Anthro 150 Study Guide Adena Native American culture Seen as the precursor to the Hopewell culture influence on other contemporary and succeeding cultures They were effigy mound builders Hopewell influence sphere earliest development in North America mobile foraging people Existed from 1000 200 BC located along Ohio river United States Ajaw Ajaw Mesoamerica Maya culture High Priests of the Classic Maya period No military power force enormous respect from groups priest king communicated with gods and makes the rains stop crops grow etc Not so much involved in politics More poorly nourished than peasants bc they re given the leftovers Workers farmers producers crafts people bring goods to the high priests but they get nothing in return decisions seemed to be made at the local levelsfarmers peasants were actually eating very well even better than the elite bc the priests got the farmers leftovers Algonquian New England tribe Pine Hill Site Deerfield MA Nomadic Social structure egalitarian less stratified Didn t have a nation Physical barrier between them and Iroquois mountain rangewhy didn t they settle down They chose not toNative American tribes lived off diet of cultivating maize beans and squash located in New England nomadic no permanent settlements pottery tended to be thicker and heavier then Iroquois it holds up to stress such as dropping and better for carrying things they might not be by these resources and they needed something that could last a long time Iroquois pottery is suited towards temperature stress Aztec Modern day Mexico Rose to power through military and materialistic defeat of the Toltec In Valley of Mexico 1150 AD 1519 They stopped because of the Spanish Conquest Southwest of Gulf of Mexico Ball courts Places in which public rituals were performed by elites Not only were ball games played that the community could watch So elites were able to put on a show for the community and consolidate their power while giving a shared experience to the commoners Mayans and Aztecs did this It represented monumental architecture Contribute to the solidifying of society Brings everyone together Sense of community Giant public participatory eventhelps the elite Show off resources Consolidate power convince people they re worthy of supporting religious significance One team was sometimes sacrifices Connected to the story of the 2 brothers whose father died they went to the underworld they played the underworld gods to get their father back and it symbolizes birth death and the renewal of the crops Bloodletting More elaborate the ritual the higher your status Where did this ritual come from rituals were done in each persons family unit and the Ahaus started doing the same ritual but would tell everyone that the right way to do it was their way So then eventually it became a ritual that only Ahaus could performthis creates a stratified society Piercing of Tongue catch blood on bark and set bark on fire In the Mayan culture everyone did it but the nobles did it publicly and more dramatically Nobles used stingray spines instead of bone Bonampak Pre Classic and Classic Period Murals that represented violent rituals occurring Specific term we used for elites of society doing battles with each other flower warfare Elites of one city state would go to war with each other If they got control of the elite they would have control of the other city Cacao Pods Aztecs and Mayans a little bit mostly Aztec Basis of many Mesoamerican foods also the basis of chocolate Cocoa used as a form of currency and trade Cahokia Present day Ohio Largest and most influential settlement in Mississippian culture location of Monks Mound ceremonial system built from giant piles of dirt the largest earthen man made mound in the world up to this time in history Cenote Big body of water threw bodies in there for sacrifice sinkholes in the limestone Sacred Cenote Largest Cenote Structures around Cenote Throw people animals etc in there for sacrificesthought they had a connection to the underworldbecause it was a natural sinkhole and they couldn t see the bottom Chichen Itza Lowlands Northern Yucatan Mayamassive urban center with a Cenote courtyard ball courts monuments temples etc El Castillo Temple of Kukulkan Unlike Maya structures the steps are limited Not made for public performances More things go on inside the temple rather than outside on platforms like the Maya structures Columns surrounding temple Soldiers drawn on the columns At the top there s the Chachmool used in the new fire ceremony celebrate the coming of spring Platform for human sacrifice maybe Ball court Largest ball court Huge courtyard surrounding it Skull Rack Skulls carved into stone outside the ball court Sacred Cenote Largest Cenote Structures around Cenotethrow people in there for sacrifices Significance of Chichen Itza Architecture is significant At traditional Maya sites there are giant temples but at Chichen its they have elaborate architecture called Puuc architecture What does this elaborate architecture mean They were independent and had influence from other cultures Maybe influence from the Itzak culture Chinampas Classic Period Mesoamerica Yucatan region lowlands most north Maya Type of agriculture Floating gardens channels through the swamps in which you build raised mud platforms where you grow food Labor intensive but effective City State State organized civilization with large urban resource areas known as cities place for trade commerce political religious headquarters in cities each city is self sustaining Civilization Complex societies throughout history hard to describe what exactly civilization is grouping of people Codex Codices Scroll book most of them were burned by the Spanish Books found that describe many aspects of Aztec and Mayan life there are only a few that are found in the world historical accounts tribute records calendars Spanish burned all but 3 Collapse Reasons for Maya collapse Drought archaeological evidence Sudden drops in population size Changes in the stream beds Soil deposits Soil Depletion Population Overshoot Have more people than your resources can support Related to all the reasons for collapse Deforestation Archaeological evidence Date the trees back to see if they were old enough to exist before the deforestation No buildings made out of wood before after a certain point Slash Burn Agriculture Not actually bad for the soil overtime When the population exceeds the amount of land you have to