Mesoamerica

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The cultural areas of Mesoamerica

The term Mesoamérica is used to refer to a geographical region that extends roughly from the Tropic of Cancer in central Mexico down through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua to northwestern Costa Rica, and which is characterized by the particular cultural homogeneity that the indigenous cultures in this region exhibit. As such it is a cultural area, defined by the cultural similarities that have spread between the different cultures of the area through millennia of interaction. Mesoamerica is also the name of a linguistic area or sprachbund comprising the languages native to roughly the same geographical area.

The Mesoamerican Culture area is characterized by being the cradle of some of the earliest advanced cultures of the Americas such as the Olmec, the Teotihuacan culture, the Maya and the Aztecs, cultures that developed complex societies, reached high levels of technological evolution, built monumental architecture, and shared many cultural conditions and concepts.

The name Mesoamerica was first used by the German ethnologist Paul Kirchhoff^{[cite this quote]} to refer to a region of similar cultures characterized by the practice of agriculture and a sedentary lifestyle. Mesoamerica having been recognized as a near prototypical cultural area the term is now fully integrated in the standard terminology of pre-Columbian anthropological studies. By contrast, the sister terms Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica have not entered widespread usage.

[edit] Geography

Main article: Geography of Mesoamerica

Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlands

Mesoamerica is located between 10° and 22° northern latitude. It encompasses central Mexico, except for those Mexican states that border the United States and San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Durango, Aguascalientes and the north of Sinaloa. It extends south to include the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, the Pacific coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica up to the Gulf of Nicoya.

The region comprises a complex combination of ecological systems. Archaeologist and anthropologist Michael D. Coe groups these different niches into two broad categories^{[cite this quote]}: lowlands (those areas between sea level and 1000 meters) and altiplanos or highlands (those situated between 1000 and 2000 meters above sea level). In the low-lying regions, sub-tropical and tropical climates are most common, as is true for most of the coastline along the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The highlands show much more climatic diversity, ranging from dry tropical to cold mountainous climates, the dominant climate is temperate with warm temperatures and moderate rainfall.

There are also different cultural subareas within the mesoamerican cultural area itself. In some zones interaction has been more intense and more similarities have developed within a smaller area of Mesoamerica, also sometimes the different ecological circumstances in an area cause cultural similarities between the different peoples of that area. Generally Mesoamerica can be subdivided into the areas Central Mexico, the Maya region, Oaxaca, Guerrero, the West, the North and the southernmost area called Centroamerica.

[edit] Agriculture, animal domestication and hunting in early Mesoamerica

By roughly 7000 BCE, hunter-gatherers living in the highlands of Mesoamerica began to develop agricultural practices by beginning cultivation of squashes and chillies. By approximately 5000 BCE other plants from surrounding areas began making their way into these semi-agrarian communities for cultivation^[1]. One of these plants was maize, today known as corn, which would become the dominant crop in the region. By 3500 BCE, corn, the common bean, the tepary bean, the scarlet runner bean, jicama and squash were all being cultivated for food and cotton, yucca and agave were being cultivated for fibers^[2]. By 2000 BCE corn had become the staple crop in the region where it would continue to be the most important crop until modern times.

Mesoamerica was not home to any herd animals which are especially suited for domestication, so hunting remained important all the way until colonial times. However, some domestication of smaller, non-herd animals did take place as ducks, dogs and turkeys were raised for their meat. These animals were introduced via trade with indigeneous North American cultures. The turkey was the first of these three animals to undergo domestication, which occurred circa 3500 BCE^[3]. The lack of larger animals for domestication was likely the result of climate change, as certain species of horse and cattle had previously lived in the region before going extinct. As a result, Mesoamerican cultures lacked pack animals to assist in transportation which is a notable difference between them and the cultures of the South American Andes.

Mesoamerican cultures that lived in the lowlands and coastal plains settled down in agrarian communities somewhat later than did highland cultures due to the fact that there was a greater abundance of fruits and animals in these areas which made a hunter-gatherer lifestyle more attractive^[4]. Fishing also was a major provider of food to lowland and coastal Mesoamericans creating a further disincentive to settle down in permaneant communities.

Societies of this region did hunt certain wild species to complement their diet. These animals included deer, rabbit, birds and various types of insects. They also hunted in order to gain luxury items such as cat fur and bird plumage.^[5].

