
Exact location of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica or
Meso-America ( ) is a region
and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central
Mexico
to Honduras
and Nicaragua
, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies
flourished before the Spanish colonization of the
Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries. Prehistoric groups in
this area are characterized by agricultural villages and large ceremonial and
politico-religious capitals This culture area included some of the
most complex and advanced cultures of the
Americas, including the Olmec, Teotihuacan
, the Maya, and the
Aztec.
Etymology and definition
Location of Mesoamerica in the Americas.
The term
Mesoamerica—literally, "middle
America" in Greek—was first used by the
German
ethnologist Paul Kirchhoff, who noted that similarities
existed among the various pre-Columbian cultures
within the region that included southern Mexico
, Guatemala
, Belize
, El Salvador
, western Honduras
, and the
Pacific
lowlands of
Nicaragua
and northwestern Costa Rica
. In the tradition of
cultural-history, the prevalent
archaeological theory of the
early to middle 20th century, Kirchhoff defined this zone as a
culture area based on a suite of
interrelated cultural similarities brought about by millennia of
inter- and intra-regional interaction (i.e.,
diffusion). These included
sedentism,
agriculture
(specifically a reliance on the cultivation of
maize), the use of two different
calendars (a 260 day ritual calendar and a 365 day
calendar based on the
solar year), a base
20 (
vigesimal) number system,
pictographic and
hieroglyphic writing
systems, the practice of various forms of
sacrifice, and a complex of shared ideological
concepts. Mesoamerica has also been shown to be a
linguistic area defined by a
number of grammatical traits
that have spread through the area by diffusion.
Mesoamerica is recognized as a near-prototypical cultural area and
the term is now fully integrated in the standard terminology of
pre-Columbian
anthropological
studies.
Conversely, the sister terms Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica, which refer to northern Mexico
and the western United
States
, respectively, have not entered into widespread
usage.
Unrelated to the archaeological and ethnohistorical usage, the term
may also be used to refer to a modern economic territory designated
the
Mesoamerican region (MAR),
which comprises the countries of
Central
America and nine southeastern
states of Mexico.
Geography
Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands
Located on the
Middle
American isthmus joining North and
South America between
ca. 10°
and 22° northern
latitude, Mesoamerica
possesses a complex combination of ecological systems, topographic
zones, and environmental contexts.
Archaeologist and
anthropologist Michael D. Coe
groups these different
niche into
two broad categories : the lowlands (those areas between
sea level and 1000 meters) and the
altiplanos, or highlands (situated between 1000 and 2000
meters above sea level).
In the low-lying regions, sub-tropical and tropical climates are most common, as is
true for most of the coastline along the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico
and the Caribbean
Sea
. The highlands show much more climatic
diversity, ranging from dry tropical to cold
mountainous climates, the dominant climate
is
temperate with warm temperatures and
moderate rainfall.
The rain fall varies, between the dry
Oaxaca
, and north Yucatan
to the Humid
southern Pacific and Caribbean lowlands.
Topography
There is
extensive topographic variation in Mesoamerica, ranging from the
high peaks circumscribing the Valley of Mexico
and within the central Sierra Madre mountains to the low flatlands of
the northern Yucatán Peninsula. The tallest mountain
in Mesoamerica is Pico de
Orizaba
, a dormant volcano
located on the border of Puebla
and Veracruz
. Its peak elevation is 5,636 m (18,490
ft).
The
Sierra Madre mountains, which
consist of a number of smaller ranges, run from northern
Mesoamerican south through Costa Rica. The chain is historically
volcanic. In central and southern Mexico, a
portion of the Sierra Madre chain is known as the
Eje Volcánico Transversal, or
the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. There are 83 inactive and active
volcanoes within the Sierra Madre range, including 11 in Mexico, 37
in Guatemala, 7 in El Salvador, 25 in Nicaragua, and 3 in
northwestern Costa Rica. According to the Michigan Technological
University
[293363], 16 of these are still active.
The
tallest active volcano is Popocatépetl
at 5,452 m (17,883 ft). This volcano, which
retains its Nahuatl name, is located
70 km southeast of Mexico City
. Other volcanoes of note include Tacana on the Mexico-Guatemala border,
Tajumulco
and Santamaría
in Guatemala, Izalco
in El Salvador, Momotombo
in Nicaragua, and Arenal in
Costa Rica.
One
important topographic feature is the
Isthmus of
Tehuantepec
, a low plateau that breaks up the Sierra Madre
chain between the Sierra Madre del
Sur to the north and the Sierra Madre de Chiapas
to the south. At its highest point, the
Isthmus is 224 meters (735 ft) above mean
sea level.
This area also represents the shortest
distance between the Gulf of Mexico
and the Pacific Ocean
in Mexico. The distance between the two
coasts is roughly 200 kilometers (120 miles). Although the northern
side of the Isthmus is swampy and covered with dense jungle, the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as the lowest and most level point within
the Sierra Madre mountain chain, was nonetheless a main
transportation, communication, and economic route within
Mesoamerica.
Bodies of water
Outside of the northern Maya lowlands,
rivers
are common throughout Mesoamerica. A number of the more important
ones served as loci of human occupation in the area.
The longest river in
Mesoamerica is the Usumacinta
, which forms in Guatemala at the convergence of the
Salinas
or Chixoy, and La
Pasion
River
and runs north for 970 km (480 km of
which are navigable), eventually draining into the Gulf of
Mexico
. Other rivers of note include the Rio Grande de Santiago, the Grijalva
River
, the Motagua River,
the Ulúa River, and the Hondo River. The northern Maya lowlands,
especially the north portion of the Yucatán peninsula, are notable
for its nearly complete lack of rivers (largely due to its absolute
lack of topographic variation). Additionally, no lakes exist in the
northern peninsula. The main source of water in this area,
therefore, is sub-surface, and consists of water from
aquifers that which is retained within
cenotes.
