final Flashcards
three major river systems in Southeast Asia
-Middle Thailand and Chao Phraya delta
-Lower Mekong and Tonle Sap plains system
-Red River and Ma and Ca Rivers (Vietnam)
what encouraged fast maturing rice
Seasonal flooding
staple crop in SE Asia
rice from the china’s Yangtze River valley
where environment is rice cultivated
in small stream valleys and along margins of major river floodplains
Egalitarian farming communities
adopted
bronze metallurgy around 1000 BCE, engaged
in extensive trade
Ban Chiang Site location
Located in agricultural area within watershed of
Mekong River
what is the Ban Chiang Sit
Oval shaped mound
- Earliest evidence of farming in the region (around
1500 BCE) with manufacture and use of bronze
tools by 1000 BCE
- vidence for domesticated farm animals and for
ceramic manufacture – indicates high degree of
social complexity
- burials show 2000 years of habitation
unesco world heritage site
Iron Age Communities
Larger communities coincide with intensive wet
farming and advent of plowing and double-cropping
Iron working occurred alongside bronze technology
lass and carnelian beads and other objects from
India, traded from one community to the next.
Maritime trade develops, linking mainland SE
Asia to offshore islands (New Guinea,
Philippines)
Control of key resources (salt, copper, tin) or
control of strategic locations results in growing
wealth and social stratification
Noen U-Loke graves
Sample of 126 excavated graves spanning 400
BCE to 600 CE.
Early graves show dramatic increase in effort
expended on burying the dead
Some individuals were laid in graves filled with
rice, while others were lined and capped with
clay coffins
Graves in clusters of men, women, and
children, interpreted to be family groups
Some burials were exceptionally rich:
One man was buried with 150 bronze bangles
Others had spindle whorls, bronze belts,
bangles, golden beads and ear disks, other
elaborate ornaments.
Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
in Non-Western Cultures. Bronze Metallurgy in Southeast Asia with
Noen U-Loke location
Northeastern Thailand
Dong Son Culture
Complex societies developed in Vietnam’s
Red River Delta and adjacent regions
Moist climate allows two rice crops/year
Origins go back to 1000 BCE, but after 500
BCE bronze artifacts ubiquitous
Utilitarian goods but also ceremonial
weapons, buckets, and drums,
Bronze working required enormous
quantities of metal and large food surpluses
Metalworkers were highly skilled and
eventually adopted iron technology from
China to the north
Dong Son Drum
Drums were symbols of high social status
Many bear incised and modeled scenes of lords in large
boats with cabins and fighting platforms, crowded with
paddlers and warriors
Some even show drummers beating drums
Lạc Lords were paramount chiefs, warriors, and keepers of
the drum
Monsoon trade
maritime trade routes that are
heavily influenced by seasonal monsoon winds
in Indian Ocean
Indian Influence in asia
Indian merchants remained for months
between monsoon seasons, carried cargo
and passengers, including Hindu Brahmins
and Buddhist monks
Mekong Valley
Kingdoms flourished in riverine and
lowland areas, along Mekong River and
Tonle Sap plains
Mekong called “Funan” by Chinese,
meaning “the port of a thousand rivers”
Chinese legend states that the ports handled
bronze, silver, gold, spices, and horses
brought from central Asia
Populations were densely concentrated, land
acquired through territorial conquest, and
marshes drained for farmland, which
required communal efforts of hundreds of
people
People lived in large lake cities fortified with
earthworks and moats with crocodiles
Jayavarman II
Khmer Kingdom founded by Jayavarman II
in 802 CE
onquered competitors and
set up new territories as tribute kingdoms,
gave his generals land grants
He is said to have merged the cult of the
ancestors with cult of Shiva to consolidate
his kingdom
Called himself “Supreme King”, and his
subjects were taught to worship him as a
god. He was the varman - “protector”. The
first of the Khmer rulers.
Hariharalaya
was the first Angkor (Sanskrit
for “holy city
Indravarman I
Jayavarman II’s nephew, Indravarman I (877-
899 CE), built enormous reservoir at
Hariharalaya
Also built raised temple platform, which
housed images of deified royal ancestors and a
temple mausoleum for himself
Water served practical irrigation and
residential needs but was also a symbolic lake
at the foot of the royal mausoleum
Mausoleum was a representation of Mount
Meru, mythical home of Hindu gods north of
the Himalayas.
Temple-pyramid platform, called Bekong was
built of stone and surrounded by a moat 800 x
650 m
Yashodharapura
indravarman’s successor, Yasovarman,
moved the capital to the west to
Yashodharapura, also known as Angkor
Capital remained here for 600 years
Built the Bahkeng atop a small hill
Bahkeng has seven levels, representing the
seven heaven
The Angkor State
Thirty monarchs followed Jayavarman II
and may left massive religious edifices to
commemorate their reigns
Angkor Wat
Renowned temple complex built
during Khmer Empire’s apex in
early 12th century
The largest religious monument
globally, spanning over 1.6 km2.