[edit] Complex, interdependent economies

Given that Mesoamerica was broken into numerous and diverse ecological niches, none of the societies that inhabited the area in pre-Hispanic times were self-sufficient^{[cite this quote]}. For this reason, from the last centuries of the Archaic period onward, the peoples of the region specialized in the extraction of certain abundant natural resources and then established commercial trade networks that compensated for the environmental inadequacies of their particular region. The people of the west, for example, specialized in agricultural production and ceramics; the Oaxacans produced cotton and cochineal; coastal regions produced salt, dry fish, sea shells, and dyes; the lowlands of the Mayan Area and Gulf of Mexico produced cocoa, vanilla, jaguar furs, and valuable birds such as the quetzal and macaw; and the central region provided a good deal of obsidian that was used in the production of arms and tools. At the arrival of the Spanish, it was widely reported that the cacao bean was a standard currency used in diverse commercial transactions. At that time a well made cotton tunic or shirt in the main markets would sell for about 30-50 cacao beans.

[edit] The cultures and chronology of Mesoamerica

Main article: Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerica is distinguished by being the first region in the Americas to develop complex civilizations.

The earliest signs of humans in Mesoamerica is at the mammoth killsites of Iztapan in the valley of Mexico near Texcoco. Together with the dismembered mammoth were found a wide array of flint and obsidian tools, these sites are dated to around 7700-7300 BC. At archeological sites from around 2000 BC are signs of sedentary lifestyles and beginning agriculture.^{[cite this quote]}

The first complex civilization known in Mesoamerica is that of the Olmecs inhabiting the gulf coast region in the early pre-classic period from around 1300 BC, flourishing at sites such as San Lorenzo and La Venta in the years between 1150BC and 700 BC. Remains of other early cultures, possibly related to the olmecs, have been found at Abaj Takalik, Izapa and as far south as in Honduras. ^{[cite this quote]}

In the late preclassic period in southern Mesoamerica the classic Maya civilization were evolving at late preclassic and early classic sites like Kaminaljuyú, Edzná,Cobá and Lamanai. The Classic maya civilization reached its apogee at sites like Palenque, Tikal, Copán, and many others. And meanwhile in the Oaxacan highlands the Zapotec kingdoms of Monte Albán flourished.

Later around 100 BC the culture of Teotihuacan was founded and it became dominant during the Classic period lasting until around 900 AD, influencing most of Mesoamerica, and even reaching into south and north America. ^{[cite this quote]}

After the fall of Teotihuacan around 500 AD Mesoamerica entered the Postclassic period and different centers emerged such as Xochicalco and Cholula and later Tula in central Mexico. The Totonac and Huastec cultures of the gulf coast. The Mixtec culture at Mitla. And late Mayan centers such as Chichén Itzá, Mayapan in the Yucatán peninsula, and Toniná in the Chiapan highlands.

The late postclassic or terminal period saw the flourishing of the Aztec culture in central Mexico, the Quiché maya of Utatlán in the Guatemalan highlands. And the Tarascans (P'urhépecha)in the north west with their capital at Tzintzuntzan. The postclassic period ended at the arrival of the Spanish in 1517-23.

Some cultures of Mesoamerica never reached a dominant status nor left impressive archeological remains but should be remembered as noteworthy mesoamerican cultures nonetheless. For example the Otomian peoples, the Mixe-zoquean peoples that may or may not have been related to the Olmecs, the northern Uto-aztecan like the Cora and Huichol peoples often referred to as Chichimecas, the Chontales, the Huaves, the Xincan and Lencan peoples of Centroamerica and many others.

Mesoamerica remains today a region with an extremely rich cultural and linguistic diversity and the indigenous peoples of modern Mesoamerica carry on many of the traditions of their predecessors, in spite of 500 years of heavy pressure from the modern European civilization.

[edit] Table showing periods, cultures and city states of Mesoamerica

[edit] Common characteristics of Mesoamerican culture

Realizing that there were many similarities between the various cultures of the Mesoamerican geographical region Paul Kirchhoff proposed to define Mesoamerica as a cultural area based on a set of shared cultural characteristics common to the various peoples of that region.^{[cite this quote]} Some traits were based on material culture such as the cultivation of corn, the use of cotton, but also intellectual and social aspects of culture were used to define the area. Among these common cultural features of the Pre-Columbian peoples of geographic Mesoamerica are the use of two different calendars, a religious calendar of 260 days, and another calendar of 365 days, a base twenty number system, a pictographic written language, the practice of human sacrifice, and a complex of shared mythological and religious concepts. Mesoamerica subsequently has also been established as a linguistic area defined by a number of grammatical traits that have spread by diffusion throughout out the mesoamerican cultural area. This and other traits are used today to define the Mesoamerican cultural area.

