La Sufricaya site, Maya palace Guatemala, ca. 379 AD

•  Teotihuacán •  Sihyaj K’ahk’ •  Tikal

Noble Savage or “Buen Salvaje”

Archangel St Michael with Portrait of Indigenous Donor, Church of San Pedro, Lima, Peru, c. 1630s

Concentrated-sedentary (Aztec and Inca empires, some of the Maya) Segmented-sedentary (Muiscas, most of the Maya, among others). Semisedentary (Guarani, Taino, Tupi, and others) Non-Sedentary (mostly in temperate and cold North and South America)

Korikancha Temple (base, under convent)

Map of Tenochtitlan and the Gulf Coast from Hernán Cortes 1524

Tenochtitlan and Cuzco, imperial centers for the Aztec and Inca realms

Cuzco

•  By mid 1200s, Chichimecs settled in Chapultepec and were mercenaries hired by the more complex city-states of the Central Valley

•  Part of these Chichimecs moved to Tenochtitlan, and became tributary of the city-state (Altepetl) of Azcapotzalco. They named themselves Mexica.

•  Acamapichtli, first king of the Mexica

(1376-1396) allied the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan, becaming Triple Alliance later identified as the Aztec Empire

•  Under Moctezuma I (1440-1458) the Mexica ruled over allies and conquered today’s Central Mexico

•  Calpulli: socieconomic unit of Aztec life below Altepetl, governed by council of elders, collectively owned land, ruled over justice and local matters.

Unknown creator, Departure from Aztlan, Tira de la Peregrinación, c. 1530. Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.

Codex Mendoza, 1542, U.K.

Huitzilopochti

Luis Covarrubias (Mexico, 1919-1987), View of the Valley of Mexico

Ceramic model of a Temple, Puebla, Aztec, c. 1500

Model of the Templo Mayor, Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)

Ceramic Vessel featuring Tlaloc, Aztec, mid 15th C

Coyolxauhqui Mask, Mexico, possibly Tenochtitlan c. 1500

Coyolxauhqui: Coiolshaqui

Huitzilopochti

•  Celebration of Coatepec (Snake Mountain)

•  Atzlan

Words of an Aztec dignitary who warned a newly installed Aztec ruler. Bernardino de

Sahagún, Florentine Codex, vol. 6, 50.

“In thy time there will be disunity, quarreling in thy city… truly it is said, uneasy is the rulership, the government… [for] those of the city remain grumbling, howling.”

•  Cycles of Cities to Empires, and from Empires to Cities. Chavín Culture (Common Era), Nazca Culture (Nazca figures), Tiuanaku, and Incas.

•  13th C., Incas just one among many groups. Inca king Pachacuti (1438-1471) led expansion. By the time of Hayna Capac (1493-1525) the Inca empire, or Tawantinsuyu, ranged from Southern Ecuador to Northern Argentina

•  Inca greater ability of organizing people for labor and armies.

•  Allyu: socioeconomic center of Andean life, control land and resources.

•  Vertical archipelago: Adaptation of Allyus to maximize agriculture and pasture in different geographical zones.

Cuzco and Korikancha

Quipu

Tawantinsuyu:“land of the four quarters” Quechua language

Long-Haired Llama Peru (Titicaca) mid 15th C and Male Votive Figurine silver, gold and precious stones, same period.

Maize Stalk with Cobs, Peru, Inca, 1450-1540

Dressed Miniature Female Votive Figurine, Chile, Inca, early 16th C. Found in a site of a child-mommy. Capachoca sacrifice

From Huaman Poma, “Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno (1615) [Peru]

Royal Tocapu Uncu [Tunic}, Peru, Inca, early 16th C

Mask, Aztec-Mixtec, 15th-16th C

Ear Ornaments, Peru, North Coast, 14th-15th C.