Amerikalilar
Ancient Americas (Pre Columbian Americas)
The Olmec
Overview:
-The Olmec lived along the Gulf Coast of Mexico in the modern-day Mexican
states of Tabasco and Veracruz.
-The Olmec society lasted from about 1600 BCE to around 350 BCE, when
environmental factors made their villages unlivable.
-The Olmec are probably best known for the statues they carved: 20 ton stone
heads, quarried and carved to commemorate their rulers.
-The name Olmec is an Aztec word meaning the rubber people; the Olmec made
and traded rubber throughout Mesoamerica.
Andean and Chavín
civilizations
Overview
-Several complex societies formed in the Andean region of South America, the
Caral—or Norte Chico—and the Chavín.
-Some scholars dispute whether the Caral culture represented a true
civilization.
-The Chavín civilization was named for and centered around a large temple at
Chavín de Huántar and was probably organized around a religious hierarchy.
The Olmec
Overview:
-The Olmec lived along the Gulf Coast of Mexico in the modern-day Mexican
states of Tabasco and Veracruz.
-The Olmec society lasted from about 1600 BCE to around 350 BCE, when
environmental factors made their villages unlivable.
-The Olmec are probably best known for the statues they carved: 20 ton stone
heads, quarried and carved to commemorate their rulers.
-The name Olmec is an Aztec word meaning the rubber people; the Olmec made
and traded rubber throughout Mesoamerica.
Who were the Olmec?
The Olmec were the first
major civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands on the
Gulf of Mexico in the present-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
The name Olmec is a Nahuatl—the Aztec language—word; it means the rubber
people. The Olmec might have been the first people to figure out how to
convert latex of the rubber tree into something that could be shaped, cured,
and hardened. Because the Olmec did not have much writing beyond a handful
of carved glyphs—symbols—that survived, we don't know what name the Olmec
people gave themselves.
Appearing around 1600 BCE, the Olmec were among the first Mesoamerican
complex societies, and their culture influenced many later civilizations,
like the Maya. The Olmec are known for the immense stone heads they carved
from a volcanic rock called basalt. Archaeological evidence also suggests
that they originated the Mesoamerican practices of the Mesoamerican
Ballgame—a popular game in the pre-Columbian Americas played with balls made
from solid rubber—and that they may have practiced ritual bloodletting.
Trade and village life
There are no written records of Olmec commerce, beliefs, or customs, but
from the archaeological evidence, it appears they were not economically
confined. In fact, Olmec artifacts have been found across Mesoamerica,
indicating that there were extensive interregional trade routes. The
presence of artifacts made from jade, a semiprecious green stone; obsidian,
a glassy, black volcanic rock; and other stones provides evidence for trade
with peoples outside the Gulf Coast of Mexico: the jade came from what is
today the Mexican state of Oaxaca and the country of Guatemala to the south;
the obsidian came from the Mexican highlands, to the north. The Olmec period
saw a significant increase in the length of trade routes, the variety of
goods, and the sources of traded items.
Trading helped the Olmec build their urban centers of San Lorenzo and La
Venta. These cities, however, were used predominantly for ceremonial
purposes and elite activity; most people lived in small villages. Individual
homes had a lean-to—sort of like a garage shed—and a storage pit for storing
root vegetables nearby. They also likely had gardens in which the Olmec
would grow medicinal herbs and small crops, like sunflowers.
Most agriculture took place outside of the villages in fields cleared using
slash-and-burn techniques. The Olmec likely grew crops such as maize, beans,
squash, manioc, sweet potatoes, and cotton.
Religion
There are no direct written accounts of Olmec beliefs, but their notable
artwork provide clues about their life and religion.
There were eight different androgynous—possessing male and female
characteristics—Olmec deities, each with its own distinct characteristics.
For example, the Bird Monster was depicted as a harpy eagle associated with
rulership. The Olmec Dragon was shown with flame eyebrows, a bulbous nose,
and bifurcated tongue. Deities often represented a natural element and
included the following:
-The Maize deity
-The Rain Spirit or Were-Jaguar
-The Fish or Shark Monster
Religious activities regarding these deities probably included the elite
rulers, shamans, and possibly a priest class making offerings at religious
sites in La Venta and San Lorenzo.
Art
The Olmec culture was defined and unified by a specific art style. Crafted
in a variety of materials—jade, clay, basalt, and greenstone, which is an
archaeologist's term for carved, green-colored minerals—much Olmec art is
naturalistic. Other art expresses fantastic
anthropomorphic—human-shaped—creatures, often highly stylized, using an
iconography reflective of a religious meaning. Common motifs include
downturned mouths and cleft heads, both of which are seen in representations
of were-jaguars and the rain deity.
