Meso America Map of Central America
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- Classic Veracruz Culture
- 365 niches for 365 days of the year
- Toltec (people of the city of Tula)
- Mixtecs (people of Oaxaca)
- The Aztecs * map slide On edge of Valley of Mexico They called themselves the Mexica
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Chichen Itza (Mayan…parts Toltec? Discuss later…) Mexico *El Castillo dominates the center of the Chichen Itza archaeological site. - 98 foot high pyramid in the main northern plaza - Spanish nicknamed “Castle” Castillo - 9 levels to reference the 9 levels of Xibalba - temple oriented to the 4 cardinal points - dedicated to Kukulcan (say Cool Cool Kan)= feathered serpent god (equal to Aztec Queztlcoatl) – came to be major religious focus in Chichen Itza - messenger between god and man?- one of the great creators?- name is also mixed up with a king whose name is the same confusing things. - 92 steps on one side and 91 on all other 3= 365 days of the year!
- so cool! *The "El Caracol" observatory temple. Chichen Itza, 800-900 - round and domed temple - Caracol= “snail shell”- conch shell like which is an attribute of Feathered Serpent – may be a temple then to Kukulcan - inventive and experimental - 2 platforms - circular staircase inside leads to a small chamber with windows along the way may have been an astrological observatory - Several of its windows point towards the equinox sunset and the southernmost and northernmost points on the horizon where Venus rises. (MZE- book puts this next slide under Toltec, people we will discuss later..) I choose to put it under Mayan! *** Chichen Itza and city of Tula (of the Toltec people) have numerous architectural similarities in a number of their constructions. This Toltec-Maya connection is widely considered powerful, unprecedented, and unique in Mesoamerica. Unlike most Maya sites, some of Chichen Itza’s buildings have the traits of the Toltecs, a historically powerful indigenous group from modern-day Mexico. The explanation of these similarities is a point of controversy among the scholars of the Toltec and Maya fields.***
- The Temple of the Warriors complex consists of a large stepped pyramid fronted and flanked by rows of carved columns depicting warriors. This complex is analogous to Temple B (which we will see soon) at the Toltec capital of Tula, and indicates some form of cultural contact between the two regions. - Toltec/ Mayan combo features - The temple consists of four platforms, flanked on the south and west sides by 200 round and square columns. - All square columns are carved in low relief, with warriors; in some places they are cemented together in sections, painted in brilliant colors and covered with plaster. - The Temple of Warriors is approached by a broad stairway with a plain, stepped ramp on either side, and each ramp has figures of standard-bearers to hold flags. Before the main entrance a chacmool reclined. Slide * Chacmool- At the top of the stairway on the pyramid’s summit (and leading towards the entrance of the pyramid’s temple) is a Chac Mool. - life sized sculpture of a man/ perhaps fallen warrior lying on his back holding a bowl over his stomach - may have been a repository for human sacrificial victim’s hearts! (or 1. other sacrificial offerings or 2. as a table to make sacrifices or piercings over) - not a god- not inside the temples or sanctuaries and the reclining pose relates more to the look of captives in art - On the top, serpent columns which had S shaped supported wooden lintels (now gone) above the doorways. Astronomical signs and decorative features on the head of each serpent are carved over the eyes.
- The region is pockmarked with natural sinkholes, called cenotes, which expose the water table to the surface. - The Cenote Sagrado was a place of pilgrimage for ancient Maya people who would conduct sacrifices during times of drought. - Archaeological investigations support this as thousands of objects have been removed from the bottom of the cenote, including material such as gold, carved jade, copal, pottery, flint, obsidian, shell, wood, rubber, cloth, as well as skeletons of children and men. The Maya today By about 800 C.E. Maya civilization was in decline. Building and monument-making stopped and in some places there is evidence of violence and destruction. The problems may have been caused by warfare and agricultural crisis. Despite this "collapse," the Maya survived in reduced numbers. There are about six million Maya alive today. Meso America Part 2
- translates to “Birthplace of the Gods” given to it by the Aztecs long after the city’s decline and abandonment. - notion of Mexico as a land ruled out of the Valley of Mexico (a highlands plateau in central Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Mexico Valley was a center for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including Teotihuacan, the Toltec, and the Aztec) comes from Teotihuacan! - 200,000 people at its peak! (1-650CE)- biggest pre-Colombian city - manufacturing center- painters, potters, sculptors, obsidian traders
- it was named Teotihuacan, "Birthplace of the Gods" by the Aztecs. - a complex urban grid filled with single- and multi-floor apartment compounds. This grid, unique in Mesoamerica in its scale and organization, implies a high degree of social control. - layout of the city may relate to astronomical phenomena - The Avenue of the Dead, Pyramid of the Sun and the Moon= later Aztec given names - city is divided into numerous sectors- north/south and east/west axes - was very cosmopolitan and large - a religious center - city layout reflects social structure of the city- citadel and admin is in the center – then lesser nobles and merchants’ houses, then regular homes and workshops - apartment complex buildings made for families or maybe work groups- for 60 to 100 people- had drainage- each had temple - non-religious buildings (dwellings, businesses, etc) were built of wood, which has long since decayed - one city block was 187 feet and buildings were made of multiples of this number - (only site with no ball court! However there is art representing the ball game…) - even the river was diverted to follow the grid plan - one main Avenue, called the Avenue of the Dead, that connects all of the important structures - 130 feet wide, 1.5 mile long - changes elevation up and down stairs at several points - commands attention as architectural form in its own right - Avenue of the Dead points like an arrow to a cleft in one of the mountains on the horizon behind the Pyramid of the Moon - 15 degrees, 29 mins east of true north
- temple build over a cave and spring- (now closed and locked) both were seen as conduits to the underworld while mountains (temples) communicated with heavens- pyramid temple as “water mountain”- center of earth and cosmos - seen by the city as axis mundi = world axis- center of the world- gateway to upper and lower worlds - rubble filled and faced with local volcanic stone - echo the surrounding mountains -ramped stairways to crowning temples of perishable materials of thatch or wood - excavators found the remains or children buried at the 4 corners of the pyramid- may have been like the later Aztec’s sacrifice of children to bring rainfall- may have been a water/agriculture ritual.
