1.
4 cardinal directions of world: axis mundi, world tree, ceiba, wacah chan
2.
Abaj Takalik(Olmec monuments and potbellies: site with both Maya and Olmec features; important center of commerce, trading with Kaminalijuyu and Chocola
olmec style sculptures, maya royal tomb with hieroglyphs
finds from the site indicate contact with Teotihuacan and imply that it was conquered by them
Monument 99, potbelly style colossal head with puffed face=represent dead ancestors
3.
Apartment compounds(Atetelco, Tlamimilopa. merchants barrio, glyphs): • about 2000 of them around Teo.
• atetelco
• merchant's barrio
• compound of the clymphs
• tlamimilolpa- commoner; lower class compounds
4.
bands: mobile hunters and gatherers; egalitarian and status is achieved
5.
barra: earliest decorated pottery found together with fancy figurines in tehuican valley
6.
basalt column tomb: looks like "log house"; held remains of 2 or 3 young people, carved jade figures and other jade objects that were prized among new world elites
7.
bufo marinus: • species of toad found in MA that are known to have ceremonial and hallucinogenic properties for many cultures; skeletal remains of these have been found in Olmec ceremonial centers
• have inherent symbolic popwer in their metamorphic life cylce, their fertility, hallucinogenic venom and especially their skin shedding
• "were jaguar as toad"- when the toad sheds its skin the other toads eat it and skin hangs out of its mouth and resembles fangs of were jaguar (process of regeneration; death and rebirth)
8.
Burial 10: tomb of curl nose accompanied by remains of nine other indiv. and animal skeletons
9.
ceramic adoption in paso de la amada: ceramics started being seen in communal feasts --> idea of ritual and coming together very importnat, climbing of social ladder
10.
cerros(structure 5c-2nd): a modest temple that has 4 masks engraived in it including the faces of the hero twins
11.
chalcatzingo: • lattice argument
• far from heartland; displays Mesoamerican motifs, has flying shamanic pose; monument 9 done in different style, appearing at same time as other olmec things
12.
cheifdoms: when one family has authority at all times and they are born into it; one man/woman is in charge- family has more prestige because of bloodlines
13.
cities: central nodes of commerce and political authority; network of specific settlement patterns
14.
cleft mountains/ heads: used in art and representations of were jaguars along with downturned mouths; in ancient cosmology, it represents the emergine palace
15.
clovis points: used to think this fluted spear were earliest points produced by humans but others were found before this
16.
colossal heads: most recognized aspect of the olmec civilization; portraits of rulers, perhaps dressed as ballplayers and wearing helmets; flat faced, thick lipped characteristics on basalt boulders
17.
Copan: capital city in the maya dynasty
18.
Cuello(hierarchy and sweatbath): maya archaeological site in northern belize
19.
Cuicuilco: • rise began around AD 0
• up until 50 BC, this and Teo. were roughly equivalent in populations and power but Teo. began to grow and Ciucuilco did not because of Eruption from volcano in 50 BC and left this power vacuum for Teo. to fill and expand; populations possibly moving over from this city to Teo
20.
cultural traits: sacrifice, stepped temple, maize, writing and calendars, ballgame
21.
Curl Nose(Yax Nun Ayiin, stela 4): • records accession of curl nose; appears seated, facing front - shell necklace and large earl flares; chac, long lipped protetor deity over his head
22.
dazzler pot: • recovered from the margarita tomb, shows the dead king yax kuk mo as his own funerary shrine and wears the margarita structure as if it were a body
23.
diego de landa: spanish conquistador who saw maya religion as a form of hedonism and devil worship; burned maya texts and now only three remain
24.
earth monster: found on Tomb B (sarcophagus); this is the mouth of the underworld; transitional phase of reality and underworld reality, one of the most commonly depicted supernaturals
25.
east west: site orientation for maya (nakbe)
26.
economic specialization: some people will be removed from food production, will make some other type of product which will be used in exchange for food stock
27.
El mirador(Danta, Tigre, Kinship): Gods brewing things on three harth stones in creation; idea of threes
triadic group
28.
el rey: a carving in Chalcatzingo showing olmec concepts; attachements to earth and celestial things, representation of an enthroned ruler who is seated within earth monsters mouth
29.
el volador: shows that olmec had their own style of art too at chalcatzingo
30.
Fire born(siyah Kak): believed to have been the general of the teotihuacano ruler spearthrower owl
31.
first positivist scientists: teobert maler, sylvanus morley, alfred maudslay
32.
foliated Jaguar(stela 29): maya ruler, early king of Tikal;mistakenly been associated with talk stela 29 takes form of a belt ornament on a unprovanced stela
stela 29-earliest monument to bear tikal emblem glyph;has sculpture of king facing to the right holding head of an underworld jaguar god
33.
fray de bartolome de las casas: spanish conquistador who who was friendly and non hostile towards the maya and supported legislation to view them as humans not animals
34.
geographic mesoamerica: guatemala, belize, el salvador, honduras and mexico
35.
