The Olmec traditions of sculpture and of temple architecture , developed over eight centuries, will influence all the subsequent civilizations of the region. The most characteristic sculptures of San Lorenzo and La Venta are astonishing creations. They are massive stone heads, more than two metres in height, of square-jawed and fat-lipped warriors, usually wearing helmets with ear flaps.
The chunky and uncompromising quality of these images will remain typical of much of the religious art of Mesoamerica, particularly in the region around Mexico City. It can be seen in the rain-god masks of Teotihuacan about years ago , in the vast standing warriors at Tula about years ago and in the brutally severe monumental sculpture of the Aztecs years ago.
The first American monuments: from BC. In both the centres of Olmec civilization, at San Lorenzo and then La Venta, numerous large clay platforms are raised. At their top there are believed to have been temples, or perhaps sometimes palaces, built of wood.
The concept of climbing up to a place of religious significance becomes the central theme of pre-Columbian architecture. Its natural conclusion is the pyramid, with steps by which priests and pilgrims climb to the top unlike the smooth-sided tomb pyramids of Egypt.
La Venta initiates this long American tradition too. One of its pyramids is more than 30 metres high. The Olmec temple complexes set the pattern for societies in America over the next years. The pyramids, with their temples and palaces, dominate the surrounding dwellings as powerfully as the priestly rulers and their rituals dominate the local community. It is also probable that the Olmecs engage in a custom which remains characteristic of all the early civilizations of America - the ritual of human sacrifice, reaching its grisly peak in the ceremonies of the Aztecs.
The Zapotecs are among the first people to develop the Olmec culture in other regions. From about BC at Monte Alban, to the west of the Olmec heartland, they establish a ceremonial centre with stone temple platforms.
Monte Alban eventually becomes the main city of this part of southern Mexico. The best-known story of the Mixtec codices is that of Lord Eight Deer, named after the day on which he was born, whose personal name was Jaguar Claw, and whose epic history is related in several codices.
He successfully conquered and united most of the Mixteca region. Codices can be read from right to left and often measure many feet long. The Codex Bodley measures twenty-two feet long and contains complex explanations of important family lineages and creation stories, such as the War of Heaven, that directly refer back to elite dynasties. The preservation of these extremely rare Codices paints a distinct picture of Mesoamerica right before the arrival of Spanish forces.
Teotihuacan was a city founded outside of modern Mexico City in BCE and was known for its pyramids. Just 30 miles from modern day Mexico City lies the precolumbian Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan. It is famous for its pyramids and series of accompanying residential compounds, but was once much more than an archaeological and tourist site.
Archaeological evidence suggests that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic city, with distinct quarters occupied by Otomi, Totonac, Zapotec, Mixtec, Maya, and Nahua peoples. In , Terrence Kaufman presented linguistic evidence suggesting that an important ethnic group in Teotihuacan was of Totonacan or Mixe—Zoquean linguistic affiliation. Other scholars maintain that the largest population group must have been of Otomi ethnicity, because the Otomi language is known to have been spoken in the area around Teotihuacan both before and after the classic period and not during the middle period.
Although it is a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented; evidence of Teotihuacano presence can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region.
Many Maya murals represent Teotihucuan and the leaders of the city during its zenith. The Aztecs were also heavily influenced by the architecture, culture, and lore of this ancient city, claiming common ancestry with the Teotihuacanos and adopting some of their artistic and architectural styles.
The city and culture, which can be referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano, is thought to have been established around BCE, with major monuments continuously under construction until about CE. It began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland and a large population was drawn to the city over a few centuries.
It may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries CE, but its major monuments were sacked and systematically burned around CE. At its zenith, around the first half of the first millennium CE, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at , or more.
The city eventually included multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The founders of this religious and populous city remain a mystery to scholars of the area. Some have speculated that the Xitle volcano, which is located southwest of modern-day Mexico City, may have prompted a mass emigration out of the central valley and into the Teotihuacan valley. These displaced settlers may have founded, or at least helped grow, the city.
An alternate explanation is that the Totonac people, who still remain today, founded Teotihuacan. There is also evidence that at least some of the people living in Teotihuacan immigrated from those areas influenced by the Teotihuacano civilization, including the Zapotec, Mixtec, and Maya peoples. Mural of the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan: This powerful goddess was associated with darkness, mystery, death, and creation. She was often depicted with owls, jaguars, and spiders, all creatures of the earth, darkness and the underworld.
