ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

OF THJE AMERICAS

15

This
magnificent
ear spool of
gold, turquoise,
quartz, and shell was
found in the tomb of the
warrior priest in the Moche site of
Sipan, Peru, ca, 300

C,E, [Courtesy of UCLA

Fowler Museum of Cultural History/S usan Einstein]

CHAPTER

TOPIC S

Problems in Reconstructing the History

of Native American Civilization

The Post-Classic Period

Andean South America

Mesoamerica
The Formative Period and the Emergence
of Mesoamerican Civilization
The Classic Period in Mesoamerica

The Preceramic and the Initial Period

Chavln de Huantar and the Early
Horizon

The Early Intermediate Period

The Middle Horizon Through the Late
Intermediate Period
The Inca Empire

In World Perspective Ancient Civilizations

of the Americas

t,

l[ .Jf umans first settled the American

as, as in the eastern hemisphere, peo-

lt Jlcontinents between 12,000 and

plex ways with Hispanic culture, to pro-

ple in some regions gradually shifted

vide clues to the prehispanic past.

40,000 years ago. At that time glaciers

from hunting and gathering to a set-

locked up much of the world's water,

tled, agricultural way of life. And in

lowering the sea level and opening a

some places civilization emerged as so-

bridge of dry land between Siberia and

ciety grew increasingly stratified, vil-

Alaska. The earliest undisputed evi-

lages coalesced into urban centers,

dence of humans in Tierra del Fuego,

monumental architecture appeared,

at the southern tip of South America,

and craft specialists developed sophis-

dates to 11 ,000 years ago, indicating

ticated artistic traditions.

that at least by then the immigrants and

The two most prominent centers of

their descendants had spread over all

civilization-and the focus of this chap-

of both North and South America.

ter-were Mesoamerica, in what is today

When the glaciers receded the oceans

Mexico and Central America, and the

rose, flooding the Bering Straits and

Andean region of South America. Both

severing Asia from America. Despite

regions have a long, rich history of civi-

Some continued contact in the Arctic

lization that reaches back thousands of

and perhaps sporadic contacts else-

years. At the time of the European con-

where, the inhabitants of the Americas

quest of the Americas in the sixteenth

were now isolated from the inhabitants

century both regions were dominated by

of Africa and Eurasia, and would re-

powerful expansionist empires-the

main so until overwhelmed by Euro-

Aztecs, or Mexica, in Mesoamerica and

pean invaders after 1492.

the Inca in the Andes. In both regions

Although isolated from one anoth-

Spanish conquerors obliterated the na-

er, the peoples of the Americas and the

tive empires and nearly succeeded in

peoples of Africa and Eurasia experi-

obliterating native culture. But in both,

enced similar cultural changes at the

native American traditions have en-

end of the Paleolithic. In the Americ-

dured, overlaid and combined in com-

Problems
in Reconstructing
the History of Native
American Civilization
Several difficulties confront scholars trying to understand the ancient civilizations of the Americas. One is simply the
nature of the evidence. Andean civilizations never developed writing, and in
:v!esoamerica much of the written record
was destroyed by time and conq uest,
and what remained was until recently
undeciphered. The primary source of information has thus been archaeology, the
study of the physical remains left by past
cultures. Archaeologists have been successful at teasing out many details of the
American past. Turning from the study
of monumental remains in great urban
centers to the study of the remains left
by ordinary people in their everyday
lives, they have been able to create an
increasingly rich picture of the economic and social organization of ancient
American civilizations. But archaeology
alone cannot produce the kind of narrative history that thousands of years of
written records have made possible for
Eurasian civilization. For at least one