Great Goddess: • in center like tree; benevolent and kind side to her but there is also a side of her where she can be cruel and punishes people which required you to respect and worship her in the right way
• think of her in archaeology like a desexualized woman of power and authority like statue of liberty who commands respect, a national symbol and is revered but isn't personified by one thing or person; generic form of a woman but also *even a woman who is desexualized
36.
Great Jaguar Paw(Chak took Ichaak: • chak tok ichaak was 14th king of Tikal and built a palace that was preserved and later became the core of the Central Acropolis
• stela 39 is broken monument that was erected in the lost world complex; supposed to be chak tok ichaak holding a flint axe in his left hand
37.
Holtun(E group, triadic group): E Group the first ritual center of a site for the maya, structure on east and west side
38.
hun hunahpu and vucub hunahpu: • were playing ball one day and the gods of the underworld call them down to play a game with them; the lords of the underworld outwit the two boys and cheat and kill them- cut both their head off
• hunhunaphu's head is cut off and put on a tree in the underworld; his head sits there until one day, one of the daughters of the lords of the underworld is intruiged by the tree and he spits in her hand and when the spit hits her hand, she becomes impregnated
39.
hunaphu and xbalanque: hero twins• father finds out and tries to kill her so she runs away and gives birth to the twins and they are also ball players; these hero twins outwit the lords of the underworld when they tried to cheat again
• they kill themselves and come back to life and kill the lords of the underworld for good but can only come back in unbodily forms
• their father is reborn as the corn god
• the sons become the sun and the moon
• decide to fashion humans out of corn dough (maya made out of corn)
40.
Izapa(popol vuh stelae): possibly contains a scene from popol vuh; image depicted on Stela 25 is most likely the maya hero twins shooting a perched bird diety with a blowgun; suggests that stela 25 could be seen as a map of the night sky which was used to tell story of hero twins
41.
jean frederick waldeck: had crazy idea that mesoamericans had come from the old world (ethnocentric idea) and couldnt have arisen on their own; saw old world things in their art and iconography
42.
john clark and michael blake: investigated preclassi in the soconuscu say most of the vessels were nicely painted or decorated with incising, grooving or modeling and suggests that the early mayan pots were used in rituals
43.
Kaminaljuyu: described as greatest of all archaelogical sites in the new world although it only has a few mounds now
44.
Kaminaljuyu(mon 65): carved on the front with three seated throned rules, each one framed by two bound and kneeling nude captives and each ruler and his paired victims vertically positioned with lower a center and upper register
45.
la venta: pre columbian archaeological site of the olmec; civic and cermonial center that has caches and rose in time when san lorenzo was failing
46.
la venta altar 4: around la venta and were thrones which the Olmec rules were seated during important ceremonies; this was engraved with the shaman emerging from the earth monster
47.
la venta complex a: located near great pyramid; mortuary complex dedicated to the spirits of deceased; 5 formal tombs, one with earth monster on it
48.
la venta offering 4: part of la venta complex A; had 16 figurines in a semicircle in front of six jade celts having a cranial reshaping; all had similar classic Olmec features
49.
la venta serpentine offering: part of la venta complex A; hardstone with jade like qualities that was used to make the "massive offering" and the "pavements"
50.
Late preclassic trends: specialized centers(urban like centers)
organizational hierarchies(office of kinship, elite classes)
Surplus of labor and food
monumental public architecture(platform mounds)
ideology(complex of deities)
51.
locona: type of ceramic adoption in tehuacan valley; first chiefly residences, evidence for elite objects (paso de la amada)
52.
los tapiales: an obsidian fluted point was recovered near here outside of guatemala city
53.
maize, beans, squash: mesoamerican trinity
54.
margarita tomb: • richest tomb ever found in ancient Maya in Copan occupied by a woman; may be ruler II or wife or relative of Yax Kuk Mo
55.
maya politics: as a small hierarchical state (ajawil, ajawlel, or ajawlil) headed by a hereditary ruler known as an ajaw (later k'uhul ajaw).[20] Such kingdoms were usually no more than a capital city with its neighborhood and several lesser towns, although there were greater kingdoms, which controlled larger territories and extended patronage over smaller polities
56.
mokaya: sonconusco people who were pre olmec; first to develop a hierarchy society, means "corn people"
57.
monte verde chile: where they found fluted spear points earlier than the clovis
58.
mother culture vs lattice: • Alfonso Caso declared that Olmecs were the "mother culture" of Mesoamerica
• argument about Olmec: were they pristine first civilization and every other culture diffused out of their culture OR what is the arch. telling us? is it more like a lattice (were there complex cultures exisiting at the same time of the olmec) -YES that's what we are seeing → Nakbe, etc.
• some old timers think it is a mother culture but more contemporary arch. believe it is
59.