Olmec colossal heads
The most striking art left behind by this culture are the Olmec
colossal—very big—heads. Seventeen monumental stone representations of human
heads sculpted from large basalt boulders have been unearthed in the region
to date. The heads date from at least before 900 BCE and are a distinctive
feature of the Olmec civilization. All portray mature men with fleshy
cheeks, flat noses, and slightly crossed eyes. However, none of the heads
are alike, and each boasts a unique headdress, which suggests they represent
specific individuals.
The Olmec brought these boulders from the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountains of
Veracruz. Given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their
production were transported over large distances, requiring a great deal of
human effort and resources, it is thought that the monuments represent
portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers, perhaps carved to commemorate
their deaths. The heads were arranged in either lines or groups at major
Olmec centers, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to
the sites remain uncertain.
The end of the Olmecs
The Olmec population declined sharply between 400 and 350 BCE, though it is
unclear why. Archaeologists speculate that the depopulation was caused by
environmental changes, specifically by the silting-up of rivers, which
choked off the water supply.
Another theory for the considerable population drop proposes relocation of
settlements due to increased volcanic activity as the cause rather than
extinction. Volcanic eruptions during the Early, Late, and Terminal
Formative periods would have blanketed the lands with ash and forced the
Olmec to move their settlements.
What do you think?
What do the colossal heads of the Olmec tell us about how their society was
organized?
Given that the Olmec worshiped anthropomorphic deities, do you think they
believed their rulers were human beings?
What kind of ecological disaster would have to take place in order to make
your home unlivable?
Andean and Chavín civilizations
Overview
-Several complex societies formed in the Andean region of South America, the
Caral—or Norte Chico—and the Chavín.
-Some scholars dispute whether the Caral culture represented a true
civilization.
-The Chavín civilization was named for and centered around a large temple at
Chavín de Huántar and was probably organized around a religious hierarchy.
Caral—or Norte Chico—civilization
The Caral civilization—also
known as the Norte Chico civilization—was a complex society, meaning its
people had specialized, but interconnected, roles. It was located in what is
now north-central coastal Peru, and existed between roughly 3500-1700 BCE.
Some have argued that it is the oldest known civilization in the Americas,
but others have claimed that there is too little evidence of the political,
economic, and religious structures to definitively claim the Caral society
was truly a civilization. For example, those who study Caral sites assume
that sophisticated government was required to manage them, but questions
remain over how it was organized to carry out these building projects.
The most impressive achievement of the Caral society was its monumental
architecture, including large earthwork platform mounds and sunken circular
plazas. The urban complex of Caral takes up more than 150 acres, and at its
peak, approximately 3,000 people lived in Caral. Its urban plan, which
contained a central plaza and temples surrounded by homes, was used by other
Andean civilizations for the next 4,000 years.
Most cities were located on one of three rivers in the region. This provided
irrigation that allowed for cotton cultivation on a large scale. Evidence
for large-scale cultivation of food crops is less clear. Archaeological
evidence suggests use of textile technology for making clothing and
fishnets, which fits with the evidence of cotton cultivation.
There is no evidence for the creation or use of ceramic pottery, which is
often related to food storage and preparation. Some scholars have suggested
that Caral civilization obtained much of its food resources from the sea
rather than from the development of agricultural cereal and crop surpluses,
which have been considered essential to the rise of other ancient
civilizations. This is one reason why not all scholars are convinced that
Caral represents a “true civilization”.
Artifacts found include flutes made of bird bones and cornetts—a type of
instrument similar to a flute, made of deer and llama bones. These animals
also provided meat to the Caral diet and were almost certainly hunted in the
wild, rather than domesticated.
One of the most interesting artifacts found at Caral is a knotted cotton
textile piece called a quipu —sometimes spelled khipu. Quipu were used by
many Andean societies, including the Inca, who were still using the system
in the 1500s CE when the Spanish arrived in South America. Quipu consisted
of a series of strings with knots that allowed its users to perform
calculations and to record transactions and other information. Along with
questions about Caral food production, debates over whether quipu
represented a formal writing system also prevent agreement over the status
of the Caral as a civilization.
Chavín Civilization
The Chavín civilization
developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru between 900 and 250 BCE,
roughly 1,000 years after the decline of the Caral civilization. It was
located in the Mosna River Valley, where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers
merge.
