1. History and Geography of the Ancient Americas
Middle School Workshops
Session IV
Craig Benjamin
What was different about the history of the American ‘world zone’?
What challenges did the environment and geography of the Americas create for the first human migrants?
What were some of the earliest cultures that appeared in the Americas?

2. W2 WHG Era 2 (p 47) Early Civilizations and Cultures and the Emergence of Pastoral Peoples, 4000 to 1000 B.C.E./B.C.
Describe and differentiate defining characteristics of early civilization and pastoral societies, where they emerged, and how they spread

3. W2.1 Early Civilizations and Early Pastoral Societies Describe the characteristics of early Western Hemisphere civilizations and pastoral societies.
Early agrarian civilizations and pastoral societies emerged. Many fundamental institutions, discoveries, inventions, and techniques appeared
Pastoral societies developed cultures that reflected the geography and resources that enabled them to inhabit the more challenging physical environments such as the tundra and semi-arid regions of North and South America.

4. Describe the characteristics of early Western Hemisphere civilizations and pastoral societies (contd)
6 – W2.1.1 Explain how the environment favored hunter gatherer, pastoral, and small scale agricultural ways of life in different parts of the Western Hemisphere.
6 – W2.1.2 Describe how the invention of agriculture led to the emergence of agrarian civilizations
seasonal harvests
specialized crops
cultivation
and development of villages and towns

5. Describe the characteristics of early Western Hemisphere civilizations and pastoral societies (contd)
6 – W2.1.3 Use multiple sources of evidence to describe how the culture of early peoples of North America reflected the geography and natural resources available E.g.
Inuit of the Arctic
Kwakiutl of the Northwest Coast
Anasazi and Apache of the Southwest
6 – W2.1.4 Use evidence to identify defining characteristics of early civilizations and early pastoral nomads
government
language
religion
social structure
technology
division of labor

6. First … Big Questions about the place of the Americas in World History
How do the histories of the different world zones differ?
How is the history of the American world zone
Similar to and
Different from
The histories of the Australasian and Pacific zones?
The history of the Afro-Eurasian zone?
What can these differences and similarities tell us about human history in general?

7. Comparing the American, Australasian & Pacific Zones:
Similarities
and
Differences
Settlement Dates:
Australasia, from c. 60,000 years ago
Americas, from c. 13,000 years ago
Pacific:
Melanesia from c. 30,000 years ago
Polynesia from c. 3,000 years ago

8. The Americas, Australasia & the Pacific
Historical Evolution:
Australasian World Zone:
Agriculture only in Papua New Guinea
No agrarian Civilizations
Pacific World Zone:
Agriculture in many Pacific communities
Powerful chiefdoms in some of them (Tonga, Hawaii) by 1,000 years ago
Americas:
Agriculture from c. 4,000 years ago
Powerful chiefdoms from c. 3,500 years ago
Agrarian Civilizations from c. 2,000 years ago
Moorea

9. The Americas, Australasia & the Pacific
Summary:
The American world zone was
Larger
More populous
Evolved larger communities
Evolved more productive technologies than the Australasian and Pacific world zones
How do the Americas compare with the Afro-Eurasian world zone?

10. Comparing the American and Afro-Eurasian world zones
4 Major Differences:
The Americas are settled later
The geographies are different
Agriculture appears later in the Americas
Agrarian Civilizations appear later
Social/beringia.htm

11. The 1st Difference: Later Settlement
13,000 Ys ago
Many new technologies required
40,000 Ys ago
New hunting techniques; adaptations to cold
Range of
Early humans
60,000 Ys ago
Sea-going technologies
Chimp
range
Note the difference between chimps and humans in the size of their ranges

12. Early Migrations to the Americas
Humans may have arrived earlier, but they certainly reached the Americas by 13,000 years ago, traveling either by sea, along the W. Coast, or inland between the great ice sheets

13. American History Started Later
Humans arrived with technologies adapted for the north and north east of Eurasia
The Americas were a new land
The first Americans had to learn new techniques
They had to become familiar with new animals and plants
American animals and plants had to adapt to the presence of humans

14. The 2nd Difference: Geographical Orientation
N-S axis
E-W axis

15. Traveling south through the Americas meant adapting to many different environments
The Biologist, Jared Diamond has pointed out that:
Migrating east through Afro-Eurasia was fairly easy
Climates and environments did not change too much
So it was easier to adapt familiar technologies
Migrating south through the Americas was tougher
Climates and environments changed as you moved towards and away from the equator
Still, humans migrated all the way in c. 2,000 years (a sign of the increasing adaptability of humans by 13,000 years ago)
But exchanging technological ideas was tougher

16. N. America: Climates Traveling E-W you encounter less climatic variety
N-S Travel
E-W Travel
Traveling N-S you pass through many different climate zones

