324 Arth Final Study Guide Describe the dual calendar systems and the long count: All Mesoamerican calendar systems have their roots in the Late Formative era. the dual calendar refers to the 365/260 day calendars, which were formed at the beginning of the period and generally used simultaneously. The regular calendar dates are short, like July 24 a. The 365 day calendar was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, plus five nameless days at the end of the year, to equate to the solar year. Each year took a name, usually the day name and number of the 260 day calendar, but because of the calculation only 4 days can be year bearers, paired with a coefficient from 1 to 13, this created the 52 year cycle, called the calendar round`, like our century. b. The 260 day calendar is roughly the gestation of a person. It is the oldest calendar, used as early as the 6 th century BC when the Zapotecs began to mark events publicly. Mesoamerican people were named for their birthday in this calendar. It is subdivided into 20 day rounds, which had 13 day numbers, giving 260 possible combinations. The 260 day system was the almanac` of the Mesoamericans. the long count was developed later and used in conjunction with the dual calendars. It was a series of numbers on top of each other in a column, showing the exact number of days since 3114 BCE. The year 0 was the start of this cycle, and the end of the previous cycle. These dates can be easily read and were important to artists who wrote them beautifully. This was important partially to: a. establish lineage (these are my ancestors going back, so I am imbued with their power) b. the date they were born on gives them a certain name and also sometimes powers c. they needed to know exactly when the apocalypse was coming The counting system was bar and dots (bar = 5), based on the # 20. 2. Who was Jaguar to the Olmecs? How was it similar and different than the Andean jaguar? The jaguar of the Olmecs: a. The Olmec jaguar was shown with a cleft in the head, rounded baby-like head, and the tears of the crying baby. b. Jaguar to the Olmecs represented a powerful hunter and differed from the Andean Jaguar because it was not seen as a mythical creature, probably due to the frequency in which real jaguars could be seen. The jaguar itself hunted at night and usually along streams, ate people. c. The Andean jaguar was metaphorical, not part of day-to-day existence. Why were Mesoamerican effigies often ritually "killed"? They gain power by being worn and used in ritual, eventually have too much power of its own for a mortal to wear it and need to have that power released, usually by drilling a hole at the side of it`s mouth or in its cheek most Mesoamerican cultures believed power or mythic beings come from a cleft in the head so the effigy would not be killed that way. Sometimes they were created to be buried or killed. The Olmecs created great tile mosaic masks on the floors of buildings at La Venta but buried them right away, so they were part of the building but unseen. 3. 1.
4. What was the relation between Teotihuacn, Tlatilco, and the Olmecs? Teotihuacan had been the center of trade for West Mexico and had undoubtedly traded with the Olmecs and Tlatilco people. The expansion of influence of Teotihuacan can be seen in the widespread usage of the Talud Tablero in Classic Monte Alban (Zapotec) and into the Early Maya. The Great Goddess at Teotihuacn also has a cleft head and relates to water, like the Olmec jaguar. The pretty lady ceramics show there was a large Olmec presence around the 2 nd century. (The Olmec were important because they exported salt.) The city of Tlatico was an Olmec city an it`s close enough nearby Teotihuacan that it shows how Olmec imagery and gods/goddesses were transformed and used by Teotihuacan. 5. What do the Monte Alban danzantes tell us about the Zapotecs? At Monte Alban, at Oaxaca, the buildings were put together in the Late Formative, presumably the Zapotec capital. The temple of the danzantes was named in the 19th century because of the free loose posture of the figures, they looked like dancers. There were 300 slabs, 140 incorporated in the temple, the rest in Mound J, some were reused in different contexts throughout Monte Alban in different periods. They general face out from the plaza centers, there is no known arrangement, they are all unique. There were made using a charcoal sketch, the rock was incised, low relief. All of the figures are male, presented frontal or 