THE AMERICAS & OCEANIAMr. ErmerWorld History APMiami Beach Senior High

MESOAMERICA

• Teotihuacan– Chinampas increase agricultural production– Stone apartment building, aristocratic rule– City comes to a violent end

• The Mayas– Farming practices unsustainable– “Long Court” calendar– Cities abandoned, civilization destroyed

• The Aztecs– Self-Identified as the Mexica– Establish civilization around Lake Texcoco

• Build twin capitals, Tenochtitlan & Tlatelolco• As Aztecs conquer land, monarchical system gains

power– Emperors do not have absolute power, kinship

ties loose import– Social mobility is possible through military service,

priesthood

THE ANDES

• The Andean region’s hostile climate/geography produces complex administrative structure and social relationships– Accurate calendar needed for agricultural

production– Terraced farming at varied altitudes– Freeze-dried veggies and meats– Khipus (quipus) record keeping system– Complex transportation network; roads & bridges– Ayllu (clan) primary social unit, extended family

• Mit’a system of labor obligations

• Territorial states wished to exploit variety of ecological zones– Coastal Region: fish, maize, and cotton– Mountain Valleys: tubers (potatoes) and quinoa– High Altitude Region: wool and meat– Amazonian Region: coca and fruit

THE ANDEAN PEOPLES

• The Moche– Occupied the coastal region– Theocratic government with highly stratified social structure

• Priests and military leaders = social elites

– Women in charge of textile production– Metallurgy included gold and copper for weapons and tools– Series of natural disasters causes Moche civilization to collapse

• The Tiwanaku and Wari– Tiwanaku located near Lake Titicaca, at about 13,000 ft.

• Agricultural production through raised, lakeside fields• Mostly copper tools and weapons, stone-based large-scale building• Colonies in other ecological zones provides regional trade network

– Wari = similar culture to that of Tiwanaku, conflict b/w both = fall

• The Inca– Developed vast imperial state, 6 million people by 1525– 1400s: Inca chiefdom begins to militarily conquer other areas– Pastoralists, mit’a labor makes large urban areas like Cuzco work– Incorporate cultural elements of conquered peoples– Sophisticated urban design, architecture, bronze work

THE TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA

• The Southwestern Desert – The Hohokam

• Salt and Gila river valleys, strong Mesoamerican influence– Ball courts and platform mounds

– The Anasazi• Agricultural economy based on maize, beans, squash• Social life centered around buildings called kivas

– Many Anasazi town built into canyons• Decline as a result of drought, warfare

• The Mississippian Mound Builders– Chiefdom based government– Networks of trade tied together by urban centers

• Urban core built atop raised mounds, commoners live below on outskirts

• Barter system, flint = big commodity

– Hunter-gatherers with limited agriculture in beans, squash, maize

SOCIETIES OF OCEANIA

• Change comes slower to the peoples of Australia and Oceania– Paleolithic persistence: hunting & gathering– Outside influences:

• Outrigger canoes• Fish hooks/complex netting• Artistic style, rituals, mythologies

– Firestick Farming• Deliberate fire setting, “cleaning up the

country”– Trade in Australia conducted over hundreds

of miles• 400s-700s C.E.: New Zealand populated by

migrant peoples• Long distance travel between Polynesian

islands in Pacific– Polynesians even thought to reach South

America– Complex agricultural systems=population

growth• Population growth = environmental

degradation on small islands, some societies collapse

– Larger islands develop stratified social structures