Early Nation States in America

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I. Who were the precontact (archaic, PaleoIndian, aboriginal) people of the Northern woodlands?

A. Earliest people we know of in any detail lived 4,000 - 1500 BP.

1. Made birdstones which are hard to date because none have been excavated in situ.

a. 6" long.

b. Purpose as handles, weights, "magical" handles?

c. Carved of stone, holes in the bottom index of age.

d. Frequently counterfeited.

B. Adena culture thrived c.  2,800 - 1,800 BP.

1. Centered in the central Ohio River Valley.

2. Wattle and Daub architecture.

3. Indirect (?) trade with people of:

            a.  Lake Superior for copper,

            b.  Gulf Coast for shell,

            c.  Arkansas, Rockies for obsidian and flint,

            d.  Tennessee for mica.

4. known for platform pipes, only 1 known anthropomorph.

5. Slate tablets with unknown meaning/significance.

a. 10" x 10" x 3/4".

b. Designs emphasize curvaceous lines and birds of prey.

6. Serpent mound is not a burial mound, but function obscure.

a. Serpent with horns? evil water inhabitants?

b. Rain charms?

c. Symbol of reincarnation (shed skin).

d. Reconstruction and plowing obscure true base.

7. Practiced the art of skull modification for beauty and for transformations into were-animals.

C. Hopewell c.  2,300 - 1,400 BP.

1. Started in Illinois but moved into Ohio River Valley.

2. Mound city near Chilcothe.

3. Mica-lined grave, completely lined.

4. Objects "killed" when owner died.

5. Two-dimensional art - sheet mica and sheet copper.

6. 4" animal pipes in naturalistic form.

 II.  Who were the precontact people of the desert Southwest.

A. The Anasazi are known by their Navajo name as the Enemies of Our Old Ones.

1. Pueblo peoples prefer the name hisat sinom.

2. Their towns shifted from open areas to the cliffs around 1000 BP.

a. As far as we know they had a democratic form of government.

3. They practiced agriculture (3 sisters) as borrowed from MesoAmerica.

a. This allowed the population to increase in times of plenty of rain, but caused a population decline in times of drought.

        i.  Serious irrigators with canals and reservoirs.

b. The close ties with the crops generated many ceremonies.

i. This caused art and architecture to relate to the crops.

ii. Buildings for ceremony.

4. Architecture

a. Chaco Canyon 1,100 to 900 BP. Hub of major trade routes.  30' wide roads.

i. Pueblo Bonita "D" shaped complex at least three stories, maybe five high.

aa. 800 rooms of masonry covered with plaster housed at least 1,000.

bb. 50 kivas each with sipapu or place of emergence.

ii. Casa Rinconcada probably a religious center because of major Kiva.

aa. Principal axis oriented to summer solstice.

bb. "T" shaped doorways.

b.  Betatakin is the largest cliff overhang dwelling at 1000 A.D.

c. Mesa Verde National Park contains many ruins.

i. Cliff Palace had highly decorated walls (geometrics and figurals)

aa. foot drums here.

5. Pottery.

a. Corrugated ware for cooking - increased surface area.

b. Grey ware for storage.

c.  Black and white slipped designs for ollas and burials.

6. Textiles

a. Tump Line - strap for suspending loads from the forehead.

b. Called the Basketmaker culture because of versatile basketry methods.

c. Clothing men's and women's

i. Sandals.

ii. Mantas and belts.

iii. Cotton bridal blanket made by groom.

iv. Hair clubs for unmarried women.

v. Turkey feather and rabbit skin blankets.

7.  Wiped out by 23 year drought c. 700 BP empty storage bins and houses.

8.  Much pot hunting until 1977.

III.  Who were the archaic people of the Valley of Mexico?

A.  Teotihuacan- Eight sq-mile site located 30 miles NE of Mexico city 2,900 to 1,350 BP

1. We use the Aztec name for this place and its people. The people who built this site left wooly mammoth bones which caused the Aztecs to believe that the people who had built it were giants.  They were not Aztecs, sometimes they are mistaken for the ancestors of the Toltecs, but this has not proved true.

2. Those who died in war, childbirth, or drowning went to the highest heaven.

3. Incredible amounts of remains, new stuff all the time.

.                a.  Architecture of city - axial site layout, Camino del Muerto (50 yds. wide) runs N - S for over a mile, and has a large plaza at the foot of the Pyramid of the Moon. Walls were typically of the form called Talud/Tablero. This means there is a narrow table paired with a shot wall. See picture of curved pyramid wall below.

 

i.  Pyramid of the Sun called Southern Structure, currently 210' high.

aa. First built of all the structures, topped by a temple and idol destroyed 16th century. 

bb. E - W orientation (15E 30 min.) it rests on a platform 1/4 mile an each side.  Stairs rise to east marked by summer solstice. Talud-tablero

cc. Entirely human built on flat ground it was over built on ruins. Found a four room cave beneath this. Origin myth of many peoples.

ii. Ciudadela - Temple of Quetzalcoatl & Tlaloc.

aa. Discovered under a newer structure during a repair.

bb. Three-dimensional, tenon heads of Quetzalcoatl "Quetzal = a bright green bird/feathers; coatl = serpent."

cc. Tlaloc had massive goggle eyes and jaguar fangs. Streams run from his hands.

The image above is of Quetzalcoatal. It can be seen at the Temple at Teotihuacan. Notice that he is painted bright green, like a quetzal bird feather. Notice the snake fangs, the feathers that ring his head and the snak spiral in ths side of his head that roughly match the spirals on Tlaloc, seen below.

This scuplture of Tlaloc with its goggle eyes, fangs, and corn kernel skin is also from the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc at Teotihuancan. He also wears large ear spools (gauges) and bears spirals, similar to those of Quetzalcoatl, on the sides of his head. See if you can spot the seams in between the giant stones that make up Tlaloc's head.

a1.  Rain deity, corn deity which required baby tears.

a2. In some locations Tlaloc appears to be a female or else is replaced by a female deity.

iii. Bordering the ceremonial centers were

aa. The palaces of the wealthy.  Milk-white stuccoed walls, brilliantly painted with murals.

bb. Minor civic centers.

cc. Slightly further out were multi-family apartment houses.

dd. Artisan centers include stone carvers, fibers, metal work, feather work.

ee. Market squares bustled with activity.  Great traders.

 Traded: animal skins; feathers; seeds; obsidian; gold; silver; quartz; cotton and agave fibers and textiles; slaves; food; jade; and more.

b. Stone carving.