This course provides an overview of the pre Hispanic archaeology of Mesoamerica a region extending from central Mexico to El Salvador, as well as South American cultures, which comprises Peru to the Patagonia. We will study the life-ways of the ancient native peoples of those regions, from their first settlements more than 12,000 years ago, up until the Spanish conquest in the 1520s. Special emphasis will be placed on the Olec and other Formative chiefdoms; the Classic civilizations of Teotihuacán, the Maya, and the Zapotec; and the Postclassic Toltec and Aztec states.
As we travel south, we will study the Incas, Diaguitas from northern Chile, Onas and other Patagonian foragers, as well as the Rapa Nui.
There will be one take-home exercise during the semester which should be done after the site visit to the Museo de Arte Precolombino in Santiago. In addition, there will be three in class lab-type excercises to be completed during or after specific films, an in-class midterm exam plain, and a final exam during the regularly scheduled examination period. The exercises count as 30% of the final grade, the midterm exam as 30%, and the final exam as 40%. Incompletes and make-ups will be granted only in exceptional circumstances. Late exercises will be penalized 10 points per week. Please see me well ahead of time if you are having problems. Required Text: Evans, Susan Toby: Ancient Mexico and Central America (First Edition, 2004). Thames and Hudson, New York.
SYLLABUS
Sept 18 : NO CLASS - National Holliday
Sept. 25 : Introduction, Geography, Environment.
Read: Evans, Chapts. 1-2 (pp. 16-61)
Oct. 2 : Early Hunting Cultures
Read: Evans, Chapt. 2 (pp. 62-70)
Origins of Agriculture. Read: Evans, Chapt. 3
Oct 9 : IN CLASS EXCERCISES, film on Aztecs and Mayas
Oct. 16 : Formative Villages; the Olmec, Read: Evans, Chapts. 4-6
Classic Zapotec Civilization
Read: Evans, Chapt.7, also pp. 218-221, 240-243, 285-287, 374-375
Oct. 23 : MIDTERM EXAM
Oct. 30 : Classic Teotihuacán. Read: Evans,
Chapt.8 (pp. 205-212), Chapt.9 (pp.253-260), Chapt.10 (pp. 262-281)
Nov. 6 : Classic Maya Civilization Read: Evans,
Chapt. 8 (pp. 223-234), Chapt. 9 (pp. 235-239), Chpts.11-12
Nov.13 : Early Postclassic: Toltec and Maya
Read: Evans, Chapts.14-15plain May 9, 16: Late
Postclassic: Read: Evans, Chapt.16 (pp. 428, 437-446),
Chapt.17; look at the pictures in Chapts.18-20
Nov. 20 : Incas, Film, IN-CLASS EXCERCISE
Nov. 27 : Incas
Dec. 4 : Diaguitas, Rapa Nui
FIELD TRIP EXERCISE (PRECOLUMBIAN MUSEUM) DUE
Dec. 11 : Patagonian, Selknam, Onas, Yaganes
Dec. 18 : FINAL EXAM
The readings will be available through the University's Intranet-library systems.
If you have trouble getting them, please let me know, it is required from you to do the corresponding readings before class.
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