17. S. Americas: Climates
N-S Travel
E-W Travel

18. The 3rd Difference: Agriculture appears later
Mississippi valley
S.W. Asia
N. China
Egypt
S. China
Pakistan
Mesoamerica
S.E. Asia
W. Africa
Papua New Guinea
Andes
Phase 3: after 4,000 BCE
Phase 2: 7,000-4,000 BCE
Phase 1: 9,000-7,000 BCE

19. Major American Domesticates?
How many could you have named?
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Chili
Beans
Squash
Quinoa
Alpaca/llamas
Guinea pigs
The Potato, a native of Peru
Turkey, domesticated by the Aztecs
Quinine comes from the bark of the Cinchona tree
Alpaca
Wild Cavy

20. Why does agriculture appear later in the Americas?
Possible answers:
Species were different:-
Many American plants were harder to domesticate
Many potential animal domesticates were driven to extinction
Humans arrived later:-
So they took longer to learn how to use American plants and animals
Problems of overpopulation emerged later

21. Maize was less ‘pre-adapted’ for domestication than wheat
Teosinte, the ancestor of maize, is small, weedy and not too nutritious, but it can survive in the wild
Modern varieties of maize are larger and much more nutritious; but they took a long time to get that way

22. Extinct N. American megafauna
included potential domesticates
Horses evolved in the Americas, but were hunted to extinction there.
Species of elephants, including mastodon and mammoth, were hunted to extinction.
Many species of camelids evolved in the Americas, such as this guanaco. Some survived.

23. 4th Difference: Agrarian Civilizations arrived later in the Americas
= Zones of Agrarian Civilization

24. Agrarian Civilizations in the Americas: Chronology
c BCE:
towns, powerful ‘chiefdoms’ amongst Olmec, Mesoamerica
500 BCE:
cities and small states, Mesoamerica (e.g. Monte Alban)
500 CE:
large states (e.g. Teotihuacan, Mayan regions)
1500 CE:
large empires (Aztecs, Incas)

25. Afro-Eurasian & American agrarian civilizations shared much, even though there was no contact between them
They were based on agriculture
There was an elaborate division of labor, with specialist artisans, traders and warriors
They built monumental architecture devoted to the gods
They engaged in warfare
They had powerful and wealthy leaders
They had large cities
They had taxation and writing

26. Early Civilizations of Mesoamerica
c BCE: Olmecs
c. 500 BCE: Small States (e.g. Monte Alban)
C. 500 CE: Large States (e.g. Teotihuacan, Mayans)

27. Teotihuacan
Chichen
Itza
MAYAS
AZTEC EMPIRE
Tenochtitlan
Tikal
OLMEC
Monte Alban

28. The Olmecs
By 1200 BCE, along the southern Gulf Coast of modern-day Mexico, Olmec society was wealthy and organized enough to construct sophisticated drainage systems and royal burial structures at a number of sites
By 400 BCE Olmec culture had declined, but the cultural developments they facilitated in the region culminated eventually in a Mesoamerican ‘golden age’
Best known of the successors to the Olmecs were the Mayas, but equally impressive were the achievements of the society that constructed Monte Alban, and Teotihuacan, one of the most remarkable cities in world history

29. Olmec monumental and religious art, c. 1600 BCE, La Venta, Mexico

30. Other Small Cultures Flourished in the Oaxaca Valley of Mexico Between 500 BCE and 500 CE Ruins of Monte Alban, Oaxaca valley

31. Monte Alban Site Monte Albán is a large pre-Columbian archaeological
site in the southern Mexican
state of Oaxaca
The site is located on a low mountainous range rising above the plain in the central section of the Valley of Oaxaca where the valley's northern , eastern, and southern branches meet
Founded around 500 BCE, Monte Albán was the capital of a large-scale expansionist culture that dominated much of the Oaxacan highlands and interacted with other Mesoamerican regional states such as Teotihuacan to the north
Pyramid Temple at Monte Alban

32. Remains of the main square, Monte Alban

33. Teotihuacan is located in high valley of Central Mexico, a region dominated by lakes
Like river-valley farmers everywhere, early settlers constructed irrigation systems that helped sustain a successful agrarian lifeway
Over time, principal settlement of the valley grew from a large agricultural village into a major city
By 500 CE Teotihuacan was 6th largest city on the planet: population of 200,000 people!
Teotihuacan History
Ceremonial gate,
Teotihuacan

34. Teotihuacan Decline
Residents constructed two colossal pyramids in the heart of the city, the temples of the Sun and Moon
Government was theocratic, with power balanced between priests and a secular ruling class
By 600 CE Teotihuacan was experiencing debilitating military pressure from surrounding peoples
By the 8th C city had been sacked and burned by invaders

35. Teotihuacan (Temple of the Sun) flourished c. 200-600 CE
At its height, 200,000 people may have lived in Teotihuacan.
It traded over a large area of Mesoamerica

