Mesoamerica

Mesoamericais ahistorical regionandcultural areathat begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southernMexico, all ofBelize,Guatemala,El Salvador, and parts ofHonduras,NicaraguaandCosta Rica.As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures.
In thepre-Columbian era, manyindigenoussocieties flourished in Mesoamerica for more than 3,000 years before theSpanish colonization of the Americasbegan onHispaniolain 1493. In world history, Mesoamerica was the site of two historical transformations: (i) primary urban generation, and (ii) the formation of New World cultures from the mixtures of the indigenous Mesoamerican peoples with the European, African, and Asian peoples who were introduced by the Spanish colonization of the Americas.Mesoamerica is one of the six areas in the world where ancientcivilizationarose independently (seecradle of civilization), and the second in the Americas, alongside theCaral–Supein present-dayPeru. Mesoamerica is also one of only five regions of the world where writing is known to have independently developed (the others being ancientEgypt,India,Sumer, andChina).
Beginning as early as 7000 BCE, the domestication ofcacao,maize,beans,tomato,avocado,vanilla,squashandchili, as well as theturkeyanddog, resulted in a transition frompaleo-Indianhunter-gatherer tribal groupings to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the subsequent Formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a complexmythological and religious tradition, avigesimalnumeric system, acomplex calendric system, atradition of ball playing, and a distinctarchitectural style, were diffused through the area. Villages began to become socially stratified and develop intochiefdoms, and large ceremonial centers were built, interconnected by a network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods, such asobsidian,jade,cacao,cinnabar,Spondylusshells,hematite, and ceramics. While Mesoamerican civilization knew of thewheeland basicmetallurgy, neither of these became technologically relevant.
Among the earliest complex civilizations was theOlmecculture, which inhabited theGulf Coast of Mexicoand extended inland and southwards across theIsthmus of Tehuantepec. Frequent contact and cultural interchange between the early Olmec and other cultures inChiapas,Oaxaca, and Guatemala laid the basis for the Mesoamerican cultural area. All this was facilitated by considerableregional communications in ancient Mesoamerica, especially along the Pacific coast.
In the subsequentPreclassic period, complex urban polities began to develop among theMaya,with the rise of centers such asAguada FénixandCalakmulin Mexico;El Mirador, andTikalin Guatemala, and theZapotecatMonte Albán. During this period, the first trueMesoamerican writing systemswere developed in theEpi-Olmecand the Zapotec cultures. The Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the ClassicMaya logosyllabic script.
In Central Mexico, the city ofTeotihuacanascended at the height of the Classic period; it formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area and northward. Upon the collapse of Teotihuacán around 600 CE, competition between several important political centers in central Mexico, such asXochicalcoandCholula, ensued. At this time during the Epi-Classic period, theNahua peoplesbegan moving south into Mesoamerica from the North, and became politically and culturally dominant in central Mexico, as they displaced speakers ofOto-Manguean languages.
During the early post-Classic period, Central Mexico was dominated by theToltecculture, and Oaxaca by theMixtec. The lowland Maya area had important centers atChichén ItzáandMayapán. Towards the end of the post-Classic period, theAztecsof Central Mexico built atributaryempire covering most of central Mesoamerica.
The distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended with theSpanish conquestin the 16th century. Eurasian diseases such assmallpoxandmeasles, which were endemic among the colonists but new to North America, caused the deaths of upwards of 90% of the indigenous people, resulting in great losses to their societies and cultures.Over the next centuries, Mesoamerican indigenous cultures were gradually subjected to Spanish colonial rule. Aspects of the Mesoamerican cultural heritage still survive among the indigenous peoples who inhabit Mesoamerica. Many continue to speak their ancestral languages and maintain many practices hearkening back to their Mesoamerican roots.
The termMesoamericaliterally means "middle America" in Greek.Middle Americaoften refers to a larger area in the Americas, but it has also previously been used more narrowly to refer to Mesoamerica. An example is the title of the 16 volumes ofThe Handbook of Middle American Indians. "Mesoamerica" is broadly defined as the area that is home to the Mesoamerican civilization, which comprises a group of peoples with close cultural and historical ties. The exact geographic extent of Mesoamerica has varied through time, as the civilization extended North and South from its heartland in southern Mexico.
The term was first used by the GermanethnologistPaul Kirchhoff, who noted that similarities existed among the variouspre-Columbian cultureswithin the region that included southern Mexico,Guatemala,Belize,El Salvador, westernHonduras, and the Pacific lowlands ofNicaraguaand northwesternCosta Rica. In the tradition ofcultural history, the prevalentarchaeological theoryof the early to middle 20th century, Kirchhoff defined this zone as a cultural area based on a suite of interrelated cultural similarities brought about by millennia of inter- and intra-regional interaction (i.e.,diffusion).Mesoamerica is recognized as a near-prototypical cultural area. This term is now fully integrated into the standard terminology of precolumbiananthropologicalstudies. Conversely, the sister termsAridoamericaandOasisamerica, which refer to northern Mexico and the western United States, respectively, have not entered into widespread usage.
