Portal:Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica (Spanish: Mesoamérica) is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries.
As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures. Beginning as early as 7000 BC the domestication of maize, beans, squash and chili, as well as the turkey and dog, caused a transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherer tribal grouping to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the subsequent formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a complex mythological and religious tradition, a vigesimal numeric system, and a complex calendric system, a tradition of ball playing, and a distinct architectural style, were diffused through the area. Also in this period villages began to become socially stratified and develop into chiefdoms with the development of large ceremonial centers, interconnected by a network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods such as obsidian, jade, cacao, cinnabar, Spondylus shells, hematite, and ceramics. 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. In the Preclassic period, complex urban polities began to develop among the Maya and the Zapotecs. During this period the first true Mesoamerican writing systems were developed in the Epi-Olmec and the Zapotec cultures, and the Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the Classic Maya Hieroglyphic script. Mesoamerica is one of only five regions of the world where writing was independently developed. In Central Mexico, the height of the Classic period saw the ascendancy of the city of Teotihuacan, which formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area and northward. During the Epi-Classic period the Nahua peoples began moving south into Mesoamerica from the North. During the early post-Classic period Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec, and the lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán. Towards the end of the post-Classic period the Aztecs of Central Mexico built a tributary empire covering most of central Mesoamerica.
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Mexican feather work, also called "plumería", was an important artistic and decorative technique in the pre-Hispanic and colonial periods in what is now Mexico. Although feathers have been prized and feather works created in other parts of the world, those done by the "amanteca" impressed Spanish conquerors, leading to a creative exchange with Europe. Feather pieces took on European motifs in Mexico. Feathers and feather works became prized in Europe. The "golden age" for this technique as an art form was from just before the Spanish conquest to about a century afterwards. At the beginning of the 17th century, it began a decline due to the death of the old masters, the disappearance of the birds that provide fine feathers and the depreciation of indigenous handiwork. Feather work, especially the creation of "mosaics" or "paintings" principally of religious images remained noted by Europeans until the 19th century, but by the 20th century, the little that remained has become a handcraft, despite efforts to revive it. Today, the most common feather objects are those made for traditional dance costumes although mosaics are made in the state of Michoacán, and feather trimmed huipils are made in the state of Chiapas.
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K'inich Yat Ahk II (Mayan pronunciation: [kʼinitʃ jat akh]), also known as Ruler 7, was the final ajaw of Piedras Negras, an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from 781 to roughly 808 AD. Possibly a descendant of Itzam K'an Ahk II, K'inich Yat Ahk II ascended the throne upon the death of his brother, the sixth ajaw of the site, Ha' K'in Xook. While K'inich Yat Ahk II presided over the destruction of the rival Maya site Pomona, his reign seems to have ended with the capture of Piedras Negras by K'inich Tatbu Skull IV of Yaxchilan. Itzam K'an Ahk II left behind several monuments, including stelae at Piedras Negras, a stone seat known as Throne 1 which records either the death or abdication of Ha' K'in Xook, and Panel 3 which recounts the exploits of Itzam K'an Ahk II.
Did you know?
- ... that the ancient city of Tikal (pictured) in Guatemala was one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya civilization?
- ... that the pre-Columbian ruins of Teopanzolco in Mexico are said to have been rediscovered during the Mexican Revolution when an artillery emplacement shook loose some dirt from the stonework?
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In Aztec mythology, Xiuhtecuhtli ("Turquoise Lord" or "Lord of Fire"), was the god of fire, day and heat. He was the lord of volcanoes, the personification of life after death, warmth in cold (fire), light in darkness and food during famine. He was also named Cuezaltzin ("flame") and Ixcozauhqui, and is sometimes considered to be the same as Huehueteotl ("Old God").
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- William H. Prescott
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- Spanish conquest of Yucatán
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- Spanish conquest of El Salvador
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- Los Danzantes (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Another Believer (talk · contribs · new pages (51)) started on 2024-06-08, score: 30
- Christopher T. Fisher (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Joe Roe (talk · contribs · new pages (2)) started on 2024-06-05, score: 40
- Mesoamerican Epiclassic Period (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by IntergalacticOboist (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2024-06-05, score: 88
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