Christian Leader’s Institute:

World History 101

The Beginnings of “Civilization” to 1500 A.D.

Rev. Richard Hamstra

 Session 6
• Early Peru
• Early Mesoamerica
• Summary of Part One
Early Peru
 Peru

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm
ons/8/86/Chavin-small.png
Reading Assignments on early Peru
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Peru
• The paragraphs on Pre-Columbian cultures up
to the section on the Inca Empire;
• Article on the Chavin Civilization by Mark
Cartwright at
http://www.ancient.eu/Chavin_Civilization/
 Pre-Inca Cultures
• Prior to 3500 B.C., groups began to settle in
the river valleys about 200 miles north of
current day Lima, Peru. Using terrace farming
and irrigation, the formed a settled culture.
• The first known city is Carel, est. around 2500
B.C. by the Norte Chico people. Without the
wheel—they constructed pyramid shaped
monuments and temple.
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Caral-Supe_in_Peru.jpg
 Chavin 900-200 B.C.
• The Chavin culture followed the Norte Chico
rising to power around 900 B.C.
• It is notable for extensive temple complexes
and high artistic expression.
• Had trade and cultural influence over wide
areas of South America
• No military remains have been found
 Peru

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm
ons/8/86/Chavin-small.png
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Chav%C3%ADn_de_Huantar_Brazo_Izquie
rdo_06122009.jpg
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Estela.jpg
 Chavin Religion
• As with most agriculture bases societies, gods
of fertility are honored. The asexual god,
Tiwanaku, received the sacrifices of the
people through the intercession of the
shamans.
 Tiwanaku
• He/She is pictured as one who holds two staffs
(sea shells), representing the union of male
and female and the insuring fertility for the
crops.
• http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_quTA5X_qxYw/SsyUVlCKnWI/AAAAAAAAAYs/Sh9oB6drk5w/s400/monolito_tiwanaku.jp
g
The jaguar had religious meaning among
many South and Mesoamerican peoples,
including the Chavin. Among the Chavin,
the jaguar had the ability to shift shape
from animal to human.
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Chav%C3%ADn_-_Feline-and-Cactus_Stirrup_Vessel_-_Walters_482832.jpg
Mesoamerica
 Reading Assignment
• History of Mesoamerica Civilization article
found at
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoameri
can-civilization
• Mesoamerican Civilization
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTex
tHistories.asp?historyid=ab58
 Early Mesoamerica

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm
ons/thumb/7/74/Mayan_Language_Migration
_Map.svg/2000px-
Mayan_Language_Migration_Map.svg.png
 Olmec Civilization 1200-400 B.C.
• Settled agriculture especially reclaiming land
from swamp by building islands
• Main cities: San Lorenzo and later La Venta
• Influence culture in Central America for next
1500 years
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Formative_Era_sites.svg/2000px-Formative_Era_sites.svg.png
 Olmec Building/Art
• Pyramid structures for temples
• Giant heads(9 ft. tall) for rulers or maybe ball
players?
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Mexico_xochicalco_pyramids.JPG
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/Olmec_He
ad,_Mexico,_c._1960.jpg
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Olmec_mask_801.jpg
 Olmec writing and calendar

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Cascajal-
text.svg/2000px-Cascajal-text.svg.png
 Mesoamerican Calendars
• Seasonal—260
• Festivals
• Solar---
 Olmec Religion
• Mostly inferred from later cultures
• Forces of nature are considered governed by
gods, who need to be pleased with rituals and
sacrifices—likely including humans.
• Shamans mediated between the human and
the divine levels
• Gods appear in human or animal forms
• The dragon (feathered serpent), and jaguar
seem particularly important. These images
are combinations of many animal forms.
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Featheredserpentmuseoantropologia.JPG
• https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/d2/df/e3/d2dfe36316e2cd8393794d5e0ff5519a.jpg
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Jaguar_trouv%C3%A9_%C3%A0_Oaxaca.jpg
 End of Part One
• Mesopotamia: Sumer, Early Babylon, Assyria
• India: Verdic
• China: Early Dynasties
• Egypt: Old, Middle, New Kingdoms
• Peru: Chavin
• Mesoamerica: Olmec
 Common Characteristics of many
early civilizations
• Sustainable agriculture: water
• Diversification of social/economic roles:
political leaders, religion
• Use of new technologies: irrigation, bronze,
gold, silver
• Creation of record keeping: writing, calendars
 Section One: 3500-500 B.C.
• Section 2: 500B.C.-500 A.D.
Mesoamerican civilization -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia https://www.britannica.com/print/article/376698