The Chavín civilization is named for the temple at Chavín de Huántar, which
is the most prominent site linked with the broader culture. Like all other
civilizations, Chavín society developed and changed over time. Between about
900 and 500 BCE, only several hundred people lived near the temple site. The
temple itself was probably a regional ceremonial center to which people
would travel for significant events. Around 500 BCE, the number of people
living around the temple increased, and renovations and remodeling of the
temple to allow for larger crowds were completed. The domestication of
llamas appeared around this time, as did increased evidence of
cross-cultural trade in the form of non-Chavín materials. This indicates
that there must have been some increase in specialized economic activity to
produce goods that could be traded.
From about 400 BCE to 200 BCE, the Chavin population grew substantially, and
more urban forms of settlement appeared. Specialized pottery showed up
during this time as well, indicating increased local production and probably
an increased level of agricultural surplus, as pottery was often a means of
storing surplus food.
The unique geography of the Chavín site—near two rivers and also near high
mountain valleys—allowed its residents to grow both maize, which thrived in
the lowlands of the river valley, and potatoes, which grew best in the
higher altitudes of the Andes Mountains. The settlement pattern of larger
villages in the lowland regions surrounded by smaller satellite villages in
the highlands might have been a way to take advantage of these diverse
agricultural opportunities through specialized production.
Along with maize and potatoes, the Chavin people also grew the grain quinoa
and built irrigation systems to water these crops. They used domesticated
llamas as pack animals to transport goods and as a source of food. A common
method of preserving llama meat was drying it into what later Andean people
called ch’arki—the origin of the word jerky!
The design of the Chavín de Huántar temple shows advanced building
techniques that were adapted to the highland environment of Peru. To avoid
flooding and the destruction of the temple during the rainy season, the
Chavín people created a drainage system with canals under the temple
structure.
Chavín art was the first widespread, recognizable artistic style in the
Andes and the temple itself was the most dramatic expression of Chavín
style. The Old Temple featured the Lanzón, a 4.5 meter long piece of
granite, carved in the form of the most important Chavín deity. The name
Lanzón refers to the sculpture itself, coming from the Spanish word for
lance, which the Spanish thought the sculpture resembled.
Because the Chavín left no written records and the civilization was no
longer in existence when the Spanish arrived, the Chavín name of the deity
is unknown. The Lanzón was housed in the central chamber of a labyrinth of
underground passages below the temple. Spiritually, the Lanzón likely marked
a pivot point linking the heavens, earth, and underworld.
Also near the temple was the Tello Obelisk, a giant sculpted shaft of
granite. The obelisk features images of plants and animals—including
caimans, birds, crops, and human figures—and may portray a Chavín creation
myth. Though its purpose has not been fully deciphered by archaeologists,
the obelisk seems to have been aligned on an axis with the Lanzón and thus
may have also served as a sort of spiritual or astrological marker. This
indicates that the Chavin possessed some knowledge of astronomy.
The Chavín people created refined goldwork and used early techniques of
melting metal and soldering—connecting two pieces of metal by using another
metal as a sort of glue. Chavín art decorated the walls of the temple and
includes carvings, sculptures, and pottery. The feline figure—most often the
jaguar—had important religious meaning and shows up in many carvings and
sculptures. Eagles are also commonly seen throughout Chavín art. The art was
intentionally difficult to interpret, as it was meant to be read by the high
priests alone.
There is little evidence of warfare in Chavín relics and no signs of
defensive structures at urban sites. Instead, local citizens were likely
controlled by a combination of religious pressure and environmental
conditions. The Andes Mountains and Pacific Ocean acted as natural barriers
to movement, confining settlement and travel largely to the coastal strip,
see map above.
The political structures of Chavín society are not clear, but the
construction of the temple and the limited access to knowledge of symbols
both imply that a hierarchy based on religious or spiritual beliefs existed.
The construction and later renovation of the temple would have required
mobilizing a large amount of labor, so there must have been some system for
doing this. The most common theory is that there existed a small, elite
group of shamans—people believed to have the ability to communicate with the
spiritual world—and that they maintained positions of power through this
exclusive ability.
What do you think?
How did early Andean societies take advantage of the region’s geography for
agricultural production?
How did Chavín elites maintain power?
Why does the existence of monumental architecture, such as the temple at
Chavín de Huántar, imply that some sort of political organization must have
existed?
Source
Kaan Academy
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