Some of the significant cultural traits defining the Mesoamerican cultural tradition are:
Located on theMiddle Americanisthmusjoining North and South America betweenca.10° and 22° northernlatitude, Mesoamerica possesses a complex combination of ecological systems, topographic zones, and environmental contexts. These differentnichesare classified into two broad categories: the lowlands (those areas betweensea leveland 1000 meters) and thealtiplanos, or highlands (situated between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level).In the low-lying regions,sub-tropicalandtropical climatesare most common, as is true for most of the coastline along the Pacific andGulf of Mexicoand theCaribbean Sea. The highlands show much more climatic diversity, ranging from dry tropical to coldmountainous climates; the dominant climate istemperatewith warm temperatures and moderate rainfall. The rainfall varies from the dryOaxacaand northYucatánto the humid southern Pacific and Caribbean lowlands.
Several distinct sub-regions within Mesoamerica are defined by a convergence of geographic and cultural attributes. These sub-regions are more conceptual than culturally meaningful, and the demarcation of their limits is not rigid. The Maya area, for example, can be divided into two general groups: the lowlands and highlands. The lowlands are further divided into the southern and northern Maya lowlands. The southern Maya lowlands are generally regarded as encompassing northernGuatemala, southernCampecheandQuintana Rooin Mexico, andBelize. The northern lowlands cover the remainder of the northern portion of theYucatán Peninsula. Other areas include Central Mexico, West Mexico, the Gulf Coast Lowlands,Oaxaca, the Southern Pacific Lowlands, and Southeast Mesoamerica (including northernHonduras).
There is extensive topographic variation in Mesoamerica, ranging from the high peaks circumscribing theValley of Mexicoand within the centralSierra Madremountains to the low flatlands of the northern Yucatán Peninsula. The tallest mountain in Mesoamerica isPico de Orizaba, adormant volcanolocated on the border ofPueblaandVeracruz. Its peak elevation is 5,636 m (18,490 ft).
The Sierra Madre mountains, which consist of several smaller ranges, run from northern Mesoamerica south throughCosta Rica. The chain is historicallyvolcanic. In central and southern Mexico, a portion of the Sierra Madre chain is known as theEje Volcánico Transversal, or the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. There are 83 inactive and active volcanoes within the Sierra Madre range, including 11 in Mexico, 37 in Guatemala, 23 in El Salvador, 25 in Nicaragua, and 3 in northwestern Costa Rica. According to the Michigan Technological University,16 of these are still active. The tallest active volcano isPopocatépetlat 5,452 m (17,887 ft). This volcano, which retains itsNahuatlname, is located 70 km (43 mi) southeast of Mexico City. Other volcanoes of note include Tacana on the Mexico–Guatemala border,TajumulcoandSantamaríain Guatemala,Izalcoin El Salvador,Arenalin Costa Rica, andConcepciónandMaderasonOmetepe, which is an island formed by both volcanoes rising out ofLake Cocibolcain Nicaragua.
One important topographic feature is theIsthmus of Tehuantepec, a low plateau that breaks up the Sierra Madre chain between theSierra Madre del Surto the north and theSierra Madre de Chiapasto the south. At its highest point, theIsthmusis 224 m (735 ft) above mean sea level. This area also represents the shortest distance between theGulf of Mexicoand the Pacific Ocean in Mexico. The distance between the two coasts is roughly 200 km (120 mi). The northern side of the Isthmus is swampy and covered in dense jungle—but the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as the lowest and most level point within the Sierra Madre mountain chain, was nonetheless a main transportation, communication, and economic route within Mesoamerica.
Outside of the northern Maya lowlands,riversare common throughout Mesoamerica. Some of the more important ones served as loci of human occupation in the area. The longest river in Mesoamerica is theUsumacinta, which forms in Guatemala at the convergence of theSalinasorChixoyand LaPasión Riverand runs north for 970 km (600 mi)—480 km (300 mi) of which are navigable—eventually draining into theGulf of Mexico. Other rivers of note include theRío Grande de Santiago, theGrijalva River, theMotagua River, theUlúa River, and theHondo River. The northern Maya lowlands, especially the northern portion of the Yucatán peninsula, are notable for their nearly complete lack of rivers (largely due to the absolute lack of topographic variation). Additionally, no lakes exist in the northern peninsula. The main source of water in this area isaquifersthat are accessed through natural surface openings calledcenotes.