Four statues carved as human figures, each

4.6 metres tall; from the Tula Grande
archaeological site.
© piginka/iStock.com

1 of 3 3/28/2019, 10:29 PM
Mesoamerican civilization -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia https://www.britannica.com/print/article/376698

El Castillo (“The Castle”), a Toltec-style

pyramid, rising above the plaza at Chichén
Itzá in Yucatán state, Mexico.
© diegograndi/iStock.com

Olmec

Olmec colossal head at La Venta Park-

Museum in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico.
Adalberto Rios Szalay—Sexto Sol/Getty
Images

2 of 3 3/28/2019, 10:29 PM
Mesoamerican civilization -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia https://www.britannica.com/print/article/376698

3 of 3 3/28/2019, 10:29 PM
Reading: History of Peru

Pre-Columbian cultures
See also: Cultural periods of Peru
Andean civilizations of Peru

Norte Chico Caral pyramids in the arid Supe Valley, some 20 km from the
Pacific coast.

Chavin Gold Crown Formative Epoch 1200-300 BCE (Larco Museum

Collection, Lima).

The Condor, Nazca Lines, created by the Nazca culture.

The Moche culture is world-renowned for its pottery, in picture

a condor from about 300 CE.

Walls of Soloco fortress, Chachapoyas, Peru.

Pikillaqta administrative center, built by the Wari culture in Cusco.

Chimú vessel representing a fisherman on a caballitos de

totora(1100–1400 CE).

Tiwanaku and Wari culture at its largest territorial extent, 950 CE.

Hunting tools dating back to more than 11,000 years ago have been found inside the
caves of Pachacamac, Telarmachay, Junin and Lauricocha.[1] Some of the oldest
civilizations appeared circa 6000 BC in the coastal provinces of Chilca and Paracas,
and in the highland province of Callejón de Huaylas. Over the following three
thousand years, inhabitants switched from nomadic lifestyles to cultivating land, as
evidence from sites such as Jiskairumoko, Kotosh and Huaca Prieta demonstrates.
Cultivation of plants such as corn and cotton (Gossypium barbadense) began, as well
as the domestication of animals such as the wild ancestors of the llama, the alpaca and
the guinea pig. Inhabitants practiced spinning and knitting of cotton and
wool, basketry and pottery.

As these inhabitants became sedentary, farming allowed them to build settlements and
new societies emerged along the coast and in the Andean mountains. The first known
city in the Americas was Caral, located in the Supe Valley 200 km north of Lima. It
was built in approximately 2500 BC.[2]
What is left from the civilization, also called Norte Chico, is about 30 pyramidal
structures built up in receding terraces ending in a flat roof; some of them measured
up to 20 meters in height. Caral is one of the world centers of the rise of civilization.[2]

In the early 21st century, archeologists have discovered new evidence of

ancient pre-Ceramic complex cultures. In 2005 Tom D. Dillehay and his team
announced the discovery of three irrigation canals that were 5,400 years old, and a
possible fourth that is 6,700 years old, all in the Zaña Valley in northern Peru,
evidence of community activity to support improved agriculture at a much earlier date
than previously believed.[3] In 2006, Robert Benfer and a research team discovered a
4,200-year-old observatory at Buena Vista, a site in the Andes several kilometers
north of present-day Lima. They believe the observatory was related to the society's
reliance on agriculture and understanding the seasons. The site includes the oldest
three-dimensional sculptures found thus far in South America.[4] In 2007 the
archeologist Walter Alva and his team found a 4,000-year-old temple with painted
murals at Ventarrón, in the northwest Lambayeque region. The temple contained
ceremonial offerings gained from exchange with Peruvian jungle societies, as well as
those from the Ecuadoran coast.[5] Such finds show sophisticated, monumental
construction requiring large-scale organization of labor, suggesting that hierarchical,
complex cultures arose in South America much earlier than scholars had thought.

Many other civilizations developed and were absorbed by the most powerful ones
such as Kotosh, Chavin,
Paracas, Lima, Nasca, Moche, Tiwanaku, Wari, Lambayeque, Chimu and Chincha,
among others. The Paracas culture emerged on the southern coast around 300 BC.
They are known for their use of vicuña fibers instead of just cotton to produce
fine textiles—innovations that did not reach the northern coast of Peru until centuries
later. Coastal cultures such as the Moche and Nazca flourished from about 100 BC to
about AD 700: the Moche produced impressive metalwork, as well as some of the
finest pottery seen in the ancient world, while the Nazca are known for their textiles
and the enigmatic Nazca lines.

