This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(September 2024) |
The Mesoamerican Classic Period is marked by the consolidation of the urban process that started in the Late Preclassic and later the Postclassic, which occurred until the third century A.D. During the first part of this era, Mesoameria was dominated by Teotihuacan. As of the fourth century A. D., this city started a major process of decay that allow the growth of the Maya, Zapotec, and central regional cultures of the Epiclassic.
The Mesoamerican Classic Period can be established from around 200 to 900 A. D. However, the chronology varies in each cultural area. The precursors to this period are found in the late Preclassic Period, at around 400 B. C, when an increase in efficiency of agriculture technology led to demographic growth, a greater division of labor and specialization, and the growth of trade. The technological changes that made it possible were conditioned by specific factors in each region. Maya, Zapotecs, and Teotihuacans started to implement techniques such as irrigation systems. The staple crop continued to be maize.
In the same period, a bifurcation of traditions took place: One in central Mexico and the other in northern Mayan cities. Such differentiation is visible on all central ruins in the Mesoamerican complex, such as the calendar and writing systems. This were taken to their maximum complexity in the Maya civilization.
Far from what was thought in early texts about the Classic Period, today it is known that, in central Mexico as well as Maya states were warring cultures, although never to the extent of the cultures of the Postclassic. War seems to be central subject in the history of the Maya, revealed by steles of the era and the iconographic representations that have been discovered in sites like Toniná. In that region, various city-states established themselves that were often hostile to each other. For their part, Teotihuacan could not have become the great political and economic center they were without the use of force, also atested by the iconography of the city; However, it seems that the sheer size of Teotihuacan power freed the city from the hostilities of other competing states. Similarly, Monte Albán prevailed in the central valleys of Oaxaca through war, according to the steles found in Building J of the city.
Trade played an important role as an element of cohesion between Mesoamericans. Teotihuacan has an important role as a trading hub. After its collapse, the trade network decayed as well, after which smaller regional centers rose to prominence. Another of the principle subjects of the Classic was urbanism. The cities were carefully planned and constructed. The cities, in addition to being administrative and religious centers, functioned as productive commercial nodes.
As a last point, it is necessary to emphasize that most of the deities of the Mesoamerican pantheon were 'crystallized' in the classic period, and that religion occupied an important place in the social structure as an auxiliary of political power. Presumably, the clergy monopolized the knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, writing and even commerce and politics. There are sculpted and painted Maya texts, which have been identified as chronological, astronomical and historical, although they are not the main source of knowledge about the Maya, since they are written in their complex Maya script, which is still in the process of being deciphered. The Classic period, from 200 to 900, is characterized by a remarkable cultural flourishing.
However, the chronology varies in each cultural area. In the same classic period there was also a bifurcation of traditions in the Mesoamerican area: one, headed by Estereotipan, and the other by the Maya cities of the north.
Teotihuacan was "the Mesoamerican city par excellence". Its origins date to the late preclassic. Possibly, after the eruption of Xitle and with the decline of Cuicuilco, Teotihuacan came to house 75% of the population of the Mexican Basin in this era. The development of Teotihuacan was supported, among other things, by the exploitation of natural resources found in its location and its strategic geographic position intersection various trade routes.
The Teotihuacan chronology can be divided into six eras:
The changes in the settlement model in the Center made possible the emergence of the rural/urban dichotomy. An interesting point derived from this dyad is the reason for the high population concentration and the way in which the city provided itself with food. It is assumed that Teotihuacán must have had agricultural techniques that would allow it to satisfy the demand of its enormous population. It has been proposed that among them were the cultivation of chinampas in the swamps of the San Juan (Sanders), the construction of terraces, fallow land, and the occupation of an important part of the city's residents in agriculture. In any case, it is almost certain that they depended extensively on rainfed crops, and that their diet of maize, squash, beans and chili was supplemented by hunting, gathering and fishing.
Other important economic activities of the Teotihuacanos were craft production (pottery objects and obsidian manufactures) and long-distance trade. In both cases, there was an important specialization and, due to the demand, it became necessary to modify techniques to mass produce (for example, through the use of molds and modeling without a potter's wheel in the case of pottery).
Two outstanding artistic expressions in Teotihuacan were sculpture and architecture. Both had a public and monumental character. Sculpture was geometric in style, and generally represented animals and deities associated with water and fertility. The architecture also had its peculiar features, the most important of which was the use of talud-tablero modules, widely used at the time.
Writing, mathematics, astronomy and the calendar were never developed to the level of their Maya contemporaries. It is assumed that this is due to certain internal characteristics of the Teotihuacan political system, that is: it did not need a greater complexity in these technologies and knowledge.
Regarding its social organization, researchers have proposed that the city was divided into neighborhoods by lineages or by corporations with specific occupations. What is certain is that its power could not be based on the kinship structure, and that it was a multi-ethnic city. So far, it is not possible to establish which was the majority group; it is speculated that they could have been Oto-Manguean, Popoluca or Nahua-speaking peoples.
