WOMEN IN PRE-COLUMBIAN LATIN AMERICA The history of Central America or Meso-America as it is usually referred to will be linked in this chapter to South America. North America will not be covered in this section as it is usually covered in conjunction with United States History. Both Central and South American areas are usually called Latin America, because of the Spanish and Portuguese languages that were imposed on these people in the sixteenth and subsequent centuries. Complex societies developed in these regions, but later than in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia based on current archaeological findings. The most important cultures were the Mayas, Aztecs and Incas, and these will be the major focus of this chapter. The Olmec society is considered the mother culture of Meso-America, settling in the Caribbean lowlands, primarily on the gulf coast of Mexico, and dates from circa 1200 - 900 b.c.e. According to many archaeologists it was the cornerstone for the rest of the civilizations that followed, although there were other cultures flourishing at the same time too, but did not leave such impressive monumental architectural artifacts. The most famous Olmec monuments were immense nine feet tall basalt stone heads, that were purple-painted portraits of their rulers, circa 1200 b.c.e. Trade was important, especially in raw materials like obsidian, marine shells, stingray spines and finely carved jade. Metallurgy did not become important in Meso-America until quite late, and then metal was used mainly for ceremonial items not for tools. Without cows, horses, donkeys, oxen, and wheeled vehicles, humans were the beasts of burden. San Lorenzo was one of their chief places. As they had no chariots or cavalry, fighting was done by infantry. Battles seem to have been clashes of individuals, not coordinated groups. Apparently they had writings similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics, but as they were inscribed into wood, the humid heat of the jungle destroyed most all of the writings. These people used the jungle toad that caused hallucinations in at least their religious rituals. Not only did they worship a half man half jaguar god, but they claimed to be related to these jaguars. The Olmecs were the ones that originated the sacrificing of humans to their gods, that will be continued under the Mayans and Aztecs. The Zapotecs in their sacred city of Monte Alban supposedly devised the pulling of the beating heart out of the chest, as a unique method of human sacrifice. It is thought they also practiced ritual cannibalism, and may have taken the heads of their conquered foes, just like the ancient Celts did in Europe.2 The next civilization that has been distinguished by scholars is that of Teotihuacan, circa 300 b.c.e. - 700 a.c.e., one thousand years of a brilliant civilization. Teotihuacan was also the name of its sacred city, located close to present-day Mexico City. It was larger than imperial Rome, covering more than nine square miles and home to more than 200,000 people. The Teotihuacans like the ancient Olmecs erected monumental edifices, but they were pyramids not heads. The Teotihuacans had a theocracy. These pyramids were temples to the deities with smaller stones than those used in Egypt's pyramids, they were covered with stucco and decorated with carvings and colored frescoes. These people introduced the worship of the plumed serpent god Quetzalcoatl, whose cult will become universal in Meso-America, and play an integral role in the eventual demise of their culture when Cortez is mistaken for this deity. Meso-America civilization reached its highest intellectual development under the Mayas, the next civilization of note. Referred by some as the Greeks of the New World, they migrated into Central America too, originally in the lowlands, but eventually into the highlands of Guatemala, where the zenith of their culture occurred. Today there are many Guatemalans of Mayan descent and they speak the Mayan dialects. This culture reached its peak circa 300-900 a.c.e. (OTHER DATES TOO CHECK OUT) After a century of adversity or obscurity the Mayans then fused with the Toltecs, and flourished in the 1th and 12th centuries. Agriculture was the mainstay of Mayan culture. In Meso-America it was maize that was the central crop, comparable to rice for Asia and wheat for Europe. Narrow rectangular fields were raised to allow for the most efficient irrigation system. Farmers also relied on milpa for growing maize, where a patch of forest land will be cut and burned, then seeds planted in the ashes. Cotton, beans and squash were also important crops. It was the women who then wove the cotton into cloth. Dogs were their main source of protein along with turkeys. The Mayans were polytheistic, worshiping a number of natural elements that were both zoomorphic and anthropomorphic. The Mayas believed that they had been several worlds before their present one, and each one had been destroyed by a great flood. The creator deity was a mother, who passed on her power to her three sons, creating the present world. One of Palenque's3Palenque's kings, Pacal, stated that it was his mother, Lady Zac Kuk, who was the first mother. There is an extent Tablet of the Cross at Palenque, one of the important Mayan cities, that tells the legend of the first mother. Pacal himself was identified with the three patron gods. The most complete record of Maya myth and history is Popol Vuh, where it relates that the people were created from maize. The rain deity was propitiated by the throwing of a virgin into a well. It the god did not drown her, then she could be rescued. Ix Chel was the goddess of the moon and rainbows. At the time of the Spanish Conquest Cozumel Island off the eastern coast of Mexico was a major place of veneration for Ix Chel. Her most important roles were healing, divination and assisting during childbirth. No event held greater significance for most Mayans than the birth of a child. No only were children considered the measure of personal wealth and good fortune, they implied the direct sanction of the gods, especially Ix Chel, whose image was placed under expectant mothers during labor, and under barren women to encourage fertility. As the moon goddess, when she had sexual intercourse with the sun, this was the first sexual coupling in history. There are many stories connected with Ix Chel. Some of these tales tell about her infidelities towards her husband, the sun, and others gods. The