Diverse species of native maize. The state, and all of Mesoamerican civilization, is linked to the cultivation of this grain, whose great variety of species is found throughout Mesoamerica.

[edit] Material culture

[edit] Early socio-economic foundations

Mesoamerican culture advanced with the first manifestations of the Olmec culture in 1200 BCE. These indicate that, even though they were still not agriculturists, they possessed state-like organizations. These societies consisted of a power structure and a very elaborate division of work; the territorial organization was based around the city, which was based in turn around a ceremonial center.^{[cite this quote]} They also used money, in the form of feathers, pieces of cotton, seeds, grains, and later metal.

[edit] Geo-political organization

Ceremonial centers were the nucleii of Mesoamerican settlements.^{[cite this quote]} They gave rise to urban development, in that towns were literally planned around the temple, being nothing more than an extension of the holy center, which for its part constituted the heart of the sacred space. The temples provided spatial orientation, which was imparted to the surrounding town. The cities with their commercial and religious centers were always political entities, somewhat similar to the European city-state, and each person could identify themself with the city in which they lived.^{[cite this quote]}

The ceremonial centers were always built to be visible. The pyramids were meant to stand out from the rest of the city, to represent its gods and their powers. Another characteristic feature of the ceremonial centers is historic layers. All of the ceremonial edifices were built in various phases, one on top of the other, to the point that what we now see is usually the last stage of construction. Ultimately, the ceremonial centers were the architectural translation of the identity of each city, as represented by the veneration of their gods and masters.^{[cite this quote]}

Depiction of K'inich K'an B'alam II, a Classic-era ruler of a Maya polity based at Palenque, appearing on one of the stelae recovered from the site. This type of public monument was very common throughout Mesoamerica, the main purpose being to commemorate notable successes, events and dates associated with the rulers and nobility of the pre-Columbian state.

[edit] Shared Mesoamerican cultural traits

[edit] The 260-day calendar

A common trait for most Mesoamerican cultures is the use of a 260 day ritual calendar, divided into 13 months of 20 days. Most cultures used, for example the Maya and the Aztec, this calendar together with a 365 day astronomical calendar, interlocking the two.

The 260 cycle was used as a tool to govern agriculture, observe religious holidays, and mark the position of the stars, but was mainly used for divinatory purposes^{[cite this quote]}.

The names given to the days, months, and years in the Mesoamerican calendar came, for the most part, from animals, flowers, heavenly bodies and cultural concepts that held symbolic significance in Mesoamerican culture. This calendar was used throughout the develpoment of Mesoamerican culture —from the early Olmec in Vera Cruz, the classic Maya and the Post Classic Aztec and Mixtec cultures. And some modern day mayan people including the Quiché continue using it to this day^{[cite this quote]}.

Nuttal Codex. Many peoples of ancient Mesoamerica developed iconographic systems akin to writing. Most of them however did not represent spoken language but rather were pictures meant to be interpreted and thus read differently at every reading, and cannot as such be considered "true" writing. The exception is the Mayan hieroglyphic script which was a true writing form.

[edit] Glyphic writing

The glyphic writing systems of Mesoamerica, and their usage, have been the subject of much scholarly debate. One ongoing discussion is whether or not the non-mayan Mesoamerican writing systems can be considered examples of true written language or whether it is best understood as a pictographic convention used to express ideas, specifically religious ones, but not representing the phonetic reality of the language in which they might be read. Some mesoamerican cultures developed a higher degree of phoneticness in their writing, for example the Mayan Hieroglyphics which has been proved to be a fully developed logo-syllabic writing system, something that was first thought not to be the case. Whether other cultures such as the Aztec and Mixtec developed degrees of phoneticness in their writing is debated but at least the aztecs seem to have written making use of basic rebus principles.^{[cite this quote]}

Mesoamerican writing was practiced on colossal monuments such as stelae and murals, on pottery and on amate paper produced from bark. No Mesoamerican society has had widespread literacy, but literacy and use of writing systems have been restricted to the classes of scribes and painters, and possibly the nobility.^{[cite this quote]}

The writing systems of Mesoamerica have had many of the same functions as writing in most other societies: recording of information, administrative purposes, recounting stories and myths, manipulation of the masses by the upper classes etc.