Unlike what happened in the Valley, the Mixtec did not have a hegemonic capital in the Classic. However, there was a considerable increase in the number of localities compared to the Preclassic. These were relatively small nuclei, of which Yucuñudahui was the largest. Yucuñudahui has a complex urban planning, which follows an L-shaped pattern. In this settlement, religious buildings, palaces, plazas, ball games and tombs were erected in the style of the Zapotecs of Monte Albán.
The more than one thousand Classic sites found in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca were evidently under the control of the entire Monte Albán. The Classic history of Monte Albán is usually divided into two periods:
This city is built on a hill 400 m above the level of the valley. At its peak it had a population of 15,000-30,000 inhabitants, who occupied more than two thousand terraces on the slopes of the hill. The city was subdivided into 15 large neighborhoods, which corresponded either to an equal number of lineages or to incorporated groups of economic activities.
Monte Alban had a Great Plaza, surrounded by civil and religious buildings. Its main characteristic follows the Teotihuacan talud/tablero model, with a peculiarity typical of the region: the 'double scapular' board. The large plaza could hold up to 15,000 people. It also houses a good number of tombs, of which the most important are 103, 104 and 105. The offerings found were composed of shell ornaments, green stone, and above all, the famous gray ceramic urns (masterpieces of classic Zapotec art), which usually contained nothing more than some beads, shell objects or were found empty.
The number of monuments with inscriptions that have been found in the valley of Oaxaca is only surpassed by the Maya area. These monuments reveal a mixed writing, similar to Maya and Olmec, with a syntactic order. The inscriptions deal with historical themes (births, conquests, etc.).
In the west it is not possible to establish a clear division between the Preclassic and Classic, due to the fact that the level of the complexity in the area's cultures does not permit it. During the Classic period, the west had little relations with the rest of Mesoamerica, except in the Guerrero area, home to the Mezcala culture, which we know of due to its carved stone objects.
In all of the Maya region, numerous human settlements, ceremonial and political centers, administrative buildings, and cultural buildings were built. Drainage systems and potable water systems were also built. There are many houses showing the different social strata, markets, squares and other buildings, revealing a well-organized religious and civil power structure.
Teotihuacan is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, 40 kilometers (25 mi) northeast of modern-day Mexico City.
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian ; the Archaic, the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE – 250 CE), the Classic (250–900 CE), and the Postclassic (900–1521 CE); as well as the post European contact Colonial Period (1521–1821), and Postcolonial, or the period after independence from Spain (1821–present).
Mesoamerican languages are the languages indigenous to the Mesoamerican cultural area, which covers southern Mexico, all of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The area is characterized by extensive linguistic diversity containing several hundred different languages and seven major language families. Mesoamerica is also an area of high linguistic diffusion in that long-term interaction among speakers of different languages through several millennia has resulted in the convergence of certain linguistic traits across disparate language families. The Mesoamerican sprachbund is commonly referred to as the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area.
Mesoamerican pyramids form a prominent part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. Although similar in some ways to Egyptian pyramids, these New World structures have flat tops and stairs ascending their faces, more similar to ancient Mesopotamian Ziggurats. The largest pyramid in the world by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the east-central Mexican state of Puebla. The builders of certain classic Mesoamerican pyramids have decorated them copiously with stories about the Hero Twins, the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, Mesoamerican creation myths, ritualistic sacrifice, etc. written in the form of Maya script on the rises of the steps of the pyramids, on the walls, and on the sculptures contained within.
Alfonso Caso y Andrade was an archaeologist who made important contributions to pre-Columbian studies in his native Mexico.
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures.
The geography of Mesoamerica describes the geographic features of Mesoamerica, a culture area in the Americas inhabited by complex indigenous pre-Columbian cultures exhibiting a suite of shared and common cultural characteristics. Several well-known Mesoamerican cultures include the Olmec, Teotihuacan, the Maya, the Aztec and the Purépecha. Mesoamerica is often subdivided in a number of ways. One common method, albeit a broad and general classification, is to distinguish between the highlands and lowlands. Another way is to subdivide the region into sub-areas that generally correlate to either culture areas or specific physiographic regions.
Mesoamerica, along with Mesopotamia and China, is one of three known places in the world where writing is thought to have developed independently. Mesoamerican scripts deciphered to date are a combination of logographic and syllabic systems. They are often called hieroglyphs due to the iconic shapes of many of the glyphs, a pattern superficially similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs. Fifteen distinct writing systems have been identified in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, many from a single inscription. The limits of archaeological dating methods make it difficult to establish which was the earliest and hence the progenitor from which the others developed. The best documented and deciphered Mesoamerican writing system, and the most widely known, is the classic Maya script. Earlier scripts with poorer and varying levels of decipherment include the Olmec hieroglyphs, the Zapotec script, and the Isthmian script, all of which date back to the 1st millennium BC. An extensive Mesoamerican literature has been conserved, partly in indigenous scripts and partly in postconquest transcriptions in the Latin script.