These coastal cultures eventually began to decline as a result of recurring el

Niño floods and droughts. In consequence, the Huari and Tiwanaku, who dwelt inland
in the Andes became the predominant cultures of the region encompassing much of
modern-day Peru and Bolivia. They were succeeded by powerful city-states, such
as Chancay, Sipan, and Cajamarca, and two empires: Chimor and Chachapoyas
culture These cultures developed relatively advanced techniques of cultivation, gold
and silver craft, pottery, metallurgy, and knitting. Around 700 BC, they appear to
have developed systems of social organization that were the precursors of
the Inca civilization.

In the highlands, both the Tiahuanaco culture, near Lake Titicaca in both Peru
and Bolivia, and the Wari culture, near the present-day city of Ayacucho, developed
large urban settlements and wide-ranging state systems between 500 and 1000 AD.[6]

Not all Andean cultures were willing to offer their loyalty to the Incas as the Incas
expanded their empire, and many were openly hostile. The people of the Chachapoyas
culture were an example of this, but the Inca eventually conquered and integrated
them into their empire.
Inca Empire (1438–1532)[edit]

Main article: Inca Empire

Inca Empire

Inca expansion (1438–1533).

View of Machu Picchu built by the Incas.

The Incas built the largest empire and dynasty of pre-Columbian America.[7] The
Tahuantinsuyo—which is derived from Quechua for "The Four United
Regions"—reached its greatest extension at the beginning of the 16th century. It
dominated a territory that included (from north to south): Ecuador, part of Colombia,
the northern half of Chile, and the northwest part of Argentina; and from east to west,
from Bolivia to the Amazonian forests and Peru.

The empire originated from a tribe based in Cusco, which became the capital.
Pachacutec wasn't the first Inca, but he was the first ruler to considerably expand the
boundaries of the Cusco state- probably he could be compared to Alexander the
great (from Greece), Julius Caesar (of the Roman empire), Attila (from the Hunns
tribes) and Genghis Khan (from the Mongols empire). His offspring later ruled an
empire by both violent invasions and peaceful conquests- i.e. intermarriages among
the rules of small kingdoms and the current Inca ruler.
In Cuzco, the royal city was created to resemble a cougar; the head, the main royal
structure, formed what is now known as Sacsayhuamán. The Empire's administrative,
political, and military center was located in Cusco. The empire was divided into four
quarters: Chinchaysuyu, Antisuyu, Kuntisuyu and Qullasuyu.

The official language was Quechua – imposed on the citizens. It was the language of a
neighbouring tribe of the original tribe of the empire. Conquered populations—tribes,
kingdoms, states, and cities—were allowed to practice their own religions and
lifestyles, but had to recognize Inca cultural practices as superior to their own. Inti,
the sun god, was to be worshipped as one of the most important gods of the empire.
His representation on earth was the Inca ("Emperor").

The Tawantinsuyu was organized in dominions with a stratified society, in which the
ruler was the Inca. It was also supported by an economy based on the collective
property of the land.

Many unusual customs were observed, for example the extravagant feast of Inti
Raymi which gave thanks to the God Sun, and the young women who were the
Virgins of the Sun, sacrificial virgins devoted to the Inti. The empire, being quite
large, also had an impressive transportation system of roads to all points of the empire
called the Inca Trail, and chasquis, message carriers who relayed information from
anywhere in the empire to Cusco.

Machu Picchu (Quechua for "old peak"; sometimes called the "Lost City of the Incas")
is a well-preserved pre-Columbian Inca ruin located on a high mountain ridge above
the Urubamba Valley, about 70 km (44 mi) northwest of Cusco. Elevation
measurements vary depending on whether the data refers to the ruin or the extremity
of the mountain; Machu Picchu tourist information reports the elevation as 2,350 m
(7,711 ft)[1]. Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, although not by locals, it
was brought back to international attention by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham III,
who rediscovered it in 1911 and wrote a best-selling work about it. Peru is pursuing
legal efforts to retrieve thousands of artifacts that Bingham removed from the site that
are in possession at Yale. Bingham sold them to Yale.[8]