With an area of 8,264 km(3,191 sq mi),Lake Nicaraguais the largest lake in Mesoamerica.Lake Chapalais Mexico's largest freshwater lake, butLake Texcocois perhaps most well known as the location upon whichTenochtitlan, capital of theAztecEmpire, was founded.Lake Petén Itzá, in northern Guatemala, is notable as where the last independent Maya city,Tayasal(or Noh Petén), held out against the Spanish until 1697. Other large lakes includeLake Atitlán,Lake Izabal,Lake Güija,LemoaandLake Xolotlan.
Almost allecosystemsare present in Mesoamerica; the more well known are theMesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the second largest in the world, andLa Mosquitia(consisting of theRío Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Tawahka Asangni,Patuca National Park, andBosawás Biosphere Reserve) arainforestsecond in size in the Americas only to theAmazonas.The highlands presentmixedandconiferousforest. The biodiversity is among the richest in the world, though the number of species in the red list of theIUCNgrows every year.
The history of human occupation in Mesoamerica is divided into stages or periods. These are known, with slight variation depending on region, as thePaleo-Indian, theArchaic, thePreclassic(or Formative), theClassic, and thePostclassic. The last three periods, representing the core of Mesoamerican cultural fluorescence, are further divided into two or three sub-phases. Most of the time following the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century is classified as the Colonial period.
The differentiation of early periods (i.e., up through the end of theLate Preclassic) generally reflectsdifferent configurations of socio-cultural organizationthat are characterized byincreasing socio-political complexity, the adoption of new and differentsubsistence strategies, and changes in economic organization (including increased interregional interaction). TheClassicperiod through thePostclassicare differentiated by the cyclical crystallization and fragmentation of the various political entities throughout Mesoamerica.
The Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian period precedes the advent of agriculture and is characterized by a nomadichunting and gatheringsubsistence strategy. Big-game hunting, similar to that seen in contemporaneous North America, was a large component of the subsistence strategy of the Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian. These sites hadobsidianblades andClovis-style flutedprojectile points.
The Archaic period (8000–2000 BCE) is characterized by the rise ofincipient agriculturein Mesoamerica. The initial phases of the Archaic involved the cultivation of wild plants, transitioning into informal domestication and culminating withsedentismand agricultural production by the close of the period. Transformations of natural environments have been a common feature at least since the mid Holocene.Archaic sites includeSipacateinEscuintla, Guatemala, where maizepollen samplesdate to c. 3500 BCE.
The first complex civilization to develop in Mesoamerica was that of theOlmec, who inhabited the Gulf Coast region ofVeracruzthroughout the Preclassic period. The main sites of the Olmec includeSan Lorenzo Tenochtitlán,La Venta, andTres Zapotes. Specific dates vary, but these sites were occupied from roughly 1200 to 400 BCE. Remains of other early cultures interacting with the Olmec have been found atTakalik Abaj,Izapa, andTeopantecuanitlan, and as far south as inHonduras.Research in the Pacific Lowlands of Chiapas and Guatemala suggest thatIzapaand theMonte Alto Culturemay have preceded the Olmec.Radiocarbon samplesassociated with various sculptures found at the Late Preclassic site ofIzapasuggest a date of between 1800 and 1500 BCE.
During the Middle and Late Preclassic period, theMaya civilizationdeveloped in the southern Maya highlands and lowlands, and at a few sites in the northern Maya lowlands. The earliest Maya sites coalesced after 1000 BCE, and includeNakbe,El Mirador, andCerros. Middle to LatePreclassic Mayasites includeKaminaljuyú,Cival,Edzná,Cobá,Lamanai,Komchen,Dzibilchaltun, andSan Bartolo, among others.
The Preclassic in the central Mexican highlands is represented by such sites asTlapacoya,Tlatilco, andCuicuilco. These sites were eventually superseded byTeotihuacán, an important Classic-era site that eventually dominated economic and interaction spheres throughout Mesoamerica. The settlement of Teotihuacan is dated to the later portion of the Late Preclassic, or roughly 50 CE.
In theValley of Oaxaca,San José Mogoterepresents one of the oldest permanent agricultural villages in the area, and one of the first to use pottery. During the Early and Middle Preclassic, the site developed some of the earliest examples of defensivepalisades, ceremonial structures, the use ofadobe, andhieroglyphic writing. Also of importance, the site was one of the first to demonstrateinherited status, signifying a radical shift in socio-cultural and political structure. San José Mogote was eventually overtaken byMonte Albán, the subsequent capital of theZapotec empire, during the Late Preclassic.
The Preclassic in western Mexico, in the states ofNayarit,Jalisco,Colima, andMichoacánalso known as the Occidente, is poorly understood. This period is best represented by the thousands of figurines recovered by looters and ascribed to the "shaft tomb tradition".