[edit] The ballgame

Main article: Mesoamerican ballgame

The ballgame is one of the more important cultural characteristics of Mesoamérica^{[cite this quote]}. Although its name may lead some to believe it was a sport, it was actually more of a ritual, and the field where it was played was always located between ceremonial centers. This game had a cosmic essence, related to the movement of the sun and the universe^{[cite this quote]}; this movement was imagined with the aid of the ball, which was made of hardened rubber that was removed from the sap of a fig tree; they used mainly this material because of its capacity to bounce.

The game had many rules, which changed from region to region. There was one version that could be played only with the hands, another one which used the hips and the elbows, and a version in which only a bat was used. For each type different playing fields were used: one with sidewalks so that the ball bounced to the height of the hip, and another with the ground dug up. In general all the fields had the form of a letter "I" and on the ends one could find heads of birds, as in Copán, or a large ring which the ball had to pass through, as in Xochicalco. The ball game concluded with a human sacrifice; it is not known if the one sacrificed was the captain of the winning team or of the losers; in most of the cases the players were prisoners of war^{[cite this quote]}.

[edit] Human sacrifice

It must be noted that human sacrifice had a great religious and political significance. The sacrifice symbolized the renewal of the divine cosmic energy. The gods had given life to mankind by sacrificing parts of their own bodies, and the Mesoamericans believed that humans should give their lives in order to maintain order in the universe^{[cite this quote]}.

Blood signified life in Mesoamerican belief^{[cite this quote]}. Human blood was the liquid that satisfied the thirst of the gods (in this case the Sun god), because human blood was partially made up of the blood of the gods to whom it was being returned. The blood would not only revitalize the gods, but also the earth, the plants (in particular the maize harvest), and the animals (for example the jaguar and the eagle). Blood was viewed as as necessary for life as water, both in the terrestrial world and the world of the gods.^{[cite this quote]}

This obligation to revitalize the cosmic order is seen reflected in Mesoamerican culture through the images used to evoke the sacrifice: eagles and jaguars devouring human hearts; jade circles or necklaces that represented hearts; images which showed pleas for rain or pleas for blood, with the same intention—to replenish the divine energy; plants and flowers that symbolized both nature and blood that gushed forth life.^{[cite this quote]}

What importance did the sacrifice have in the social and religious aspects of Mesoamerican Culture? First, it showed death transformed into the divine^{[cite this quote]}. Death is the consequence of a human sacrifice, but it is not the end; it is but the continuation of the cosmic cycle. Death creates life—divine energy is liberated through death and returns to the gods, who are then able to create more life. Secondly, it justifies war, since the most valuable sacrifices are obtained thereby: the death of the warrior is the greatest sacrifice, and gives the gods the energy to go about their daily activities, such as the bringing of rain. Warfare and the capturing of prisoners became a method of social advancement, and a religious cause. Finally, it justifies the control of power by the two ruling classes, the priests and the warriors. The priests control the religious ideology, and the warriors supply the sacrifices through war and the conquest of new territory (with its corresponding tribute), making both of these classes crucial to the functioning of the Mesoamerican way of life.^{[cite this quote]}

A statue depicting Tlaloc, Mesoamerican god of rain and lightning, common to the central Mexico region. This specimen was found in Coatlinchan, Mexico, and is now located in the Museo Nacional de Antropología de México in Mexico City. When it was transported to the city a rainstorm of memorable proportions began.

[edit] Mythology

The shared traits in mesoamerican mythology are found characterized by their common basis as a shamanistic religion that although in many mesoamerican groups developed into complex polytheistic religious systems, maintained a basic affinity to shamanistic principles.^{[cite this quote]}

The great breadth of the Mesoamerican pantheon of deities is due to the incorporation of ideological and religious elements from the first primitive religion of Fire, Earth, Water and Nature. Astral divinities (the sun, stars, constellations, and Venus) were adopted, and represented in anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and anthropozoomorphic sculptures, and in day-to-day objects.

