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The Hall of Mexico and Central America

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The Hall of Mexico and Central America The Hall of Mexico and Central America Teacher’s Guide See inside Panel 2 Introduction 3 Before Coming to the Museum 4 Mesoamericans in History 5-7 At the Museum 7 Related Museum Exhibitions 8 Back in the Classroom Insert A Learning Standards Bibliography and Websites Insert B Student Field Journal Hall Map Insert C Map of Mesoamerica Time Line Insert D Photocards of Objects Maya seated dignitary with removable headdress Introduction “ We saw so many cities The Hall of Mexico and Central America displays an outstanding collection of and villages built in the Precolumbian objects. The Museum’s collection includes monuments, figurines, pottery, ornaments, and musical instruments that span from around 1200 B.C. water and other great to the early 1500s A.D. Careful observation of each object provides clues about towns on the dry land, political and religious symbols, social and cultural traits, and artistic styles and that straight and characteristic of each cultural group. level causeway going WHERE IS MESOAMERICA? toward Mexico, we were Mesoamerica is a distinct cultural and geographic region that includes a major amazed…and some portion of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The geographic soldiers even asked borders of Mesoamerica are not located like those of the states and countries of today. The boundaries are defined by a set of cultural traits that were shared by whether the things that all the groups that lived there. The most important traits were: cultivation of corn; a we saw were not a sacred 260-day calendar; a calendar cycle of 52 years; pictorial manuscripts; pyramid dream." structures or sacred “pyramid-mountains;” the sacred ballgame with ball courts; ritual bloodletting; symbolic imagery associated with the power of the ruler; and Spanish conquistador Bernal Díaz temples, palaces, and houses built around plazas. describing the magnificent Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán. The geography and landscape of Mesoamerica provided cultural groups with a variety of habitats in which to settle and develop. These include mountain and Based on The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz, Penguin Books. volcanic ranges, highland plateaus, lush rainforests, marshlands, and lowlands on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Pacific Ocean. GREAT MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS The first groups of people in Mesoamerica were hunters and gatherers. Around 1500 B.C., they started building permanent settlements along coasts, rivers, lakes, and other water sources. Groups adapted to the surrounding environment by developing tools and domesticating plants and animals. As time passed, people started to settle inland and modify the natural landscape by building houses, plazas, temples, and water reservoirs. Many groups inhabited Mesoamerica, but the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec developed powerful civilizations that spread their influence throughout the region. All of them built great cities that had ceremonial, political, and commercial power. Their populations were dedicated to a variety of economic activities and societies were organized into specialized religious, military, and trade groups. Society centered around the ruler who was responsible for the welfare of the community and was usually the one in charge of performing special ceremonies to appease the gods. He also personified the sacred Tree of Life, which was thought to be planted in the center of the Earth and represented the three levels of the Universe: Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld. The elite, composed of the royal family, nobles, and highly educated artists, shared privileges with priests, prestigious warriors, and probably select merchants. The remainder of the population was dedicated to agriculture, construction, or trade, or labored in workshops, such as weaving, metalworking, pottery making, quarrying, stone carving, and featherworking. None of the civilizations of Mesoamerica existed in isolation. Trade flourished to supply specialty goods among different regions. By the 4th century A.D., there was a complex long distance network, trading regional specialties such as animal skins, shells, quetzal and other tropical bird feathers, flint, honey, and volcanic rocks like basalt and obsidian. Cacao beans and jade were especially valuable. Ceramics were also exchanged as market goods or royal gifts. Some populations and cities formed alliances while others engaged in warfare. Technology developed according to the resources that were available. It is important to note that these civilizations developed without the use of the wheel, metal tools, or animals of burden. Before Coming to the Museum HAVE A CLASS DISCUSSION. FAMILIARIZE STUDENTS WITH THE Introduce students to themes that can be developed during your Museum visit. Use FOLLOWING WORDS: the following questions or develop your own. Encourage students to speculate and Archaeology: The scientific recovery develop hypotheses about civilizations and the artifacts left behind. and study of objects from past cultures. 