Chapter 6: EARLY SOCIETIES IN THE AMERICAS AND OCEANIA The cultures of the Americas and Oceania developed in relative isolation to the other early complex societies. Nevertheless, they too developed an agricultural base sufficient to support growing populations, specialized labor,, political institutions, diversee societies, andd long-distancsystems did not develop or written documents perished or weree destroyed. The fragments of writing and archeological findings trading networks. Less is known of these cultures than those inn other parts off the world primarily becausee either writing indicate that these societies were complex and developed rich cultural traditions. The early societies in the Americas Built elaborate ceremonial centers that reflected both a complex religion and a powerful politicall authority Left a rich artistic legacy that included pottery, sculpture, metalwork, and painting Developed sophisticated knowledge of astronomy and mathematics The early societies of Oceania Saw the gradual dissemination of agricultural technology spread by Austronesian seafarers who traded and settled throughout the Pacific Formed a well-integrated society knownn as Lapita that stretched from New Guineaa to Tonga Chapter Outline I. Early societies of Mesoamerica A. The Olmecs 1. Migration to Mesoamerica a. Large wave of humans traveled from Siberia to Alaska around 13,0000 B.C.E. b. By 9500 B.C.E., humans reached the southernmost partt of South America c. As hunting became difficult, agriculture began (7500 B.C.E.) 2. Early agriculture: beans, squashes, chilies; later, maize became the staple (5000 B.C.E.) a. Agricultural villages appeared after 30000 B.C.E. b. No large domesticated animals, no wheeled vehicles 3. Ceremonial centers by the end of the second millennium B.C.E. 4. Olmecs, the "rubber people," lived near the Gulf of Mexico (1200 B.C.E.) a. Elaborate complexes built b. The colossall human heads--possibly likenesses of rulers c. shown in construction of huge pyramids Rulers' power d. Trade in jade and obsidian e. Decline of Olmecs: systematically destroyed ceremonial centers by 400 B.C.E. 5. Influence of Olmec: maize, ceremonial centers, calendar, human sacrifice, balll game B. Heirs of the Olmecs: the Mayaa 1. The Maya lived in the highlands of Guatemala a. Besides maize, they also cultivated cottonn and cacao b. Tikal was the most important Maya political center, 3000 to 900 C.E. c. Maya warfare: warriors had prestige; captives were slaves or victims d. Chichén Itzá, power by the ninth century; loose empiree in Yucatan e. Maya decline began in 8000 C.E.; many Mayans deserted their cities C. Maya society and religion 1. Maya society was hierarchical a. Kings, priests, and hereditary nobility at the top b. Merchants were from the ruling class; they served also as ambassadors c. Professional architects and artisans were important d. Peasants and slaves were majority of population 2. The Maya calendar had both solar and ritual yearss interwoven 3. Maya writing was ideographic and syllabic; only four books survive 4. Religious thought a. Popol Vuh, a Maya creation myth, taughtt that gods created humans out of maize and water b. Gods maintained agricultural cycles in exchange for honors and sacrifices c. Bloodletting rituals honored gods for rains 5. The Maya ball game: sporting, gambling, and religious significance
II. III. D. Heirs of the Olmecs: Teotihuacan 1. The city of Teotihuacan in the highlands of Mexico a. Colossal pyramids of sun and moon b. High point between 400 and 600 C.E.; two hundred thousand inhabitants c. Paintings and murals reflect the importance of priests 2. Teotihuacan society a. Rulers and priests dominated society b. Two-thirds of the city inhabitants worked in fields during daytime c. Artisans were famous for their obsidian tools and orange pottery d. Professional merchants traded extensively throughout Mesoamerica e. No sign of military organization or conquest 3. Cultural traditions: ball game, calendar, writing, sacrifices 4. Decline of Teotihuacan from about 650 C.E.; was sacked and destroyed mid-eighth century Early societies of South America A. Early Andean society and the Chavín cult 1. Early migration to Peru and Bolivia region a. By 12,000 B.C.E. hunting and gathering peoples reached South America b. By 8000 B.C.E. they began to experiment with agriculture c. Complex societies appeared in central Andean region after 1000 B.C.E. d. Andean societies were located in modern-day Peru and Bolivia 2. Early agriculture in South America a. Main crops: beans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, cotton b. Fishing supplemented agricultural harvests c. By 1800 B.C.E. the people produced pottery, built temples and pyramids 3. The Chavín Cult, from about 900 to 300 B.C.E. a. Complexity of Andean society increases during Chavín b. Devised techniques of producing cotton textiles and fishing nets c. Discovered gold, silver, and copper metallurgy d. Cities began to appear shortly after Chavín cult e. Early Andeans did not make use of writing B. Early Andean states: Mochica (300-700 C.E.) in northern Peru 1. Irrigation, trade, military, no writing 2. Artistic legacy: painting on pottery, ceramics Early societies of Oceania A. Early societies in Australia and New Guinea 1. Human migrants arrived in Australia and New