397

ancient i\Iesoarnerican people, however-the 'vlaya-this situation is changing. Scholars have recently been able to decipher their writing and attach specitlc names, dates, and events
to heretofore silent ruins.
\Ve also have accounts of the history and culture of the
Aztecs and Inca, the last great native American civilizations,
that were related to Spanish missionaries and officials in the
wake of the conquest. Although these accounts are invaluable sources of information, it is almost impossible to know
how much they are colored by the conquest and the needs
and expectations of the conq uerors. This dilemma raises another. The long physical separation of the peoples of the
Americas from the peoples of Asia and Europe created a great
cultural separation as well. Since the conquest, however, European culture has predominated. Both the Spanish conquerors seeking to make sense of the wonders they
encountered and later scholars seeking to understand preconq uest :\"ative American civilization and reconstruct its history have had co re lyon the language and categories of
European thought co describe and analyze peoples and cultural experiences thac had nothing to do with Europe. eulCLHal blinders and arrogance-the Spaniards, for example,
sought to eradicatc Native American religion and replace it
with Christianity-have exacerbated this gap.
Again and again, European words, categories, and values
have been used co describe the experience of America before it was America. Columbus and other early explorers (see
Chapter 17), believing they had reached the East Indies,
called the people they met in the Caribbean "Indians." This
misnomer stuck, extending to all Native American peoples
who, of course, have other names for themselves. '["he name
"America" itself is European, taken from Amerigo Vespucci
(1451-1512), a Florentine who explored the coast of Brazil
in 1501 and 1502.

ilJesoameriw, which means "middle America," extends from

centrall\;lexico into Central America. This is a region of great
physical diversity, ranging from lowland tropical rain forests to
temperate highlands with fertile basins and valleys. Lowland

Major Periods in Ancient Mesoamerican Civilization

Archaic
Formative (or Pre-Classic)
Classic
Post-Classic

398

8000-2000 B,C.E.
2000 B,c,[:.-150 C.E.
150-900 C,E,
900-1521 C.E.

Consolidation and Interaction of World Civilizations

regions include the Yucatan peninsula and the Gulf and Pacifl
coasts. Highland regions include Mexico's central
with the Valley of l\lexic() and the Oaxaca region, and
mountainous areas of Guatemala. Most of \ksoamerica's min_
eral resources are found in the highlands. The lowlands We
re
the source of many important trading goods, including hard_
woods, plant dyes, and the prized feathers of exotic birds.
Mesoamerica also designates a distinctive and endurin
cultural tradition that emerged in this region between
and 2000 D.C.E., manifested itself in a succession of impres_
sive and powerful states until the coming of European COn_
querors in the sixteenth century, and continues to express
itself in the lives of the region's Native American peoples.
This is not to say that .'v1esoamerica was or is culturally homogeneous. The peoples of \!fesoameriea were and are ethnically and linguistically diverse. There was no single
Mesoamerican civilization, nor was there a single linear development of civilization in the region. Nonetheless,
\lesoamerican civilizations shared many traits, including writing, a sophisticated calendrical system, many gods and religious ideas, a ritual ball game, and urban centers with
religious and administrative buildings symmetrically arranged
arou nd large plazas.
Throughout its history the peoples of the region were
linked by long-distance trade. Unlike the Andean region,
where sophisticated metallurgy developed early, metallurgy
came late to Mesoamerica. When it did come, it was used
primarily for ceremonial objects rather than for weapons and
cools. Instead, Mesoamericans made weapons and other tools
from obsidian, a volcanic glass capable of holding a razorsharp edge, and for that reason a valued trade commodity.
\!lesoamerican history before the Spanish conquest is conventionally divided into four major periods: The term "Classic," with its associations to ancient Greece and its
connotations of "best" or "highest," derives from European
historical frameworks. It reflects the view of many early
Mcsoamericanists that the Classic period, which corresponds
more or less to the time during which the Maya civilizations
of the southern Yucatan erected dated stone monuments, was
the high point of lvlesoamerican civilization. That view is no
longer so prevalent, but the terminology has endured. T he
chronology continues to provide a useful framework for understanding Mesoamerican history.
The transition from hunting and gathering to settled village
life occurred gradually in Mesoamerica during the Archaic period. Thc cornerstone of the process was the domestication
of maize (corn) and other staple crops, including beans and
squash. Other plants native co the Americas that were domesticated in this period include tomatoes, chili peppers, and
avocado. Maize and beans were particularly important because
together they provide a rich source of protein compared co the
grains that were the basis of the "l'eolithic revolution in the

.'