With an
area of 8264 km², Lake Nicaragua
is the largest lake in Mesoamerica.
Lake Chapala
is Mexico’s largest freshwater lake, but Lake Texcoco
is perhaps the most well-known as the location upon
which Tenochtitlan, capital of the
Aztec Empire, was founded. Lake Petén
Itzá
, in northern Guatemala, is notable as the location
at which the last independent Maya city, Tayasal
(or Noh Petén), held out until 1697.
Other
large lakes include Lake Atitlán
, Lake
Izabal
, Lake
Güija, Lemoa, and Lake Managua
.
Biodiversity
Almost all
ecosystems are present in
Mesoamerica; the more well known are the
Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
System, the second largest in the world, and the
Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, a
rainforest second in size in the Americas
only to the
Amazonas. The
highlands present
mixed and
coniferous forest. The biodiversity is
among the richest in the world, although the number of species in
the red list of the
IUCN is growing every
year.
Cultural sub-areas
Mesoamerica and its cultural areas.
There are a number of distinct sub-regions within Mesoamerica that
are defined by a convergence of geographic and cultural attributes.
These sub-regions are more conceptual than culturally meaningful,
and the demarcation of their limits is not rigid. The Maya area,
for example, can be divided into two general groups: the lowlands
and highlands. The lowlands are further divided into the southern
and northern Maya lowlands.
The southern Maya lowlands are generally
conceptualized as encompassing northern Guatemala, southern
Campeche
and Quintana
Roo
in Mexico, and Belize. The northern lowlands
cover the remainder of the northern portion of the Yucatán
Peninsula
. Other areas include Central Mexico, West
Mexico, the Gulf Coast Lowlands, Oaxaca
, the
Southern Pacific Lowlands, and Southeast Mesoamerica (including
northern Honduras).
Chronology and culture
The history of human occupation in Mesoamerica is divided among a
number of stages or periods. These are known, with slight variation
depending on region, as the
Paleo-Indian, the
Archaic, the
Preclassic (or
Formative), the
Classic, and the
Postclassic.
The last three periods, representing the core of Mesoamerican
cultural fluorescence, are further divided into two or three
sub-phases. Most of the time following the arrival of the Spanish
in the 16th century is lumped into the Colonial period.
The differentiation of early periods (i.e., up through the end of
the
Late
Preclassic) generally reflects
different configurations of
socio-cultural organization that are characterized by
increasing socio-political
complexity, the adoption of new and different
subsistence strategies, and
changes in economic organization (including increased interregional
interaction). The
Classic period through
the
Postclassic are
differentiated by the cyclical crystallization and fragmentation of
the various political entities throughout Mesoamerica.
Paleo-Indian
The Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian period precedes the advent of
agriculture and is characterized by a nomadic
hunting and gathering subsistence strategy.
Big-game hunting, similar to that seen in contemporaneous
North America, was a large component of the
subsistence strategy of the Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian. Evidence for
this time period in Mesoamerica is sparse and the documented sites
scattered c. 10,500 BC. These include
Chivacabé,
Los
Tapiales, and
Puerta Parada in the
highlands of Guatemala,
Orange Walk in Belize, and
the El Gigante cave in Honduras. This latter sites had a number of
obsidian blades and
Clovis style fluted
projectile points. Fishtail points, the
most common style in
South America,
were recovered from Puerta Parada, dated to c.
10,000 BC, as well as
other sites including Los Grifos cave in
Chiapas
(c. 8500 BC) and
Iztapan (c.
7700–7300 BC), a mammoth kill site located in the Valley of Mexico
near Texcoco
.
Archaic
The Archaic period (
8000-
2000 BC) is characterized by the rise of
incipient agriculture in
Mesoamerica. The initial phases of the Archaic involved the
cultivation of wild plants, transitioning into informal
domestication and culminating with
sedentism and agricultural production by the close
of the period.
Archaic sites include Sipacate
in Escuintla
, Guatemala, where maize
pollen samples
date to ca. 3500 BC. The well known Coxcatlan cave site in the Valley of
Tehuacán
, Puebla
, which
contains over 10,000 teosinte cobs (an
antecedent to maize), and Guila Naquitz in Oaxaca represent
some of the earliest examples of agriculture in Mesoamerica.
The early
development of pottery, often seen as a sign of sedentism, has been
documented as a number of sites, including the West Mexican sites
of Matanchén in Nayarit
and Puerto Marqués in Guerrero
. La Blanca, Ocós, and Ujuxte in the
Pacific Lowlands of Guatemala
yielded pottery dated to ca. 2500 BC.
Preclassic/Formative
The first
complex civilization to develop in Mesoamerica were the Olmec, who inhabited the gulf coast region of Veracruz
throughout the Preclassic period.
The main
sites of the Olmec include San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
, La
Venta
, and Tres
Zapotes
. Although specific dates vary, these sites
were occupied from roughly 1200 to 400 BC.
Remains of other
early cultures interacting with the Olmec have been found at
Takalik
Abaj
, Izapa
, and
Teopantecuanitlan
, and as far south as in Honduras
. Research in the Pacific Lowlands of Chiapas
and Guatemala suggest that Izapa
and the
Monte Alto Culture may have
preceded the Olmec. Radiocarbon
samples associated with various sculptures found at the Late
Preclassic site of Izapa
suggest a
date of between 1800 and 1500 BC.