Guinea at least sixty thousand years ago a. By the mid-centuries of the first millennium C.E., human communities in all habitable islands of the Pacific Ocean b. About ten thousand years ago, rising seas separated Australia and New Guinea c. Australia: hunting and gathering until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries C.E. d. New Guinea: Turned to agriculture about 3000 B.C.E. 2. Austronesian peoples from southeast Asia were seafarers to New Guinea, 3000 B.C.E. 3. Early agriculture in New Guinea: root crops and herding animals B. The peopling of the Pacific Islands 1. Austronesian migration to Polynesia a. Outrigger canoes enabled them to sail safely b. Agriculture and domesticated animals 2. Austronesian migrations to Micronesia and Madagascar 3. Lapita Society from New Guinea to Tonga (1500-500 B.C.E.) a. Agricultural villages b. Pottery with geometric designs c. Networks of trade/communication: pottery, obsidian, shells, tools traded d. After 500 B.C.E. trade network declined; cultures developed independently e. Hierarchical chiefdoms; tension led to migration f. Divine or semi divine chiefs: led public rituals, oversaw irrigation
CHAPTER 6 EARLY SOCIETIES IN THE AMERICAS AND OCEANIA Before you get started: Do not be frightened by the opening pages of this chapter in the Bentley/Ziegler textbook; By the time you finish reading this chapter you will realize that this chapter is really mostly about migration, geography, trade, and culture. While this chapter has a lot of content that is not required for the national exam, it is really important to keep the themes in mind to help you sort the information into "need to know" and "nice to know" categories. A chart or another type of graphic organizer here will help you keep the details in order and in perspective. EARLY SOCIETIES OF MESOAMERICA (Theme: #1 Human-Environment Interaction) As sea levels dropped during the Ice Ages, humans took advantage of the exposed land bridges to migrate into new lands and establish cultures there. Human groups migrated to the Americas long after people had established communities throughout the eastern hemisphere but before people understood or practiced agriculture. By the time the Ice Ages ended, about 18,000 years ago, people had become well established in the Americas, the islands of southeast Asia, and Australia. Humans continued to migrate throughout the Americas and Oceania resulting in population pressures and the use of technology such as large sailing canoes. By 700 C.E., people had established communities throughout most of the habitable world. The high sea levels made it difficult, but not impossible, for these people in the Americas and Oceania to interact with their neighbors near and far. Particularly after the discovery of agriculture in northern and southern America, population pressures, trade, and the need for additional new resources led to the development of increasingly complex social forms. The Olmecs (Themes: #2 Development and Interaction of Cultures, #4 Economic Systems) The first complex society in the Americas was the Olmecs. These people, who modern researchers named after the rubber trees in the region, built a complex society on the rich agricultural harvests of their ancestors. Beans, chili peppers, avocados, squash, gourds, and eventually maize provided these people of Mesoamerica with ample food sources. Turkeys and small dogs were also domesticated and used for food, but the larger animals of Mesoamerica were not subject to domestication; there were no horses, mules, cattle, or pigs in this region until the Europeans arrived in the sixteenth century. No large domesticated animals also meant animal energy for transportation was impossible and therefore the wheeled cart was unnecessary. The Mesoamericans managed very well using human power for labor and trade. Olmec society was probably authoritarian as archeological remains show huge construction projects such as pyramids, temples, altars, and tombs which would have demanded coordination of large numbers of workers over vast periods of time. The necessity for drainage systems to divert abundant water also indicates that the Olmecs had some social class system which allowed for the construction of such large public works. The most compelling evidence that the Olmec people labored for the elite at least part of the year are the sculptures of colossal human heads carved from huge slabs of black basalt. These most distinctive Olmec artistic creations are believed to have required thousands of laborers to quarry, transport, carve, and set in place in each of the Olmec capital cities. Trade was also important to Olmec culture. Imported jade was turned into decorative objects, imported obsidian was used to create extremely sharp knives and axes, and abundant rubber was used to make balls and other objects which the Olmecs could trade along with their basalt carvings, ceramics, and animal skins. The demise of the Olmecs is somewhat mysterious, as they left no written language other than their calendar inscriptions. It appears, perhaps, that civil conflicts and a loss of religious faith might have caused the Olmecs to abandon their cities. Historians and archaeologists have only been studying the Olmecs for about sixty years, so there is clearly much more to learn about them.