3/4 but all have a profile head. The hands and feet are limp, closed eyes signify death, the naked and genital mutilation implies humiliation. The danzantes were large carved stones of captives humiliated, sacrificial, broken captives, ritually mutilated around the genitals. Showing the power of the rulers. Cartouches near the figures name some of them. This helped to date Mound J to a later time. One of the earliest known instances of capturing and torturing victims of war. It shows that these people are dead and not, as was thought, dancing, and the Zapotecs were not the peace-loving astronomers that we used to think they were. 6. What are the visual similarities between the West Mexican ceramic figures and the remojadas of Veracruz? Similar red clay (look) with white slip decoration and spots, flat hollow figural appearance, some figures guarded tombs with similar hand gestures. Difficult to date both areas due to a lack of provenance. When were they made? Colima was 100 BCE to 0 CE; Remojadas were 600 to 900 CE. West Mexican ceramics from Colima appear in two types: the earlier hand made flat figures in animated postures, sometimes groups; the later hollow figures of reddish spotted clay, the majority of which doubled as vessels. Often dogs, and some were old (shamans) some were young (food), also humans shown as males posed to strike with clubs.. Jalisco figures were different but technically similar with smaller, pointed heads. Nayarit work consisted of clay ball courts, and hollow male/female pairs, perhaps marriage portraits interred with burials. The remojadas have smiling, ecstatic faces, might be in the throes of hallucinogens. 7. Describe the ballgame and its accessories: The distinctive scrollwork at El Tajin is linked to the ballgame. At Dainzu, another Zapotec city, there were large incised slabs, technically similar to the danzantes, only those figures wore helmets and were ballplayers. Ritually based, described in the Popol Vuh, the ballgame was a holistic communal event that existed in various forms through out the span of Precolombian
Mesoamerica. The importance of the ballgame was to appease to the gods through the maintaining movement of a heavy rubber skull ball and passing it through a sideways hoops. The ballgame was played in a ball court with seats for spectators high on the sides. Usually the game was played with two teams, three on three, and the person that stopped the ball from moving and their team were the losers and could end up being sacrificed to the gods. The ball could not be touched by human hands, and so the game was usually hip-to-ball. The nature of the game has probably taken many forms over time either as a ceremonial game, a sport, or even a gambling event. played with a hard rubber ball and wore padding around the waist, a heavy stone belt (yoke), chest piece (palmas), wrist wrappings and knee pads, and sometimes helmets. Due to the weight of the ball this gear was required to protect the players. Most of the ballgame accessories that have been found appear to be too heavy to be used and therefore simply used for ceremonial offerings instead of competition. 8. Describe the geography of the Mayan region: There are two general areas that comprise the Mayan region: the lowland Yucatan peninsula full of below-sea-level swamps and jungles of flat limestone with sinkholes. The Maya adapted by building architecture on rock outcroppings and creating raised walkways (sacbes), the Mayan highway. the highland foothill and mountain region of Southern Mexico and into Guatemala consisted of arid plateaus. The architecture conformed better to the hillier terrain. 9. What were the functions of the Mayan pyramids? Tombs - The tomb of Pakal at Palenque burial pyramids have 9 steps up because of the 9 steps to get to the Underworld (13 more to get you into the afterlife, so there are 13 steps into the tomb inside). Theatrical uses creating a stage and a place for the audience for shamanistic rituals Markers for passages of time or great occasions (some were done for the completion of a ka tun or for the ascencion of a living ruler into a god). 10. Describe the "pyramid-plaza": pyramid plaza city planning done for theatrical reasons, to create a stage for the people to look up at the shamans/religious practice The Mayan pyramid plaza consisted of a tall pyramid at one end (for the religious ceremonies) and a plaza at the other (for the audience). 11. Corbel vault, bajos, sacbes, stelae, roof combs, mat or pop signs?