The Middle and Late Preclassic witnessed the rise of the
Maya in the southern Maya highlands and
lowlands and at a few sites in the northern Maya lowlands.
The
earliest Maya sites coalesced after 1000 BC, and include Nakbe
, El Mirador
, and Cerros
.
Middle to
Late Preclassic Maya sites include Kaminaljuyú
, Cival, Edzná
, Cobá
, Lamanai
, Komchen
, Dzibilchaltun
, and San Bartolo, among
others.
The
Preclassic in the central Mexican highlands is represented by such
sites as Tlapacoya
, Tlatilco
, and Cuicuilco
. These sites were eventually superseded by
Teotihuacán
, an important Classic era site which would
eventually dominate economic and interaction spheres throughout
Mesoamerica. The settlement of Teotihuacan is dated to later
portion of the Late Preclassic, or roughly A.D. 50.
In the
Valley of Oaxaca, San José
Mogote
represents one of the oldest permanent
agricultural villages in the area, and one of the first to use
pottery. During the Early and Middle Preclassic, the site
developed some of the earliest examples of defensive
palisades, ceremonial structures, the use of
adobe, and
hieroglyphic
writing. Also importantly, the site was one of the first to
demonstrate
inherited status,
signifying a radical shift in socio-cultural and political
structure.
San José Mogote would eventual be overtaken
by Monte
Albán
, the subsequent capital of the Zapotec empire, during the Late
Preclassic.
The
Preclassic in western Mexico, in the states of Nayarit
, Jalisco
, Colima
, and
Michoacán
also known as the Occidente, is poorly
understood. This period is best represented by the thousands
of figurines recovered by looters and ascribed to the "
shaft tomb
tradition".
Classic
Early Classic
The Classic period is marked by the rise and dominance of several
polities. The traditional distinction between the Early and Late
Classic are marked by their changing fortune and their ability to
maintain regional primacy.
Of paramount importance are Teotihuacán in
central Mexico and Tikal
in
Guatemala – indeed, the Early Classic’s temporal limits generally
correlate to the main periods of these sites. Monte Alban in
Oaxaca is another Classic period polity that expanded and
flourished during this period, but the Zapotec capital exerted less
interregional influence than the other two sites.
During the Early Classic, Teotihuacan participated in and perhaps
dominated a far-reaching macro-regional interaction network.
Architectural and artifact styles (talud-tablero, tripod
slab-footed ceramic vessels) epitomized at Teotihuacan were
mimicked and adopted at many distant settlements.
Pachuca obsidian, whose
trade and distribution is argued to have been economically
controlled by Teotihuacan, is found throughout Mesoamerica.
Tikal came to politically, economically, and militarily dominate
much of the southern Maya lowlands during the Early Classic. An
exchange network centered at Tikal distributed a variety of goods
and commodities throughout southeast Mesoamerica, such as obsidian
imported from central Mexico (e.g., Pachuca) and highland Guatemala
(e.g.,
El
Chayal, which was predominantly used by the Maya during the
Early Classic), and
jade
from the
Motagua valley in Guatemala.
Carved inscriptions at the site attest to direct interaction with
individuals adorned in Teotihuacan-styled dress ca 400 AD.
However,
Tikal was often in conflict with other polities in the Petén
Basin
, as well as with others outside of it, including
Uaxactun
, Caracol
, Dos
Pilas
, Naranjo
, and Calakmul
. Towards the end of the Early Classic, this
conflict would lead to Tikal’s military defeat at the hands of
Caracol in 562 and a period commonly known as the
Tikal Hiatus.
Late Classic
The Late Classic period (beginning ca. AD 600 until AD 800/850
[varies]) is characterized as a period of interregional competition
and factionalization among the numerous regional polities in the
Maya area. This largely resulted from the decrease in Tikal’s
socio-political and economic power at the beginning.
It was during this
time that a number of other sites, therefore, rose to regional
prominence and were able to exert greater interregional influence,
including Caracol, Copán
, Palenque
, and Calakmul (who was allied with Caracol and may
have assisted in the defeat of Tikal), and Dos Pilas
Aguateca
and Cancuén in the
Petexbatún
region of Guatemala. Around 710 DC, Tikal
arises again and started to build strong alliances and defeating
its worst enemies. In the Maya area, the Late Classic ended with
the so-called
Maya "collapse," a
transitional period coupling the general depopulation of the
southern lowlands and development and fluorescence of centers in
the northern lowlands.
Terminal Classic
Generally applied to the Maya area, the Terminal Classic roughly
spans the time between AD 800/850 and ca. AD 1000. Overall, it
generally correlates the rise to prominence of
Puuc settlements in the northern Maya lowlands, so
named after the hills in which they are mainly found. Puuc
settlements are specifically associated with a unique architectural
style (the "Puuc architectural style") that represents a
technological departure from previous construction techniques.
Major
Puuc sites include Uxmal
, Sayil
, Labna
, Kabah
, and Oxkintok
. While generally concentrating within the
area in and around the Puuc hills, the style has been documented as
far away as at Chichen
Itza
to the east and Edzna
to the
south.
Chichén Itzá was originally thought to have been a Postclassic site
in the northern Maya lowlands. Research over the past few decades
has established that it was first settled during the Early/Late
Classic transition but rose to prominence during the Terminal
Classic and Early Postclassic. During its apogee, this widely known
site economically and politically dominated the northern lowlands.