The qualities of these gods and their attributes changed with the passage of time and with cultural influences from other Mesoamerican groups. The gods are at once three different cosmic entities, and at the same time just one. An important characteristic of Mesoamerican religion was the dualism among the divine entities. The gods represented the confrontation between opposite poles: the positive, exemplified by light, the masculine, force, war, the sun, etc.; and the negative, exemplified by darkness, the feminine, repose, peace, the moon, etc.^{[cite this quote]}

The xoloitzcuintle is one of the naguales of the god Quetzalcóatl. In this form, it helps the dead cross the Chicnahuapan, a river that separates the world of the livng from the dead.

[edit] Nagualism

Nagualism is the religious idea of humans being able to connect with an envisioned animal side through shamanistic rituals. The word refers both to the animal aspect of human beings and to the ability of humans to incarnate themselves in an animal. This relationship between human and animal is strictly an individual one, unlike the belief in totems that have significance to an entire group. Some common nahualli (one's corresponding animal) were the jaguar and the eagle; less majestic animals such as the dog, the armadillo, and the tlacuache, also fulfilled this role.^{[cite this quote]}

Nagualism has been represented in diverse forms in pre-Hispanic art. The first form, barely understandable to us today, seems at first glance to be of an armadillo or a jaguar, but in fact what it represents is a nahualli of a God or a king. The second form is clearer: the man and his double are imagined together like a anthropozoomorphic creature, that is to say, having human parts, which might be the head and arms, for example, and animal parts which could be the legs, beak, tail, etc. Nagualismo is a typical idea of Mesoamerica by which man-animal designates itself to the relation exclusively. ^{[cite this quote]}

Pelota match of Xochicalco. The game of pelota or tlachtli was a ritual ceremony, that dramatised the movement of the stars. The losers of the contest were sacrificed to the gods.

[edit] Magic and logics

[edit] Medicine

Mesoamerican science and learning can be thought of as existing along two principal axes: those of the magical mind and the logical mind, which, despite being distinct, managed to coexist^{[cite this quote]}. In the field of medicine there were two schools: one was the shamanist tradition, where shaman is understood as being a priestly healer who dealt with certain ailments, the most common of which was the loss of the soul. In order to cure his patients, the shaman turned to psychotropic drugs (peyote, tobacco, red beans mixed with mescaline) and magical manipulations (incantations, offerings).

The other school of medicine consisted of pragmatic knowledge^{[cite this quote]}. In Mesoemerica there were healers who knew how to deal with fractures, treat and dress wounds, and were even able to perform certain obstetric procedures. They also knew how to treat using plants, and successfully used the active ingredient in aspirin, which at that time was already known, and extracted from willow bark.^{[cite this quote]}

Mayan arithmetic. The counting systems of Mesoamerica were based on the number 20. Each number in the sequence had magical significance, which influenced the destiny of human beings.

[edit] Arithmetics

Arithmetic did not just deal with ordinary numbers, rather, numbers were held to have both a literal and a symbolic value, a consequence of the dualistic way of thinking^{[cite this quote]}. The Mesoamerican system was vigesimal, that is, it used the number 20 as a base; numbers were represented by dots that had a value of one, and bars that had a value of five. This type of arithmetic was combined with a symbolic numerology: '2' was related to origins, as all origins can be thought of as doubling; '3' was related to household fire; '4' was linked to the four corners of the universe; '5' expressed instablity; '9' pertained to the underworld and the night; '13' was the number for light, '20' for abundance, and '400' for infinity. This was also the first culture to have a concept of, and a symbolic representation for, the number zero.

One of the great contributions to arithmetic, above all that of the Mexica, was the invention of the Nepohualtzitzin, an abacus used to quickly carry out arithmetical operations. The device, made of wood, string, and grains of maize, is also known as the "Aztec computer".