1. What do you know about the cultures of Mesoamerica? Ballgame: A sacred game, not a sport, in which 2. What do remains of buildings tell us about the organization of a civilization? players hit a ball (probably of rubber) with their torso, hips, and forearms. It was played during 3. How do civilizations demonstrate their power? special occasions. The Maya word for ballgame was “pitz” and for ballplayer “Ah Pitzlawal.” For PRACTICE THE SKILL OF OBSERVATION AND the Aztecs (in Nahuatl language) ballgame is “tlachtli.” DEEPEN STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROCESS. Archaeologists study the history of past cultures by examining artifacts, building Basalt: A hard volcanic stone commonly used in remains, and other natural specimens such as seeds, pollen, and bones. They record sculpture; its color varies from gray to black. in detail an object’s location, shape, and material. The context of an object is very Context: The place where objects and buildings important in establishing its meaning. are found, and their relationship with each other and their surroundings. The context gives a complete picture of the function 1. Have students closely inspect the contents of a trash can that you provide. of an object by providing clues to What do they find? its use and meaning. Can they arrange the trash in chronological order? Glyphs: Picture symbols that can be read as Can they classify the objects? words, sounds, ideas, or numbers. The Maya What behaviors can be inferred from the items? painted them in ceramics and books, or carved Whose garbage might it be? them in stone. Indigenous: Native or natural to a place. The 2. Observe an everyday object in class. Let the students examine it. Zapotecs and Maya are two of the many indigenous peoples in Central America. How is it made? How is it used? Limestone: A white sedimentary stone from Where is it normally placed or stored? which the Maya cut slabs and blocks to build Is it related to any other object or person in the class? stelae and pyramids. It is obtained in quarries and, when first cut, is soft enough to carve easily. Have each student make a sketch or write a description of the object. It hardens when weathered. Mestizo: A population of mixed European and 3. Look at the photo-cards of objects from the exhibition. Native American descent. Have each student select one object for careful examination. Discuss why they selected their photo-card. Nahuatl: Language spoken by the Aztecs and Before reading the description on the back of each photo-card, still spoken today by some groups of Central Highland Mexico. Avocado (aguacatl) and tomato have students describe the object in detail. (tomatl) are Nahuatl words. Ask them to focus on the defining characteristics of each object. What else do they want to know about the object that the Native Americans: All indigenous peoples photograph does not provide? that live in South, Central, and North America. Obsidian: Natural glass formed by the quick STUDY MAPS OF MESOAMERICA. cooling of molten lava. Obsidian is usually black The enclosed map is provided to give students a sense of Mesoamerica as both a (with some examples in green) and was flaked and shaped into weapons and tools with physical and cultural place. In addition to this map, consider collecting other maps, extremely sharp edges. Axes and blades were travel brochures, and magazine photographs to complement your discussion of made from obsidian. Mesoamerican geography and culture. Relate what you find in the photographs to Precolumbian: The period of time before the places on the maps. arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World • Mesoamerica encompasses more than one country. in 1492. Which countries are part of this geographic region? Stela (plural stelae): A stone slab carved to • Create a trade route from the city of Teotihuacán to the Maya city of depict a ruler with a text written in glyphs. The Maya placed stelae in plazas and other public Tikal by using the shortest route and considering land and water ways. spaces to commemorate historical events. How do you think the merchants carried their goods? • Create a trade route for transporting basalt boulders from their source to San Lorenzo and La Venta. • Decide how to carry jade from its source to Palenque and Tikal. Mesoamericans in History PRECLASSIC PERIOD Three terms— The Olmec built mounds and monuments in the swampy lowlands of southern Veracruz, Mexico, along the Gulf of Mexico around 1200 B.C. They carved colossal Preclassic, stone heads and created ritual objects and jewelry in jade and other stones. One of the major symbols used by the Olmec was the jaguar, which was associated with the Classic, and ruler and warriors. It was the representation of the most powerful creature in the natural and supernatural worlds. The jaguar image, like other Olmec symbols, spread Postclassic— across Mesoamerica and survived throughout the Precolumbian era. The Zapotec peoples of Oaxaca produced the earliest known examples of are used by hieroglyphic writing in Mesoamerica.
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