Originally dedicated to Hindu
god Vishnu, it later transformed
into a Buddhist temple complex
Each tower shaped like a giant
lotus bud
Angkor Thom
Jayavarman VII succeeded to Khmer throne in
1181 CE after period of warfare, which resulted
in the sacking of Angkor.
Built a new capital, Angkor Thom, the last and
most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire
- Jayavarman VII essentially built a religious
utopia where everything (products, labour,
thoughts) revolved around the king
Collapse of Angko
theravada (form of Buddhism preaching
equality) became popular
Reservoir cores reveal serious drought during
early 13th century and extended drought in 14th
and 15th centuries
Complex hydraulic engineering systems saw
episodes of failure
-Endemic warfare with the Thai sacking Angkor
in 1431 CE
Mesoamerica
- “Middle America” spans central Mexico and parts of Central America, as defined by anthropologist Paul Kirchoff in 1942.
- It includes two major culture areas: the central Highlands (Oaxaca, Valley of Mexico) and the Maya subarea (Gulf Coast).
- Home to millions of indigenous peoples, descendants of ancient cultures like the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, etc., who speak diverse languages such as Mayan, Nahuatl, Zapotec, and more.
-Environmentally heterogenous
Mesoamerican
Foodways
The American Triumvirate
domesticated
maize, beans and
squash
Four centers of domestication:
Mesoamerica, Highland South
America, Eastern North America,
Amazon Basin
what % of all foods eaten today have
origins in the America
60%
Richard (Scotty) MacNeish’s
Tehuacan Valley project studied dry
caves in Puebla Basin in semiarid
highlands
The Olmec
Earliest complex society in Mesoamerica
Nearly 2000 years after the development of the
earliest civilizations in the Old World
Appeared in the Gulf Coast – not the central
Highlands
-Known for their colossal stone heads and
monolithic thrones carved from basalt blocks
-Olmec were likely not a state-level society, but
a series of chiefdoms
Three important centers olmec
San Lorenzo (ca. 1400 – 900 BCE)
La Venta (ca. 900 – 400 BCE)
Tres Zapotes
Colossal Heads
Monuments crafted in honor of
Olmec rulers
Enormous helmeted heads – almost
certainly portraits of rulers, dressed
as ballplayer
Altars/Thrones
Large rectangular basalt blocks, flat
topped, and carved in low relief
-Functioned as material symbols of
power for rulers and were likely
literal ‘seats of power’
Stelae
Pillars of stone, carved in low relief
Stelae are generally introduced later
than colossal heads, altars, or other
free-standing sculptures
Various designs include human and
animal forms and abstract motifs
Began as simple representation of
figures towards representation of
historical events, particularly acts
that legitimize rulers
Werejaguar Imagery
Olmec rulers associated with
“werejaguar” imagery
Motif – almond shaped eyes, a
downturned open mouth, and cleft
head
One accepted origin myth of kingship
is that werejaguar is the result of
mating between human woman and
jaguar
Baby is part human, part jaguar
Jaguar Symbolism
Long associated with rain, fertility
and shamanic power
Jaguar move in water, on land, in
trees
Like jaguar, shaman move between
the other worlds of the dead, the
living and the deities
New rulers were shaman-kings with
supernatural powers
Shamanic rituals involved blood-
letting and human sacrifice, and these
were key rituals for Mesoamerican
societies
Pyrite Mirrors
Highly polished magnetite, pyrite,
hematite, ilmenite can reflect
images
Symbols of high status and
restricted ritual paraphernalia
Served as portals to a realm that
can be seen but not interacted with
Earliest mirrors pre-date Olmec
Olmec mirrors are usually concave
– reflect an inverted and reversed
image
San Lorenzo
Earliest of the major Olmec centers
Strategic location for trade within and
beyond Olmec region
Produced widely trade carved gray
pottery
Site core covers 55 hectares with
additional 500 hectare outlying
settlement
Initial construction was 20 stone-lined
and waterproof depressions to collect
rainwater (lagunas)
Ridges constructed around central
monumental earthen platform
Pyramid and probable ball court also
built on platform
124 sculptures including several
Colossal Heads
San Lorenzo’s
Red Palace
Elite residence with earthen walls and
floors, plastered with sand stained by
hematite
Massive columns (4 m tall) carved out
of basalt supported perishable roof
L-shaped basalt benches
Some walls made using rammed earth
technique while others had masonry
and some wattle-and-daub
Cascajal Block
writing-tablet-sized
block of serpentine with 62 characters
Found in 2006 via bulldozer in
mining operation
La Venta
Major regional capital for 5-6
centuries, and grew to ~ 200 hectares
Population estimate impossible due to
modern construction
Site core is a 1.6 km-long north-south
aligned complex of buildings centered
on a 34-m-high pyramid
Structures are aligned 8° W of true
north
Residential and public buildings with
formal plazas to south and restricted
spaces to the north
La Venta Mosaics
Three rectangular mosaics
(pavements) 4.5 x 6 m consisting of
green serpentine blocks
Blocks arranged horizontally to form
patterns that have been various
interpretations
Bar-and-dot motifs
Olmec Dragon
Abstract jaguar mask
Symbolic map of La Venta
Mosaics not intended for display
buried under layers of colored clay
and meters of earth
Dozens of caches of jade, polished
stone mirrors, and serpentine blocks
Aguada Fénix
Tabasco region of Mexico (just to
the east of the Olmec heartland)
found via LiDAR by Takeshi
Inomata in 2020.