[edit] Worldview

A typical mesoamerican cosmovision, sees the world as separated into a day world governed by the sun and an underworld to which the dying sun goes at night to be reborn again the following morning. The geographic vision is also tied to these concepts and the cardinal points as well as certain geographical features in nature are linked to different parts of this cosmovision. For example caves are extremely important geographical features as are mountains and cenotes (natural wells), because they are seen as connecting the upper and the nether worlds. The influence of this cosmovision on most mesoamerican societies was so strong as to be crucial in cityplanning and architecture.^{[cite this quote]}

[edit] Astronomy

Mesoamerican Astronomy was advanced and cycles of planets and other celestial bodies acquired precise calculations and often astronomy was incorporated into architecture, famous examples of this is the pyramid called El Castillo in the postclassic Maya city of Chichén Itza and the "observatorio" in Xochicalco that are constructed to achieve specific effects of light on the equinoxes. ^{[cite this quote]}

Special importance was given to the celestial bodies of the sun, the moon, and Venus as morning and evening star, but others were also observed and described.

[edit] The symbolism of space and time

It has been argued ^{[cite this quote]}(Duverger) that in mesoamerican societies the concepts of space, and time are associated with the four cardinal compass points, and linked together by the calendar. In Mesoamérica a date or an event was always tied to a compass direction, and the calendar specified the symbolic geographical characteristic peculiar to that period. The name of each day is associated with a cardinal point, which conferred a magical significance to it. Below are the symbols and concepts associated with each direction:

• The symbols associated with the East were: the crocodile, the serpent, water, cane, and movement. The East was associated with vegetative fertility, or, in other words, tropical exuberance, and was also linked to the world of the priests.
• The symbols associated with the North were: wind, death, the dog, the jaguar, pedernal (a mineral similar to obsidian, in composition and in uses). This direction contrasts with the East because symbolically the North is dry, cold, and oppressive. It is considered to be the nocturnal part of the universe, and includes the dwellings of the dead. The dog (xoloitzcuintle) has a very specific meaning, as it is the one who accompanies the deceased during the trip to the lands of the dead and helps them cross the river of death that leads into nothingness.
• The symbols associated with the West were: the house, the deer, the monkey, the eagle, and rain. The west was associated with the cycles of vegetation in Mesoamerica, specifically the temperate high plains that experience light rains, and the change of seasons.
• The symbols associated with the South were: the rabbit, the lizard, dried herbs, the buzzard, and the flower. It is related on the one hand to the luminous Sun and the noon heat, and on the other with rain filled with alcoholic drink. The rabbit, the principal symbol of the West, was associated with farmers and with pulque.

The Micaohtli, in Teotihuacan. Mesoamerican cities are orientated with respect to important concepts in mesoamerican cosmovision.

[edit] Worldview and architecture

Main article: Mesoamerican Architecture

[edit] Offerings to the Earth

The burying of rich offerings in the earth at the ceremonial centers is a tradition from the beginning of Mesoamerican society when the nomadic peoples began to settle. Ceremonial and secular spaces were distinguished, to establish a cosmic order in the world, created to justify the position of the rulers over the ruled and to pay tribute to the earth, which was deified by the Mesoamericans, to maintain this order.^{[cite this quote]}

An offering to the original gods, the old fire from the volcano and the Earth Mother, was typical. Offerings from all the individuals of a community would consist of a mound of earth, and, later, the construction of pyramids, and these structures would be used in the future for the giving of the offering and various other religious activities.

The offerings were an important part of the ceremonial center, giving it ideological and religious power. Looting the offerings would eradicate the religious power of the temple^{[cite this quote]}. The exact significance of the objects is not known with certainty, but they have always been thought to have magical powers, and this power was independent of the age of the objects in question.

Depiction of a tzompantli or skull-rack from the 16th C. Codex Tovar. Known generally by their Nahuatl name, these wooden structures on which human skulls were impaled are found in several regions from Early Classic times including Oaxaca, Central Mexico and the Puuc hills of the northern Yucatán Maya.

[edit] Political and religious art

Mesoamerican artistic expression was conditioned by ideology, a mix of both religion and power; most of the works that survived the Spanish conquest were public monuments. This type of art was made principally for public display, and played a key role in the keeping of time, affirming the greatness of the city, and in the veneration of the gods. There existed another type of pre-Hispanic art that was produced for its inner, rather than outward, meaning. It is differentiated from the first type in that its value is not so much in what is observed, but rather in what it represents. The earthenware containers, for example, that were used in burial rituals, or in the invisible faces of statues, are both examples of this second type of art.

Art remained anonymous, and to this day no signature has ever been found associated with any work. Furthermore, it is said that Mesoamerican art was abstract, though not in the figurative sense, but in the manner in which it is disconnected from any natural references.