The Classic period is marked by the rise and dominance of several polities. The traditional distinction between the Early and Late Classic is marked by their changing fortune and their ability to maintain regional primacy. Of paramount importance are Teotihuacán in central Mexico andTikalin Guatemala; the Early Classic's temporal limits generally correlate to the main periods of these sites. Monte Albán in Oaxaca is another Classic-period polity that expanded and flourished during this period, but the Zapotec capital exerted less interregional influence than the other two sites.
During the Early Classic, Teotihuacan participated in and perhaps dominated a far-reaching macro-regional interaction network. Architectural and artifact styles (talud-tablero, tripod slab-footed ceramic vessels) epitomized at Teotihuacan were mimicked and adopted at many distant settlements.Pachucaobsidian, whose trade and distribution is argued to have been economically controlled by Teotihuacan, is found throughout Mesoamerica.
Tikal came to dominate much of the southern Maya lowlands politically, economically, and militarily during the Early Classic. An exchange network centered at Tikal distributed a variety of goods and commodities throughout southeast Mesoamerica, such as obsidian imported from central Mexico (e.g., Pachuca) and highland Guatemala (e.g.,El Chayal, which was predominantly used by the Maya during the Early Classic), andjadefrom theMotagua valleyin Guatemala. Tikal was often in conflict with other polities in thePetén Basin, as well as with others outside of it, includingUaxactun,Caracol,Dos Pilas,Naranjo, andCalakmul. Towards the end of the Early Classic, this conflict lead to Tikal's military defeat at the hands of Caracol in 562, and a period commonly known as theTikal Hiatus.
The Late Classic period (beginning c. 600 CE until 909 CE) is characterized as a period of interregional competition and factionalization among the numerous regional polities in the Maya area. This largely resulted from the decrease in Tikal's socio-political and economic power at the beginning of the period. It was therefore during this time that other sites rose to regional prominence and were able to exert greater interregional influence, including Caracol,Copán,Palenque, and Calakmul (which was allied with Caracol and may have assisted in the defeat of Tikal), andDos PilasAguatecaandCancuénin thePetexbatúnregion of Guatemala. Around 710, Tikal arose again and started to build strong alliances and defeat its worst enemies. In the Maya area, the Late Classic ended with the so-called "Maya collapse", a transitional period coupling the general depopulation of the southern lowlands and development and florescence of centers in the northern lowlands.
Generally applied to the Maya area, the Terminal Classic roughly spans the time between c. 800/850 and c. 1000 CE. Overall, it generally correlates with the rise to prominence ofPuucsettlements in the northernMaya lowlands, so named after the hills where they are mainly found. Puuc settlements are specifically associated with a unique architectural style (the "Puuc architectural style") that represents a technological departure from previous construction techniques. Major Puuc sites includeUxmal,Sayil,Labna,Kabah, andOxkintok. While generally concentrated within the area in and around thePuuc hills, the style has been documented as far away as atChichen Itzato the east andEdznato the south.
Chichén Itzá was originally thought to have been a Postclassic site in the northern Maya lowlands. Research over the past few decades has established that it was first settled during the Early/Late Classic transition but rose to prominence during the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic. During its apogee, this widely known site economically and politically dominated the northern lowlands. Its participation in the circum-peninsular exchange route, possible through its port site ofIsla Cerritos, allowed Chichén Itzá to remain highly connected to areas such as central Mexico and Central America. The apparent "Mexicanization" of architecture at Chichén Itzá led past researchers to believe that Chichén Itzá existed under the control of a Toltec empire. Chronological data refutes this early interpretation, and it is now known that Chichén Itzá predated the Toltec; Mexican architectural styles are now used as an indicator of strong economic and ideological ties between the two regions.
The Postclassic (beginning 900–1000 CE, depending on area) is, like the Late Classic, characterized by the cyclical crystallization and fragmentation of various polities. The main Maya centers were located in the northern lowlands. Following Chichén Itzá, whose political structure collapsed during the Early Postclassic,Mayapánrose to prominence during the Middle Postclassic and dominated the north for c. 200 years. After Mayapán's fragmentation, the political structure in the northern lowlands revolved around large towns or city-states, such asOxkutzcabandTi’ho(Mérida, Yucatán), that competed with one another.
Toniná, in the Chiapas highlands, andKaminaljuyúin the central Guatemala highlands, were important southern highland Maya centers. The latter site, Kaminaljuyú, is one of the longest occupied sites in Mesoamerica and was continuously inhabited from c. 800 BCE to around 1200 CE. Other important highland Maya groups include theKʼicheʼofUtatlán, theMaminZaculeu, thePoqomaminMixco Viejo, and theKaqchikelatIximchein the Guatemalan highlands. ThePipilresided inEl Salvador, theNicaraowere in westernNicaraguaand northwesternCosta Rica, and theCh'orti'were in eastern Guatemala and northwesternHonduras.
