Atlas of Hispanic-American History

and turkeys could be found on their farms,

as could llamas and guinea pigs in South

America, but no sheep, cows, or horses

(none of which yet lived in the Americas).

Some cultures developed metallurgy on a

limited scale, but the wheel as labor-saving

device was never invented.

Whereas hunting and gathering sup-

ports only a small number of people rel-

ative to land area, systems of agriculture

support large numbers. The systems also

encourage people to stay in one place,

rather than moving regularly as hunters

do, thus permitting the development of

towns and cities. Surplus crops provide

leisure for at least some people, facilitat-

ing the development of arts, sciences,

and often stratification by class, with the

leisured people at the top and the hard-

working peasants at the bottom.

Following this model the Americas, long

before Columbus, became the site of sev-

eral flourishing urban civilizations,

including the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civ-

ilizations, all of which contributed to the

Hispanic-American heritage.

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerican civilizations is the collec-

tive name for the pre-Columbian civi-

lizations that arose in the region

stretching from central Mexico through

upper Central America. It was here, at

about 7000 b.c., that plant domestication

in the Americas began. By 1200 b.c., in

the midst of Mexico’s eastern jungles, the

Olmec people were building pyramid

temples, palaces, and great stone monu-

ments. In about 600 b.c., the Zapotec,

another Mesoamerican people, developed

a system of hieroglyphics, the first known

writing system in the Americas.

By 400 b.c., Olmec power was wan-

ing, and another people was emerging: the

Maya, based in the Yucatán Peninsula but

eventually extending their power as far

south as Guatemala and Honduras.

During their Classic period, from about

a.d.300 to 900, they too raised pyramids,

as well as making great advances in writ-

ing, mathematics, astronomy, calendar

keeping, agriculture, and architecture. But

8 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY

The art and artifacts of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica have given

historians and archeologists some limited insight into the many cul-

tural traditions of the peoples who populated the region during the

centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Among the earliest

examples is the carved basalt-stone head seen above, which

came from the Olmec people, who flourished on Mexico’s gulf

coast by 1200 B.C. As large as nine feet high and as heavy as 200

tons, the heads were carved from stone blocks brought from dis-

tances as great as 50 miles without the benefit of wagons. The bas-

relief sculpture is an artifact of the Zapotec of the Oaxaca Valley,

whose civilization lasted from 600 B.C. until about the 15th century.

The sculptures, depicting men, are thought to represent corpses of

enemies. From the Toltec, who dominated much of central Mexico

between A.D. 950 and about 1200 came the 15-foot-tall column

seen above. So great was the Toltec civilization that centuries later,

the Aztec (who arrived in central Mexico in about 1300) still spoke

of them in mythic tales. The Aztec, who claimed to be descended

from the Toltec, would themselves attain the status of legend.

Among their achievements is their calendar stone, shown above,

which symbolized cycles and eras that played parts in their legends.

Colossal Olmec head

Zapotec bas-relief

sculpture Toltec column Aztec calendar

ART AND ARTIFACTS OF MESOAMERICA