Although Machu Picchu is by far the most well-known internationally, Peru boasts
many other sites where the modern visitor can see extensive and well-preserved ruins,
remnants of the Inca-period and even older constructions. Much of the Inca
architecture and stonework found at these sites continues to confound archaeologists.
For example, at Sacsaywaman in Cusco the zig-zag-shaped walls are composed of
massive boulders fitted very precisely to one another's irregular, angular shapes. No
mortar holds them together, but nonetheless they have remained absolutely solid
through the centuries, surviving earthquakes that flattened many of the colonial
constructions of Cusco. Damage to the walls visible today was mainly inflicted during
battles between the Spanish and the Inca, as well as later, in the colonial era. As
Cusco grew, the walls of Sacsaywaman were partially dismantled, the site becoming a
convenient source of construction materials for the city's newer inhabitants. It is still
not known how these stones were shaped and smoothed, lifted on top of one another
(they really are very massive), or fitted together by the Incas; we also do not know
how they transported the stones to the site in the first place. The stone used is not
native to the area and most likely came from mountains many kilometers away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Peru

Chavin Civilization
Definition

by Mark Cartwright
published on 07 April 2015

The Chavin civilization flourished between 900 and 200 BCE in the northern and
central Andes and was one the earliest pre-Inca cultures. The Chavin religious centre
Chavin de Huantar became an important Andean pilgrimage site, and Chavin art was
equally influential both with contemporary and later cultures from the Paracas to the
Incas, helping to spread Chavin imagery and ideas and establish the first universal
Andean belief system.

Chavin Religion

One of the most important Chavin gods was the Staff Deity, who is the most likely
subject for the famous central figure on the Gateway of the Sun at Tiwanaku.
Forerunner of the Andean creator god Viracocha, the Staff Deity was associated with
agricultural fertility and usually holds a staff in each hand but is also represented in a
statue from the New Temple at the Chavin cult site of Chavin de Huantar (see below).
This half-metre figure represents male and female duality with one hand holding a
spondylus shell and the other a strombus shell. Another celebrated representation
from the same site is the Raimondi Stela, a two-metre high granite slab with the god
incised in low relief as a non-gender specific figure with clawed feet, talons, and
fangs in an image which can be read in two directions. A second important Chavin
deity was the fanged jaguar god, also a popular subject in Chavin art.

Chavin religious ceremony involved multi-sensory spectacles which

included blood-letting and sacrificial rituals.

Chavin religious ceremony involved multi-sensory spectacles which included

blood-letting and sacrificial rituals which could be performed in public spaces
accommodating up to 1,500 people or in the more restricted and exclusive
environment of complex temple interiors. An important feature of the cult was a
priesthood of shamans who would put themselves in trances via hallucinatory plants,
such as coca leaves and certain types of cacti and mushrooms. An added aura of
religious mystery was achieved with the burning of incense, priests suddenly
appearing atop the temples via secret internal staircases, and a cacophony of musical
sounds from singers and shell trumpets.

Chavin de Huantar

The most important Chavin religious site was Chavin de Huantar in the Mosna Valley,
which was in use for over five centuries and became a pilgrimage site famed
throughout the Andean region. The site is significantly placed at the meeting point of
two rivers - a typical Andean tradition - the Mosna and Wacheksa. Ancient landslides
left fertile terraces, and the proximity of many springs and an ample and varied supply
of stone for monumental building projects ensured the growth of the site.

At its peak the centre had a population of 2,000-3,000 and covered around 100 acres.
The Old Temple dates from c. 750 BCE and is actually a complex of buildings which
together form a U-shape. In the centre, two staircases descend to a circular sunken
court. The walls of the buildings are lined with square and rectangular stone slabs
which carry images of transformational, shamanic creatures, carved in low relief. The
figures mix human features with jaguar fangs and claws and they wear snake
headdresses symbolising spiritual vision.
 Chavin Civilization
Map

The 4.5 metre tall Lanzón monolith takes the form of a traditional Andean foot plough
and stands deep within the labyrinthine interior of the Old Temple. It shows a
supernatural creature with tusks and claws which is decorated with snakes. The
creature points down with one hand and up with the other, perhaps indicative of its
rulership of the earthly and heavenly realms. It is thought that this monolith was
perhaps the site of an ancient oracle which gave answers to the demands of pilgrims
who in turn left offerings of gold, obsidian, shells, and ceramics. There are also many
stone channels in the temple interior through which water would have run under
pressure thus creating an impressive noise in the confined inner chambers and an
evocative accompaniment to the oracle's declarations.

