1. Aim: What were the greatest achievements of Mesoamerica, Africa, and Oceania 600 BCE – 600 CE?

2. Mayan Geography
The Mayans lived in the Yucatan Peninsula (modern southern Mexico & Guatemala). Many volcanically active mountains and rainforest.

3. Chichen Itza, a Mayan City-State
Mayan Government
Unlike the Aztecs, the Mayans formed independent city-states. (The rainforest made forming an empire difficult). City-states were ruled by a king/priest. City-states had temples, palaces, plazas and ball courts, and were surrounded by farms.
Chichen Itza, a Mayan City-State

4. Ball Court at Chichen Itza
The Great Ball court of Chichen Itza, is the largest ball court ever discovered in Mesoamerica. (175 X 70 meters); it was larger than a modern-day American football field. Embedded near the top of each wall is a stone hoop... There are several accounts of both the Aztecs and Maya playing the games at the time of the Spanish conquest. However no record of the rules of the game survives. Of the surviving images of the game, few show that the ball was touched with the hands. The ball itself was a little larger than a basketball and was made of solid rubber, so was quite heavy; hence the need for the protective padding we believe the players wore around their hips. The Maya played the game to re-enact the moment when the 3rd creation of the world ended and the 4th world (the one we live in today) began. Historians are unsure if the winners or the losers were sacrificed to honor the gods. Most key cities in Mesoamerica had a ball court as part of their ceremonial center.

5. Tikal, Belize

6. The Mayan Economy Continued…
Slash and Burn
Cacao beans, sea shells and jade were used as currency. Traded jade, obsidian (volcanic glass), feathers and ceramic. Farmers used irrigation, terracing (carving steps into mountains) and slash and burn agriculture (they cut down trees and burned the remains to fertilize the soil).

7. Terrace Farming, Guatemala

8. Slash and Burn by B. Turner
“In heavily forested areas, or those with little usable soil for farming, natives often turn to slash-and-burn deforestation... cutting down most of the vegetation on a patch of land, then setting fire to the remainder. The ashes serve as nutrients for future farming on the site... Although this practice can serve as a successful method of agriculture in the short term, it also leads to significant problems on both local and global scales. Each acre of land subject to slash-and-burn deforestation releases 180 metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere… [contributing] to… global warming... Forest fires can often rage out of control... Slash-and-burn deforestation also destroys habitats and threatens ecosystems... The ashes produced by these fires provide nutrients to sustain the land for just 3 to 5 years; after that, the land must remain fallow (unplanted) for a decade or more... Without the traditional vegetation and root system, however, significant erosion occurs, and the land is unable to sustain enough nutrients to ever reach its former glory. During the rainy season, erosion may contribute to dangerous flooding, while the lack of tree cover and vegetation can make existing drought conditions worse during the dry season. Some scientists believe that even the mighty Mayan empire succumbed to the effects of slash-and-burn farming… Scientists have determined that just before the Mayan empire fell -- around A.D widespread deforestation had resulted in a complete absence of tree pollen. The lack of trees in the area led to a temperature increase of roughly 6 degrees, which eventually brought about widespread drought. The drought signaled the end for the Mayans.”

9. Mayan Religion
The Mayans worshipped nature gods, had a priestly class, practiced ritual human sacrifice, and built elaborate pyramidal temples. One of the most important sources of the Mayan religion is the Popol Vuh ( ), written in Quiché and translated into Spanish by a priest.
Ritual bloodletting: Mayan kings and nobles (including women) pierced their flesh (lips, ears, tongues, etc). Royal blood offerings were smeared on idols or dripped onto bark paper which was then burned: the rising smoke could open a gateway between the worlds.

10. Mayan Sacrificed Victim, Chichen Itza, Mexico
Mayan Human Sacrifice
Mayans cut the hearts out of their victims, but more commonly the victims were decapitated or disemboweled. Death and sacrifice were spiritually linked to the concepts of creation and rebirth, including the beginning of a new calendar cycle or harvest. Children were sometimes used as sacrificial victims at such times.
Mayan Sacrificed Victim, Chichen Itza, Mexico

11. Ms. Glass at Tikal

12. Mayan Science, Math & Technology
The Mayans studied the movement of Venus, the moon, and solar eclipses. They created 3 calendars based on their astronomical observations. Hieroglyphics were carved into stone or written on codices (books made from bark). They had a number system (base 20) that included zero!

13. The 3 Mayan Calendars
The Mayans used three calendars. *Mesoamericans had used calendars going back at least to the Olmecs.
The Long Count Calendar was used to track longer periods of time; the “universal cycle”. Each cycle is calculated to be 2,880,000 days (about 7885 solar years). The Mayans believed that the universe is destroyed and then recreated at the start of each universal cycle. *The last universal cycle ended Dec 21, 2012… but a new cycle then began!
The Haab was a 365 day solar calendar which was divided into 18 months of 20 days each and one month only 5 days long. (The Gregorian calendar which we use today adds a Leap Year every 4 years)
The Tzolkin was a 260 day sacred calendar used for religious purposes.

14. The Mayan Long Count Calendar

15. Mayan Military
The Mayans did not have a standing army. Instead, they formed militias during war. After the war, the warriors would return to their daily lives. Capture by your enemy was worse than death. Weapons could be used from a distance (bows & arrows, spears, blow guns). Wore animal skins.

17. Mayan Beauty
Mayans believed that flat heads were beautiful. To achieve this, parents would attach a board to their baby’s head. They also would file their teeth to sharp points, and would insert pieces of jade.

