1.
Culture
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Culture can be defined in numerous ways. In the words of anthropologist E. B, Tylor, it is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. The Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is the way of life, especially the customs and beliefs. As a defining aspect of what it means to be human, culture is a concept in anthropology. The word is used in a sense as the evolved ability to categorize and represent experiences with symbols. The level of cultural sophistication has also sometimes seen to distinguish civilizations from less complex societies. Mass culture refers to the mass-produced and mass mediated forms of culture that emerged in the 20th century. When used as a count noun, a culture is the set of customs, traditions, in this sense, multiculturalism is a concept that values the peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between different cultures inhabiting the same planet. Sometimes culture is used to describe specific practices within a subgroup of a society. Samuel Pufendorf took over this metaphor in a context, meaning something similar. His use, and that of many writers after him, refers to all the ways in which human beings overcome their original barbarism, and through artifice, become fully human. To be cultural, to have a culture, is to inhabit a place sufficiently intensive to cultivate it—to be responsible for it, to respond to it, thus a contrast between culture and civilization is usually implied in these authors, even when not expressed as such. Cultural invention has come to any innovation that is new and found to be useful to a group of people and expressed in their behavior. Humanity is in a global accelerating culture change period, driven by the expansion of commerce, the mass media, and above all. Culture repositioning means the reconstruction of the concept of a society. Cultures are internally affected by both forces encouraging change and forces resisting change, Social conflict and the development of technologies can produce changes within a society by altering social dynamics and promoting new cultural models, and spurring or enabling generative action. These social shifts may accompany ideological shifts and other types of cultural change, for example, the U. S. feminist movement involved new practices that produced a shift in gender relations, altering both gender and economic structures. Environmental conditions may also enter as factors, Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies, which may also produce—or inhibit—social shifts and changes in cultural practices
2.
Valley of Mexico
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The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several civilizations, including Teotihuacan, the Toltec. The ancient Aztec term Anahuac and the phrase Basin of Mexico are both used at times to refer to the Valley of Mexico, the Basin of Mexico became a well known site that epitomized the scene of early Classic Mesoamerican cultural development as well. The Valley of Mexico is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the valley contains most of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, as well as parts of the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Puebla. The Valley of Mexico can be subdivided into four basins, but the largest and this section of the valley in particular is colloquially referred to as the Valley of Mexico. The valley has an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. It is a valley with no natural outlet for water to flow. Within this vulnerable watershed all the fishes were extinct by the end of the 20th century. Hydrologically, the valley has three features, the first feature is the lakebeds of five now-extinct lakes, which are located in the southernmost and largest of the four sub-basins. The other two features are piedmont, and the mountainsides that collect the precipitation that eventually flows to the lake area and these last two are found in all four of the sub-basins of the valley. Today, the Valley drains through a series of canals to the Tula River, and eventually the Pánuco River. Seismic activity is frequent here, and the valley is considered an earthquake prone zone, the valley has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, attracting humans with its mild climate, abundant game and ability to support large-scale agriculture. Civilizations that have arisen in this include the Teotihuacan the Toltec Empire. When the Spaniards arrived in the Valley of Mexico, it had one of the highest population concentrations in the world with one million people. After the Conquest, the Spaniards rebuilt the largest and most dominant city here, Tenochtitlan, although violence and disease significantly lowered the population of the valley after the Conquest, by 1900 it was again over one million people. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen an explosion of population in the valley along with the growth of industry, since 1900, the population has doubled every fifteen years. Today, around 21 million people live in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area which extends throughout almost all of the valley into the states of Mexico, the growth of a major urban, industrial centre in an enclosed basin has created significant air and water quality issues for the valley. Wind patterns and thermal inversions trap contaminants in the valley, over-extraction of ground water has caused new flooding problems for the city as it sinks below the historic lake floor
3.