In central Mexico, the early portion of the Postclassic correlates with the rise of theToltecand an empire based at their capital,Tula(also known asTollan).Cholula, initially an important Early Classic center contemporaneous with Teotihuacan, maintained its political structure (it did not collapse) and continued to function as a regionally important center during the Postclassic. The latter portion of the Postclassic is generally associated with the rise of theMexicaand theAztec Empire. One of the more commonly known cultural groups in Mesoamerica, the Aztec politically dominated nearly all of central Mexico, the Gulf Coast, Mexico's southern Pacific Coast (Chiapas and into Guatemala), Oaxaca, andGuerrero.
TheTarascans(also known as thePurépecha) were located inMichoacánand Guerrero. With their capital atTzintzuntzan, the Tarascan state was one of the few to actively and continuously resist Aztec domination during the Late Postclassic. Other important Postclassic cultures in Mesoamerica include theTotonacalong the eastern coast (in the modern-day states ofVeracruz,Puebla, andHidalgo). TheHuastecresided north of the Totonac, mainly in the modern-day states ofTamaulipasand northern Veracruz. TheMixtecand Zapotec cultures, centered atMitlaandZaachilarespectively, inhabited Oaxaca.
The Postclassic ends with thearrival of the Spanishand their subsequent conquest of the Aztecs between 1519 and 1521. Many other cultural groups did not acquiesce until later. For example, Maya groups in the Petén area, including theItzaatTayasaland theKowojatZacpeten, remained independent until 1697.
Some Mesoamerican cultures never achieved dominant status or left impressive archaeological remains but are nevertheless noteworthy. These include theOtomi,Mixe–Zoquegroups (which may or may not have been related to the Olmecs), the northernUto-Aztecangroups, often referred to as theChichimeca, that include theCoraandHuichol, the Chontales, the Huaves, and the Pipil, Xincan and Lencan peoples of Central America.
By roughly 6000 BCE,hunter-gatherersliving in thehighlandsand lowlands of Mesoamerica began to develop agricultural practices with early cultivation of squash and chili. The earliest example ofmaizedates to c. 4000 BCE and comes fromGuilá Naquitz, a cave in Oaxaca. Earlier maize samples have been documented at the Los Ladrones cave site inPanama, c. 5500 BCE.Slightly thereafter, semi-agrarian communitiesbegan to cultivate other crops throughout Mesoamerica.Maize was the most common domesticate, but the common bean, tepary bean, scarlet runner bean,jicama,tomatoand squash all became common cultivates by 3500 BCE. At the same time, these communities exploitedcotton,yucca, andagavefor fibers andtextilematerials.By 2000 BCE, corn was the staple crop in the region, and remained so through modern times. The Ramón orBreadnut tree(Brosimum alicastrum) was an occasional substitute for maize in producing flour. Fruit was also important in the daily diet of Mesoamerican cultures. Some of the main ones consumed includeavocado,papaya,guava,mamey,zapote, andannona.
Mesoamerica lacked animals suitable for domestication, most notably domesticated largeungulates. The lack ofdraft animalsfor transportation is one notable difference between Mesoamerica and the cultures of the South American Andes. Other animals, including theduck,dogs, andturkey, weredomesticated. Turkey was the first to be domesticated locally, around 3500 BCE.Dogswere the primary source of animal protein in ancient Mesoamerica,and dog bones are common in midden deposits throughout the region.
Societies of this region did hunt certain wild species for food. These animals included deer,rabbit, birds, and various types of insects. They also hunted for luxury items, such as feline fur and bird plumage.
Mesoamerican cultures that lived in the lowlands and coastal plains settled down in agrarian communities somewhat later than did highland cultures because there was a greater abundance of fruits and animals in these areas, which made a hunter-gatherer lifestyle more attractive.Fishing also was a major provider of food to lowland and coastal Mesoamericans creating a further disincentive to settle down in permanent communities.
Ceremonial centers were the nuclei of Mesoamerican settlements. The temples provided spatial orientation, which was imparted to the surrounding town. The cities with their commercial and religious centers were always political entities, somewhat similar to the Europeancity-state, and each person could identify with the city where they lived.
Ceremonial centers were always built to be visible. Pyramids were meant to stand out from the rest of the city, to represent the gods and their powers. Another characteristic feature of the ceremonial centers is historic layers. All the ceremonial edifices were built in various phases, one on top of the other, to the point that what we now see is usually the last stage of construction. Ultimately, the ceremonial centers were the architectural translation of the identity of each city, as represented by the veneration of their gods and masters.Stelaewere common public monuments throughout Mesoamerica and served to commemorate notable successes, events, and dates associated with the rulers and nobility of the various sites.
