Maya Boschulte Period 6

Chapter 11 Notes

1.August of 682 B.C.E. – Lady Wac-Chanil-Ahau of the Mayans traveled by sedanto Dos Pilas
to carry out her arranged marriage to powerful nobleman

2.Smoking squirrel, son of Lady-Wac-Chanil-Ahau took the throne when he 5-years-old

3.The peoples of the Americas were in constant competition for resources

4.In other parts of the hemisphere, the native peoples had adapted to combinations of
agriculture and hunting to preserve a side variety of cultural traditions,settlement patterns and
political forms

5.Classic-era culture and Society in Mesoamerica:

A.Mesoamericans were brought together by what they had in common in religious beliefs and
practices, social structures + material culture

B.They made impressive progress in astronomy and mathematics, advanced new forms of
political organization and developed agricultural productivity

C.Classic-period cities of 900 C.E. – featured pyramids and platforms dedicated to religious
functions; divided by classes; controlled by hereditary political and religious elites

D.Cultural and political innovations did not rely on new technologies;instead depended on ability
of influential elites to command and organize increasing numbers of soldiers and laborers

E.​TEOTIHUACAN

*Teotihuacan – a powerful city-state in central Mexico (100 B.C.E.-750 C.E.); population=about

150k @ its peak in 600; was the largest city in the Americas

Religion played a large role; religious architecture dominated the center of the city; the people
worshiped many gods and other not-as-important spirits (Sun, Moon and Quetzalcoatal,
feathered serpent); practicing human sacrifice was part of the daily rituals

*chinampas – raised fields constructed along lake shores in Mesoamerica to increase

agricultural yields; allowed year-round agriculture because of resistance to frost and subsurface
irrigation

● Apartment-like stone buildings housed members of a single kinship group

● 2 popular craft groups=produced obsidian tools and pottery
● Elite members (the wealthy) controlled commerce, tax collection & the state bureaucracy
environments; using cold, dry climate to freeze dry foods;domestication of the llama=wool, meat
and long-distancetransportation

*khipus

system of knotted colored cords used by preliterate Andean peoples to transmit information

*ayllu

Andean lineage group or kin-based community

Ayllu=model for division of labor and dispersal of goods at everylevel of Andean society

mit’a

Andean labor system based on shared obligations to helpkinsmen and work on behalf of the
ruler and religious organizations

Workers did: building and maintaining of palaces, roads, temples, bridges, and large irrigation
and drainage projects; manufacturedtextiles and goods necessary to life (beer from maize,
coca)
Workers were divided by gender; militaryservice+government+hunting

=men’s role; agriculture+textile production+the home=women’s role

Specialized resources: Coastal regions=fish+maize+cotton; Mtnvalleys=quinoa+potatoes+other

tubers; higherelevations=meat+wool of llamas+alpacas; Amazonianregion=coca+fruitsE.

MOCHE

*Moche

Civilization of the N coast of Peru (200-700 C.E.); animportant Andean civilization that built
extensive irrigation networksas well as impressive urban centers dominated by brick temples

Did not institute a formal empire or found integrated politicalstructures

Moche society was highly structures and theocratic (gov’t by god

or priests); came from the need to organize the workers to buildand maintain irrigation
systems=class divisions

Peasants dedicated their time to subsistence farming +payment oflabor that was owed to
elite+ayllu
Craft workers: women had special role in producing textiles; potters created unique and prized
vases and other vessels thatsymbolized rituals and myths; metalworkers=gold jewelry,
heavycopper and copper alloy for military+agricultural reasons

th

century

sequence of natural disasters

weaken economy

sabotage authority of political and religious leaders, who “had powers over natural forces”

F.

TIWANAKU AND WARI

*Tiwanaku

name of capital city and empire centered on the regionnear Lake Titicaca in modern Bolivia
(375-1000 C.E.)
Used drainage projects to reclaim lakeside marshes for agriculture;allowed intensive agriculture

Llamas retained long-distance relationships that transported coca,medicinal plants, corn and
tropical fruits

High quality construction projects: reservoir, large terraced pyramid and walled enclosures; built
from finely cut stone thatrequired little mortar; tools were made from copper alloy

The elite had power over a massive, well-organized labor force inthe surrounding region

Military conquests and the founding of colonies helped to delivergoods from ecologically diverse
zones

*Wari

Andean civilization culturally linked to Tiwanaku, perhaps beginning as a colony of Tiwanaku

1k C.E.

Tiwanaku+Wari declined to nothingnessG.

THE INCA
*Inca

largest and most powerful Andean empire; controlled thePacific coast of S America from
Ecuador to Chile from its capital ofCuzco

Built upon traditional Andean economic practices and socialcustoms

The people used state power to extend and enlarge the verticalexchange system that had
allowed ayllus to use the resources ofmany ecological niches

Cuzco=imperial capital; area of provincial cities, imperial armies,

state’s religious cults + royal court

; in the shape of a giant puma/mountain lion; palaces of past and current rulers were present in
the city; many temples too, richest being Temple fot ehSun)

Sacrifices of the Inca include: animals, textiles, valuable possessions and occasionally human
lives

The Andes were united together by the expanded traditionalexchange system, along with its
strong military

As the Inca expanded their territory, local rulers were left in their place; rebellion was prevented
through military garrisons and

“hostage taking” (the heirs of the local rulers were sent to live at
the Inca royal court in Cuzco)

Imperial bureaucracy was created by the extravagant power of theInca ruler

The royal family claimed to have been descendants of the Sun(main Inca god)

Religious and political rituals helped authorize the power of theruler and the members of the
royal family

The Inca did not introduce new technology, but added to region’s

wealth and increased economic production

Technology of Inca: metallurgy (bronze and copper), astronomy,weaving and metal work (silver
and gold)

1525

death of Hayna Capac, Inca ruler, which lead to struggle forthrone; a civil war rose and
eventually, the weakened empire lostcontrol over its massive territories