The most striking feature of the New Temple (from c. 500 BCE), which was actually
an extension of the Old Temple complex, is the 100 surviving stone heads which once
protruded from the exterior walls. These form a transformational series and
progressively change from human to jaguar form. The temple in its new form
measured 100 metres in length and reached a height of 16 metres with three stories.
Its Black and White Portal entrance is flanked on either side by a single column; one
carries an image of an eagle, the other a hawk representing the female and male
respectively in a typical Chavin example of duality. The New Temple also contains
the 2.5 metre tall Tello Obelisk which shows two caymans and snakes and may
represent the creation myth. Opposite the temple a large square 50-metre-sided
sunken court was constructed for ceremonial purposes, a feature which would become
standard in many subsequent Andean religious sites.
Other more modest buildings at Chavin de Huantar, which often use distinctive
conical-shaped adobe bricks, indicate that there was a large number of permanent
residents, a social hierarchy, and centres of craft specialization. The site and the
Chavin culture in general entered into decline sometime in the 3rd century CE for
reasons which remain unclear but that are probably related to several years of drought
and earthquakes and the inevitable social upheaval caused by such stress. There is no
archaeological evidence of a Chavin military force or of specific regional conquests.
The political structures of the Chavin, then, unfortunately remain mysterious, but they
did create a lasting artistic legacy which would influence almost all subsequent
Andean civilizations.

Chavin
Stone Tenon Head

Chavin Art

Chavin art is full of imagery of felines (especially jaguars), snakes, and raptors, as
well as supernatural beings, often with ferocious-looking fangs. Creatures are often
transformational - presented in two states at once - and designed to both confuse and
surprise. Images are also very often anatropic - they may be viewed from different
directions. As the art historian R. R. Stone summarises:

A strong perceptual effect, certainly calculated by Chavin

artists, inspires confusion, surprise, fear, and awe through
the use of dynamic, shifting images that contain varying
readings depending on the direction in which they are
approached. (37)
It is also noteworthy that many of the animals in Chavin imagery are from the distant
lowland jungles and thus illustrate the far-reaching influence of Chavin culture, a
point further confirmed by the presence at Chavin de Huantar of votive offerings from
cultures hundreds of kilometres distant. The Staff Deity was another popular subject
in Chavin sculpture, ceramics, and textiles. The painted cotton textiles of the Chavin
are, in fact, the earliest such examples from any Andean culture and take the form of
hangings, belts, and clothes.

Typical Chavin pottery is high quality and thin-walled, usually a polished red, black,
or brown. The most common shape is the stirrup-spouted bulbous vessel, often with
polished raised designs depicting imagery from Chavin religion. Vessels could also be
anthropomorphic, typically of jaguars, seated humans, and fruits and plants. Shells
were a popular form of jewellery amongst the Chavin elite and could also be carved
into trumpets for use in religious ceremonies. Fine wooden bowls survive which are
exquisitely inlaid with spondylus shell and mother-of-pearl, as well as turquoise.
Finally, the Chavin were skilled metal workers and created objects - especially
cylinder crowns, masks, pectorals, and jewellery - in sheet gold using soldering and
repoussé techniques to rival any other Andean culture in their imagination and
execution.

HISTORY OF
MESOAMERICAN
CIVILIZATION

Early centuries
San Lorenzo and
La Venta
The first
American monuments
Zapotecs and
Monte Alban
Teotihuacan and
Tikal
The first
American script
From the 10th century AD

HISTORY OF MESOAMERICAN
CIVILIZATION Timeline
Share |

San Lorenzo and La Venta: 1200 - 400 BC

World Cities The first civilization in central and north

America develops in about 1200 BC in the coastal
regions of the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico.
Discover in a free Known as the Olmec civilization, its early site
daily email today's famous
is at San Lorenzo.
history and birthdays

Enjoy the Famous Daily From about 900 BC the capital city of the Olmecs
moves further east along the Gulf coast to La
Venta, an island site in the Tonalá River. For the
next 500 years La Venta is the cultural centre of
a large region, trading with much of central
America. The Olmec traditions of sculpture and of
temple architecture, developed over eight
centuries, will influence all the subsequent
civilizations of the region.

The most characteristic sculptures of San Lorenzo

and La Venta are astonishing creations. They are
massive stone heads, more than two metres in
height, of square-jawed and fat-lipped warriors,
usually wearing helmets with ear flaps.