Common Era
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Common Era or Current Era is a year-numbering system for the Julian and Gregorian calendars that refers to the years since the start of this era, i. e. since AD1. The preceding era is referred to as before the Common or Current Era, the Current Era notation system can be used as a secular alternative to the Dionysian era system, which distinguishes eras as AD and BC. The two notation systems are equivalent, thus 2017 CE corresponds to AD2017 and 400 BCE corresponds to 400 BC. The year-numbering system for the Gregorian calendar is the most widespread civil calendar used in the world today. For decades, it has been the standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations. The expression has been traced back to Latin usage to 1615, as vulgaris aerae, the term Common Era can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish academics. He attempted to number years from a reference date, an event he referred to as the Incarnation of Jesus. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, numbering years in this manner became more widespread in Europe with its usage by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before what he supposed was the year of birth of Jesus, in 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius. The first use of the Latin term vulgaris aerae discovered so far was in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler, Kepler uses it again in a 1616 table of ephemerides, and again in 1617. A1635 English edition of that book has the title page in English – so far, a 1701 book edited by John LeClerc includes Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra,6. A1716 book in English by Dean Humphrey Prideaux says, before the beginning of the vulgar æra, a 1796 book uses the term vulgar era of the nativity. The first so-far-discovered usage of Christian Era is as the Latin phrase aerae christianae on the page of a 1584 theology book. In 1649, the Latin phrase æræ Christianæ appeared in the title of an English almanac, a 1652 ephemeris is the first instance so-far-found for English usage of Christian Era. The English phrase common Era appears at least as early as 1708, a 1759 history book uses common æra in a generic sense, to refer to the common era of the Jews. The first-so-far found usage of the phrase before the era is in a 1770 work that also uses common era and vulgar era as synonyms. The 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the terms vulgar era, the Catholic Encyclopedia in at least one article reports all three terms being commonly understood by the early 20th century. Thus, the era of the Jews, the common era of the Mahometans, common era of the world
4.
Mesoamerica
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It is one of six areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently, and the second in the Americas along with Norte Chico in present-day northern coastal Peru. As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures, while Mesoamerican civilization did know of the wheel and basic metallurgy, neither of these technologies became culturally important. Among the earliest complex civilizations was the Olmec culture, which inhabited the Gulf coast of Mexico and extended inland, frequent contact and cultural interchange between the early Olmec and other cultures in Chiapas, Guatemala and Oaxaca laid the basis for the Mesoamerican cultural area. All this was facilitated by considerable regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica and this Formative period saw the spread of distinct religious and symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes. In the subsequent Preclassic period, complex urban polities began to develop among the Maya, with the rise of such as El Mirador, Calakmul and Tikal. Mesoamerica is one of three regions of the world where writing is known to have independently developed. Upon the collapse of Teotihuacán around AD600, competition between several important political centers in central Mexico, such as Xochicalco and Cholula, ensued. During the early period, Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec. Towards the end of the period, the Aztecs of Central Mexico built a tributary empire covering most of central Mesoamerica. The distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended with the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, over the next centuries, Mesoamerican indigenous cultures were gradually subjected to Spanish colonial rule. The exact geographic extent of Mesoamerica has varied through time, as the civilization extended North and South from its heartland in southern Mexico, Mesoamerica is recognized as a near-prototypical cultural area, and the term is now fully integrated in the standard terminology of pre-Columbian anthropological studies. Conversely, the sister terms Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica, which refer to northern Mexico, 10° and 22° northern latitude, Mesoamerica possesses a complex combination of ecological systems, topographic zones, and environmental contexts. A main distinction groups these different niches into two categories, the lowlands and the altiplanos, or highlands. In the low-lying regions, sub-tropical and tropical climates are most common, as is true for most of the coastline along the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The highlands show much more diversity, ranging from dry tropical to cold mountainous climates. The rainfall varies from the dry Oaxaca and north Yucatan to the humid southern Pacific, several distinct sub-regions within Mesoamerica are defined by a convergence of geographic and cultural attributes. These sub-regions are more conceptual than culturally meaningful, and the demarcation of their limits is not rigid, the Maya area, for example, can be divided into two general groups, the lowlands and highlands. The lowlands are further divided into the southern and northern Maya lowlands, the southern Maya lowlands are generally regarded as encompassing northern Guatemala, southern Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Belize
5.