corbel vault is a Mayan architectural element used to create an opening by using overlapping blocks of stone that would progressively come closer to one another and then eventually a single block would span the opening. Corbel vaults allowed for the weight above a door to be redistributed on either side of the door. Typically the blocks were carved off to create an isosceles triangle. Bajos are lowland swamps. Sacbes were long raised highways` made of white stone above the swamps that connected Yucatn cities. Stelae were markers in front of pyramids or other architecture that marked the date of the building, an important event, and why it was created. Roofcombs were
Mat or Pop signs were family insignia that marked the front of architectural works. 12. Tlaloc, Xipe-totec, God K, Chak, Quetzalcoatl (two or three versions) Coatlique? Tlaloc was from Teotihuacn, took a vacation until after the Mayan. He was the bringer of rain, worshipped by the Aztecs, may have been a later representation of the storm god who opposed the Great Goddess in Teotihuacan. He was unified with Huitzilopochtli on the Temple of Mayor (192), perhaps to give the new cult of the Aztecs legitimacy. Xipe-totec was a Huaztec, but stuck around til the Aztecs - the fertility figure, our lord the flayed one, ritual imitated the life of the maize kernal. He wore the skin of a sacrificial victim until it rotted and fell off, revealing the beautiful youth inside. God K is the god of the underworld. Shows up on a lot of ceramics, as the butt end of the jokes to the Hero Twins antics. Represents old age, material-wealth, and is defeated by the Hero Twins by being stripped naked and his stuff is taken. Chak, god of rain and the god of fishing, and is known for his long nose. East/West building, Chak presides of the structure, the courtyard, and the hills. Quetzalcoatl can be found in the Early Maya known as the plume serpent`. He would have the feathers of the Quetzal bird and the body of a serpent (coatl). The city of Seibal, show a new architectural style of round buildings associated with the Central Mexican cult of Quetzalcoatl. Began being popular with the Huastecs in Tula, Chichen Itza, and is associated with circular buildings. During the early Postclassic, a person with the same name of the Mixtec, born on the same day as the God brought kingship, ritual, and culture to the Toltec people. Its difficult to figure out who they are talking about at time. At Teotihuacan, he is shown related to the cult of warfare, then became a god of greater importance following the famous individual with his name. Coatlique based on the Quetzal birds. She is an Aztec god and mother of Coyolxauhqui (the moon) and Huitzilopochtil (the sun). She became pregnant with him by stuffing a ball of down feathers down her bosom, and brought about the wrath of her other children, especially Coyolxauhqui. Coyolxauhqui plotted and with many others cut off the head of her mother and from that Huitzilopochtil rose and killed and mutilated his sister. Coatlque she of the serpent skirt, systematically re-interred after accidental discover, probably greatest known Aztec sculpture, 2-d intricately patterned, 3-d portrait, may have been part of a set of four, carved on the underside in the form of a monster, leans forward encompassing the viewer in its shadow, resemble the twin pyramids in profile, severed head replaced by snakes that symbolize flowing blood, snakes descends from her groin suggesting menses and a penis, hands and feets = claws, wears a necklace of hands and hearts, metropolitan` style, commemorated at the twin pyramid El Tajin, Tikal, Palenque, Copan, Uxmal? El Tajn, Veracruz is a post-Teotihuacan city in more southern Mesoamerica. The geography did not permit for large wide plaza because the terrain was more mountainous, and therefore the cities adapted in with organic forms to the land instead of the other way around. Exteriors of building were painted with an oxide red. It is famous for the Temple of the Niches, which had a similar geometric Talud-talbero order as Teotihuacan. 13.
Tikal was a major city site in Central Peten in which major growth occurred. Teotihuacan lords invaded in 378 CE, married local elites, adopted Teotihuacan dress and possibly burial. After the fall of Teotihuacan in the 6 th c., Tikal suffered from warfare. Teotihuacan influence became infused in the Mayan style it no longer became foreign. maximum population 50,000, Mundo Perdido Lost World` complex, somewhat Teotihuacan-style talud-tablero; before 250 CE North Acropolis and Great Plaza defined the city, massive temples dedicated to Early Classic rulers, Typical Funerary Pyramids squat proportions, massive apron moldings around corners, stucco ornaments; funerary goods show the abundance and preparation that Maya kings were interred with, may Tikal (Ruler A (Ali Cacaw)) instrumental in the revival of Tikal, buried c. 727 in Temple I, combined with the Great Place from Temple II changed the core to an eastwest axis, intended as a complete memorial, w/ 9 levels, and funerary chamber, planned before his death and could not begin till after it, Temple II is supposedly dedicated to his wife; Sculpture static, single-figure compositions, conforming to established canons, Copn Palenque around 600 CE in the Chiapas altiplano in the Western most Maya city, the city began expanding in size and population over 150 under only a relatively few number of rulers, enhanced the natural topography of the land, no sacbes, 3 distinct levels of construction, different aesthetic in architecture corbelled vaults parallel to one another, with a light, cut-out roof comb over the central wall = more interior space, preservation, first web-like; three temples of the Group of the Cross two parallel galleries are intersected at right angle by corbelled passage, creating a great chamber = innovation of interior space; inscribed panels celebrate the birth of 3 patron deities; Naab new vaulting techniques for larger rooms, new style of royal bench w/ multifigural composition allowed for several lords to rule at once Uxmal- In comparison with Tikal and Palenque Pyramid Plaza Civic Architecture, Role of the pyramid in the ceremonies` Pyramid of the Magician no plaza in front of it, backyard of the nunnery` The Great Pyramid not as important architecturally - Puuc Style going down to the flatlands, cities of the Peten were being abandoned, Administrative Architecture 14. Describe the late Mayan relief carving. What was the style of the "cookie cutter master"? He cut so deep it looks like he just used a cookie cutter 15. What is the importance of the Jaina island figures? They showed everyday life in a way that most Mayan art didn`t. 16. What is the architectural history of Chichen Itza? How does the chacmool figure in the discussion? It had two phases: At first Chichen Itz was a postclassic Mayan city than soon became taken over, at the very least artistically by the Toltec. This can be seen in the two phases of architecture in Chichen Itz. Castillo early Mayan radial pyramid, w/ Toltec influence (very closely resembling Tula, the chacmool figures first appeared at Tula), 9 story, not entirely different from the Temple of the Inscriptions, No specific pyramid-plaza relationship, no real front; Classic Puuc Style Architecture. At Chichn Itz, two structures bear witness to Mayan astronomy: El Castillo and El Caracol. Every year, tens of thousands of visitors flock to Chichn Itz to see the snake, an apparition made of shadows that descends the stairs at El Castillo during the solar equinoxes each spring and fall. At El Caracol, dubbed the observatory, narrow shaftlike windows frame important astronomical events. One such window marks an
appearance of Venus at a particular point on the horizon that takes place--like clockwork--once every eight years.