Its participation in the circum-peninsular exchange route, possible
through its port site of
Isla
Cerritos, allowed Chichén Itzá to remain highly connected to
areas such as central Mexico and Central America. The apparent
“Mexicanization” of architecture at Chichén Itzá led past
researchers to believe that Chichén Itzá existed under the control
of a Toltec empire. Chronological data refutes this early
interpretation, and it is now known that Chichén Itzá predated the
Toltec; Mexican architectural styles are now used as an indicator
of strong economic and ideological ties between the two
regions.
Postclassic
The Postclassic (beginning AD 900-1000, depending on area) is, like
the Late Classic, characterized by the cyclical crystallization and
fragmentation of various polities. The main Maya centers were
located in the northern lowlands.
Following Chichén Itzá, whose political
structure collapsed during the Early Postclassic, Mayapán
rose to prominence during the Middle Postclassic
and dominated the north for ca. 200 years. After Mayapán’s
fragmentation, political structure in the northern lowlands
revolved around a number of large towns or city-states, such as
Oxkutzcab
and Ti’ho (Mérida,
Yucatán
), that competed with one another.
Toniná
, in the Chiapas highlands, and Kaminaljuyú
in the central Guatemala highlands, were important
southern highland Maya centers. The latter site,
Kaminaljuyú, is one of the longest occupied sites in Mesoamerica
and was continuously inhabited from ca. 800 BC to around AD 1200.
Other
important highland Maya groups include the K'iche' of Utatlán
, the Mam in Zaculeu
, the Poqomam in
Mixco Viejo, and the Kaqchikel at Iximche
in the Guatemalan highlands. The Pipil resided in El Salvador
, while the Ch'orti'
were in eastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras
.
In
central Mexico, the early portion of the Postclassic correlates
with the rise of the Toltec and an empire
based at their capital, Tula
(also
known as Tollan). Cholula, initially an important Early Classic center
contemporaneous with Teotihuacan, maintained its political
structure (it did not collapse) and continued to function as a
regionally important center during the Postclassic. The latter
portion of the Postclassic is generally associated with the rise of
the
Mexica and the
Aztec empire.
One of the more commonly known cultural
groups in Mesoamerica, the Aztec politically dominated nearly all
of central Mexico, the Gulf Coast, Mexico’s southern Pacific Coast
(Chiapas and into Guatemala), Oaxaca, and Guerrero
.
The
Tarascan (also known as the P'urhépecha) were located in Michoacan
and Guerrero. With their capital at
Tzintzuntzan, the Tarascan state was
one of the few to actively and continuously resist Aztec domination
during the Late Postclassic.
Other important Postclassic cultures in
Mesoamerica include the Totonac along the
eastern coast (in the modern-day states of Veracruz
, Puebla
, and
Hidalgo
). The Huastec resided
north of the Totonac, mainly in the modern-day states of Tamaulipas
and northern Veracruz. The Mixtec and Zapotec cultures, centered at Mitla
and
Zaachila
respectively, inhabited Oaxaca.
The Postclassic ends with the
arrival of the Spanish and their
subsequent conquest of the Aztec between 1519 and 1521. It should
be noted that many other cultural groups did not acquiesce until
later.
For example, Maya groups in the Petén area,
including the Itza at Tayasal
and the Ko'woj at Zacpeten, remained independent until
1697.
Some Mesoamerican cultures never achieved dominant status or left
impressive archeological remains but should be mentioned as
noteworthy. These include the
Otomi,
Mixe-Zoque groups (which may or may
not have been related to the Olmecs), the northern
Uto-aztecan groups, often referred to
as the
Chichimeca, that include the
Cora and
Huichol,
the Chontales, the Huaves, and the Pipil, Xincan and Lencan peoples
of Central America.
Summary of the Chronology and Cultures of
Mesoamerica
Period |
Timespan |
Important cultures, cities |
Paleo-Indian |
10,000-3500 BC |
Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, obsidian and pyrite points,
Iztapan, |
Archaic |
3500-1800 BC |
Agricultural settlements, Tehuacán |
|
Preclassic |
BC 2000-250 AD |
Unknown culture in La Blanca and
Ujuxte, Monte
Alto culture |
Early Preclassic |
BC 2000-1000 |
Olmec
area: San
Lorenzo Tenochtitlan ; Central Mexico: Chalcatzingo ; Valley of Oaxaca: San José Mogote . The Maya area: Nakbe , Cerros |
Middle Preclassic |
BC 1000-400 |
Olmec
area: La
Venta , Tres
Zapotes ; Maya area: El Mirador , Izapa , Lamanai , Xunantunich , Naj Tunich, Takalik Abaj , Kaminaljuyú , Uaxactun ; Valley of Oaxaca: Monte Albán |
Late Preclassic |
BC 400-200 AD |
Maya
area: Uaxactun , Tikal , Edzná , Cival, San Bartolo, Altar de Sacrificios , Piedras Negras,
Ceibal, Rio Azul;
Central Mexico: Teotihuacan ; Gulf Coast: Epi-Olmec
culture; Western Mexico: Shaft Tomb
Tradition |
Classic |
200-900 AD |
Classic Maya Centers, Teotihuacan, Zapotec |
Early Classic |
200-600 AD |
Maya
area: Calakmul , Caracol , Chunchucmil , Copán , Naranjo , Palenque , Quiriguá , Tikal , Uaxactun , Yaxha ; Central
Mexico: Teotihuacan apogee; Zapotec
apogee; Western Mexico: Teuchitlan
tradition |
Late Classic |
600-900 AD |
Maya
area: Uxmal , Toniná , Cobá , Waka', Pusilhá, Xultún, Dos Pilas , Cancuen, Aguateca ; Central Mexico: Xochicalco , Cacaxtla ; Gulf Coast: El Tajín and Classic
Veracruz culture; Western Mexico: Teuchitlan tradition |
Terminal Classic |
800-900/1000 AD |
Maya
area: Puuc sites - Uxmal , Labna , Sayil , Kabah |
Postclassic |
900-1519 AD |
Aztec, Tarascans, Mixtec,
Totonac, Pipil,
Itzá, Ko'woj,
K'iche', Kaqchikel, Poqomam, Mam |
Early Postclassic |
900-1200 AD |
Cholula, Tula , Mitla , El
Tajín , Tulum , Topoxte , Kaminaljuyú , Joya de Cerén |
Late Postclassic |
1200- 1519 AD |
Tenochtitlan,
Cempoala , Tzintzuntzan, Mayapán , Ti'ho, Utatlán , Iximche , Mixco Viejo, Zaculeu |
Post Conquest |
Until 1697 AD |
Central Peten: Tayasal , Zacpeten |
General characteristics
Subsistence
By roughly 6000 BCE,
hunter-gatherers living in the
highlands and lowlands of Mesoamerica
began to develop agricultural practices with early cultivation of
squash and chiles. The earliest example of
maize comes from Guila Naquitz, a cave in Oaxaca, that
dates to ca. 4000 BCE.
