MESOAMERICA

ARCHITECTURE AND CIVILIZATION

 MESOAMERICA
• Mesoamerica -term coined by an
Anthropologist, Paul Kirchkoff,
to identify areas with close
cultural traits before the
european invasion.
- “meso” means middle or
intermediate in Greek.
GEOGRAPHY
 GEOGRAPHY
• located in the mid-latitudes of the Americas from
North America, through much of the isthmus to
the South America. Basically, located in the wider
region known as MIDDLE AMERICA.
• It is the modern-day countries of Mexico,
Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador,
Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
• Mesoamerica is geographically divided into two
regions – the highlands and the lowlands.
CLIMATE
 CLIMATE
HIGHLANDS LOWLANDS
• “altiplanos” • Sea level-1000 meters
• 1000 and 2000 meters • Subtropical and tropical
above sea level climates
• Diverse climate – dry
tropical, cold mountainous,
but dominantly temperate –
warm temperature and
moderate rainfall.
MESOAMERICAN HIGHLANDS
MESOAMERICAN LOWLANDS
HISTORY AND CIVILIZATIONS
 HISTORY
• Different food from Mesopotamia;
Mesoamerica has corn (sometimes called
maize), beans, peppers, tomatoes, and squash
as their staple foods.
• Dogs and turkeys were the only animals that
could be domesticated.
 OLMECS
(1400 – 100 BCE)
• Appeared at the southwestern curve of the
Gulf of Mexico, near what is now Veracruz.
• Denoted as “the rubber people.”
• Emerged along river valleys.
• Produced imperishable art (e.g. Colossal
Heads – large carved heads out of volcanic
rocks).
• Monumental sculptures indicate a civilization
with powerful leaders.
COLOSSAL HEAD
 ZAPOTECS
• Flourished to a high level of development in
Monte Alban – the first city in ancient
Mesoamerica.
• Developed a writing system and a calendar.
RUINS AT MONTE ALBAN
 MAYA
• Prospered when the Olmecs declined.
• Around the curve of the Gulf of Mexico on the Yucatán Peninsula
and south into present-day Guatemala.
• Had infertile soils and no large rivers, but the people made terraces
to trap silt and plant corn, beans, squash, peppers, cassava (manioc
root), and cacao (chocolate).
• They also have luxury goods – feathers, jade, gold, and shells.
• Developed the most elaborate and sophisticated writing in
Mesoamerica - heiroglyphic; along with astronomy, mathematics
and calendar making.
• Also developed 3 different types of calendars – Solar Year(365): for
agricultural cycle; Ritual Year(260): for daily affairs; and Long Count:
recording large scale passage of time.
MAYAN HEIROGLYPH
 TEOTIHUACAN
tay-oh-tee-wa-KAHN

• Place where the gods are made

• Developed after the Mayans.
• Located in the highlands of Mexico.
• Began as an agricultural village which by 500 BCE
grew to have 100,000-200,000 people, ranked as
one of the six largest cities in the world.
• Their art portrays deities more than royalties and
they expanded the Olmec graphic symbols, but
the books have been burned by unknown
invaders killing as well a quarter of the
population.
PYRAMID OF THE MOON
 AZTECS

• Also called Mexica.

• Resides in Tenochtitlan (the-noch-tee-TLAHN) which name
means place of the cactus fruit.
• Aztecs – name given to the inhabitants by the German
explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt in the 19th
Century.
• Nahuatl – their language.
• Their food production is supported by chinampas floating
islands of soil held together by willow trees.
• By the early 1500s the Aztecs have already conquered most
of Mesoamerica.
• In 1520, the Aztec civilization was destroyed by a small
group of Spanish conquistadors.
A MODEL OF CHINAMPAS
 MIXTEC
• Rain people
• Ruled Oaxaca.
• Known to be the foremost goldsmiths of
Mesoamerica, including the lost-waxing of
gold and its alloys.
• Conquered by the Aztecs in the mid-1400s.
GOLDEN MIXTEC PENDANTS
 INCA
• They call their place Tahuantinsuyu or the
Land of the Four Quarters.
• It is the largest empire during the Pre-
Columbian.
• Archaeologist believe that Machu Picchu have
been made by them.
• It is short-lived, lasted for only about 100
years since 1438.
MACHU PICCHU
 TOTONAC
• Are rivals for the Aztecs.
• Was conquered by the Aztecs in 1480 and as a
revenge joined with the Spanish
conquistadors in defeating the Aztecs later on.
PYRAMID OF THE NICHES
RELIGION
 RELIGION
• They believe that the main gods represent things
from the natural world.
• Mayans believe the gods created the world and
some primary gods are forces of nature.
• Aztecs believe that sun god must be strong to
defeat the darkness and rise each day and see
gods as the ruler of the world.
• Incas believe that all gods follow a major god and
that spirits live in sacred places and objects called
huacas.
INCAN HUACA
 RELIGION
• POLYTHEISM AND ANIMISM
• In terms of sacrifices, Aztecs commonly offers
human; blood sacrifices feed the gods.
• For Mayans, they also offer blood to strengthen
the gods, and humans, sometimes from the loser
of pok-a-tok.
• Incas mostly offer animals or food, and humans
only on special occasions.
• MOST ARCHITECTURES AND ART IN
MESOAMERICA ARE INSPIRED BY THEIR
RELIGION.
CULTURE
DIVERSE WRITING SYSTEMS
POK-A-TOK
SOCIO-POLITICS
 GOVERNMENT
• Each tribe has 1 leader.
• Mayans pass down leadership through family, and
always emphasizes the thought of an individual leader.
• Zapotec thought more about having a council. The
leader helps run the are along with other officials.
• Mixtec was like the Zapotec, they work in a group
assigning other officials to govern smaller
communities.
• Aztecs do not pass down the power to family but to a
ruler selected by nobles.
ARCHITECTURE CHARACTER
 ARCHITECTURE
• Architecture in Mesoamerica is mostly influenced
by religious and mythological ideas.
• It is also know for its iconography. Graced with
symbols with religious or cultural significance and
sometimes writing in their own way.
• Their structures are built with mostly with
limestone, then progresses to the used of stucco.
In central Mexico, tezontle, cantera veneer, and
adobe.
• They also used corbelled arch since keystone was
not invented yet.
 ARCHITECTURE
• LIMESTONE – a sedimentary rock used as a building material and in
making cement.
• STUCCO – also known as render, used as a coating for walls and ceiling,
also in decorations and sculptures.
• TEZONTLE - porous, highly oxidized volcanic rocks used in construction.
• CANTERA – natural “quarried” rocks, which allows detailed carving and
cutting. Also known as hand-carved stone.
• ADOBE – “mudbrick” made from earth and other organic materials.
 Overview of the central plaza of the Mayan city of Palenque
(Chiapas, Mexico), an example of Classic period Mesoamerican
Architecture
Chichen Itza, Great Ball Court,Temple
of the Jaguars