Given that Mesoamerica was broken into numerous and diverse ecological niches, none of the societies that inhabited the area were self-sufficient, although very long-distance trade was common only for very rare goods, or luxury materials.For this reason, from the last centuries of theArchaicperiod (8000 BCE– 1000 BCE) onward, regions compensated for the environmental inadequacies by specializing in the extraction of certain abundant natural resources and then trading them for necessary unavailable resources through established commercial trade networks.
The following is a list of some of the specialized resources traded from the various Mesoamerican sub-regions and environmental contexts:
Mesoamerican architecture is the collective name given to urban, ceremonial and public structures built bypre-Columbian civilizationsin Mesoamerica. Although very different in styles, all kinds of Mesoamerican architecture show some kind of interrelation, due to very significant cultural exchanges that occurred during thousands of years. Among the most well-known structures in Mesoamerica, the flat-toppyramidsare a landmark feature of the most developed urban centers.
Two characteristics are most notable in Mesoamerican architecture. Firstly, the intimate connection between geography, astronomy, and architecture: very often, urban centers or even single buildings are aligned to cardinal directions and/or along particular constellations.Secondly, iconography was considered integral part of architecture, with buildings often being adorned with images of religious and cultural significance.
Agriculturally based people historically divide the year into four seasons. These included the twosolsticesand the twoequinoxes, which could be thought of as the four "directional pillars" that support the year. These four times of the year were, and still are, important as they indicate seasonal changes that directly impact the lives of Mesoamerican agriculturalists.
The Maya closely observed and duly recorded the seasonal markers. They prepared almanacs recording past and recent solar andlunar eclipses, the phases of themoon, the periods ofVenusandMars, the movements of various other planets, and conjunctions of celestial bodies. These almanacs also made future predictions concerning celestial events. These tables are remarkably accurate, given the technology available, and indicate a significant level of knowledge among Mayaastronomers.
Among the many types of calendars the Maya maintained, the most important include a 260-day cycle, a 360-day cycle or 'year', a 365-day cycle or year, a lunar cycle, and a Venus cycle, which tracked thesynodicperiod of Venus. Maya of the European contact period said that knowing the past aided in both understanding the present and predicting the future (Diego de Landa). The 260-day cycle was a calendar to govern agriculture, observe religious holidays, mark the movements of celestial bodies, and memorialize public officials. The 260-day cycle was also used for divination, and (like the Catholic calendar of saints) to name newborns.
The names given to the days, months, and years in the Mesoamerican calendar came, for the most part, from animals, flowers, heavenly bodies, and cultural concepts that held symbolic significance in Mesoamerican culture. This calendar was used throughout the history of Mesoamerican by nearly every culture. Even today, several Maya groups in Guatemala, including theKʼicheʼ,Qʼeqchiʼ,Kaqchikel, and theMixe peopleof Oaxaca continue using modernized forms of the Mesoamerican calendar.
The Mesoamerican scripts deciphered to date arelogosyllabiccombining the use oflogogramswith asyllabary, and they are often calledhieroglyphicscripts. Five or six different scripts have been documented in Mesoamerica, but archaeological dating methods, and a certain degree of self-interest, create difficulties in establishing priority and thus the forebear from which the others developed. The best documented and deciphered Mesoamerican writing system, and therefore the most widely known, is the classicMaya script. Others include theOlmec, Zapotec, andEpi-Olmec/Isthmianwriting systems. An extensiveMesoamerican literaturehas been conserved partly in indigenous scripts and partly in the postinvasion transcriptions intoLatin script.
The otherglyphicwriting systems of Mesoamerica, and their interpretation, have been subject to much debate. One important ongoing discussion regards whether non-Maya Mesoamerican texts can be considered examples of true writing or whether non-Maya Mesoamerican texts are best understood aspictographicconventions that express ideas, specifically religious ones, but don't represent the phonetics of spoken language.
Mesoamerican writing is found in several mediums, including large stone monuments such asstelae, carved directly onto architecture, carved or painted over stucco (e.g.,murals), and onpottery. No Precolumbian Mesoamerican society is known to have had widespread literacy, and literacy was probably restricted to particular social classes, including scribes, painters, merchants, and the nobility.
The Mesoamerican book was typically written with brush and colored inks on a paper prepared from the inner bark of theFicus amacus. The book consisted of a long strip of the prepared bark, which was folded like a screenfold to define individual pages. The pages were often covered and protected by elaborately carved book boards. Some books were composed of square pages while others were composed of rectangular pages.
Following the Spanish conquests in the sixteenth century, Spanish friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in alphabetic texts. Many oral histories of the prehispanic period were subsequently recorded in alphabetic texts. The indigenous in central and southern Mexico continued to produce written texts in the colonial period, many with pictorial elements. An important scholarly reference work is theHandbook of Middle American Indians, Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources.Mesoamerican codicessurvive from theAztec,Maya,Mixtec, andZapotecregions.