Ballcourt at Chichen Itza 17. What is the importance of the planet Venus? Either the morning star (pulling the sun up into life) or the evening star (pushing down into death) but never both at the same time. The Mayan had the modes of Venus plotted for the next 4000 years. At the Caracol at Cichen Itz there was an observatory with holes that were carefully calculated to line up with the placement of Venus on the equinox. The grand staircase that marks the front of El Caracol faces 27.5 degrees north of west--out of line with the other buildings at the site, but an almost perfect match for the northern extreme of Venus, Venus`s most northerly position in the sky. Also, a diagonal formed by the northeast and southwest corners of the building aligns with both the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset. This rise and fall of Venus as a morning star takes 263 days. For the next 50 days, Venus disappears and cannot be seen in the sky at all. Then, Venus reappears in the evening sky, where it remains for another 263-day phase before disappearing below the horizon for 8 days. At the end of these 8 days, Venus reappears as a morning star, and the cycle begins again. The entire cycle--263 as a morning star, 50 days absent, 263 days as an evening star, and finally, 8 days absent--takes 584 days, an interval also known as the synodic period of Venus. It just so happens that the synodic period of Venus (584 days) relates to the orbital period of the earth (365 days) in a relatively simple ratio of 5:8. Five times the synodic period of Venus (5 x 584 days) is 2,920 days. If you divide 2,920 by the 365 days in our year, you get 8. In short, the motions of Venus relative to our sun repeat almost exactly every 8 years. Eight years would have been a useful span of time for ancient sky-watchers, who relied heavily on natural cycles to mark time. There is a simple way to track this 8-year cycle. Like the sun, the position of Venus against the horizon appears to shift with the seasons. Venus shifts north in the summer and south in the winter. Exactly how far Venus shifts each year depends on where it is in its 8-year cycle, but the extreme points in the back-and-forth oscillation are known as the northern extreme and the southern extreme of Venus. An observer will see Venus rise at each of these extreme points once every 8 years.
Mayan pictogryph of Venus 18. What is the history of Tenochtitlan? Tenochtitln, the Aztec capital, was founded in 1345 on an island in what is now Mexico City. In 1426 the Aztec conquered some of its neighbors and consolidated their power under the Triple Alliance with Texcoco and Tlacopan. By 1502 the city had a population of around 200,000 people. In 1520 after the arrival of Hernan Corts the city had undergone much strife, civil war, and was ransacked for gold. The city was then transformed into the colonial capital of New Spain and suffered more lost of architecture than any other Pre-Colombian city. 19. What was the ritual nature of warfare? Warfare had begun as a ritual competition between equals, in which a relative few of high status would fight one another and determine the outcome of the battle. After being captured the losing king was ceremonial dragged back to town, tortured, saved for the special 5 nameless days celebrations, then forced to play the ballgame where they would lose and be sacrificed 20. What are the post-classic manuscripts? The Aztec writing system is pictographic, not written in columns like Mayan, a lot were done after the Spanish got there
SLIDES
1.