It should be noted, however, that earlier
maize samples have been documented at the Los Ladrones cave site in
Panama
, ca. 5500 BCE . Slightly thereafter, other
crops begin to be cultivated by the semi-
agrarian communities throughout Mesoamerica.
Although maize is the most common domesticate, the common bean,
tepary bean, scarlet runner bean,
jicama,
tomato and squash all become common
cultivates by 3500 BCE. At the same time,
cotton,
yucca and
agave were exploited for fibers and
textile materials. By 2000 BCE corn is the staple
crop in the region and would remain so up through modern times. The
Ramón or
Breadnut tree (
Brosimum alicastrum) was an
occasional substitute for maize in producing flour. Fruit was also
important in the daily diet of Mesoamerican cultures.
Some of the main ones
consumed include avocado, papaya, guava, mamey
, zapote, and anona.
Mesoamerica lacked animals suitable for domestication, most notably
domesticated large
ungulates -- the lack
of
draft animals to assist in
transportation is one notable difference between Mesoamerica and
the cultures of the South American Andes.
Other animals,
including the duck, deer,
dogs, and turkey
were domesticated. Turkey was the first,
occurring around 3500 BCE. Dogs, however, were the primary source
of animal protein in ancient Mesoamericans, and dog bones are
common in midden deposits throughout the region.
Societies of this region did hunt certain wild species to
complement their diet. These animals included
deer,
rabbit,
birds and various types of insects. They also hunted
in order to gain luxury items such as cat fur and bird
plumage.
Mesoamerican cultures that lived in the lowlands and coastal plains
settled down in agrarian communities somewhat later than did
highland cultures due to the fact that there was a greater
abundance of fruits and animals in these areas which made a
hunter-gatherer lifestyle more attractive. Fishing also was a major
provider of food to lowland and coastal Mesoamericans creating a
further disincentive to settle down in permanent communities.
Recent reports suggest that Mesoamericans in central America used
cocoa beans to help produce beer: the chocolate was a by-product of
the beans used to brew the beer. The practise may date to at least
3,100 to 3,200 years before present. It also is apparent that the
masticated cocoa beans were ground up after fermentation and added
to the beer, giving it a chocolate taste.
Architecture
Political organization
Ceremonial centers were the nuclei of Mesoamerican settlements. The
temples provided spatial orientation, which was imparted to the
surrounding town. The cities with their commercial and religious
centers were always political entities, somewhat similar to the
European
city-state, and each person
could identify themself with the city in which they lived.
The ceremonial centers were always built to be visible. The
pyramids were meant to stand out from the rest of the city, to
represent its gods and their powers. Another characteristic feature
of the ceremonial centers is historic layers. All of the ceremonial
edifices were built in various phases, one on top of the other, to
the point that what we now see is usually the last stage of
construction. Ultimately, the ceremonial centers were the
architectural translation of the identity of each city, as
represented by the veneration of their gods and masters.
Stelae were common public monuments throughout
Mesoamerica, and served to commemorate notable successes, events
and dates associated with the rulers and nobility of the various
sites.
Economy
Given that Mesoamerica was broken into numerous and diverse
ecological niches, none of the societies that inhabited the area in
were self-sufficient . For this reason, from the last centuries of
the
Archaic period
onward, regions compensated for the environmental inadequacies by
specializing in the extraction of certain abundant natural
resources and then trading them for necessary unavailable resources
through established commercial trade networks.
The following is a list of some of the specialized resources traded
from the various Mesoamerican sub-regions and environmental
contexts:
- Pacific lowlands - cotton and cochineal.
- Maya lowlands and the Gulf Coast – cacao,
vanilla, jaguar skins,
birds and bird feathers (especially quetzal
and macaw).
- Central Mexico – Obsidian (Pachuca
).
- Guatemalan highlands – Obsidian (San Martin Jilotepeque,
El Chayal, and
Ixtepeque),
pyrite, and jade from the
Motagua River valley.
- Coastal areas – salt, dry fish, shell, and dyes.