This mural is from the Tetitla compound at Teotihuacan. As a religious center, Teotihuacan displayed its most prominent gods and goddesses in murals and architecture. The Great Goddess of Teotihuacan appears to be the most prominent of these deities, and she likely represented the underworld, war, creation, water, and the earth.
Evidence of human sacrifices to honor the completion of buildings or special times of year has also been uncovered by archeologists. Captives from wars were decapitated, had their hearts removed, were bludgeoned, or were buried alive to commemorate these momentous occasions.
Pyramid of the Sun: This giant pyramid dwarfs the smaller platforms surrounding it and was the largest building at Teotihuacan. Along the Avenue of the Dead are many smaller talud-tablero platforms.
The Aztecs believed they were tombs, inspiring the Nahuatl name of the avenue. Pyramid of the Moon: This pyramid is the second largest in Teotihuacan. Further down the Avenue of the Dead is the area known as the Citadel, containing the ruined Temple of the Feathered Serpent. This area was a large plaza surrounded by temples that formed the religious and political center of the city.
Most of the common people lived in large apartment buildings spread across the city. Many of the buildings contained workshops where artisans produced pottery and other goods. The geographical layout of Teotihuacan is a good example of the Mesoamerican tradition of planning cities, settlements, and buildings as a reflection of the Universe.
Its urban grid is aligned to precisely One theory says this is due to the fact that the sun rose at that same angle during the same summer day each year. Settlers used the alignment to calibrate their sense of time or as a marker for planting crops or performing certain rituals. Another theory is that there are numerous ancient sites in Mesoamerica that seem to be oriented with the tallest mountain in their given area.
This appears to be the case at Teotihuacan, although the mountain to which it is oriented is not visible from within the Teotihuacan complex due to a closer mountain ridge. Pecked-cross circles throughout the city and in the surrounding regions indicate how the people managed to maintain the urban grid over long distances.
It also enabled them to orient the Pyramids to the distant mountain that was out of sight. There is an ongoing debate about why Teotihuacan collapsed and the population abandoned this city center. Evidence of climate changes, which caused severe droughts around CE, suggest there was a general population decline in the region.
In fact, archeological digs have revealed juvenile skeletons with signs of malnutrition, which probably forced populations to move and caused internal social strife. Further archeological evidence reveals that only the buildings associated with the elites along the Avenue of the Dead were sacked and burned. This type of activity suggests there might have been internal unrest and possibly a revolt against the elite power structure, which caused the collapse of the city.
Archaeological evidence from the period, such as burned temples and sacrificed captives, suggests that although the three societies shared linguistic, cultural, and religious traditions, they also competed against one another. This powerful city retained this status until approximately CE. As the population grew, so did the degree of social differentiation, the centralization of political power, and ceremonial activity. These areas developed regional centers of power with distinct leaders and linguistic dialects.
However, the Zapotec rulers retained control over vast swaths of the region. The Zapotecs were ultimately destroyed by Spanish invaders. Having lost militarily to the Aztecs in battles from —, the Zapotecs tried to avoid confrontation with the Spaniards, and hopefully the tragic fate of the Aztecs.
The Spaniards took advantage of this pacifist stance and ultimately defeated the Zapotecs after five years of campaigns ending in The study was the largest such survey involving ancient Mesoamerica, covering all of the state of Tabasco, southern Veracruz and bits of Chiapas, Campeche and Oaxaca.
Lidar, short for Light Detection and Ranging, uses a pulsed laser and other data obtained while flying over a site to generate three-dimensional information about the shape of surface characteristics. It penetrates vegetation and pinpoints structures that otherwise might not be seen from the air or the ground. A large ceremonial center was spotted at the early Olmec site called San Lorenzo, which is located in Veracruz in the lowlands near the Gulf of Mexico and was at its peak from roughly BC.
The Olmecs represented the oldest-known major Mesoamerican civilization and are thought to have influenced later cultures, including the Maya. Lidar-based technology can be used to map out 3D images of ancient archaeological sites, including Buenavista in Mexico's Tabasco state at sunrise. University of Arizona archaeologist Takeshi Inomata, who led the study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, said lidar spotted a large and previously unknown rectangular earthen ceremonial space at San Lorenzo.
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