T ..la

P ACI::JC

o CFAN
HONDURAS

...,.,=.....

100

200

..
0
300 MILES
300 KILOMETERS

Pre-Aztec Mesoamerican sites discussed in this chapter.

Ancient Near East and China. In those regions domesticated

animals supplied the protein settled agriculturalists needed
in their diet. Mesoamerica, however, was poor in sources of
animal protein. It had only a few domesticated animalsamong them dogs and turkeys-and no large herd animals
like the cattle, sheep, and goats of the Old World.
The domestication of maize, beans, and other plants secured the people of Mesoamerica an adequate and dependable
diet. Over time they devised myriad ways to prepare and store
these staples. Maize has also been one of Mesoamerica's major
contributions to the world. Since the conquest, maize cultivation has spread to many other parts of the world. Corn is now
one of North America's most important crops, and it is used to
feed livestock in both North and South America.
Probably because they had no large draft animals-no
horses or oxen-the people of the Americas, including
Mesoamerica, never developed the wheel, althou gh they
made wheeled toys. In Mesoamerica humans did all the carrying. And because there were no horses and chariots, warfare
in Mesoamerica (and in Andean South America) was always
between armies of foot soldiers.
Between 5000 and 2500 B.C.E. villages began to appear in
both highland and lowland regions of Mesoamerica. By about
2000 B.C.E. settled agricultural life had taken hold in much of
the region. As in the Old World when this happened, people
began to make fired clay vessels, and ceramic technology appeared. Nomadic hunter-gatherers have little need of storage, but farmers do, and clay vessels filled that need. Pottery

is also a medium for artistic expression, and it played a role

in religion and ritual observance throughout Mesoamerican
history.

The For mative Period

and the Eluergence
of Meoarrlerican Civilization
By about 1500 B.C.E. Mesoamerica's agricultural villages were
beginning to coalesce into more complicated societies, with
towns and monumental architecture, the division of society
into elite and commoner classes, long-distance trade among
regions, and the emergence of sophisticated artistic traditions.

The 01mec
The most prominent of the early Formative period cultures is
that of the Olmec, centered on the lowlands of Mexico's Gulf
Coast. This is a densely vegetated region with slow, meandering streams bordered by areas of rich, alluvial soil. The Olmec
were once thought of as Mesoamerica's "mother culture," but
evidence is accumulating that similarly complex societies were
emerging at about the same time throughout Mesoamerica.
Most of what is known about the Olmecs comes from the
archaeological sites of San Lorenzo and La Venta (see Map
15-1). Other Olmec centers have not been as intensively

Chapter 15

Ancient Civilizations of the Americas

399

r
f
l

NI
v'

5,

el
tv
il
p

f!

t
i

A large ca rved monument from

the Olmec site of La Venta with a
naturalistically rendered human
figu:e, IRobert and Linda Mitc!lell
Protography]

studied, San Lorenzo was first occupied about 1500 [l,C,E,

and had developed ineo a prominent center by about 1200
B,c'E, It included public buildings, a drainage system linked
to artificial ponds, and what was probably the earliest court for
the Mesoamerican ballgame, The center flourished until
about 900 B,c'E, but then went into decline and had been
abandoned by about 400 B,c'E, As San Lorenzo declined, La
Venta rose to prominence, flourishing from about 900 to 400
B,c'E, La Venta's most conspicuous feature is a 110-foot, scalloped pyramid, known as the G[e at Pyramid, which stands
at one end of a group of platforms and plazas aligned along a
north-south axis, Archaeologists have recovered many caches
of carved jade, serpentine, and granite artifacts that had been
buried along the center line of this axis, Like San Lorenzo,
La Venta also had an elaborate drainage system,
Probably the best-known Olmec works of art are the massi ve stone heads, some weighing more than twenty rons, that
have been found at both San Lorenzo and La Vema, Thought
to be portraits ofOlmee rulers, these were carved from basalt
from quarries as much as 65 miles distant and transported,
prouably by raft, to the centers, The Olmec also carved other
large basalt monuments , including altars and seated figures,
The population of San Lorenzo and La Venta was never
great, probably less than 1,000 people, The monumental architecture and sculpture at these sites nonetheless suggests
that Olmec society was dominated by an elite class of rulerpriests able to command the labor of the rest of the population, The elite probablY lived in the centers, supported by
farmers who 11 vee! in villages of pole-and-thatch houses,

