File ancient civilizations of latin america.pdf

Ancient Civilizations of Latin America
The Olmecs
The ancient Olmec civilization is believed to have been centered around the southern Gulf Coast
of Mexico area (today the states of Veracruz and Tabasco).
The Olmec culture developed in the centuries before 1200BC, and declined around 400BC.
We know far less about the Olmecs than we do about, for example, the Aztecs and Mayans.
There are very few written records to tell us about the culture. In fact, at first Olmec artifacts
were thought to be Mayan, and the Mayans were thought to be the first great culture in the
area. The generally accepted belief is that the culture arose from people in the area, although
some have suggested that the Olmecs may have originally come from Africa.
The major Olmec urban area in early times was San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, at the time the
largest city in Mesoamerica. This was probably a ritual and political place, housing thousands
and using an elaborate water and drainage system. The city and in fact the ancient Olmec
civilization is often remembered because of the gigantic stone heads that have been found here:
There are a couple of reasons why the Olmecs are so important. First, they used and perhaps
developed many things culturally and religiously that were later used by the Mayans and Aztecs
and many other cultures. Second, they had a wide influence in their day, which gives us reason
to believe that they may be responsible for spreading some of these ideas.
The Olmecs carved stone, jade, and the volcanic rock basalt (used for the great stone heads).
The stone was quarried and imported.
The Olmecs had a rich society, traded with far away peoples and ate a wide variety of foods .

The Chavin
The Chavin culture existed in what is known today as the modern state of Peru.
Early Peruvian civilization can be traced back to the peopling of the New World, dating back to
the crossing of the Bering Land Bridge by Asiatic hunters long before 15,000 years ago. It is
believed that between 10,000 and 14,000 years ago some of these people began peopling the
Peruvian Andes. About 10,000 years of development took place before any civilization was
organized.
The best known civilization of early Peruvian prehistory is Chavin. Chavin is one of Peru's oldest
civilizations and laid the cultural foundations of all later Peruvian civilizations. The Chavin culture
flourished from 900 BCE to 200 BCE.
It is evident that the people of Chavin held religious beliefs due to many artifacts relating to
religious ceremonies that have been excavated.
Large shells were transformed into musical instruments by drilling holes in them so they could
be played as horns.
Several objects are believed to have been used in the ceremonial ingestion of hallucinogens
such as small mortars that were used to grind vilca, a sort of hallucinogenic snuff. Other objects
used for these purposes are bone tubes and spoons. Those items were decorated with
impressions of wild animals that are associated with shamanistic transformation.
The Chavin culture is known for its beautiful art and design but Chavin was also innovative with
metallurgy and textile production. Cloth production was revolutionized during the time of
Chavin. New techniques and materials included the use of camel
hair, textile painting, the dying of camel hair and the "resist"
painting style similar to modern day tie-dye.
Advances in metallurgy also occurred during the Chavin's reign in
Peru such as joining pieces of preshaped metal sheets to form
both objects of art and objects for practical use. Soldering and
temperature control were also advanced during this time.
An important factor of the Chavin culture is its art, which can
seem very puzzling to the untrained eye. Chavin designs can be
appreciated only as abstract patterns, but there is almost always
representational meaning behind them. Chavin art bears some
resemblance to Olmec art suggesting that there may have been
some degree of influence between the two cultures.