SS Chapeter 9
Terms
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- mesoamerica
- area that stretches south from central mexico to the northern reaches of modren-day honduras
- Olmec
- mesoamericas first known civilzation builders
- where did the olmec start their socierty?
-
southern mexico, on the gulf coast
in modern day mexican states of veracruz and tabasco - when?
- 1200bc
- what is olmec often called?
- mesoamericas "mother culture"
- why?
- bc they influenced neighboring groups, as well as the later civilizations of the region
- when did the olmecs flourish from?
- 1200 bc-400 bc
- climate of gulf coast
-
hot and humid
covered with swamps and jungle
a lot of rain that caused severe flooding - advantages to the region
-
deposits of salt, tar, and clay
stone from hills for tools
rivers for transportation
fertile land for farming - oldest Olmec site
- San Lorenzo 1150 bc
- how was san lorenzo organized?
- home to small ruling class of piests and nobles that may have commanded large group of peasant farmers living in surrounding areas
- La Venta
- significant olmec site where mounds of earth and clay were found, called the Great Pyramid
- what might the great pyramid have been?
- the center of the olmec relgion
- what spirit did most olmec worship?
- the jauguar spirit, half-man, half jaguar
- olmec trade
- were a prosperous people and had a large trading network throughout mesoamerica
- how far did they trade?
-
mexico city north
honduras south - why do scholars believe olmec collapsed?
-
1. outside invaders caused the destruction
2. olmec may have destroyed their own monuments upon the death of their rulers - did the olmec have wirrten records?
- no
- zapotec
- another people who dveloped n advanced society
- where did they live?
- in what is now the mexican state of Oaxaca
- oaxaca valley
- has fertile soil, mild climate, and enough rainfall to support agriculture
- what is the rest of oaxaca's climate like
- hot and dry
- san jose mogote
- the main power in the zapotec region
- what are 2 accomplishments of the zapotec?
-
1. hieroglyphics writing
2. calendar system - Monte Alban
- the first real urban center built by the zapotecs on tip of a mountain
- when did the zapotec begin to decline?
- some time after ad 600
- when did they begin?
- by the time the olmec collapsed
- why do scholars think the zapotec declined?
- they may have suffered a loss of trade or other economic difficulties
- olmec leaves mark
-
influenced maya
-pattern of urban design
-notions of planned ceremonial cneters, ritual ball games, and elite ruling class
-carved out stone symbols that influenced later glyph writing - zapotec contributions
-
-hieroglyphics
-calendar system based on the sun
-americas first city builders - where did south americas first civilizations emerge>
- in the northern andes region, in what is now peru
- why was peeru a difficult place to launch a civilization?
-
andes are steep and rocky w/ poor soil
hot and dry during the day, freezing at night - where did the first settlements occur?
- in rivers valleys where rivers cross the desert on their path from the mountains to the sea
- what were the first inhabitants along the pacific coast like?
- they were hunter-gatheres who relied on seafood and small fame for their survival
- when did they start to farm?
- around 3000 bc
- Chavin
- first influential civilization in south america
- where was it ligcated?
- in the northern highlands of peru, in the mountains
- when did it florush from?
- around 900 bc to 200 bc
- why do archaeologists conclude that the chavin were primarily a religious civilization?
- they found no evidence of poolitical or economic organization within the culture
- how did the chavin act as a "mother culture"
- it may have established certain patterns that helped unify andean culture and lay the foundation for later civilations in peru
- nazca
- culture that flourished along the southern coast of peru from around 200 bc to ad 600
- since the area was extremely dry what did the nazca do?
- they devleoped extensive irrigation systems
- what are they known for?
- their beautiful textiles and pottery that feature images of animals and mythological beings
- nazca lines
-
made huge drawings by scpraing away stones to reveal lighter soil underneath
depicted animals and plants
-are so big they can only be seen from the air - why do scientists bleieve the nazaca made nazca lines
- for their gods
- where was moche culture
- northern coast of peru
- when did it last from?
- ad 100 to ad 700
- how did they take advantage of the rivers that flowed from the andes mountains?
- they built irrigation systems to water their crops
- what did their tombs uncover?
- enormous wealth
- what did their pottery show and why is it helpful?
- scenes from overday life that provide detail of their life since they didnt have a written language
- what questions remain about the moche?
- relgious beliefs, why moche fell
- beringia
-
land bridge from asia to the americas
how experts believe the first ppl came to the americas - when did the first americans come?
- toward the end of the last ice age
- when did the last ice age last from
- 1.6 million to 10,000 bc
- ice age
- period where huge sheets of moving ice, called glaciers, spread southward from the artcitc circle. coered large protions of north america. lowered sea levels and created beringia
- the very first americans
- herds of wild animals came across the land bridge and siberian hunters follow
- range of years the first americans arrived
- 40,000 BC TO 12,000 BC
- Clovis, new mexico
- where the earliest evidence of humankind in the americas is found, dating back to 9500 bc
- monte verde chile
- evidence of human life dating back to 10,500 bc
- how else could ppl have got to america besides the land bridge?
- paddled from asia to the pacific coast in small boats
- what kind of people were the earliest americans?
- hunters
- what was their most challenging and rewarding prey?
- the mastodon
- why do they think the earliest americans were hunters
- they found chiseled spearheads and charred bones at ancient sites
- what did the earliest americans find it necessary to do bc they were hhunters?
- they moved regularly in search of food. when they did settle in one place for a short time, they lived in caves or temporary shelters
- what happened at the end of the ice age around 12,000 to 10,000 years ago?
- the great glaciers melted and rose the sea levels. the land gridge disappeared under the berling straight
- when did people inm exico begin to grow edible plants?
- 5000 bc
- maize
- corn
- when did early farmers start growing maize?
- 3400 bc
- what did maize soon become?
- the most important crop
- Tehuacan Valley
-
south of present-day mexico
where people settled in permanent villages - chinampas
- floating gardens that were very productive and yielded up to three harvests a year
- what did the cultivation of corn and other crops do?
-
-provided a more reliable and expanding food supply
-encouraged population growth and the establishment of large, settled communities
-farming become more effiecent and ppl turned their attention to nonagricultural puersuits
-difference in social classes emerged - they worshipped the jaguar spirit
- olmec
- they are considered a "mother culture"
- olmec
- 2 ancient ppl of mesoamerica
- olmec and zapotec
- they developed a means of moving massive sculptures
- olmec
- they dominated oaxaca for more than a thousand years
- zapotec
- they are well-known for sculpting monumental stone heads
- olmec
- the remains of their communities have been discovered at san lorenzo and la centa
- olmec
- which society's influence is demonstrated to us primarily through the spread of its art styles and religious images?
- chavin
- which society sppears to have been extraordinarily wealthy and enjoyed a widely varied diet?
- moche
- which society is believed, based on images found on its artworks, to have been headhunters?
- nazca
- which sciety is considered the first influential society in south america?
- chavin