Mesoamericanarithmetictreatednumbersas having both literal and symbolic value, the result of thedualisticnature that characterized Mesoamerican ideology. As mentioned, the Mesoamerican numbering system was vigesimal (i.e., based on the number 20).
In representing numbers, a series of bars and dots were employed. Dots had a value of one, and bars had a value of five. This type of arithmetic was combined with symbolic numerology: '2' was related to origins, as all origins can be thought of as doubling; '3' was related to household fire; '4' was linked to the four corners of the universe; '5' expressed instability; '9' pertained to the underworld and the night; '13' was the number for light, '20' for abundance, and '400' for infinity. Theconcept of zerowas also used, and its representation at the Late Preclassic occupation ofTres Zapotesis one of the earliest uses of zero in human history.
Maize played an important role inMesoamerican feastsdue to its symbolic meaning and abundance.Gods were praised and named after.
Companion planting was practiced in various forms by the indigenous peoples of the Americas. They domesticatedsquash8,000 to 10,000 years ago, thenmaize, thencommon beans, forming theThree Sistersagricultural technique. The cornstalk served as atrellisfor the beans to climb, and the beansfixed nitrogen, benefitting the maize.
FrayBernardino de Sahagúncollected extensive information on plants, animals, soil types, among other matters from native informants in Book 11, The Earthly Things, of the twelve-volumeGeneral History of the Things of New Spain,known as theFlorentine Codex, compiled in the third quarter of the sixteenth century. Bernardino de Sahagún reported the ritualistic use ofPsilocybemushrooms known to theAztecsasteōnanācatl(agglutinative form ofteōtl(god, sacred) andnanācatl(mushroom) inNáhuatl).An earlier work, theBadianus ManuscriptorLibellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbisis another Aztec codex with written text and illustrations collected from the indigenous viewpoint. Theancient Aztecs used a variety of entheogenswithin their society.
Evidence shows that wild animals were captured and traded for symbolic and ritual purposes.
Shared traits in Mesoamerican mythology are characterized by their common basis as a religion that—though in many Mesoamerican groups developed into complex polytheistic religious systems—retained some shamanistic elements.
The great breadth of the Mesoamericanpantheonofdeitiesis due to the incorporation of ideological and religious elements from the first primitive religion of Fire, Earth, Water and Nature.Astral divinities (the sun, stars, constellations, and Venus) were adopted and represented in anthropomorphic,zoomorphic, and anthropozoomorphic sculptures, and in day-to-day objects.The qualities of these gods and their attributes changed over time and with cultural influences from other Mesoamerican groups. The gods are at once three: creator, preserver, and destroyer, and at the same time just one. An important characteristic of Mesoamerican religion was the dualism among the divine entities. The gods represented the confrontation between opposite poles: the positive, exemplified by light, the masculine, force, war, the sun, etc.; and the negative, exemplified by darkness, the feminine, repose, peace, the moon, etc.
The typical Mesoamerican cosmology sees the world as separated into a day world watched by the sun and a night world watched by the moon. More importantly, the three superposed levels of the world are united by aCeibatree (Yaxchein Mayan). The geographic vision is also tied to the cardinal points. Certain geographical features are linked to different parts of this cosmovision. Thus mountains and tall trees connect the middle and upper worlds; caves connect the middle and nether worlds.
Generally, sacrifice can be divided into two types:autosacrificeandhuman sacrifice.The different forms of sacrifice are reflected in the imagery used to evoke ideological structure and sociocultural organization in Mesoamerica. In the Maya area, for example, steles depict bloodletting rituals performed by ruling elites, eagles and jaguars devouring human hearts, jade circles or necklaces that represented hearts, and plants and flowers that symbolized both nature and the blood that provided life. Imagery also showed pleas for rain or pleas for blood, with the same intention to replenish the divine energy. Ritual sacrifice was done in efforts to appease the gods, and was done with the purpose of protection of the population.
Autosacrifice, also calledbloodletting, is the ritualized practice of drawing blood from oneself. It is commonly seen or represented through iconography as performed by ruling elites in highly ritualized ceremonies, but it was easily practiced in mundane sociocultural contexts (i.e., non-elites could perform autosacrifice). The act was typically performed withobsidianprismatic bladesorstingray spines, and blood was drawn from piercing or cutting thetongue,earlobes, and/orgenitals(among other locations). Another form of autosacrifice was conducted by pulling a rope with attached thorns through the tongue or earlobes. The blood produced was then collected onamateheld in a bowl.
Autosacrifice was not limited to male rulers, as their female counterparts often performed these ritualized activities. They are typically shown performing the rope and thorns technique. A recently discovered queen's tomb in the Classic Maya site ofWaka(also known as El Perú) had a ceremonial stingray spine placed in her genital area, suggesting that women also performed bloodletting in their genitalia.
