Mesoamerican Trade Route

Bibliography

• Essential Humanities. "Mesoamerican Art." Accessed 25 Oct, 2014. http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-art/mesoamerican/.
• Evans, C.T. "Mesoamerican Civilization." Accessed on 25 Oct,2014. http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his111/notes/mesoamerica.html .
• McNeill, William Hardy. Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History. Great Barrington, Mass.: Berkshire Pub. Group, 2005.
• Stearns, Peter N. World Civilizations. 4th Ed., AP* ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. pg.240

QUESTION TIME

Do you think that cultural exchanges were important/necessary? Explain why or why not. Quote details from previous notes.

Examples of Cultural Exchanges

Religion

Other

Architecture: stepped pyramids, grand palaces, ball courts

Art: sculptures (colossal heads & human and animal figures), stele, paintings (murals and pottery decoration)

Religion: consisted of deities: gods of fertility, gods of creation, & gods of warfare and sacrifice

Other: ball game (Ōllamaliztl), writing systems(glyphs,pictographs & hieroglyphs)

Glyphs

Art

Human Sacrifice

Stele

Olmec Figures

Ōllamaliztl

Cultural exchanges were important because they shaped civilizations.

Maya Mural

Quetzalcoatl

Colossal Heads

Economic Exchanges

Some Possible Responses

• Yes, they are important because they shaped civilization and allowed for Mesoamerica to be united as one with their similar forms of art, architecture, and religion.
• No, cultural exchanges were not important because a Mesoamerican civilization would probably still be able to survive without the ideas of past or nearby peoples.

Architecture

in Mesoamerica

Stepped Pyramid

Cultivated Crops/Plants

Bibliography

Maize

• maize

• founded in Tehuacán Valley of Mexico in 6,000 BC

• traded/spread to much of the Americas and Europe

Stearns, Peter N. World Civilizations. 4th Ed., AP* ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. 244-248.

Other Cultivated Crops/Plants:

Cacao (Beans)

• exotic/luxury goods

• *cacao beans

• avocados

• consumed by nobles in Mayan society

Bentley, Jerry H. and Ziegler, Herb F. A Global Perspective on the Past. 3rd ed. New York: Lyn Uhl, 2006. 134-137.

• beans

• traded in Mesoamerica lowlands and the Gulf of Mexico

• chili pepper

• squashes

• tomatoes

• gourds

Cotton

• founded in Tehuacán, Mexico around 5,800 BC

• cotton

• traded in other parts of Mesoamerica (pacific lowlands)

"Agriculture in Mesoamerica." Wikipedia. Accessed October 27, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Mesoamerica.

Grand Palace

ANSWER:

Domesticated Animals

Cultural Exchanges

• turkeys

traded in Mesoamerican lowlands

Because in early Americas, large animals were scarce & couldn't adapt to climate; overhunting - extinction

Ball Court

• barkless dogs

traded in Mesoamerican coastal areas

• fish

Question

*No large animals

Gem Exchanged

Why weren't there any large domesticated animals?

• obsidian

traded in Central Mexico and Guatemalan highlands

- knives/axes

• came to the Gulf coast of distant regions in interior Mesoamerica

• traded in exchange for jade, basalt, ceramics (pottery), and (rare) animal skin.

• Systems of trade resulted in cultural exchanges of ideas that ended up influencing each civilization. The earlier societies(Olmec &Toltec) were the ones to set the main outline of art, architecture, etc.

Mesoamerica

Commercial Practices

• The Aztecs had markets that were set up periodically in each community
• Subjects paid tribute that was redistributed by the government
• Most trade was done as barter, but sometimes used cacao beans and gold dust as currency
• The pochteca controlled the market in Tlatelolco

Cahokia

Commercial Practices

• The Incas did not encourage trade and state regulated production and surplus
• The Mayans encouraged trade by using Tikal and other major cities as trade centers; Used cacao beans and bartered
• Most of the civilizations built trade routes without the aid of the wheel or large domesticated animals

Question Time!

Which city was a major trading center in the Mayan society?

A) Tlatelolco

B) Toltec

C) Tikal

D) Teotihuacan

E) Tical

C) Tikal!!!!!

Bibliography

"Alluvial Gold Dust." Alluvial Gold Dust. Accessed October 27, 2014.

"Birds I Love." Pinterest. Accessed October 27, 2014.

"Mesoamerica." : Mayan Trade and Economy. Accessed October 27, 2014.

"Raw Organic Cacao | Cacao Beans | Cacao | Bali Cacao." Raw Organic Cacao | Cacao Beans | Cacao | Bail Cacao. Accessed October 27, 2014.

Stearns, Peter N. . 4th Ed., AP* ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006.

World Civilizations

- Harbored a minor hardware industry

- Built 120 Earth Mounds

• Most of the civilizations in Mesoamerica relied on long-distance trade.
• The region was very vast, so many areas specialized on a skill and traded for necessary items.
• The societies in Mesoamerica include the Toltecs, Olmecs, Aztecs, and Mayans.

- Estimated population of 40,000 people

Maya Region

Geographic & Climatic Features

Inca

Aztec

Olmec

Metal Working:

Chinampas

Tools:

improved and mitigated agriculture

-Gold

-Silver

-Copper

-Bronze

Skilled artisans

Excelled in making pottery, celts, statues, and figurines

Artisans' works were traded for obsidian, serpentine, and animal skins.

More Complex Agriculture System

More Crops to Trade, Larger Variety of Crops

-All crops were irrigated

-Allowed for more production

-More crops = More trade

- The topography of the area was split with the Highlands and the Lowlands

Expansion of Trade Through

- Rain forest in the Highlands does not permit easy trade, so most trade was to North to South

Technical Adaptions

Connection Points

- The Highlands were the source of jade, obsidian, and other precious metals

- Contact between Mesoamerica and the Andes led to parallels in cultural development

- The Lowlands grew crops for trade such as maize, squash and beans

Sources

Minster, Christopher. "Ancient Olmec Trade and Economy." AboutEducation, <http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/The_Olmec/p/Ancient-Olmec-Trade-And-Economy.htm> (19 October 2014).

Stearns, Peter N. World Civilizations. 4th Ed., AP* ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006.

Question:

How did metallurgy in the Inca civilization differ from metallurgy of other civilizations?

Answer

The Incas lacked iron-working.

Mesoamerican Trade Route

By: Georgianna Chan, Susan Lam, Sharon Lee, Ivy Ly, & Kelly Tam

Period 5