Mesoamerican architecture is the set of architectural traditions produced by pre-Columbian cultures and civilizations of Mesoamerica, traditions which are best known in the form of public, ceremonial and urban monumental buildings and structures. The distinctive features of Mesoamerican architecture encompass a number of different regional and historical styles, which however are significantly interrelated. These styles developed throughout the different phases of Mesoamerican history as a result of the intensive cultural exchange between the different cultures of the Mesoamerican culture area through thousands of years. Mesoamerican architecture is mostly noted for its pyramids, which are the largest such structures outside of Ancient Egypt.
The Zapotec civilization is an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows that their culture originated at least 2,500 years ago. The Zapotec archaeological site at the ancient city of Monte Albán has monumental buildings, ball courts, tombs and grave goods, including finely worked gold jewelry. Monte Albán was one of the first major cities in Mesoamerica. It was the center of a Zapotec state that dominated much of the territory which today is known as the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
Talud-tablero is an architectural style most commonly used in platforms, temples, and pyramids in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, becoming popular in the Early Classic Period of Teotihuacan. Talud-tablero consists of an inward-sloping surface or panel called the talud, with a panel or structure perpendicular to the ground sitting upon the slope called the tablero. This may also be referred to as the slope-and-panel style.
The Central Valleys of Oaxaca, also simply known as the Oaxaca Valley, is a geographic region located within the modern-day state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. In an administrative context, it has been defined as comprising the districts of Etla, Centro, Zaachila, Zimatlán, Ocotlán, Tlacolula and Ejutla. The valley, which is located within the Sierra Madre Mountains, is shaped like a distorted and almost upside-down “Y,” with each of its arms bearing specific names: the northwestern Etla arm, the central southern Valle Grande, and the Tlacolula arm to the east. The Oaxaca Valley was home to the Zapotec civilization, one of the earliest complex societies in Mesoamerica, and the later Mixtec culture. A number of important and well-known archaeological sites are found in the Oaxaca Valley, including Monte Albán, Mitla, San José Mogote and Yagul. Today, the capital of the state, the city of Oaxaca, is located in the central portion of the valley.
The Zapotec script is the writing system of the Zapotec culture and represents one of the earliest writing systems in Mesoamerica. Rising in the late Pre-Classic era after the decline of the Olmec civilization, the Zapotecs of present-day Oaxaca built an empire around Monte Albán. One characteristic of Monte Albán is the large number of carved stone monuments one encounters throughout the plaza. There and at other sites, archaeologists have found extended text in a glyphic script.
The Feathered Serpent is a prominent supernatural entity or deity, found in many Mesoamerican religions. It is still called Quetzalcoatl among the Aztecs; Kukulkan among the Yucatec Maya; and Q'uq'umatz and Tohil among the K'iche' Maya.
Guiengola is a Zapotec archeological site located 14 km (8.7 mi) north of Tehuantepec, and 243 km (151 mi) southeast of Oaxaca city on Federal Highway 190. The visible ruins are located between a hill and a river, each carries the name of Guiengola. The name means "large stone" in the local variant of the Zapotec language. There are two main tombs that have been excavated, and both seem to be family interment sites. Both have front chambers that are for religious idols, while the rear chambers are for the burial of important people. The site also has fortified walls, houses, ballgame fields, other tombs and a very large "palace" with remains of artificial ponds and terraces. In the center of the site are 2 plazas, one lower than the other, and 2 pyramids, one to the east and one to the west.
Huamelulpan is an archaeological site of the Mixtec culture, located in the town of San Martín Huamelulpan at an elevation of 2,218 metres (7,277 ft), about 96 kilometres (60 mi) north-west of the city of Oaxaca, the capital of Oaxaca state.
The use of mirrors in Mesoamerican culture was associated with the idea that they served as portals to a realm that could be seen but not interacted with. Mirrors in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica were fashioned from stone and served a number of uses, from the decorative to the divinatory. An ancient tradition among many Mesoamerican cultures was the practice of divination using the surface of a bowl of water as a mirror. At the time of the Spanish conquest this form of divination was still practiced among the Maya, Aztecs and Purépecha. In Mesoamerican art, mirrors are frequently associated with pools of liquid; this liquid was likely to have been water.
Regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica are believed to have been extensive. There were various trade routes attested since prehistoric times. In this article, especially the routes starting in the Mexico Central Plateau, and going down to the Pacific coast will be considered. These contacts then went on as far as Central America.
The Mixtec culture was a pre-hispanic archaeological culture, corresponding to the ancestors of the Mixtec people; they called themselves ñuu Savi, which means "people or nation of the rain". It had its first manifestations in the Mesoamerican Middle Preclassic period and ended with the Spanish conquest in the first decades of the 16th century. The historical territory of this people is the area known as La Mixteca, a mountainous region located between the current Mexican states of Puebla, Oaxaca, and Guerrero.
The Mesoamerican Preclassic period began in about 2500 B. C. It dates from the probable date of the first Mesoamerican ceramics and lasted until around 200 A. D, the date of the fall of Cuicuilco, located south of Mexico City, where the circular pyramid built by this culture remains. Attributing its disappearance to the eruption of the volcano Xitle, located a few kilometers south of the pyramid. The eruption covered a radius of approximately 20 kilometers, in some cases up to 30 meters thick.