Heirs of the Olmecs: The Maya (Themes: #3 Politics, #4 Economic Systems) The Maya, who occupied southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, were the earliest heirs to Olmec tradition. Like the Olmecs, the Mayans used a huge labor force to build immense ceremonial centers. The first Maya center was in the highlands of Guatemala where the fertile soil was excellent for agriculture. From this site, early Maya traded their agricultural surplus throughout Guatemala and central Mexico. This center eventually came under the economic and political domination of Teotihuacan in central Mexico and the center of Maya culture moved into the Mesoamerican lowlands including the Yucatan Peninsula. The infertile and poorly drained Mesoamerican lowlands required that the Mayas build terraces to trap the fertile silt which was being washed away by the many rivers of the region. This terrace technology which artificially retained the rich earth, made it possible for the Mayas to dramatically increase their agricultural output maize, cotton, and especially the cacao bean. Cacao, used by the Maya elite as a stimulant and even as currency, made the Maya wealthy. The Maya political organization was based on scores of small city-kingdoms, in addition to several large ceremonial centers, some like Tikal, with populations over 40,000. These centers, which evolved into large complex cities, boasted enormous paved plazas and scores of public buildings including pyramids, temples, and palaces. Maya kings took great powerful names, often including the word jaguar, the most fearsome animal of the Mesoamerican forests. Maya culture was martial. The Maya city-kingdoms frequently fought each other over resources and land with the hope of capturing prisoners who could be used as slaves or for ritual sacrifice. Between the ninth and eleventh centuries C.E., the Maya state of Chichen Itza in the northern Yucatan peninsula tried to establish a more unified Maya nation and began to absorb war captives and integrate them into their society rather than enslave or sacrifice the prisoners. Other Maya centers began to decline and be deserted by their people by the eighth century C.E., but Chichen Itza survived a few more centuries until it too was smothered by the encroaching tropical jungles of the Mesoamerican lowlands. Maya Society and Religion (Themes: #2 Development and Interaction of Cultures, #5 Social Structures) Maya society was based on an elaborate social hierarchy: kings and ruling families, literate priests, landowning nobility, merchants who came from the noble classes, professional architects and sculptors, specialized artisans, a large class of peasants, and a large class of slaves. The Maya script is considered to be the most flexible and elaborate of all the early American systems of writing. It contains both ideographics and syllabic elements, and was used to keep astronomical, genealogical, and political records as well as to record poetry, history, and religious texts. Though the Mayas wrote thousands of books, only four survived the sixteenthcentury Spanish attempt to destroy traditional Maya religion. Most Maya writing today is found in inscriptions on temples and other buildings. Though modern historians and archaeologists have only learned to decipher those scripts within the past sixty years, it appears that the Mayas were expert at astronomical observation, prediction, and calculation thanks in large part to their invention of the concept and symbol for zero which they used to manipulate the large numbers needed in their complex calculations. This abstract mathematical reasoning was demonstrated in their amazingly accurate calendar which had both religious and practical purposes. Surviving Maya literature includes the Popol Vuh which explains how the gods created humans out of maize and water to become flesh and blood and how the gods further kept the world going including the agricultural cycle in exchange for honors and sacrifices which humans must perform for them. The shedding of blood was crucial in Mayan religious rituals because it is associated with rain and agriculture; the practice was believed to be pleasing to the gods and could guarantee the rains would come, the crops would be bountiful, and the culture would survive. Bloodletting occurred in sport as well. The Maya used the Olmec tradition of the ball game as a ritual in political and religious affairs in addition to its compelling entertainment factor. Skull racks surrounding the ball fields testify to the deadly nature of the game.
