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Mesoamerica (Spanish:Mesoamérica) is aregion andcultural area in theAmericas, extending approximately from centralMexico toBelize,Guatemala,El Salvador,Honduras,Nicaragua, andCosta Rica, within which a number ofpre-Columbian societies flourished before theSpanish 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 ofmaize,beans,squash andchili, as well as theturkey anddog, caused a transition frompaleo-Indian hunter-gatherer tribal grouping to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the subsequent formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a complexmythological and religious tradition, avigesimal numeric system, and acomplex calendric system, atradition of ball playing, and a distinctarchitectural style, were diffused through the area. Also in this period villages began to become socially stratified and develop intochiefdoms with the development of large ceremonial centers, interconnected by a network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods such asobsidian,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 theOlmec culture which inhabited the Gulf coast of Mexico. In thePreclassic period, complex urban polities began to develop among theMaya and theZapotecs. During this period the first trueMesoamerican writing systems were developed in theEpi-Olmec and the Zapotec cultures, and the Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the ClassicMaya 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 ofTeotihuacan, which formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area and northward. During the Epi-Classic period theNahua peoples began moving south into Mesoamerica from the North. During the early post-Classic period Central Mexico was dominated by theToltec culture, Oaxaca by theMixtec, and the lowland Maya area had important centers atChichén Itzá andMayapán. Towards the end of the post-Classic period theAztecs of Central Mexico built atributary empire covering most of central Mesoamerica.
Copán is an archaeological site of theMaya civilization located in theCopán Department of westernHonduras, not far from the border withGuatemala. It was the capital city of a majorClassic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. The city was located in the extreme southeast of theMesoamerican cultural region, on the frontier with theIsthmo-Colombian cultural region, and was almost surrounded by non-Maya peoples. In this fertile valley now lies a city of about 3000, a small airport, and a winding road.
Copán was occupied for more than two thousand years, from theEarly Preclassic period right through to thePostclassic. The city developed a distinctive sculptural style within the tradition of the lowland Maya, perhaps to emphasize the Maya ethnicity of the city's rulers.
The city has a historical record that spans the greater part of the Classic period and has been reconstructed in detail by archaeologists and epigraphers. Copán, probably calledOxwitik by the Maya, was a powerful city ruling a vast kingdom within thesouthern Maya area. The city suffered a major political disaster in AD 738 whenUaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, one of the greatest kings in Copán's dynastic history, was captured and executed by his former vassal, the king ofQuiriguá. This unexpected defeat resulted in a 17-year hiatus at the city, during which time Copán may have been subject to Quiriguá in a reversal of fortunes.
Juan de Torquemada (c. 1562 – 1624) was aFranciscanfriar, missionary and historian in Spanish colonialMexico, and is considered the "leading Franciscan chronicler of his generation." He is most famous for his monumental history of the indigenous peoples entitledLos veinte y un libros rituales y Monarquía indiana, commonly known asMonarquía indiana ("Indian Monarchy"), published initially in Spain in 1615 with a license obtained by Torquemada.Monarquia Indiana was the "prime text of Mexican history, and was destined to influence all subsequent chronicles until the twentieth century." The fact that it was republished a century later in 1723, in what has been considered the standard edition, is an indication of its importance. It was used by later historians, the FranciscanAugustin de Vetancurt and most importantly by eighteenth-century JesuitFrancisco Javier Clavijero.
Juan de Torquemada was born atTorquemada,Palencia, sometime between 1557 and 1565, with few firm data on his life, with much coming from his own work. He arrived inNew Spain as a child and grew up in Mexico City. He studied philosophy andNahuatl at the convent Grande de San Francisco inMexico City, studying under Fray Juan Bautista and Antonio de Valeriano, an indigenous graduate of the colegio who taught him Nahuatl. He was ordained sometime between 1579 and 1583. In 1582 he moved to the convent of SantiagoTlatelolco, and he was made guardian of that convent in 1600. He also took over the administration of theColegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco.
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| Credit:Frederick Catherwood |
Frederick Catherwood andJohn Lloyd Stephens made a brief visit to the ruins ofQ'umarkaj in 1840. While there, Catherwood produced a drawing of the Temple ofTohil
Gómez de AlvaradoAztecsLa Blanca, PetenCalakmulBartolomé de las CasasCopánEl ChalHaʼ Kʼin XookHistory of chocolateItzam Kʼan Ahk IIIximcheKʼinich Yat Ahk IIKʼinich Yoʼnal Ahk IMacuahuitlMaizeManche ChʼolMixco ViejoMotul de San JoséMundo Perdido, TikalNorth Acropolis, TikalPotbelly sculptureWilliam H. PrescottQʼumarkajResplendent quetzalSeibalSerpent labret with articulated tongueSpanish conquest of YucatánSpanish conquest of ChiapasSpanish conquest of El SalvadorSpanish conquest of HondurasSpanish conquest of the MayaTikalTonináWestern Mexico shaft tomb traditionBenjamin Lee WhorfYoʼnal Ahk IIIZaculeu | Here are some tasks awaiting attention: |
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