The chunky and uncompromising quality of these

images will remain typical of much of the
religious art of Mesoamerica, particularly in the
region around Mexico City. It can be seen in the
rain-god masks of Teotihuacan (about 2000 years
ago), in the vast standing warriors at Tula (about
1000 years ago) and in the brutally severe
monumental sculpture of the Aztecs (500 years
ago).

The first American monuments: from 1200 BC

In both the centres of Olmec civilization, at San

Lorenzo and then La Venta, numerous large clay
platforms are raised. At their top there are
believed to have been temples, or perhaps
sometimes palaces, built of wood. The concept of
climbing up to a place of religious significance
becomes the central theme of pre-Columbian
architecture.

Its natural conclusion is the pyramid, with steps

by which priests and pilgrims climb to the top
(unlike the smooth-sided tomb pyramids of Egypt).
La Venta initiates this long American tradition
too. One of its pyramids is more than 30 metres
high.

The Olmec temple complexes set the pattern for

societies in America over the next 2000 years. The
pyramids, with their temples and palaces,
dominate the surrounding dwellings as powerfully
as the priestly rulers and their rituals dominate
the local community.

It is also probable that the Olmecs engage in a

custom which remains characteristic of all the
early civilizations of America - the ritual of
human sacrifice, reaching its grisly peak in the
ceremonies of the Aztecs.

The Zapotecs and Monte Alban: from 400 BC

The Zapotecs are among the first people to develop

the Olmec culture in other regions. From about 400
BC at Monte Alban, to the west of the Olmec
heartland, they establish a ceremonial centre
with stone temple platforms.

Monte Alban eventually becomes the main city of

this part of southern Mexico. Pyramids, an
astronomical observatory and other cult buildings
and monuments (including America's earliest
carved inscriptions) are ranged in a temple
district along the top of a ridge. In terraces on
the slopes below there is a town of some 30,000
people. The Zapotecs thrive on this site for more
than 1000 years, finally abandoning it in about
AD 700.

Teotihuacan and Tikal: early centuries AD

 Around the beginning of the
Christian era two regions of central America begin
to develop more advanced civilizations, still
based on a priestly cult and on temple pyramids.

The dominant city in the northern highlands is

Teotihuacan. It eventually covers eight square
miles, with a great central avenue running for
some two miles. At its north end is the massive
Pyramid of the Moon. To one side of the avenue is
the even larger Pyramid of the Sun (66 metres
high). The sculptures on an early pyramid in
Teotihuacan introduce Quetzalcoatl, the most
important god of ancient Mesoamerica. His image
is a snake's head with a necklace of feathers (the
plumed serpent).

The other classic civilization of Mesoamerica is

that of the Maya, developing in what is now the
eastern part of Mexico and the neighbouring
regions of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and
western Honduras. Much of this region is jungle.
The inaccessibility of the great centres of Maya
culture (of which the largest is Tikal) means that
they outlast all rivals, surviving a succession
of violent changes in the civilization of central
Mexico.

The first of these changes is the sudden collapse

of Teotihuacan in about AD 650. It is not known
for certain which invaders overrun this greatest
city of ancient America. But the next people to
establish themselves as rulers of the valley of
Mexico, in the 10th century, are the Toltecs.

The first American script: 2nd c. BC - 3rd c. AD

Of the various early civilizations of central

America, the Maya make the greatest use of
writing. In their ceremonial centres they set up
numerous columns, or stelae, engraved with
hieroglyphs. But they are not the inventors of
writing in America.

Credit for this should possibly go back as far as

the Olmecs. Certainly there is some evidence that
they are the first in the region to devise a
calendar, in which writing of some sort is almost
essential. The Zapotecs, preceding the Maya, have
left the earliest surviving inscriptions, dating
from about the 2nd century BC. The first Mayan
stele to be securely dated is erected at Tikal in
the equivalent of the year AD 292.

The Mayan script is hieroglyphic with some

phonetic elements. Its interpretation has been a
long struggle, going back to the 16th century, and
even today only about 80% of the hieroglyphs are
understood. They reveal that the script is used
almost exclusively for two purposes: the
recording of calculations connected with the
calendar and astronomy; and the listing of rulers,
their dynasties and their conquests.

Thus the priests and the palace officials of early

America succeed in preserving writing for their
own privileged purposes. In doing so they deny
their societies the liberating magic of literacy.