HIST 221 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Tres Zapotes, Chicomoztoc, Teotihuacan
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North America
What is love?
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Paper: How to research
I. Topic & keyword cousins
A. History of Nighttime
1. night, moon, darkness, evening, dusk, dawn,
II. Fast internet: type topic & keyword cousins into
A. Google scholar http://scholar.google.com/
B. Google books: http://books.google.com
C. Amazon
D. JSTOR www.jstor.org
E. Wikipedia
1. good
a. 411
b. for narrowing topic/brainstorming
c. photos/pictures
i) your paper can have photos/pictures
ii) Google images also good source
d. reference section to find further research
2. bad
a. material sometimes incorrect
b. unprestigious
III. Old Skool Books
A. Bibliography mining: look at titles
B. Library neighbors
IV. +1 book
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Olmec (1200- 1 BC)
I. WTF! Why would you live in a rainforest?
A. wood, food (fishing, hunting), water
II. Big heads
A. how built?
1. Tuxtla mts 90 km away
2. priest-rulers ordered farmers quarry & carry to coast
3. ship blocks to San Lorenzo, where sculptors worked
B. 17 heads
1. only in San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes
2. each face unique
a. actual person, not generic
C. size
1. smallest 6 tons
2. biggest 40 tons
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
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3. most 10-20 tons
D. common features
1. male
2. helmet-like headdress
3. flattened nose
4. full lips
E. decorated?
1. 1 has red paint
E. thought African colonists
F. kings?
1. Maya stone depicted kings
III. Mother culture: influenced successors
A. Twins & dwarfs = magical
B. Caves = entrances to underworld
1. Shamans go to caves for wisdom
C. Ancestor worship
D. Ball game
E. Were-jaguars
1. Shamanistic trance?
F. Stone-depicted kings?
IV. Decline
A. Evidence
1. Trade networks disintegrated
2. Olmec style pottery stopped
3. Monuments defaced
4. La Venta flourished (900 BC), when San Lorenzo destroyed
5. La Venta (400 BC) depopulation
a. Tres Zapotes emerged 100 yrs later
6. No writing survive
Teotihuacan (fl. AD 600s)
I. City
A. 150,000 ppl
1. biggest city in Americas
2. + 2,000 apartment complexes (50-100 ppl each)
3. Foreign neighbords (mayatown, zapotectown, etc)
a. Style of houses, ceramics, burials
4. Cosmopolitan
II. Layout
A. Pyramid of the Moon
1. 43m
2. north Avenue of The Dead
3. royal tomb
4. animal & human sacrifices buried alive in tomb
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
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B. Pyramid of the Sun
1. 63m
a. 3rd biggest pyramid in world
2. south Avenue of The Dead
3. cave underneath Pyramid
a. cave = entrance to underworld
b. Aztec myth: 1st humans emerged from a cave (Chicomoztoc)
4. ancestor-worship rituals
5. stone statue of Fire God (400lbs)
YOUTUBE: National Geographic Teotihuacan: City of Gods (12:12-13:45)
III. Government
A. propaganda murals in every home
B. demanded human sacrifice
C. probably obsidian monopoly
IV. Downfall
A. Maya stopped copying art & architecture AD mid-400s
B. burned AD 650
YOUTUBE: National Geographic Teotihuacan: City of Gods (36:00-44:30)
C. power vacuum in central Mexico until Aztec migrated into Valley of Mexico (1250)
Maya (AD 250-900 classical period)
I. Not unified
A. 15-17 city-states
1. why never united?
a. food supply & transportation
b. little protein: corn, turkey, duck
c. humidity prevented Ĺ storage
d. no animal pwr, plows
e. difficult to travel far & campaign long
2. Tikal & Calakmul = dominant
B. +29 langs
C. kings
1. king = high priest
2. astronomy and calendar responsibilities
3. claimed supernatural pwrs
a. big promises
b. I give good conditions; you peasants support my lavish lifestyle
II. Intellectual Achievement
A. science, math, astronomy
1. developed zero BEFORE India
2. built observatory
B. calendars
1. solar: 360 days
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Paper: how to research: history of nighttime, topic & keyword cousins. Old skool books: bibliography mining: look at titles, library neighbors. Olmec (1200- 1 bc: wood, food (fishing, hunting), water, wtf! 1: most 10-20 tons, male, helmet-like headdress, flattened nose, full lips, common features, decorated, thought african colonists, kings, 1 has red paint, maya stone depicted kings. Decline: evidence, trade networks disintegrated, olmec style pottery stopped, monuments defaced, la venta flourished (900 bc), when san lorenzo destroyed, la venta (400 bc) depopulation, tres zapotes emerged 100 yrs later, no writing survive. Ad 600s: city, 150,000 ppl, biggest city in americas, + 2,000 apartment complexes (50-100 ppl each, foreign neighbords (mayatown, zapotectown, etc, style of houses, ceramics, burials, cosmopolitan. Layout: pyramid of the moon, 43m, north avenue of the dead, royal tomb, animal & human sacrifices buried alive in tomb. Youtube: national geographic teotihuacan: city of gods (12:12-13:45)