Currency
Sea shells from both coastal areas were used as
currency during the Preclassic . Later,
cacao was used as a standard currency used in diverse
commercial transactions. At the time of conquest, a well made
cotton tunic or shirt in the main markets would sell for about
30-50 cacao beans.
Gold was not used as
valuable object until the Postclassic, but even then, 1 load of
Jade was worth 4 loads of Gold.
Common characteristics of Mesoamerican culture
Calendrical systems
"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days
For agriculturally-based people, historically the year has been
divided into four seasons. These included the two
solstices and the two
equinoxes which could be thought of as the four
"directional pillars" that support the year. These four times of
the year were, and still are, considered important as they indicate
seasonal changes which obviously had a direct impact on the lives
of an agricultural society. In the case of the agricultural Maya,
the seasonal markers were avidly watched and duly recorded. They
prepared almanacs recording past and recent solar and
lunar eclipses, the phases of the
moon, the periods of
Venus and
Mars, the movements of various other planets,
and conjunctions of celestial bodies. These almanacs also made
future predictions concerning celestial events. These tables are
highly accurate and indicate a significant level of knowledge among
Mesoamerica
astronomers.
Among the many types of Maya calendars which were maintained, the
most important included a 260-day cycle, a 365-day cycle which
approximated the solar year, a cycle which recorded lunation
periods of the Moon, and a cycle which tracked the
synodic period of Venus. Philosophically, the Maya
believed that knowing the past meant knowing the cyclical
influences that create the present, and by knowing the influences
of the present one can see the cyclical influences of the future.
The 260 cycle was used as a tool to govern agriculture, observe
religious holidays, and mark the position of the stars, but was
mainly used for divinatory purposes, and to give names to newborns
.
The names given to the days, months, and years in the Mesoamerican
calendar came, for the most part, from animals, flowers, heavenly
bodies and cultural concepts that held symbolic significance in
Mesoamerican culture. This calendar was used throughout the history
of Mesoamerican by nearly every culture. Even today, several Maya
groups in Guatemala, including the
K'iche',
Q'eqchi' and
Kaqchikel, and the
Mixe people of Oaxaca, continue using modernized forms
of the Mesoamerican calendar.
Writing systems
The Mesoamerican scripts deciphered to date are
logosyllabic combining the use of
logograms with a
syllabary, and they are often called
hieroglyphic scripts. Five or six different
scripts have been documented in Mesoamerica but archaeological
dating methods leave it difficult to establish which was earliest
and hence the forebear from which the others developed. The best
documented and deciphered Mesoamerican writing system, and hence
the most widely known, is the classic
Maya
script. Others include the
Olmec, Zapotec, and
Epi-Olmec systems. An extensive
Mesoamerican literature has been
conserved partly in indigenous scripts and partly in the
postconquest transcriptions in the
Latin
script.
The other
glyph writing systems
of Mesoamerica, and their usage, have been the subject of much
debate. The ongoing discussion is whether or not non-Maya
Mesoamerican writing systems can be considered examples of true
written language or whether it is best understood as a
pictographic convention used to express ideas,
specifically religious ones, but not representing the phonetic
reality of the language in which they might be read.
Mesoamerican writing was practiced on a number of different
mediums, including large stone monuments such as
stelae, carverd directly onto architecture, carved or
painted over stucco (e.g.,
murals), and on
pottery. The
Maya
codices were produced on
amate paper
produced from bark. No Mesoamerican society has had widespread
literacy, and literacy and use of writing systems have been
restricted to the classes of scribes and painters, and the
nobility.
The ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame was a sport with ritual associations
played for over 3000 years by nearly all pre-Columbian peoples of
Mesoamerica. The sport had different versions in different places
during the millennia, and a modern version of the game,
ulama, continues to be played in a few
places.
Over 1300
ballcourts have
been found throughout Mesoamerica. They vary considerably in size,
but they all feature long narrow alleys, with side-walls against
which the balls could bounce.
The rules of the ballgame are not known, but it was probably
similar to volleyball, where the object is to keep the ball in
play. In the most well-known version of the game, the players would
strike the ball with their hips, although some versions allowed the
use of forearms or employed rackets, bats, or handstones. The ball
was made of solid rubber, and weighed up to 4 kg or more, with
sizes that differed greatly over time or according to the version
played.
While the game was played casually for simple recreation, including
by children and perhaps even women, the game also had important
ritual aspects, and major formal ballgames would be held as ritual
events, often featuring human sacrifice.
Medicine and science
Medicine
Mesoamerican science and learning can be thought of as existing
along two principal axes: those of the magical mind and the logical
mind, which, despite being distinct, managed to coexist . In the
field of medicine there were two schools: one was the
shamanist tradition, where
shaman is
understood as being a priestly healer who dealt with certain
ailments, the most common of which was the loss of the soul. In
order to cure his patients, the shaman turned to psychotropic drugs
(
peyote,
tobacco, red
beans mixed with
mescaline,
psilocybin mushrooms) and magical
manipulations (incantations, offerings).
The other school of medicine consisted of pragmatic knowledge . In
Mesoemerica there were healers who knew how to deal with fractures,
treat and dress wounds, and were even able to perform certain
obstetric procedures. They also knew how
to treat using plants, and successfully used the active ingredient
in
aspirin, which at that time was already
known, and extracted from willow bark. Medicine was practiced by
priests who inherited their position and received extensive
education. The
Maya sutured wounds
with human hair, reduced fractures, and used casts. They were
skillful dental surgeons and made prostheses from jade and
turquoise and filled teeth with iron pyrite. Three clinical
diseases,
pinta,
leishmaniasis, and
yellow fever, and several
psychiatric syndromes
were described.