36. In the Yucatan Peninsula and present-day Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and El Salvador, the civilization created by the Mayans flourished at more than a hundred regional centers
Ancestors of the Mayans may have been migrants who moved into the region from the northwest coast of California sometime in the third millennium BCE
Early farmers established many successful agrarian villages, some of which evolved into important ceremonial centers, particularly Chichen Itza and Tikal
Early Mayan History
Ceremonial
Procession

37. Regions of Mayan Civilization
Chichen Itza
Tikal

38. By start of 6th C CE, Tikal had become the leading Mayan center, and from roughly 600 to 800 CE it had a population of 40,000 people
City dominated a surrounding hinterland that may have included half a million people
Public architecture of the city was monumental in scale, and included the 154-feet high, steeply-stepped Temple of the Giant Jaguar
Tikal

39. Temple of the Giant Jaguar, Tikal, Guatemala, c. 200 CE
Like all monumental architecture, these pyramids almost certainly had deep religious significance

40. Mayan Government
Mayan King acknowledges his people who are probably lesser lords in this scene of royal Maya court life
Each Mayan center governed by a hereditary priest-king, who was believed to be a descendant of the gods
Kings had deliberately intimidating names like Smoking Frog, Stormy Sky, and Great Jaguar Paw
Administration levied taxes upon the hinterlands, supervised local village leaders, and administered justice
Priest-king and advisors also conducted wars fought between the various competitive Mayan regional centers

41. Mayan War
Large-scale military operations unusual because the armies consisted mainly of nobles who were more focused on capturing their rivals in hand-to-hand combat on the battlefield, than on killing them in large numbers
Great prestige accrued through the capture of high ranking opponents, who were often forced to endure ritualized
torture and public sacrifice
Small size of the noble armies
may have limited their
effectiveness, although the
warriors fought ferociously
enough with obsidian-bladed
weapons

42. Warfare was an important aspect of Mayan civilization
Bonampak frescoes, c. 792 CE. Battle scene above Mayan warriors guard prisoners of war (r)

43. Chichen Itza
Not all the Mayan centers engaged in this regular blood-letting, however
In the 9th C, rulers of Chichen Itza attempted to welcome war captives into their society, rather than destroy or sacrifice them
Succeeded in delaying the decline that began to afflict most other Mayan centers after 800 CE
As Mayan cities in the south became increasingly depopulated, cities of the Yucatan and Guatemala highlands like Chichen Itza continued to flourish

44. The ‘Observatory’ at Chichen Itza in Mayan Yucatan, built c. 1050 CE

45. Chichen Itza flourished after other Mayan centers had collapsed

46. A reconstruction of Mayan monumental architecture – Chichen Itza

47. Eventually southern centers succumbed to the jungles, but in the north Mexicanized ruling elites created a synthetic Mayan-Mexican culture
The achievements of the Mayans in writing, mathematics and precise calendar calibrations remained impressive long after their demise
Mayan Decline
Overgrown Mayan ruins,
Cozumel

48. Mayan Writing System
The Mayan writing system is considered by archaeologists to be the most sophisticated system ever developed in Mesoamerica
Maya wrote using 800 individual signs or glyphs, paired in columns that read together from left to right and top to bottom
Maya glyphs represented words or syllables that could be combined to form any word or concept in the Mayan language, including numbers, time periods, royal names, titles, dynastic events, and the names of gods, scribes,
sculptors, objects, buildings, places, and food
Hieroglyphic inscriptions were either carved
in stone and wood on Maya monuments and
architecture, or painted on paper,
plaster walls and pottery

49. Mayan writing, from the Madrid codex, c. 1500

50. Mayan and Aztec calendars were amongst the most accurate in the world
Aztec Calendar Stone

51. Mayas invented a calendar of remarkable accuracy and complexity
Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichén Itzá used as a calendar: four stairways, each with 91 steps and a platform at the top, making a total of 365, equivalent to the number of days in a calendar year
Maya calendar adopted by Aztecs and Toltecs, who used the mechanics of the calendar unaltered but changed the names of the days of the week and the months
Calendar uses three different dating systems in parallel, the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar), and the Haab (civil calendar)
Only the Haab has a direct relationship to the length of the year
Typical Mayan date looks like this: , 3 Cimi 4 Zotz
is the Long Count date.
3 Cimi is the Tzolkin date.
4 Zotz is the Haab date.
Mayan Calendar
Pyramid of Kukulkan c. 1050

52. Conclusion See you shortly!
So far, we have traced the history of the Americas (or ‘western hemisphere’) from the arrival of the first migrants at least 13,000 years ago, until the impressive achievements of various Mesoamerican peoples to about 1000 years ago
After the break, in our final session for the day, we will continue the story up until 1500 and the arrival of the Europeans
See you shortly!
Conclusion