18. Decline of the Mayans
“Two new studies examine the reasons for the collapse of the Mayan culture, finding the Mayans themselves contributed to the downfall of the empire. Scientists have found that drought played a key role, but the Mayans appear to have exacerbated the problem by cutting down the jungle canopy to make way for cities and crops... Social and economic dynamics also contributed. Trade routes shifted from land transit across the Yucatán Peninsula to sea-born ships. This change may have weakened the city states, which were contending with environmental changes. Faced with mounting challenges, the ruling elites, a very small portion of the population, were no longer capable of delivering what was expected of them, and conflict increased. "The old political and economic structure dominated by semidivine rulers decayed," the team writes. "Peasants, artisan – craftsmen, and others apparently abandoned their homes and cities to find better economic opportunities elsewhere in the Maya area.”
Wynne Parry

19. The Moche 200 – 700 CE
Lived along Peruvian coastal desert in two autonomous regions, separated by the Paijan desert. They had separate rulers, with the capital of the Northern Moche at Sipán, and the Southern Moche at the Huacas de Moche.
Economy: irrigation canals. Grew corn, beans, squash, avocado, guavas, chili peppers, and beans. Domesticated llamas, guinea pigs and ducks.
No writing system
Known for their pottery

20. Moche Continued… Government: Theocratic monarchy Social Hierarchy:
Warrior- priests
Artisans
Farmers & Fishermen
Servants
Slaves
Women in charge of textile production

21. Moche Religion
The main religious centers of the Moche were the Huacas (large ceremonial pyramids). The Huacas had burial chambers separated by rank. Those of higher rank had human sacrifices placed in their larger burial chambers.
Huaca del Sol

22. Moche Art
Moche pottery acted as a way of communication and storytelling that made up for their lack of a written language. Included are portraits of real people as well as such figures as mythological beings. Ceramic representations with sexual content may have been used for fertility rituals.

23. Decline of the Moche
“For 30 years the coast had been ravaged by rain storms and floods “Mega El Niño” followed by at least 30 years of drought… But then in the late 1990s, American archaeologist Dr Tom Dillehay revisited some of the more obscure Moche sites and found that they dated from after AD 650… He also found that at these later settlements, the huacas had been replaced by fortresses. The Moche had clearly survived the climatic disaster but had they then been hit by an invasion? Dillehay… put together a new theory… The Moche had struggled through the climatic disaster but the leadership - which at least in part had claimed authority from its ability to determine the weather - had lost authority and Moche villages and/or clan groups had turned on each other in a battle for scarce resources such as food and land. Moche society had pulled itself apart.”
– N. Davison, 2005 bbc.com

24. III East Africa 1st – 8th centuries CE
A) The Kingdom of Aksum controlled trade along the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa (modern day Ethiopia and Somalia). In 330 CE King Ezana converted to Christianity and made it the official religion of Aksum. Aksum was conquered by the early 8th century CE by Muslim invaders.
King Ezana’s Obelisk

25. Aksum (300 – 700 CE) traded with Persia, India, and Arabia!

26. East Africa and the Bible
Modern Ethiopians believe the Queen of Sheba from the Torah was from Aksum. "And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord… she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones...“1 Kings, 10, v.1-2
Additionally, many Ethiopians believe that the sacred Ark of the Covenant (that housed the 10 Commandments) is in Ethiopia! It is believed to be kept safe in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, the oldest church in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Christian, Jerusalem

27. Aksum Government & Society
The society was hierarchical with a king at the top, then nobles, and the general population below. It can be assumed that priests were important, and probably traders, too, because of the money they would have made. Most of the poor were probably craftsmen or farmers. In some descriptions, the ruler is described as "King of Kings" which might suggest that there were other, junior kings in outlying parts of the empire which the Aksumites gradually took over. There is evidence of at least 10–12 small towns in the kingdom, which suggests it was an urban society, but for descriptions of these there is only archaeological evidence. Little or nothing is known about such things as the role of women and family life.

28. IV The Flourishing of Polynesia
By 1500 BCE, voyagers began moving east beyond the Melanesian island of New Guinea, along the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and finally to the Polynesian triangle. These colonizers developed double-hulled vessels capable of carrying colonists as well as all their supplies, domesticated animals, and crops for planting. They developed a navigation system based on observations of the stars, the ocean swells, and the flight patterns of birds. The gaps between islands widen greatly in the eastern Pacific and the prevailing winds become less and less favorable for sailing to the east. This is probably why the Polynesians did not sail further east to Hawaii until 1000 CE.

29. Samoa

30. Polynesian Government & Society
B) Ruled by chiefdoms. C) Tapu: Something that is tapu is sacred. Things or places which are tapu must be left alone, and may not be approached or interfered with. In some cases, they should not even be spoken of. *This is the origin of the English word “taboo”. A violation of tapu could have dire consequences. A chief's house was tapu, and even the chief could not eat food in the interior of his house. D) Tattoo: Polynesian tattoo (tatau) began over 2000 years ago. The skill is often passed from father to son. The tattooing ceremonies, typically conducted at the onset of puberty, were elaborate affairs. The pain was extreme and the risk of death by infection was a great concern. But to shy away from tattooing was to risk being labeled a coward. The entire process would often last almost three months. Afterwards, the men's family helped him celebrate, despite his pain, by throwing a party. Women too endured tattooing, but their patterns were typically smaller, most often on the thighs, legs or on their hands..

31. Polynesian Social Hierarchy

32. Right: New Zealand tattooed woman, 19th century
Left: Tattoo process
Right: New Zealand tattooed woman, 19th century

33. Key Vocabulary Essential Question:
Aksum Ark of the Covenant Chichen-Itza Huacas de Moche King Ezana Mayans Moche Polynesia Queen of Sheba Samoa Sipan Slash and Burn Tapu Yucatan Peninsula
Essential Question:
According to Wynne Parry, why did the Mayan civilization decline? Does his argument seem plausible?