400

Consolidation and Interaction of World Civilizations

Among the most pervasive images in Olmec art is that of

the were-jaguar, a half-human, half-feline creature , The werejaguar may have been a divine ancestor figure, perhaps providing the elite with the justification for their aurhority,
Similarities between the were-jaguar iconography and that
of later ;\1esoamerican deities suggests some of the underlying continuities linking Mesoamerican societies over time,
The raw material for many Olrnec artifacts, such as jade
and obsidian, comes from other regions of Mesoamerica.
Likewise, Olmec goods and Olmec iconography like the
were-jaguar are found in other regions, all suggesting that
from an early time the parts of Mesoamerica were linked in
a web of trade, These contacts would have fostered the
spread of ideas, contributing to the formation of common
Mesoamerican traditions, Control of trade in high-status materials like jade and obsidian by the Olmec elite would also
have contribured to their prestige and authority,

The Valley of Oaxaca

and the Rise of Monte Alban
Olmec civilization faded after about 40() B,C,E, and had disappeared by about 200 B,C, E. Other regions, however, were
rising to prominence, Some of the most significant developm e nts in the Late Formative period occurred in the Valley of
Oaxaca, The site of San Jose \![ogotc, located in one branch
of the valley, had arisen at about the same time as San Lorenzo, By about 600 B,C,E, San Jose rv[ogote was a thriving center of perhaps 1,000 people, Around SO() B,c'E. a new center,

i
\

I
I
I

Monte Alban, was built on a hill where three branches of the

valley meet. Monte Alban's population soon grew to about
5,000, and it emerged as the capital of a state that dominated the Oaxaca region. Carved images of bound prisoners at
Monte Alban suggest that warfare played a role in establishing its authority. They also suggest an early origin for the
practice of ritual human sacrifice that characterized most
Mesoamerican cultures. Monte Alban retained its authority in
Oaxaca into the Classic period, maintaining its independence
against the growing power of the greatest Classic Period city,
Teotihuacan.

The Emergence of Writing and the Mesoamerican

Calendar The earliest evidence of writing and the
Mesoamerican calendar have been found in the Valley of Oaxaca at San Jose Mogote and Monte Alban. The Mesoamerican calendar is based on two interlocking cycles, each with its
own day and month names. One cycle, tied to the solar year,
was of 365 days; the other was of 260 days. Combining the
two cycles produced a "century" of 52 years, the amount of
time required before a particular combination of days in each
cycle would repeat itself. The hieroglyphs found in Oaxaca
relate to the 260-day cycle.
At the time of the Spanish conquest, all the peoples of
. Mesoamerica used this 52-year calendrical system. As we will
see, only the Maya developed a calendar based on a longer
time period, anchored-like the Jewish, Christian, or Muslim
calendars-to a fixed starting point in the past.

