BeeCrash
March 30th Ant104 Notes
Reminders: Exam and Press Release 2 due Tuesday
Presentations:
La Venta







Olmec civilization – first state-level society of Mesoamerica – the “mother culture”
Religious sacrifice, rituals, pilgrimages, ball-game, written script
Colossal stone heads, 6 pyramids
Diet consisted of seafood, deer, and other small animals
Domesticated dogs
Site occupied from 1750 BCE to 400 BCE
Just northwest of Tabasco, Mexico, on the Gulf of Mexico
Monte Alban







Located in south Oaxaca, Mexico
Occupied 500 BCE to 850 CE
Carved terraces and dams out of the hills
Formed from the combining of nearby chiefdoms
Political and economic center of the Zapotec culture
Written scripts and symbols (similar to the Olmec)
Rituals, sacrifice, ball-game, monumental architecture
Teotihuacan






Holy city, named by the Aztecs
Massive, densely populated and well organized
Stone temples, monumental architecture
Origins unknown, but inhabited
Northwest of Mexico City
Strictly dedicated to religion, more so than living space
Tulum




Ancient Mayan city, built on the coast
Major trading hum – imported obsidian, salt, textiles, and exported others
Between 12-14 CE, abandoned due to disease
Built on cliffs facing the Caribbean Sea
Palenque



Mayan city, well preserved architecture/artifacts
Occupied 226 BCE to 790 CE
Abandoned due to severe drought, caused by deforestation




Located in south Mexico
Extensive hieroglyphics and recorded history
Religious temples, with secret tunnels
Some agricultural habits
Copán










Mayan City
Long engravings and recorded histories – timeline of rulers
Started as farmers, later became religious
Used conquest for wealth and controlled trade
Located in the Western Honduras, near the border with Guatamala
Built protection from seasonal floods
First settled 1000 BCE, city abandoned near 820 CE
Line of kinds ended, city struggled with overpopulation
Started mathematics, astronomy, hieroglyphics
Most accurate Mayan Calendar – similar to ours
PACIFIC
Badrulchau






Imported basalt monoliths
First settlers unknown
Located in Ngarchelong, Palua
1000 BCE to about 1100 CE
Burials, ceremonies, political power + social hierarchy
Cultivation fields
Nan Madol






Made of 58 small artificial islands, but occupied by no more than 1000 people
Each island served a different purpose (food preparation, canoe making, etc.)
About 200 BCE, earliest signs of humans, but not fully built until later
Located on remote island called Pohnpei
Housed many priests
Only ancient city built on a coral reef
Pu’ukoholā Heiau





“Temple of the Hill of the Whale”
Sacred temple, historical landmark, built by Kamehameha of Hawaii
Only priests can access the site
In use 1790 to 1819: later abandoned
Marked one of the most influential periods of Hawaiian history, the unification of the
Hawaiian islands