Sacrifice had great importance in the social and religious aspects of Mesoamerican culture. First, it showed death transformed into the divine.Death is the consequence of a human sacrifice, but it is not the end; it is but the continuation of the cosmic cycle. Death creates life—divine energy is liberated through death and returns to the gods, who are then able to create more life. Secondly, it justifies war, since the most valuable sacrifices are obtained through conflict. The death of the warrior is the greatest sacrifice and gives the gods the energy to go about their daily activities, such as the bringing of rain. Warfare and capturing prisoners became a method of social advancement and a religious cause. Finally, it justifies the control of power by the two ruling classes, the priests and the warriors. The priests controlled the religious ideology, and the warriors supplied the sacrifices. Historically, it was also believed those sacrificed were chosen by the gods, this idea of being "chosen" was decided by the gods. This was then displayed by acts, such as being struck by lightning. If someone was struck by lightning and a sacrifice was needed they would often be chosen by their population, as they believed they were chosen by the gods.
The Mesoamerican ballgame was a sport with ritual associations played for over 3000 years by nearly all pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica. The sport had different versions in different places during the millennia, and a modern version of the game,ulama, is still played in a few places.
Over 1300ballcourtshave been found throughout Mesoamerica.They vary considerably in size, but they all feature long narrow alleys with side walls to bounce the balls against.
The rules of the ballgame are not known, but it was probably similar to volleyball, where the object is to keep the ball in play. In the most well-known version of the game, the players struck the ball with their hips, though some versions used forearms or employed rackets, bats, or handstones. The ball was made of solid rubber, and weighed up to 4 kg or more, with sizes that differed greatly over time or according to the version played.
While the game was played casually for simple recreation, including by children and perhaps even women, the game also had important ritual aspects, and major formal ballgames were held as ritual events, often featuring human sacrifice.
Mesoamericanastronomyincluded a broad understanding of the cycles of planets and other celestial bodies. Special importance was given to thesun,moon, andVenusas the morning and evening star.
Observatories were built at some sites, including the round observatory atCeibaland the "Observatorio" atXochicalco. Often, the architectural organization of Mesoamerican sites was based on precise calculations derived from astronomical observations. Well-known examples of these include theEl Castillopyramid at Chichen Itza and the Observatorio atXochicalco. A unique and common architectural complex found among many Mesoamerican sites is theE-Group; these are aligned to serve as astronomical observatories. The name of this complex is based onUaxactun's "Group E", the first known observatory in the Maya area. Perhaps the earliest observatory documented in Mesoamerica is that of theMonte Alto culture. This complex consisted of three plain stelae and a temple oriented with respect to thePleiades.
It has been argued that among Mesoamerican societies the concepts ofspaceandtimeare associated with the fourcardinal compass pointsand linked together by thecalendar.Dates or events were always tied to a compass direction, and the calendar specified the symbolic geographical characteristic peculiar to that period. Resulting from the significance held by the cardinal directions, many Mesoamerican architectural features, if not entire settlements, were planned and oriented according to directionality.
In Maya cosmology, each cardinal point was assigned a specific color and a specific jaguar deity (Bacab). They are as follows:
Later cultures such as theKaqchikelandKʼicheʼmaintain the association of cardinal directions with each color, but use different names.
Among the Aztecs, the name of each day was associated with a cardinal point (thus conferring symbolic significance), and each cardinal direction was associated with a group of symbols. Below are the symbols and concepts associated with each direction:
Mesoamericanartisticexpression was conditioned byideologyand generally focused on themes ofreligionand/or sociopoliticalpower. This is largely based on the fact that most works that survived the Spanish conquest were public monuments. These monuments were typically erected by rulers who sought to visually legitimize their sociocultural and political position; by doing so, they intertwined their lineage, personal attributes and achievements, and legacy with religious concepts. As such, these monuments were specifically designed for public display and took many forms, includingstele,sculpture, architecturalreliefs, and other types of architectural elements (e.g., roofcombs). Other themes expressed include tracking time, glorifying the city, and veneration of the gods—all of which were tied to explicitly aggrandizing the abilities and the reign of the ruler who commissioned the artwork.
The majority of artwork created during this historical time was about these topics, religion and politics. Rulers were drawn and sculpted. Historical tales and events were then translated into pieces of art, and art was used to relay religious and political messages.
Archaeological studies have never discovered any written music from thepre-Columbian era, but musical instruments were found, as well as carvings and depictions, that clearly show how music played a central role in theMayanreligious and societal structures, for example, as accompaniment to celebrations and funerals.Some Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Maya, commonly played various instruments such as drums, flutes and whistles.Although most of the original Mayan music disappeared following theSpanish colonization, some of it mixed with the incoming Spanish music and exists to date.