Mesoamerican chronology
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Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods, the Paleo-Indian, the Archaic, the Preclassic or Formative, the Classic, and the Postclassic. However, this applies to other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations as well. 3500-2000 BCE During the Archaic Era agriculture was developed in the region, Late in this era, use of pottery and loom weaving became common, and class divisions began to appear. Many of the technologies of Mesoamerica in terms of stone-grinding, drilling. 1800 BCE–200 CE During the Preclassic Era, or Formative Period, large-scale ceremonial architecture, writing, cities, the Olmec civilization developed and flourished at such sites as La Venta and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán. 200–1000 CE The Classic Era was dominated by numerous independent city-states in the Maya region and also featured the beginnings of political unity in central Mexico, regional differences between cultures grew more manifest. The city-state of Monte Albán dominated the Valley of Oaxaca until the late Classic, highly sophisticated arts such as stuccowork, architecture, sculptural reliefs, mural painting, pottery, and lapidary developed and spread during the Classic era. In the Maya region, numerous city states such as Tikal, Calakmul, Copán, Palenque, Uxmal, Cobá, each of these polities was generally independent, although they often formed alliances and sometimes became vassal states of each other. The main conflict during this period was between Tikal and Calakmul, who fought a series of wars over the course of more than half a millennium, each of these states declined during the Terminal Classic and were eventually abandoned. This is sometimes seen as a period of increased chaos and warfare, the Postclassic is often viewed as a period of cultural decline. However, it was a time of technological advancement in architecture, engineering, metallurgy came into use for jewelry and some tools, with new alloys and techniques being developed in a few centuries. The Postclassic was a period of rapid movement and population growth — especially in Central Mexico post-1200 —, for instance, in Yucatán, dual rulership apparently replaced the more theocratic governments of Classic times, whilst oligarchic councils operated in much of Central Mexico. Likewise, it appears that the wealthy pochteca and military orders became more powerful than was apparently the case in Classic times and this afforded some Mesoamericans a degree of social mobility. The Toltec for a time dominated central Mexico in the 11th–13th century, the northern Maya were for a time united under Mayapan, and Oaxaca was briefly united by Mixtec rulers in the 11th–12th centuries. The Aztec Empire arose in the early 15th century and appeared to be on a path to asserting dominance over the Valley of Mexico region not seen since Teotihuacan. Spain was the first European power to contact Mesoamerica, however, and its conquistadores, by the 15th century, the Mayan revival in Yucatán and southern Guatemala and the flourishing of Aztec imperialism evidently enabled a renaissance of fine arts and science. Examples include the Pueblan-Mexica style in pottery, codex illumination, and goldwork, the flourishing of Nahua poetry, arguably, the Post-Classic continued until the conquest of the last independent native state of Mesoamerica, Tayasal, in 1697. Mesoamerican civilization was a network of different cultures
6.
Tlatilco
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Tlatilco was a large pre-Columbian village in the Valley of Mexico situated near the modern-day town of the same name in the Mexican Federal District. It was one of the first chiefdom centers to arise in the Valley, flourishing on the shore of Lake Texcoco during the Middle Pre-Classic period. It gives its name to the Tlatilco culture, which included the town of Tlapacoya. Tlatilco is noted in particular for its high quality pieces, many featuring Olmec iconography. Much else, however, seems to be in a ceramic tradition. These Olmec-style artifacts have been led to speculation concerning the nature of Olmec influence on other Mesoamerican cultures, the Tlatilco site was used in modern times as a source of clay for brick-making. By the 1930s, many of the ancient artifacts thereby uncovered made their way into the hands of collectors, including Miguel Covarrubias, artist, Covarrubias led the first controlled excavation in 1942. By 1949, over 200 burials were identified at Tlatilco, leading to its categorisation as a necropolis, two major archaeological excavations followed, with over 500 burials eventually identified, many with intact grave offerings. Many burials, primarily of high status individuals, show evidence of mutilation and artificial cranial deformation. The Tlatilcans agriculture was focused on maize, but also included beans, amaranth, and squash and these plants were supplemented with various fowl, including migratory birds, wild rabbits and other smaller mammals, and deer and antelope. Tlatilco reached its heyday during the period from 1000-700 BCE, during the Olmec horizon, the following Zacatenco phase saw a cessation of the use of Olmec iconography and forms. Many Tlatilco figurines show deformities or other anomalies, including a duality mask and this has led some researchers to wonder whether Tlatilco was perhaps a cluster site for conjoined twins. The name Tlatilco comes from the Nahuatl language, in which it means place of mounds, adams, Richard E W Prehistoric Mesoamerica, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma. Bendersky, Gordon, Tlatilco, Diprosopus, and Emergence of Medical Illustrations in Perspectives in Biology & Medicine, Summer 2000, v43 #4, p477. Blanton, Richard E. Kowalewski, Stephen A. Feinman, Gary M. Finsten, Laura M. Ancient Mesoamerica, A Comparison of Change in Three Regions, Cambridge University Press, the Olmecs, Americas First Civilization, Thames & Hudson, London. The 3, 000-year history of conjoined twins, Western Journal of Medicine, September 2001,175, niederberger, Christine The Basin of Mexico, a Multimillennial Development Toward Cultural Complexity, in Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico, eds. E. P. Benson and B. de la Fuente, Washington D. C
7.