Heirs of the Olmecs: Teotihuacan (Themes: #2 Development and Interaction of Cultures, #4 Economic Systems) Teotihuacan society developed in the fertile lake region of the northern Mexican highlands beginning c. 500 B.C.E. but flourished between 400-600 C.E. Relying on the abundant supply of fresh water, fertile soil, fish, and wildlife, this area was a natural haven for the establishment of a productive agricultural society. At its high point the capital city, Teotihuacan, had a population of almost 200,000 people and boasted a pyramid almost as large as Khufu's in Egypt. All books and writings from this civilization have disappeared, but archaeological remains of huge temples and palaces, scores of streets and neighborhoods, and numerous market centers indicate that this society was complex and authoritarian in political structure. Historians also believe it may have been a theocracy, of sorts, as surviving paintings and murals all have religious themes and subjects. Exquisite obsidian tools and detailed orange pottery were produced and prized in Teotihuacan and traded throughout Mesoamerica and into North America as well. Teotihuacan established colonies and built a military force to protect its trade routes and sources of raw materials; this rationale is different than the martial Maya of the south. Perhaps this lack of either military preparedness or offensive aggression accounts for the destruction of this civilization c. 500 C.E. when outside aggressors began to encroach on the city. By the middle of the eighth century C.E., the city, its books and records, and even its monuments were destroyed and the people deserted the remains. EARLY SOCIETIES OF SOUTH AMERICA Hunting and gathering peoples made their way from Central America to South America c. 12,000 B.C.E. The Andes highlands provided deer, llama, and alpaca and the cool coastal regions provided fish as well as ample natural supplies of squash, gourds, and wild potatoes to keep these non-farmers well nourished. As the climate began to change after 8000 B.C.E. however, the natural occurring supplies of food could not meet the population needs so these human communities began to experiment with agriculture. Agriculture proved highly successful in these regions and thus the populations grew; complex, organized cultures developed; and large cities and states were established over the next nine thousand years. Early Andean Society and the Chavin Cult (Themes: #1 Human-Environment Interaction, #2 Development and Interaction of Cultures) Early Andean society occupied the region that is now Peru and Bolivia. Though contemporary with early Mesoamerican cultures, the difficult geography and lack of pack animals made communication or trade between these regions extremely unlikely. Certainly agricultural products like maize and squash spread southward and Andean gold, silver, and copper were gradually handed northward, but regular and consistent commerce between the two regions was not feasible. The challenges of Andean geography even made transportation or communication within the region difficult. Between 2500 and 2000 B.C.E., many small, but permanent, farming settlements took root along the Pacific coast. Farmers cultivated beans, peanuts, and sweet potatoes for food, and cotton for fishing nets and textiles. Protein from the Pacific allowed communities to grow and prosper. By 2000 B.C.E., farming had spread to the Andes, where many varieties of the potato supported increasing complex agricultural communities. The arrival of maize c. 1000 B.C.E. appears to have suddenly created quite a change in this region. The Chavin Cult is the term modern historians and archaeologists give to the period between 900 and 800 B.C.E. as they try to explain the sudden building of large temple complexes and elaborate works of art, the creation of thousands of intricate stone carvings of animals, the development of gold, silver, and copper metallurgy, and a population boom. They speculate that the Chavin Cult developed to promote fertility and abundant harvests. It certainly seems to have worked as large ceremonial centers were built during this period which later would emerge as great cities. Early Andean States: Mochica (Theme: #3 Politics) The earliest Andean states, which developed on the western side of the mountains, were created as conquerors unified individual valleys and organized them into integrated societies. By building irrigation systems so that the lower valleys could support agriculture, and by establishing trade and exchange networks through difficult terrain, leaders of early Andean states sought to create integrated economic zones. Surviving architecture and artifacts testify that this process was carried out with coercion and warfare by warrior leaders of regional states. Without written records, these remains are the only insight into this region.