The Classic Period in Mesoamerica

. The Classic Period was a time of cultural florescence in
Mesoamerica. In Central Mexico, it saw the rise of Teotihuacan, a great city that rivaled the largest cities of the world
at the time. The Maya, who built densely populated cities
in the seemingly inhospitable rain forests of the southern Yucatan, developed a sophisticated system of mathematics and
Mesoamerica's most advanced hieroglyphic writing. Indeed,
Classic Period urban life in Mesoamerica was richer and on a
larger scale than in Europe north of the Alps at the same time.
Archaeologists and art historians have recently made enormous strides in understanding Classic Period civilization.
Progress in deciphering :\1aya hieroglyphics has opened a
Window on the politics and statecraft of the Maya elite. Archaeological studies have broadened our understanding of
1'eotihuacan and Maya cities, revealing their extent and strucand providing clues to the lives of the people who lived
In them.
Classic Period cities, with their many temples, plazas, and
administrative buildings, were religious and administrative
centers whose rulers combined secular and religious author-

ity. It was once thought that Classic Period society was composed of peaceful theocracies, without the chronic warfare
characterizing Mesoamerica at the time of the Spanish conquest. It is now clear, however, that warfare was common during the Classic Period and that Classic Period rulers did not
hesitate to use force to expand their influence and maintain
their authority. The ritual sacrifice of captive enemies was
also a feature of Classic Period societies.

Teotihuacan
In the late Formative Period two centers competed for dominance over the rapidly growing population of the Valley of
Mexico. One of these, Cuicuilco, was located at the southern end of the valley. The other, Teotihuacan, was located
about thirty miles northeast of Mexico City. When a volcano
destroyed Cuicuilco in the first century C.E. Teotihuacan was
left unopposed and grew explosively into a great city, perhaps Mesoamerica's first true city-state, dominating central
Mexico for many centuries and strongly influencing the rest
of Mesoamerica.
Several natural advantages contributed to Teotihuacan's
rise. The original source of its prestige may have been a network of caves recently discovered under its most prominent
monument, the Pyramid of the Sun (the name by which the
Aztecs knew it). These caves may have been considered an
entrance to the underworld. Recent studies indicate that stone
quarried from them was used to construct the city, creating a
direct symbolic link between the city's buildings and its sacred
origins. Teotihuacan is also located near an important source
of obsidian, straddling a trade route to the Gulf Coast and
southern Mesoamerica. The quarrying of obsidian and the
manufacture and trade of obsidian goods were apparently a
major source of the city's wealth and influence. Finally, 'Ieotihuacan is surrounded by fertile farmland susceptible to intensive cultivation with terracing and irrigation.
At its height in about 500 C.E. this remarkable city extended over almost nine square miles and had a population
of more than 150,000, making it one of the largest cities in
the world at the time. Its size and organization suggest that
it was ruled by a powerful, centralized authority. It is laid out
on a rigid grid plan dominated by a broad, three-mile-long
thoroughfare known as the Avenue of the Dead. Religious
and administrative structures and a market occupy the center of the city. At one end of the Avenue of the Dead is the
so-called Pyramid of the Moon, and near it, to one side, is
the 21O-foot-high Pyramid of the Sun. More than 2,000 residential structures surround the city center. The most lavish
of these, the homes of the city's elite, lie nearest the center.
Most of the city's residents lived in walled apartment compounds farther from the center. These compounds were also
centers of craft manufacture, with neighborhoods devoted to

Chapter 15

-=

Ancient Civilizations of the Americas

401

The Pyramid of the Sun stands near the southern end ofTeotihuacan's great central thoroughfare, the Avenue of the Dead.

[Kal Muller/Woodfin

Camp & Associates]

pottery, obsidian work, and other specialties. Some parts of

the city were reserved for foreign traders. One neighborhood,
for example, was home to people from Monte Alban and the
Oaxaca region. Paintings and murals adorned the interiors of
many buildings, including those of the common people as
well as the elite. The humble dwellings of poor farmers occupied the city's periphery. As the city grew, local farmers
had apparently been forced to abandon their villages and
move to Teotihuacan, another indication of the power of the
city's rulcrs.
Teotihuacan's influence extended throughout Mesoamerica. In the central highlands, dispersed settlements were consolidated into larger centers laid out similarly to Teotihuacan,
suggesting conquest and direct control-a Teotihuacan empire. The city's influence in other, more distant regions may
have reflected close trading ties rather than conquest. Buildings in leotihuacan's distinctive architectural style at the site
of Kaminaljuyu in the highlands of modern Guatemala, for
example, may have been residences for Teotihuaeano merchants. The city's obsidian and pottery were exchanged widely for items like the green feathers of the quetzal bird and
jaguar skins, valued for ritual garments.