- the way they built the buildings with sloping sides at the base and then straight walls reflects the actual bases of the mountains in the area= talud-tablero style - talud= Spanish for walls, tablero= Spanish for pictures - the straight walls may have been decorated with pictures hence the name tablero= pictures - the talud-tablero construction, distinctive to Teotihuacan (on click*)
Slide * The Citadel with the Temple of the Feathered Serpent in the center, Teotihuacan, Mexico - FYI- there is a stepped platform in front of the actual Temple (may represent a change in thinking- to put a platform that kind of blocks this temple..) - citadel- valley like space- other temple clusters with mountain shaped platform temples, may have been like a replica of the mountain valley area of Teotihuacan *Detail of Teotihuacan-Temple of the Feathered Serpent - a smaller pyramid is enclosed inside the Citadel dedicated to the Feathered Serpent, the later Aztecs called Quetzelcoatl= wind, rain clouds, life god - The outside edges of each level are decorated with feathered serpent heads alternating with those of another googled eyed snake-like creature, often identified as Tlaloc (aka Chac aka Rain God) - Under each row of heads are bas-reliefs of the full feathered serpent, in profile, also associated with water symbols. - In antiquity the entire pyramid was painted – the background here was blue with carved sea shells providing decoration. - (detail drawing on click *) - found a tomb underneath of a presumed ruler - a hundred warrior skeletons (and some of women too) found around the temple- appease the gods through human sacrifice. - Some interpret the pyramid's iconography as cosmological in scope – a myth of the origin of time or of creation – or as calendrical in nature. Others find symbols of rulership, or war and the military. - may have had a calendar element to it- with notches that could have been filled to count/mark each day. 8.31 * The Great Goddess. Tepantitla, Teotihuacán. Upper portion of mural. c. 650 CE. - finest surviving mural in the city - covers 4 walls of an apartment compound of a noble family - Earth Goddess- water and fertility goddess – all of these or maybe more! (gods/goddesses are always shown frontal in the city) - Two major defining characteristics of the Great Goddess are a bird headress (quetzal) and a nose pendant with descending fangs - headdress spouts plants and butterflies and spiders - water falls from her outstretched hands - basin of plants at her feet - mountain shape of her must connect to the idea of “water mountain” - like an axis of earth and sky - style is specific to Teotihuacan- basic curves and straight lines (not like Mayan whiplash curves)= architectonic= style that reflects geometry itself and the geometry of the walls and cities it is found on! The fall of Teotihuacan in the seventh century precipitates a period of dislocation. Many peoples are uprooted to new territories, forming new political and trade alliances, and creating eclectic art styles. A number of smaller cities in central Mexico compete for control and prestige. On the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, El Tajín develops into an extensive site and appears to have been the center for important ceremonial games. In the Valley of Oaxaca, small regional centers increase their power, and the Mixtecs have a growing presence. By 900 A.D., the Toltec culture is the new centralizing force in Mesoamerica.
100–1000 CE * Map slide The Gulf Coast and El Tajin
8.32 * Palma with coyote ball player. El Tajín, Veracruz. Late Classic period, 900–1100 CE. Stone, 19-1/3 × 9-1/4 × 4-1/2” (49.2 × 23.4 × 11.4 cm). - The palma, named for its palm frond shape, is an item of protective gear worn in the Mesoamerican ballgame. - Although those worn in actual play are thought to have been made of a much lighter material such as leather or wadded cotton, many stone palmas survive.