Despite all that, the pre-Hispanic art is also considered extremely intellectual, capable of liberating itself from all realist obligation. Following this idea, two observations emerge: the first refers to the austere image that archaeology has presented: generally it prefers noble things and museum pieces, while disdaining perishable artifacts, even if it is certain that these were essential for Mesoamerican ceremonial centers.

The second observation refers to the problem of counterfeiting that still persists today. The inspiration of these forgeries plays an important role in that new designs have been invented in order to sell artifacts to collectors, obviously attracted by their novelty. This has been a consequence of the poor understanding of Mesoamerican art.

[edit] Bibliography

• Carmack, Robert, et. al. (1996). The legacy of Mesoamerica: history and culture of a Native American civilization. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-337445-9.
• Coe, Michael D. (1996). Mexico: from the Olmecs to the Aztecs. New York: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27722-2.
• Fernández, Tomás, and Jorge Belarmino (2003). La escultura prehispánica de mesoamérica. Barcelona: Lunwerg Editores. ISBN 84-9785-012-2.
• de la Fuente, Beatrice (2001). De Mesoamérica a la Nueva España. Oviedo, Spain: Consejo de Comunidades Asturianas. ISBN 84-505-9611-4.
• Gamio, Manuel (1922). La Población del Valle de Teotihuacán: Representativa de las que Habitan las Regiones Rurales del Distrito Federal y de los Estados de Hidalgo, Puebla, México y Tlaxcala, 2 vols. in 3, Mexico City: Talleres Gráficos de la Secretaría de Educación Pública.
• Kirchhoff, Paul (1943). "Mesoamérica. Sus Límites Geográficos, Composición Étnica y Caracteres Culturales". Acta Americana 1 (1): 92-107.
• Kuehne Heyder, Nicola, and Joaquín Muñoz Mendoza (2001). Mesoamérica: acercamiento a una historia. Granda, Spain.: Diputación Provincial de Granada.
• López Asutin, Alfredo, and Leonardo López Luján (1996). El pasado indígena. Mexico: El Colegio de México. ISBN 968-16-4890-0.
• Palerm, Ángel (1972). Agricultura y civilización en Mesoamérica. Mexico: Secretaría de Educación Pública. ISBN 968-13-0994-4.
• de Sahagún, Bernardino, Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (eds.) (1950-82). Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, 13 vols. in 12, Santa Fe: School of American Research. ISBN 0-87480-082-X.
• Wauchope, Robert (ed.) (1964-76). Handbook of Middle American Indians, 16 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Weaver, Muriel Porter (1993). The Aztecs, Maya, and Their Predecessors: Archaeology of Mesoamerica, 3rd ed., San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0-01-263999-0.
• West, Robert C., and John P. Augelli (1989). Middle America: Its Lands and Peoples, 3rd ed., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-582271-8.
• Wolf, Eric Robert (1967). Pueblos y culturas de Mesoamérica. Bilioteca Era.
• Duverger, Christian (1999): Mesoamérica, arte y antropología. CONACULTA-Landucci Editores. Paris. ISBN 970-18-3751-7.
• Miller, Mary Ellen. (2001). El arte de mesoamérica. "Colecciones El mundo del arte". Ediciones Destino. Barcelona, España. ISBN 84-233-3095-8.

[edit] References

1. ^ O'Brien, Patrick. (General Editor). Oxford Atlas of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. pp. 25
2. ^ Diamond, Jared. "Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies." New York: Norton, 1999. pp126-127 ISBN 0-393-31755-2
3. ^ Diamond, Jared. "Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies." New York: Norton, 1999. pp. 100 ISBN 0-393-31755-2
4. ^ O'Brien, Patrick. (General Editor). Oxford Atlas of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. pp. 25
5. ^ Diamond, Jared, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies New York:W. W. Norton & Company (1997) ISBN 0-393-31755-2

• This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of 29 May 2006. It was translated by the Spanish Translation of the Week collaboration.

[edit] External links

• Mesoweb.com - an comprehensive site for Mesoamerican civilizations
• Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc.
• Mesoamerican Peace Project
• Mesoamericas Ancient Mesoamerica Explored
• (Spanish) Selected bibliography concerning war in Mesoamerica
• (Spanish) National Museum of Anthropology and History (Mexico)
• (Spanish) Museum of the Templo Mayor (Mexico)