402

Consolidation and Interaction of World Civilizations

Many of the buildings in Teotihuacan were decorated with .

striking, skillfully made sculptures and murals of the city's
gods and ritual practices. Among the deities of Teotihuacan
are a storm god and his goddess counterpart, whose representation suggests a link to the Aztec's rain god, Tlaloc, and
his consort, Chalchiuhtlicue. The people of Teotihuacan also
worshipped a feathered serpent who is recognizably antecedent to the god the Aztecs worshipped as Quetzalcoatl
and the Maya as Kukulcan. Murals also suggest that the
Teotihuacan elite, like the Maya and later Mesoamerican peoples, drew their own blood as a form of sacrifice to the gods.
A mass burial under one of the city's principal temples indicates that they also practiced human sacrifice.
After 500 C.E. Teotihuadn's influence began to wane, and
some time in the eighth century, for reasons that are still poorly understood, its authority collapsed. A fire swept through
the city, destroying the ritual center and the residences of the
elite and hinting at an internal revolt. Although a substantial
population lived on in the city, it never regained its former status. It retained its hold on the imagination of succeeding generations of Mesoamericans, however, much like the ruins of
ancient Greece and Rome on the imaginations of later Euro-

peans . The name by which we know it, Teotihuacan, is an

Aztec word meaning "City of the Gods," and it was still a
revered pilgrimage site at the time of the Spanish conquest.

literate,
on scrolled or
paper. Only a
L"",,,_ ,ayan, have survived
(Spanish priests,
idolatrous, burned almost
sic Period, who developed
. -",,'r p

communities were thought to h

supporting the priestly elite.
thought to be peaceful.
lief that intensive agricu
Ulations was imposs
Yucatan where ,-,"'00"' "
Archaeologists

inscriptions
astronomical and
Scattered farming
surrounded the centers,

and other

Warfare between them

show, captured p .
and glorify the

This reproduction of one of the remarkable murals found at the Maya site of
Bonampak shows the presentation of captives to the city's ruler, Chan
Muan. [Copyright President and Fellows of Harvard Col/ege 1998. All rights reserved Peabody
Museum, Harvard University. Photograph by Hillel Burger.]

n deeply informed the social and

tical realm of
e Maya. They believed that the worl
gone through several cycles of creation before the . ent one. They recognized
no clear distinction betwee
atural and a supernatural world.
As was probably true
of Teotihuac:in, rulers and the elite
combined religio
nd political authority, mediating between
humans and
s through elaborate rituals in the temples and
plazas 0
eir cities. Rulers claimed association with the gods
y their authoriry. They wore special regalia that symed their power, a
to sustain the
g
!c order. These rituals inc
ed bloodletting ceremonies, the sacrifice of captives'
ballgames.
The significance of sacrifice an . e ball game in Maya
ideology is reflected in a Maya creation myth recorded in the
Popol Vuh, a Maya book yanscribed into European script by
a Maya noble in the ixteenth century. Imagery in Classic Period Maya art h'
een linked to this myth, which
how
the Hero 'JJ
s defeated the gods of [he underworld in the
ballga
and returned to life after being sacrificed. One bee sun and the other Venus, and in their regular rising
an setting reenact
underworld and
the
ent rebirth. All Maya cities had ball courts. The
games played there were a symbolic reenactment of the confrontation between",the Hero Twins and the lords of the underworld, an ,ditlosing team was sometimes sacrificed.!
1Robe

arer, The Ancient Maya, 5th ed., (Stanford: Stanford University

Press 1994), p. 522.

Chapter 15

'3:3

Ancient Civilizations of the Americas

403