Caracol at Chichen Itza the importance of Venus, observatory to plot the path of Venus
2. Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque The Temple of Inscriptions was begun perhaps as early as 675 as the funerary monument of K'inich Janaab' Pakal. The temple superstructure houses the second longest glyphic text known from the Maya world (the longest is the Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copan). The Temple of Inscriptions records approximately 180 years of the city's history from the 4th through 12th K'atun. The focal point of the narrative records K'inich Janaab' Pakal's K'atun period-ending rituals focused on the icons of the city's patron deities prosaically known collectively as the Palenque Triad or individually as GI, GII, and GIII. In 1952 Alberto Ruz Lhuillier removed a stone slab in the floor of the back room of the temple superstructure to revealing a passageway (filled in shortly before the city's abandonment and reopened by archeologists) leading through a long stairway to Pakal's tomb. The tomb itself is remarkable for its large carved sarcophagus, the rich ornaments accompanying Pakal, and for the stucco sculpture decorating the walls of the tomb. Unique to Pakal's tomb is the psychoduct, which leads from the tomb itself, up the stairway and through a hole in the stone covering the entrance to the burial. This psychoduct is perhaps a physical reference to concepts about the departure of the soul at the time of death in Maya eschatology where in the inscriptions the phrase ochb'ihaj sak ik'il (the white breath road-entered) is used to refer to the leaving of the soul. The much-discussed iconography of the sarcophagus lid depicts Pakal in the guise of one of the manifestations of the Maize God emerging from the maw of the underworld. A similar scene of emergence is seen on the San Francisco Capstone which depicts an enthroned Maize God sprouting from the portal maw. 3. Jade ahau mask holes in the cheeks where it was ritually killed
4. Post-classic manuscript with Tlaloc, pictographs follow the dots or footprints around the page to read the story 5. Lintel from Yaxchilan - In Lintel 25 we see the pinnacle of the blood sacrifice; we see that Lady Xoc places her blood beneath her in a bowl. We also see the Vision Serpent rising from the bowl of blood. In the 2-heads of the Vision Serpent, emerging from its mouths, are the bodies of a War God and the founder of Yaxchilan Yat Balam. From this we can ascertain that King Shield Jaguar is seeking help from the gods and Yaxchilan ancestors as he prepares for battle. Lintel 25 also is reported to have inscriptions on it that indicates that the lintel is placed above the house of Lady Xoc. The
phrase is translated by Inomata and Houston as: Lady Xoc`s house is the heart/center of Tan-Ha` Yaxchilan 6. Carving of a captive king losing the ballgame
7.
Danzantes
8. Burial painting on the walls show a long count date because instead of being a specific date (single image) it was a series of numbers on top of each other in a column, showing the exact number of days since 3114 BCE. The counting system was bar and dots (bar = 5). Underneath the niches are images showing flowing water, a hint that this is a burial get to the underworld through water. 9. Olmec jaguar with cleft head
10. Coatlique - Aztec double headed snake goddess dug up and was so frightening they buried her again 9 ft tall
11. permanent roof
Pillars at Tula, meant to hold up a less
12. Fresco - Earth Goddess mural with imagery of Tlaloc at Teotihuacn she is wearing a nose ring but it`s not a butterfly, looks more like Tlaloc 13. Ballgame accessory (palma) Veracruz, beautiful elongated style, probably basalt 14. Pretty ladies ceramics, found in Platico (Olmec, suburb of Teotihuacn)
15. West Mexican ceramic dog from Colima, dark brown clay body with black spots not food, it`s an old dog, a pet, rare to survive to that age 16. Jaina island figurine tortured scalp pealed back, tied to sticks to be set on fire, his belly is cut open and his innards pulled out, face burned
17. Chacmool figures at Chichen Itza, the reclining figure has a flat spot for offerings, usually hearts 18. Red clay woman, deformed head, nose ring (Colima), naked
19. 20.
Remojada from Veracruz Uxmal - Corbel vault and pop signs, pook style
21. Warning figurine, found in a burial, on a protruding lintel above a doorway, from Monte Alban (very Olmec influence in the face) 22. Pakal`s slab tree of life, Maize god, hero worship of Pakal (died at 80, presented as though he was 20) 23. Two ceramic stuccoed three-legged vessels with lids blue/red/black Left is Mayan, hieroglyphs, thin/thick lines / Right is Teotihuacn, looks just like the murals, looks like Quetzalcoatl 24. Incense burner from Teotihuacn, butterfly mouth piece, layers of ceramic, Tlaloc (goggle-eye god), probably never used