Nakbe(stela 1 "PBD"): mayan site
large size of buildings at nakbe indicated a growing economic and social differentiation in society in which the elite were able to manipulate the masses to build significant public works and to otherwise support and sustain the elite
60.
north south: site orientation for olmec (la venta)
61.
ocos: elaboration of fany pottery, sophisticated village life --> ceramic adoption in tehuican valley
62.
pachuca obsidian: obsidian from pachuca is notable because of its green gold color and its internal purity which makes it one of the highest quality sources in meso
63.
paleoindian, archaic, formative, classic, postclassic: chronological phase names and order
64.
paso de la amada: place of the earliest mayan ballcourt; starting to see ascribed status and earliest elite residence
65.
Paul Kirchoff: german anthropologist who named the term Mesoamerica
66.
Pleistocene: no evidence of people in mesoamerica until the end of this period
67.
political complexity: government is operated by full time people in different specialties (departments)
68.
popol vuh: mayan creation story
69.
pyramid of the moon: • sits in front of a large mountain called cerro gordow ith a cleft on the top of it associated with corn god and power
70.
Pyramid of the sun: • "abode of the gods"; birthplace of their creation of the gods
• built on top of subterranean cave systems which had springs in it
71.
reciprocity, ancestor veneration through sacrifice, regeneration: three themes of the popol vuh story
72.
San Bartolo(las pinturas): a temple that holds paintings that depicts mayan life
73.
san lorenzo: most important early formative site in mesoamerica and first big olmec city; displaying the big heads; also known as tenochtitlan
74.
seven macaw: (vucub caquix); wasnt in the popol vuh, arrogant god
75.
slab footed tripod cylindrical vessels: type of sculpture with purely teotihuacan style
76.
social inequality: some individuals/ groups are going to have more access to prestigious objects; social status will be marked with material objects
77.
spanish were first to conquest: contact and conquest period of mesoamerica
78.
spearthower owl: the name commonly given to a Mesoamerican personage from the Early Classic period, who is identified in Maya inscriptions and iconography. It has been suggested that Spearthrower Owl was a ruler of Teotihuacán at the start of height of its influence across Mesoamerica in the 4th and 5th century, and that he was responsible for the introduction of Teotihuacán-related cultural traits in the Maya area
79.
Spearthrower(atl-atl): name given to a mesoamerican personage from early classic
ruler of teotihuacan at its height and responsible for intro of TT related cultural traits in maya
resembles nature of TT's influence on maya
80.
states: highest level of complexities; so many people in them that there needs to be a way to control people, organize resources, organize school system in a more complex way; full time "specialists" in these areas
81.
Stela and altar cult: sacrifice?
82.
Stormy Sky(Stela 31): • relationship to Uaxactun
• forces of Tikal, under leadership of Smoking Frong, attacked and defeated Uaxactun and Smoking Frog became the ruler of Uaxactun; stela 31 commemorates victory over Uaxactus; emphasizes importance of bloodletting ritual
83.
Street of the dead: surrounded by apartment compounds
runs through teotihuacan and the monuments
84.
surplus: stores of food for when times are bad
85.
Talud-tablero Architecture(TT): architectural style consisting of a platform structure or the tablero on top of an inward sloping surface, the talud. it may also be referred to as the slope and panel style
often employed in pyramid construction as dominant style in Teo.
86.
Temple I: temple of the giant jaguar;three temple chambers with corbelled vaults
in Tikal
87.
Terminal preclassic changes: San bartolo murals represent it. mostly in creation myth description
88.
thin orange pottery: diagnostic TT pottery that was distributed through meso
89.
Tikal, north acropolis: rulers of tikal collected monuments from accross the city and erected them in front of site
one of the most studied arch. groups in maya
developed into a funerary complex for the ruing dynasty of the classic pyriad
90.
Tlaloc and feathered serpent(TT): feathered serpent is a six level step pyramid with the outisde decorated with feathered serpent heads alternating with those of another snake like creature named Tlaloc. 3rd biggest pyramid in TT
91.
tribes: group that is heavily dependent on number of people in groups, developed a council of people, status is achieved and earned
92.
tuxtla mountains: where basalt was found to make colossal heads (Cerro Cintepec)
93.
Uaxactun(stela 5, mural on bldg B): located in maya lowlands, 12 miles from Tikal
fought tikal and lost
94.
wacah chan: runs through the center of maya world, known as the axis and means "raised up sky'; skymbolized this axis coexisted in all the vertical domains; its trunk went through the middleworld and its roots went into the underworld and branches soard to highest layer of heavenly region of otherworld; made world interconnected
95.
were jaguar: shamanistic transformation; idea of being reborn as a spirit animal- found inscribed in much of Olmec art
96.
world tree: the king's natural analong that acts as the communication between the human world and the otherworld as presented by the Vision serpent and the double headed serpent bar; king brought this in bloodletting ceremonies
97.
xibalba: • underworld; mayans see it as the parallel unseen Otherworld into which the Maya kings and other shamans could pass in ecstatic trans; at sundown it rotated above the earth to become the night sky
98.
Yax k'uk Mo': green quetzal macca who founded copan dynasty