Tlapacoya (archeological site)
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Tlapacoya is an important archaeological site in Mexico, located at the foot of the Tlapacoya volcano, southeast of Mexico City, on the former shore of Lake Chalco. Tlapacoya was a site for the Tlatilco culture. Tlapacoya is known in particular for Tlapacoya figurines and these sophisticated earthware figurines were generally created between 1500 and 300 BCE and are representative of the Preclassic Period. Tlapacoya was also a center for so-called Dragon Pots. These flat-bottomed cylindrical bowls have white or buff surfaces incised with almost abstract Olmec-style drawings, generally of were-jaguars. In addition to the figurines and other artifacts from the 1500 -300 BCE era, human and animal remains have been found, the most controversial findings in Tlapacoya are artifacts which have been dated by some researchers to as early as 25,000 BP. If verified, these would be some of the earliest dates for human habitation in the Americas, the bones were 24,000 years BP and 21,700 years BP. The obsidian blade was found under a tree trunk which dated to 24,000 years BP and was dated, using the obsidian hydration method. These very early dates have been challenged by other archaeologists. The site was uncovered during the construction of a Mexico City-Puebla freeway in the 1960s and 1970s and it has since been almost completely obliterated by freeway construction. Silvia González et al. have published research claiming that one Tlapacoya skull is the first directly dated human in Mexico with an age of 9730 ±65 years BP. If confirmed, this would be the 2nd oldest human remain found in the Americas, zohapilco Human antiquity in Mesoamerica Christine Niederberger Betton Diehl, Richard A. The Olmecs, Americas First Civilization, Thames & Hudson, London, bones, Boats & Bison, Archaeology and the First Colonization of Western North America. Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, gonzalez, S. Huddart, D. Morett-Alatorre, L. Arroyo-Cabrales, J. and Polaco, O. J. Mammoths and Early Humans in the Basin of Mexico during the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene, proceedings of the 1st International Congress, Rome. Lorenzo, Jose Luis, and Lorena Mirambell The Inhabitants of Mexico During the Upper Pleistocene in Ice Age People of North America, edited by Robson Bonnichsen and Karen Turnmire, pp. 482–496. Lorenzo, Jose Luis, and Lorena Mirambell, Coordinadores Tlapacoya,35.000 aZos de Historia del Lago de Chalco, collección Científica, Serie Prehistórica, pp.296. With undeniable Olmec inspiration A more primitive figurine Standing Tlapacoya Pottery Female, Pre Classic Period, ca.800 to 300 BCE
8.
