Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

Jade-1500 BC- Jade was starting to be used and was first being worshiped.

In 1500 BC a Jade Head was found in Altun Ha ruins. The ruins are now famous because of the famous discovery. At approximately six inches high and weighing over nine pounds the Head is the still said to be the largest carved jade object in the whole Maya area. It is the national symbol of Belize, which is visible on every banknote. The “Jade Head” represented the Sun God, Kinich Ahau. This is the most significant find.

Olmecs- 1200 BC

The Olmecs were a culture of ancient people of the East Mexico lowlands. The Olmec were often regarded as the Mother Culture of later Middle American civilizations. A stone found is believed to be a calendar numbered using The Vigesimal counting system. The detail on the low relief of the stone shows detail from a four-digit numerical recording, read as 15.6.16.18. The counting system had been used across Mesoamerica. The value 5 is represented by a bar, where the value of 1 is represented by a dot. Where 3 bars and a single dot stand the value would equal 16. The Maya would later adopt this counting system for their Long Count calendar. The date in this relief is the oldest date recorded in Mesoamerica, corresponding to a day in the year 31 BC.

Tikal- 800 BC

The tomb of the Jade Jaguar at Tikal included the largest pyrite mosaic mirror found in all of Mesoamerica, the greatest number of pottery vessels of any Late Classic Maya burial known in the lowlands. Another amazing aspect of Mayan life was the use of the stone stela that dot the ancient city. Seen here in the great plaza, the massive stones were used to record the events of the time. Many are covered with glyphic writing, and pictures. Over 200 stone stela, altars and glyphic stones have been discovered in the city Though the Maya did not create sculpture-in-the-round, they did create exquisite relieves that paid tribute to past rulers and recorded the passage of time-a concept they obsessed over. These textual stones, many of which have been erased from erosion, were once covered in bright red paint, the colour that dominated much of the city. The stones provide much of the evidence that archaeologists have used to decipher the intricacies of life in the ancient Mayan civilization. Though they are not completely understood, ongoing research of the glyph-covered tablets continues to provide new revelations about the ancient Maya.

Zapotecs- 500 BC

The Zapotec is still poorly understood. At first the underlying language itself presents a problem. The first European record of the Zapotec language dates from the 16th century and the ancient form of Zapotec from a thousand years earlier is not documented at all. However, what is known about the Zapotec derive, mostly from comparing with other Mesoamerican writing systems. Like other Mesoamerican scripts, Zapotec used the bar-and-dot notation to represent numbers. In terms of time-keeping the Zapotecs employed the 365 day solar calendar and called it yza and the 260 day sacred calendar and called it piye. These solar and sacred calendars created a Mesoamerican time cycle of 52 years called the calendar round. This is the largest unit of time for Mesoamerican cultures, and therefore historical events are often recorded in terms of dates within a Calendar Round.

Popocatepetl- 300 BC

Popocatepetl is a snow capped stratovolcano that stands 13,776 ft (4200 m) above the surrounding basin. The name Popocatepetl, meaning "Smoking Mountain", was given to the volcano by the Aztecs, and suggests that the volcano has long been active. Popo, as it is often called, is built on an older volcano which adds 12,464 ft (3800 m) to Popocatepetl's elevation. The new cone consists of many steep lava flows that alternate with thick pyroclastic layers. The crater of Popo is oval shaped, very deep and has near vertical walls. The cone is covered with yellow sulphur spots and volcanic gases escape from numerous fumaroles in its walls as well as from the walls of the main crater. These inner walls are made of horizontal layers of lava flows alternating with pyroclastics deposits. Nexpayantla consists of red-gray porphyritic, andesite. Accurate knowledge of the activity of this volcano reaches back to the first days of Spanish conquest. Popo has erupted at least 36 times, with the most recent activity starting in 1995 and continuity into 1997.

Maya- 250 BC- Rise of the Maya civilization.

The Maya had a sophisticated system of writing. The writings were to record their transition of power through the generations. The writing was composed of inscriptions on stone and wood, and was usually used on the inside or outside of their architecture. The books were called folding tree books or more commonly known as codices. The codices were made from fig tree bark and usually placed in the royal tombs. Few of these codices survived due to the climate of the region. Few of these books have also survived due to the Spanish Invasion. Cortez and others claimed their symbolic writing was the devil’s work. Four of these codices (books) survive today. They are, The Dresden Codex, The Madrid Codex, The Paris Codex and The Grolier Codex.

Teotihuacan- 300 AD

The holy city Teotihuacan was constructed around 300AD and is characterized by the enormous size of its monuments, carefully laid out on geometric and symbolic principles. Teotihuacan’s most monumental structures are the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. The Pyramid of the Sun is the world’s third-largest pyramid and was built before the Pyramid of the Moon with an original temple at its peak, but as it stands today only small hand size stones cover the top at its peak.

Uxmal- 600 AD

In 900AD Uxmal had become the dominant centre, at least within the Santa Elena Valley. The Uxmal Maya constructed a network of stone roadways (sakbehoob). The urban settlement size grew, there was a massive boom in the construction of monumental architecture, rival neighbouring centres appeared to lose power, and they placed greater emphasis on militarism and conquest, and developed a relationship with the powerful centre of Chichen Itza on the Northern Plains. Uxmal was connected to the major centre of Nophat by a sakbe. The roadway actually began at Chetulix, a suburban monumental architectural group, where a formal stone gateway marked the entry into the Uxmal urban zone.