, who came to power in A.D. 615.
Palenque grew in size and expanded its authority over the region.
Pacal's sons continued massive construction after he died.

The last recorded accession date of a ruler in Pacal's lineage was A.D. 764.
In the late eighth century A.D., Palenque may have been taken over or influenced by foreigners.
Palenque was one of the earliest Maya centers to collapse.

The Aztecs later attributed their origins to the Toltecs.
Based on Aztec accounts, the Toltecs were great warriors but also peaceloving.
According to the Aztecs, the capital city of the Toltecs was Tollan.

Tula is located 40 miles northwest of Mexico City.
After the fall of Teotihuacán, no single dominant community emerged in the central highlands of Mexico.
Tula rose rapidly in this politically fragmented landscape.

At its height, Tula was much smaller than Teotihuacán.
The maximum size was reached between A.D. 950 and 1150 with an area of about 5 to 6 square miles and a population of 40,000-60,000 people.
A series of temple pyramids was erected.
The most impressive remains at Tula are the Atlantean columns, which are 15 feet high.

Containers of travertine were made at the site.
Heavy obsidian use and/or production occurred at Tula.
The spinning of maguey fibers for cloth and other materials was an important economic activity.
Evidence of trade with outside communities was present.

The site was partially abandoned by this time.
Evidence of prehispanic looting is present.
After the collapse of Tula, the Basin of Mexico again saw political fragmentation.

Major centers in the central and southern Mayan lowlands were present during the ninth and tenth centuries A.D.
This coincided with development and population increase in the northern fringe of the Yucatán peninsula.

The architectural style at the site was the widespread Puuc style.
Wells are important in the area since little surface water is available.

During this time, the site grew to its maximum size, more than 2 square miles.
The largest ball court in Mesoamerica was built.
Some have suggested an actual Toltec presence at Chichén Itzá.

A huge 30-acre plaza was constructed.
The site was the primary location of monumental construction in northern Yucatán.
Construction slowed by the middle of the thirteenth century A.D.

The archaeological record of the Aztecs is somewhat impoverished, partly because the capital is under present-day Mexico City.
The Aztecs referred to themselves as Mexica.
The Mexica arrived in the Basin of Mexico in the middle of the thirteenth century A.D., perhaps in response to a drought in the north.
Another possibility is that the Mexica were attracted to the economic and military opportunities afforded by the rise of Tula.

Although the island lacked building materials and had other disadvantages, there were plenty of fish and fowl.
By draining standing water and raising the surface of the swamp, intensive agriculture was possible.
The island was also a prime location for controlling transportation in the basin.

During its first century of existence, Tenochtitlán was subordinate to other basic centers.
By 1428 A.D., Tenochtitlán joined with petty states, forming an alliance that put the Aztec empire in supreme political position in the region.
Tenochtitlán continued to consolidate power.
When the Spanish arrived, the site had a population of 150,000-200,000 people.
Cortés referred to Tenochtitlán as "another Venice."

Individual compounds permitted the public display of status and wealth.
In Aztec society, social position could be achieved through military or economic success.

Craftspeople were encouraged to settle in the city.
Large quantities of exotic resources and finished goods were obtained through tribute from defeated polities.
Other exotic goods were brought back by long-distance traders.

The central market at Tlatelolco, Tenochtitlán's sister city, was the largest market in the area.
This market alone served 20,000-25,000 people daily.
Many exchanges were made through bartering.

Due to high tribute demands by the Aztecs and heavy penalties for noncompliance, Cortés received support from Indian groups that despised the Aztecs.
Once victorious, the Spanish destroyed the ceremonial core of Tenochtitlán, replacing temples with churches, governmental buildings, and residences.
Mexico City quickly grew over the Aztec center.