Archaeological site
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Sites may range from those with few or no remains visible above ground, to buildings and other structures still in use. Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a site can vary widely, depending on the period studied and it is almost invariably difficult to delimit a site. It is sometimes taken to indicate a settlement of some sort although the archaeologist must also define the limits of human activity around the settlement, any episode of deposition such as a hoard or burial can form a site as well. Development-led archaeology undertaken as cultural resources management has the disadvantage of having its sites defined by the limits of the intended development, even in this case however, in describing and interpreting the site, the archaeologist will have to look outside the boundaries of the building site. According to Jess Beck in “How Do Archaeologists find sites. ”The areas with a number of artifacts are good targets for future excavation. The most common person to have found artifacts are farmers who are plowing their fields or just cleaning them up often find archaeological artifacts, many people who are out hiking and even pilots find artifacts they usually end up reporting them to archaeologist to do further investigation. When they find sites, they have to first record the area and if they have the money, there are many ways to find sites, one example can be through surveys. Surveys involve walking around analyzing the land looking for artifacts. ”This helps archaeologists in the future. In case there was no time, or money during the finding of the site, archaeologists can come back, archaeologist can also sample randomly within a given area of land as another form of conducting surveys. Surveys are very useful, according to Jess Beck, “it can tell you where people were living at different points in the past. ”Geophysics is a branch of survey becoming more and more popular in archaeology, because it uses different types of instruments to investigate features below the ground surface. It is not as reliable, because although they can see what is under the surface of the ground it does not produce the best picture, Archaeologists have to still dig up the area in order to uncover the truth. There are also two most common types of survey, which is, magnetometer and ground penetrating radar. Magnetometry is the technique of measuring and mapping patterns of magnetism in the soil and it uses an instrument called a magnetometer which is required to measure and map traces of soil magnetism. The ground penetrating radar is a method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface and it uses electro magnetic radiation in the microwave band of the radio spectrum, and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures. There are many tools that can be used to find artifacts. This tool is helpful to archaeologists who want to explore in a different area. They can use this tool to see what has already been discovered, with this information available, archaeologists can expand their research and add more to what has already been found. Traditionally, sites are distinguished by the presence of artifacts and features
9.
Obsidian use in Mesoamerica
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Obsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was an important part of the material culture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Obsidian was an integrated part of daily and ritual life. Due to its internal structure, obsidian is relatively easy to work, as it breaks in very predictable. This contributed to its use throughout Mesoamerica. It is obtained by either quarrying source sites or in form from riverbeds or fractured outcrops. Following the removal of cortex, bifacial, unifacial, and expedient flake stone tools could be produced through lithic reduction, the use of pecking, grinding, and carving techniques may also be employed to produce figurines, jewelry, eccentrics, or other types of objects. Prismatic blade production, a technique employing a pressure flaking-like technique that removed blades from a core, was ubiquitous throughout Mesoamerica. Modern attempts to redesign production techniques are based on Spanish records. As the distribution of sources in Mesoamerica is generally limited, many areas. As a result, tool curation through edge-rejuvenation and/or resharpening was commonly used on larger-mass tools, such as bifaces, while prismatic blades were generally not curated due to their small size, utility of the tools may have been maintained by changing their function. Other curation techniques of prismatic blades involve reshaping them into other types, such as projectile points. Obsidian sources in Mesoamerica are limited in number and distribution, and are restricted to the regions of the Sierra Madre Mountains as it runs through Mexico. These resources, however, are quite abundant in the archaeological record. Before discussing these obsidian sources, a definition of what an obsidian source is must be established, as many of the terms used allow for different and competing interpretations. Michael D. Glascock, of the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center at the University of Missouri, has divided Mesoamerica into nine sub-regions with one or more sources in each. These subdivisions, while effective at systemizing the source characteristics and allowing for an easily visualized distribution of sources, are still tentative. The Guatemalan region – which incorporates all sources located in the Guatemalan highlands, tajumulco, El Chayal, Ixtepeque, and San Martín Jilotepeque are the best known obsidian sources in Guatemala and were commonly exploited in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. In fact, almost all Obsidian found in Olmec and Maya sites originates from these sources, sources in the Valley of Mexico, which fell under Teotihuacan control during the Early Classic, were Pachuca, Otumba, and Chicoloapan
10.
Greenstone (archaeology)
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Greenstone artefacts may be made of greenschist, chlorastrolite, serpentine, omphacite, chrysoprase, olivine, nephrite, chloromelanite among other green-hued minerals. The term also includes jade and jadeite, although these are more frequently identified by these latter terms. The greenish hue of these rocks generally derives from the presence of such as chlorite, hornblende. Greenstone minerals were presumably selected for their color rather than their chemical composition, greenstone objects are often found very considerable distances from the source of the rock, indicating early travel or trading networks. Ancient China and Mesoamerica have especial reputations for the prevalence and significance of greenstone usage, Greenstones also figure prominently in the indigenous cultures of southeastern Australia, and among the Māori of New Zealand. H. D. Skinner, Otago University Museum, transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Geological Investigation of the Nephrites, Serpentines, and Related Greenstones used by the Maoris of Otago, transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Tlatilco figurines, Smarthistory