A Maya site – the oldest
monumental construction ever
found in the Maya area (1000 –
800 BCE) and one of the largest
ever found in Mesoamerica
LiDAR
Fundamentally changing our
understanding of tropical
lowland civilizations
Remote sensing technology (also
used to reveal Angkor) that
allows archaeologists to see
through the dense tropical
rainfores
the Maya Subarea
Southern Highland
-Lowlands are divided into Southern
(Peten) and Northern (Yucatan)
lowlands
Chronology - Maya
Late Archaic Period: ca. 12,000 BCE
– 1,200 BCE)
Preclassic (or Formative Period): ca.
1000 BCE – 250 CE
Classic: ca. 250 – 900 CE
Early Postclassic: ca. 900 – 1200 CE
Late Postclassic: ca. 1200 – 1521 CE
Spanish Colonial Period: ca. 1525 CE
– ~ 1700 C
preclassic May
Domesticated maize evidence
in pollen in soil cores as early
as 3000 BCE
Earliest Maya villages date to
around same time as Olmec.
Earliest known
ceremonial/public
architecture is at Ceibal in
Guatemala, found by Takeshi
Inomata
El Mirador
Site core includes platforms on
natural rises surrounded by low
lying swamp (bajos).
The largest pyramids ever built by
the Mayas.
Multi-terraced platforms topped by
three buildings – “triadic groups”
Large structure flanked by two
smaller structures facing into a
shared courtyard.
Stucco relief on La Danta shows
earliest known images of Popul Vuh
Extensive network of road
San Bartolo Murals
Evidence for Kingship
-Murals from Preclassic site San Bartolo,
ca. 58 km SE of El Mirador – 400 – 200
BCE
Depict mythical origin story leading to
seating of ruler on a throne wearing regalia
Nine mythological figures
Maize God (center) with head that replicates
foliation of corn plant
Sets the stage for apparent coronation of ruler,
likely named in accompanying text
Text has not been deciphered but one glyph
“ajaw,” meaning lord or king can be rea
Cerros, Belize
Located in northern Belize
At 50 BCE, was a small, modest
fishing and trading community
Within two generations,
transformed into larger center
Central precinct becomes
ceremonial center, with giant stucco
deity masks flanking pyramid
staircases
Then, suddenly stops, and town
becomes fishing center agai
Maya Cosmology
- The Maya cosmos consists of three worlds: the Underworld, the Middle world, and the Upper world.
- The Underworld comprises nine watery levels inhabited by gods, demons, and ancestors.
- The Middle world, where humans reside, is depicted as a stony realm floating on the back of a caiman or turtle, while the Upper world is the sky supported by four gods at the cardinal directions. These realms are interconnected by a world tree, and the caiman is significant as it sheds blood, symbolizing rain.
Autosacrifice
Autosacrifice ensured the success
of the living.
Symbolized the renewal of divine
energy and continuation of life
Autosacrifice not just practiced by
kings and queens but was practiced
by lots of people and in lots of
different contexts.
Bloodletting common across
Mesoamerica
Maya Calendar
- Hieroglyphic script crucial for recording genealogies, king-lists, conquests, and rituals, serving as a vital historical record.
- The Calendar Round incorporates a 260-day sacred almanac and a 365-day solar year, functioning as interconnected gears to mark time.
- The Long Count calendar, comprising Bak’tuns, K’atuns, Tuns, Uinals, and Kins, culminates in a date format like 13.0.0.0.0, with a cycle of 5,200 years, starting mythically on August 11, 3114 BCE, and the last cycle ending on December 21.
Maya Number System
20-base system (vigesimal system)
Includes a 0
- Three symbols
