Episode 26: Agrarian Civilizations of Mesoamerica

The Big History of Civilizations (2016)

Dr Craig G Benjamin

Film Review

Owing to abundant wild vegetables, fruit, game and fish, Mesoamerica hosted numerous “affluent hunter gatherer”* societies prior to the transition to agriculture, which occurred approximately 4000 BC.

Its earliest agrarian civilizations included

• The Olmec, located on Mexico’s Gulf coast, was the agrarian civilization here. Characterized by hierarchical governance, warfare with neighboring peoples and a robust trade in luxury goods, it first appeared around 1400 BC. The Olmec domesticated corn, beans and squash (which together meet all human nutritional requirements), as well as dogs and turkeys. It waned around 1000 BC, leaving behind mysterious monuments consisting of massive 20 ton sculpted heads.
• The Zapotec civilization in the Oaxaca valley 30 miles south of modern day Mexico City emerged during the first millennium BC. By 1000 AD, it boasted a population of 40,000 people, sophisticated irrigation systems and elegant homes for their elite. Periodic food shortages led to a series of northward migrations and the formation of six new city-states. With a population of 80,000 around 400 BC, the best known Teotihuacan would reach 150,000 in 500 AD, making it the 6th largest city in the world. The city mainly derived its wealth from trade (with societies extending from Guatemala to Oklahoma) in Pachuca obsidian, a hard volcanic glass used for blades and jewelry. In 750 AD, the city was destroyed by fire and abandoned.
• The Mayan civilization emerged in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula during the first millennium BC and lasted until 1000 AD. The Mayans drained swamps and built agricultural terraces and sophisticated water management systems to grow abundant corn, beans, peppers, cacao and tobacco. They reached a population of 50,000 in their major city Tikal, with another 50,000 people in the surrounding countryside. They developed a written language which they inscribed in stone and on a type of deerskin velum.*** Besides engaging in frequent warfare and human sacrifice, they developed the concept of zero and a 365-day calendar based on astronomical observations. Similar to ancient Greece, the Mayan empire consisted of 50 autonomous city-states similar to ancient Greece. In 760 AD, many of the southern Mayan cities vanished, though some northern Mayan cities persisted until 1250 AD. Benjamin believed the Mayan civilization paved the the way for the Aztec civilization that arose in the 16th century AD.

Tenochitlan at the center of Aztec civilization was founded around 1325 AD by nomadic people known as Mexicas on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Honing their military skills by serving as mercenaries for settled city-states, the Mexicas founded Tenochitlan once they acquired the political and military nous to form a city-state of their own. They dredged up fertile soil from the bottom of the lake and built up small artificial plots known as Chinapas which came to ring the city. There they grew corn, beans, squash, pepper, tomatoes and domesticated grains. They also domesticated turkeys and dogs (as food), harvested blue-green algae they turned into high protein cakes and consumed alcohol they made from cacti.

In 1428 AD the Mexicas formed a triple alliance with two other city-states to eventually rule over 10 million people and collect tribute as food, textiles, blankets, jewelry, obsidian knives and rubber balls. To prevent destruction of the Earth by one of their gods, they practiced ritual blood letting and human sacrifice of captives.

The Aztec civilization was systematically destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors, who build Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochitlan. The Aztec language Nahauatal, still spoken by hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, is the source of the English words, coyote, tomato, chocolate and tamale.

*The region encompassing Mexico and most of Central America

**With food needs easily satisfied via abundant game and wild crops, “affluent” hunter gatherer societies ceased to be nomadic and lived in either permanent or semi-permanent settlements.

***Also known as parchment, vellum is a dried and prepared animal skin used for writing.

The film can be viewed free on Kanopy with a library card.

https://pukeariki.kanopy.com/video/agrarian-civilizations-mesoamerica