- other 2 types of portable sculptures were 1. U shaped (yokes) worn around waist and bladelike heads (axes) - may have been ceremonial forms of the ball game equipment – palma would be put in waist of yoke vertically to protect chest and main organs. - may also be trophies for winning - were found buried with ball game players or leaders of the associated cults - here a man with a coyote mask - agave plant growing from head- agave plant made the alcoholic drink pulque that was drunk during the ball game rituals - loop of interlocking scrolls (characteristic of El Tajin style) and grotesque heads that are all along the edge of the sculpture - coyote man may be sacrificial priest
- this scene comes from a large sculpture at the El Tajin ball court itself - Sacrifice!!! - skeletal figure of death with scroll head descends from sky - priest with stone knife prepares to cut open ball player chest and take out heart - ball player wears a palma on a yoke around his waist (other priest and assistant also wear them) - ball player, probably drunk on pulque has his eyes closed in a dreamy state - connection to water too- seeing the ball court game and rituals as the entryway to earth and underworld and source of water- helped to ensure the seasonal rains, the success of the farmers! 8. 35 * Pyramid of the Niches, El Tajín, Veracruz. 9–10th century. - tallest building in El Tajin- solar symbol, symbolic mountain - talud tablero style or architecture - Originally the structure was painted a dark red with the niches in black intended to deepen the shadows of the recessed niches. - 365 niches for 365 days of the year- also symbolized the cave that was the passageway to the other world and heavenly bodies - close connection between form of Mesoamerican monuments and astrological observations and the measurement of time. - The most important part of the structure was the temple that was on top of this pyramid; however, this was completely destroyed and little is known about what it might have looked like - costumed performers or sculptures may have stood on the 4 niched platforms on the stairway - there are places for bannered poles to stand at the base of the pyramid for military banners and ball game orders - stelae (“stone trees”) would also have stood here to complete the cosmological landscape symbolism Post Classic Art after 900 Map * slide
Toltec (people of the city of Tula) - Toltec name means “maker of things” - city of Tula= north of Mexico City - The main ceremonial area has a number of architectural innovations that indicate societal changes. The large central plaza has space for 100,000 people. On three sides, there are long meeting halls with ceilings supported by columns all facing the plaza with over 1000 meters of benches, which have stone reliefs depicting warriors and others in procession. The architecture indicates a change from rituals performed by only a few people in closed spaces to large ceremonies to be viewed by many. These ceremonies were dominated by warriors. 8.37 * Pyramid B, Tula, Hidalgo. Early Postclassic Toltec period, c. 900–1200. - Toltec/Maya features - At the top of Pyramid B are four massive columns each carved in the likeness of Toltec warriors which once supported the roof of the temple on top of the pyramid.
- remaining sculpture that were once inside the Temple B to hold up the roof that no longer exists there- compact and rigid because of function - called atlantids= male statue columns - warriors or rulers in military dress - they wear feathered headdresses and breastplates that look like stylized butterflies (heraldic symbols of Toltecs) - men carry spear throwers (atlatls) in one hand and darts in the other! - stand eternally at attention, ward off hostile forces - originally would have been painted- must have been awe inspiring to the people sitting for worship there! Cultures after 1300…. (Post Classic)
- great goldsmiths and mosaicists - books!-aka codex- recorded history, rituals, astronomical tables, calendar calculations, maps, trade and tribute accounts. - so many get destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors (only FOUR Mayan ones survive, Five later Mixteca ones survive.)
- known for their codices (screenfold manuscript books) – bound pages of wood, vellum, hand written - often have hieroglyphic columns read left to right. - The codex folds together like a screen and is vividly painted on both sides * on click- A facsimile of the Codex Zouche-Nuttall on display in the British Museum. - mixture of myth and history - It is made of deer skin and comprises 47 leaves - book that documents the rise and fall of a specific king, named Eight Deer after his birthday on the Mixtec calendar- shown here with a deer head and eight dots after it (see it in the middle of the image below the feet) - his wedding to Lady Thirteen Serpent of Flowers- she presents him with frothing chocolate, sacred drink (her name is right below the cup)- he accepts which symbolized marriage.
- FYI- The date is 12 Serpent in the year 13 Cane (AD 1051) when 8 Deer was already 40 years old, surprisingly late in life for a first, especially a royal, marriage. The dynasty was assured, however by the birth of two sons - MZE- not sure what lower half depicts… - (king gets later killed by Dad in law in battle shown later in codex) The Aztecs * map slide
Warfare was extremely important for the Mexica people and led them to conquer most of modern-day central and southern Mexico.
Aztec Religion *16th Century Representation of Huitzilopochtli - Aztec God of War and Sacrifice - complex religious beliefs and the large pantheon of gods they worshipped.
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