Tuberculosis, although
wide spread both in North and South America, has not been
documented in Mesoamerica, with the exception of 3 skeletons near
today's Mexico City, it can be due to a wide spread of Iron
deficiency common among the Mesoamericans, according to a recent
(2006) study by AK Wilbur,
J.
E. Buikstra, from Arizona State University. The
ceramic figurines depicting dwarfs, and other diseased people are
common, as well as maternal breast feeding and pregnancy.
Arithmetic
Mesoamerican
arithmetic treated
numbers as having both literal and symbolic value,
the result of the
dualistic nature that
characterized Mesoamerican ideology. . As mentioned, the
Mesoamerican numbering system was vigesimal (i.e., based on the
number 20).
In representing numbers, a series of bars and dots were employed.
Dots had a value of one, and bars had a value of five. This type of
arithmetic was combined with a symbolic numerology: '2' was related
to origins, as all origins can be thought of as doubling; '3' was
related to household fire; '4' was linked to the four corners of
the universe; '5' expressed instability; '9' pertained to the
underworld and the night; '13' was the number for light, '20' for
abundance, and '400' for infinity.
The concept of
zero was also used, and its representation at the Late
Preclassic occupation of Tres Zapotes
is one of the earliest uses of zero in human
history.
One of the great contributions to arithmetic, above all that of the
Mexica, was the invention of the
nepohualtzitzin, an
abacus used to quickly carry out mathematical
operations. The device, made of wood, string, and grains of maize,
is also known as the "Aztec computer".
Mythology and worldview
The shared traits in Mesoamerican mythology are characterized by
their common basis as a religion that although in many Mesoamerican
groups developed into complex polytheistic religious systems,
retained some shamanistic elements.
The great breadth of the Mesoamerican
pantheon of
deities
is due to the incorporation of ideological and religious elements
from the first primitive religion of Fire, Earth, Water and Nature.
Astral divinities (the sun, stars, constellations, and Venus) were
adopted, and represented in anthropomorphic,
zoomorphic, and anthropozoomorphic sculptures,
and in day-to-day objects.
The qualities of these gods and their attributes changed with the
passage of time and with cultural influences from other
Mesoamerican groups. The gods are at once three different cosmic
entities, and at the same time just one. An important
characteristic of Mesoamerican religion was the dualism among the
divine entities. The gods represented the confrontation between
opposite poles: the positive, exemplified by light, the masculine,
force, war, the sun, etc.; and the negative, exemplified by
darkness, the feminine, repose, peace, the moon, etc.
The typical Mesoamerican cosmology sees the world as separated into
a day world governed by the sun and an underworld to which the
dying sun goes at night to be reborn again the following morning,
and united by a
Ceiba tree (Yaxche' in Mayan).
The geographic vision is also tied to these concepts and the
cardinal points as well as certain geographical features in nature
are linked to different parts of this cosmovision. For example
caves are extremely important geographical features as are
mountains and
cenotes (natural wells),
because they are seen as connecting the upper and the nether
worlds. The influence of this cosmovision on most mesoamerican
societies was so strong as to be crucial in cityplanning and
architecture. .
Sacrifice
Among the Mesoamerican cultures,
sacrifice
was a deeply symbolic and highly ritualized activity with strong
religious and political significance. The various kinds of
sacrifice were performed within a range of cultural contexts, from
mundane everyday activities to those activities performed by elites
and ruling lineages, the aim of which were the maintenance of
sociocultural and political structure.
Sacrifice symbolized the renewal of the divine cosmic energy and
the continuation of life, as well as gratitude to the gods. Its
ability to do so is based on two intertwined concepts that are
common to most Mesoamerican belief systems (in one form or
another). The first is the notion that the gods had given life to
mankind by sacrificing parts of their own bodies. The second is
that
blood, which often signified life among
Mesoamerican belief systems, was partially made up of the blood of
the gods (who sacrificed it and gave it to humans while creating
life). Thus, in order to maintain the order of their universe, most
Mesoamerican groups believed that blood and life had to be given
back to the gods.
As mentioned, blood signified life, and was the liquid that
satisfied the thirst of the gods (which varied depending on the
culture) and revitalized them. Blood would not only revitalize the
gods, but also the earth, plants (especially the maize harvest),
and animals (e.g., the
jaguar and the
eagle, both highly symbolic animals). Blood was viewed
as necessary for life as
water, both in the
terrestrial world and the world of the gods, and to replenish it to
the gods was an obligation.
Generally, sacrifice can be divided into two types:
autosacrifice and
human sacrifice. The different forms
of sacrifice are reflected in the imagery used to evoke ideological
structure and sociocultural organization in Mesoamerica. In the
Maya area, for example, stele depict bloodletting rituals performed
by ruling elites, eagles and jaguars devouring human hearts, jade
circles or necklaces that represented hearts, and plants and
flowers that symbolized both nature and the blood that provided
life. Imagery also showed pleas for rain or pleas for blood, with
the same intention – to replenish the divine energy.
Autosacrifice
Autosacrifice, also called
bloodletting, is the ritualized practice of
drawing blood from oneself. It is commonly seen or represented
through iconography as performed by ruling elites in highly
ritualized ceremonies, but it is easily practiced among mundane
sociocultural contexts (i.e., non-elites could perform
autosacrifice). The act was typically performed with
obsidian prismatic
blades or
stingray spines, and blood was drawn from
piercing or cutting the
tongue,
earlobes, and/or
genitals
(among other locations). Another form of autosacrifice was
conducted by pulling a rope with attached thorns through the tongue
or earlobes. The blood produced was then collected on paper held in
a bowl.
