Early Societies

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Chapter 6
Early Societies in the Americas Oceania
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Early Human Migrations
By 700 CE, humans had established communities in
almost every habitable part of the world.
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Major Pre-Columbian Civilizations
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• Early Mesoamerican societies
• 1200 BCE 1100 CE

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Origins of Mesoamerican Societies

• Melting glaciers 18,000 years ago began a rise in
  ocean waters.
• Migration across Bering land bridge?
• Probably 13,000 BCE, perhaps earlier
• By sea from Asia?
• By 9500 BCE reached southernmost part of South
  America
• Hunter/Gatherer societies
• evolve into agricultural societies

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Olmecs

• 1200-100 BCE
• The Rubber People
• Ceremonial Centers
• San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes
• Olmec Heads
• Up to 10 ft tall, 20 tons
• Transported by dragging, rolling on logs
• 1000/workers per head

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The Olmec heartland where the Olmecs reigned from
1400 - 500 BCE
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• It is now generally accepted that these heads
  are portraits of rulers, perhaps dressed as
  ballplayers. 17 heads have been unearthed so
  far!

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Agriculture and Herding

• Abundant rainfall, so no need for irrigation
• Drainage systems to divert waters
• Staple maize
• Herding turkeys dogs
• Both food
• No draft animals
• No development of wheeled vehicles

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Olmec Society

• Probably authoritarian in nature
• Large class of conscripted laborers to construct
  ceremonial sites
• Also tombs for rulers, temples, pyramids,
  drainage systems

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The Olmecs

• The first major American civilization who built
  ceremonial centers around pyramids.
• Had an elaborate calendar, writing system and
  widespread trading network.
• There is evidence that the Olmec practiced ritual
  bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican
  ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent
  Mesoamerican societies.

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The Olmecs

• The first major American civilization who built
  ceremonial centers around pyramids.
• Had an elaborate calendar, writing system and
  widespread trading network.
• There is evidence that the Olmec practiced ritual
  bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican
  ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent
  Mesoamerican societies.

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Mysterious Decline of Olmecs

• Ceremonial centers destroyed
• No evidence of warfare
• Revolution?
• Civil war?

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The Maya
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Lands of the Maya
The Yucatan Peninsula
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Maya

• Huge cities discovered in 19th c.
• 300 BCE-900 CE
• Terrace Farming
• Maize
• Cotton
• Cacao beans
• chocolate
• currency
• Major ceremonial center at Tikal (500,000)
• Chichen Itza Palenque b/w 10-30,000 people

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• Temple 1 (also known as the Temple of the Great
  Jaguar) in the Plaza Mayor

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Chichen-Itza - Pyramid
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Maya Warfare

• Warfare for purposes of capturing enemy soldiers
• Ritual sacrifice of enemies
• Enslavement
• Small kingdoms engage in constant conflict until
  Chichén Itzá begins to absorb captives
• Some nevertheless choose death
• Center of empire develops

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Mayan Ritual Calendar

• Complex math
• Invention of Zero
• Calendar of 365.242 days (17 seconds off)
• Solar calendar of 365 days
• Ritual calendar of 260 days
• Management of calendar lends authority to
  priesthood
• Timing of auspicious moments for agriculture
• Devise written language
• Compile astronomical knowledge

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Mayan Language and Religion

• Ideographs and a syllable-alphabet
• Most writings destroyed by Spanish conquerors
• Deciphering work began in 1960s
• Popol Vuh Mayan creation myth
• Humans created from maize water gt flesh blood
• Agricultural cycle maintained in exchange for
  honors and sacrifices
• Bloodletting rituals
• Human sacrifices follow after removal of fingers,
  piercing to allow blood flow

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The Maya Ball Game

• Ritual game
• High-ranking captives, prisoners of war
  contestants
• Execution of losers immediately follows the match
• Bloodletting ritual for the gods
• Most Maya ceremonial centers, towns and cities
  had courts

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Chichen-Itza - Ball Court
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A Goal in the Ball Court at Chichén Itzá, Mexico
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Social Hierarchy

• Most Maya were farmers who supplied resources for
  an elaborate trading network.
• Each city had a ruling chief, followed by nobles,
  who served as city officials and military
  leaders.

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City of Teotihuacan

• Highlands of Mexico
• Lakes in area of high elevation
• Village of Teotihuacan, 500 BCE, expands to
  become massive city
• Important ceremonial center
• Extensive trade network, influenced surrounding
  areas
• Begins to decline c. 650 CE, sacked in middle of
  8th century, massive library destroyed

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Pirámide del Sol, Teotihuacan
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The End of the Maya

• Around 900, the Maya abandoned their cities.
  Historians speculate that war or overpopulation
  made have led to famine or class warfare.
• Today, millions in Guatemala and Southern Mexico
  speak 28 Mayan dialects.

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Andean Societies

• Migration into South America c. 12,000 BCE
• Climate improves c. 8000 BCE
• Largely independent from Mesoamerica
• Highly individualized due to geography

• Early Societies of Andean South America
• 1000 BCE 700 CE

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Food Supply

• Those who migrated into the Andes Mountains
  hunted deer, llama, alpaca and other large
  animals not found in Central America.
• Cultivation of maize and squashes spread from
  Mesoamerica, while gold, silver and copper
  metallurgy spread from the Andes north.
• By 2500 BCE, the earliest Andean cultivators
  relied on peanuts, beans, and sweet potatoes.

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Chavin Cult

• New religion in central Andes, 900-300 BCE
• Little known about particulars of religion
• Intricate stone carvings
• Cult may have arose when maize became an
  important crop gt cult for fertility and abundant
  harvests.
• During the era Andean society became increasingly
  complex
• Elaborate woven clothing, cotton fishnets,
  metallurgy for jewelry

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The Mochica State

• Valley of the Moche River
• Dominated northern Peru, 300-700 CE
• Artistic evidence of armed warriors maintaining
  stability throughout region
• Painting survives, mostly on pottery/ceramics
• No writing, but complex society with vast job
  specialization
• One of many states in region, none able to
  consolidate into empire
• 6th-7th centuries CE saw climactic shifts with
  droughts that led to a decline of early Andean
  civilizations

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• Early Societies of Oceania,
• 1500 BCE 700 CE

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Oceania

• Prehistoric land bridges, lower seas permit
  migration
• Outrigger canoes for open-sea travel
• Humans in Oceania at least by 58,000 BCE
• By 8,000 BCE trade between islands ceased due to
  the rising seas.
• Early hunter-gatherer societies in Australia
• Early agriculture in New Guinea by 3000 BCE
• Yams, taro raising pigs chickens

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Aborigine of the Naomi Tribe
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Early 19th Century Aboriginal Tribe
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21st century Aboriginal People
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Lapita Peoples

• Earliest Austronesian (language group of Oceania)
  migrants to sail into the Pacific Ocean and
  establish settlements in pacific islands.
• Found throughout Pacific Islands
• Agriculture, animal herding
• Political organization based on chiefdoms
• Relatives formed aristocracy
• Trade over open ocean declines 500 BCE
• Greater independence of settlements