The most well studied of these early Andean regional states is Mochica, which had its base along the Moche River in the coast and valleys of northern Peru from 300-700 C.E. Though leaving no written language, the Mochica left a remarkable artistic record which describes their culture as highly religious, distinctly individualistic, socially diverse, and economically complex. EARLY SOCIETIES OF OCEANIA Human migrations to Australia and New Guinea using canoes outfitted with sails began about 60,000 years ago when sea levels were lower due to the Ice Ages' climate changes. These people also moved onto the surrounding islands in the following centuries. By 3000 B.C.E., seafaring traders from Asia had established trading ports in New Guinea and were venturing further and further east into the islands of the western Pacific. By the middle of the first millennium C.E., they had established communities on virtually all of the habitable islands of the Pacific Ocean. Early Societies in Australia and New Guinea (Theme: %1 Human-Environment Interaction) People reached Australia and New Guinea long before the advent of agriculture. For thousands of years, hunters and gathers must have traveled between the two islands, taking advantage of the lower sea levels during the Ice Ages. Once the Ice Ages ended and the high waters returned to separate the two islands, the people of each place took very different paths. The aboriginal peoples of Australia happily maintained their hunting and gathering traditions until the forceful settlement of the Europeans in nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The aboriginal people of New Guinea, however, interacted with outsiders much, much earlier than their Australian counterparts. About 5000 years ago, seafaring people from southeast Asia, who spoke languages known as Austronesian, visited the coast of New Guinea, traded with the indigenous people, and even established trading communities of their own. Coming from agricultural communities in Asia, these settlers introduced root crops like taro and yams as well as domesticated animals including chickens and pigs, all of which caught on quickly with the New Guinea aborigines. As always, the introduction of agriculture quickly brought population growth, specialization of labor, growth of permanent settlements, and the development of complex social and material culture. The Austronesian-speaking traders soon turned their attention to establishing settlements further and further out into the Pacific Ocean. The Peopling of the Pacific Islands (Themes: #f Human-Environment Interaction, MA Economic Systems) It was the Austronesian-speaking people who possessed the sophisticated maritime technology and the agricultural expertise to establish human settlements on the islands of the Pacific. By 1500 B.C.E., they had established trading colonies in Vanuatu, by 1000 B.C.E., they reached Tahiti, by the early centuries C.E. they had reached Hawai'i, and by 700 C.E. they were in New Zealand. Another group of the Aus-tronesians sailed westward into the Indian Ocean as far as the island of Madagascar. The earliest known Austronesian-speaking peoples are known as the Lapita, named after a beach in New Caledonia where twentieth-century archaeologists discovered some of their artifacts: terra-cotta pottery specifically decorated with a distinctive stamped geometric design. The Lapita traded this pottery and their highly prized obsidian across the wide expanses of the Pacific for nearly 1000 years between 1500 and 500 B.C.E. After 500 B.C.E, Lapita trading networks declined, probably because their settlements had grown large enough to provide for themselves. Local hereditary chiefdoms developed and physical contests for leadership roles appeared common. The possibility of migration to surrounding islands appears to have been used to ease tensions and avoid widespread bloodshed. Over time, descendants of the Lapita built elaborate societies with complex social classes including chiefs, priests, administrators, soldiers, and servants, especially on the large islands like Hawai'i. There, chiefs and their nobles organized public life in their districts, led public ritual services, and maintained the irrigation systems necessary to grow crops; these chiefs and aristocrats eventually came to be seen as semi-divine or divine by their island subjects.
Finished reading the chapter? Be sure you can... Relate the geography and climate of the Americas and Oceania with the development of human society in each area. Explain the relationship between agriculture and the environment in America and Oceania. Compare and contrast the social structure, state, and cultures of Mesoamerican and Andean American civilizations with at least one other you've already studied in Chapters 2 through 5. Discuss the major trading patterns within and among peoples of the Americas and Oceania. Explain the migrations of people into the Americas and throughout Oceania.