Autosacrifice was not limited to male rulers, as their female
counterparts often performed these ritualized activities. They are
typically shown in performing the rope and thorns technique. A
recently discovered queen's tomb in the Classic Maya site of
Waka (also known as El
Perú) had a ceremonial stingray spine placed in her genital area,
suggesting that women also performed bloodletting in their
genitalia.
Human Sacrifice
Sacrifice had great importance in the social and religious aspects
of Mesoamerican Culture. First, it showed death transformed into
the divine. Death is the consequence of a human sacrifice, but it
is not the end; it is but the continuation of the cosmic cycle.
Death creates life – divine energy is liberated through death and
returns to the gods, who are then able to create more life.
Secondly, it justifies war, since the most valuable sacrifices are
obtained through conflict. The death of the warrior is the greatest
sacrifice, and gives the gods the energy to go about their daily
activities, such as the bringing of rain. Warfare and the capturing
of prisoners became a method of social advancement, and a religious
cause. Finally, it justifies the control of power by the two ruling
classes, the priests and the warriors. The priests control the
religious ideology, and the warriors supply the sacrifice.
Astronomy
Mesoamerican
astronomy included a broad
understanding of the cycles of planets and other celestial bodies.
Special importance was given to the
sun,
moon, and
Venus as the
morning and
evening star.
Observatories were built at a number of
sites, including the round observatory at Ceibal and the “Observatorio” at Xochicalco
. Often, the architectural organization of
Mesoamerican sites was based on precise calculations derived from
astronomical observations.
Well-known examples of these include the
El
Castillo
pyramid at Chichen Itza and the Observatorio at
Xochicalco
. A unique and common architectural complex
found among many Mesoamerican sites are
E-Groups, which are aligned so as to serve as
astronomical observatories.
The name of this complex is based on
Uaxactun
’s “Group E,” the first known observatory in the
Maya area. Perhaps the earliest observatory documented in
Mesoamerica is that of the
Monte Alto
culture. This complex consisted of 3 plain stelae and a temple
oriented with respect to the
Pleiades.
The symbolism of space and time
It has been argued that among Mesoamerican societies the concepts
of
space and
time are
associated with the four
cardinal
compass points and linked together by the
calendar (Duverger 1999). Dates or events were
always tied to a compass direction, and the calendar specified the
symbolic geographical characteristic peculiar to that period.
Resulting from the significance held by the cardinal directions,
many Mesoamerican architectural features, if not entire
settlements, were planned and oriented with respect to
directionality.
In Maya mythology, each cardinal point was assigned a specific
color and a specific jaguar deity (
Bacab). They are as follows:
- Hobnil
- Bacab of the East, associated with the color
red and the Kan years.
- Can
Tzicnal - Bacab of the North,
assigned the color white and the Muluc years,
- Zac
Cimi - Bacab of the West,
associated with the color black and the Ix years.
- Hozanek
- Bacab of the South, associated with the
color yellow and the Cauac years.
Later cultures such as the
Kaqchikel and
K'iche' maintain the association of cardinal
directions with each color, but utilized different names.
Among the Aztec, the name of each day was associated with a
cardinal point (thus conferring symbolic significance), and each
cardinal direction was associated with a group of symbols. Below
are the symbols and concepts associated with each direction:
- East – crocodile, the
serpent, water, cane, and movement. The East was linked to the
world priests and associated with vegetative fertility, or, in
other words, tropical exuberance.
- North – wind, death, the dog, the jaguar, and flint (or chert). The north
contrasts the east in that it is conceptualized as dry, cold, and
oppressive. It is considered to be the nocturnal part of the
universe, and includes the dwellings of the dead. The dog (xoloitzcuintle) has a very specific meaning,
as it is the one who accompanies the deceased during the trip to
the lands of the dead and helps them cross the river of death that
leads into nothingness. (See also Dogs in Mesoamerican
folklore and myth).
- West - the house, the
deer, the monkey, the
eagle, and rain. The west
was associated with the cycles of vegetation, specifically the
temperate high plains that experience light rains, and the change
of seasons. *
- South – rabbit, the
lizard, dried herbs, the
buzzard, and flowers. It is related on the one hand to the
luminous Sun and the noon heat, and on the other with rain filled
with alcoholic drink. The rabbit, the principal symbol of the west,
was associated with farmers and with pulque.
Political and religious art
Mesoamerican
artistic expression was conditioned
by
ideology and generally related to
focusing on themes of
religion and/or
sociopolitical
power. This is
largely based on the fact that most works that survived the Spanish
conquest were public monuments. These monuments were typically
erected by rulers who sought to visually legitimize their
sociocultural and political position; by doing so, they intertwined
their lineage, personal attributes and achievements, and legacy
with religious concepts. As such, these monuments were specifically
designed for public display and took many forms, including
stele,
sculpture,
architectural
reliefs, and other types of
architectural elements (e.g., roofcombs). Other themes expressed
include tracking time, glorifying the city, and veneration of the
gods – all of which were tied into explicitly aggrandizing the
abilities and the reign of the ruler who commissioned the
artwork.
Another type of pre-Hispanic art that was produced for its inner,
rather than outward, meaning. It is differentiated from the first
type in that its value is related not so much in what is visually
depicts, but rather in what it represents. Earthenware (
ceramic vessels) are an example of this type of
artistic expression, and were symbolic due to the origin of their
source material; they were often in burial rituals and as the
invisible faces of statues.
See also
Footnotes
References
External links