While the existence of conclusive data on how and when Mesoamerica was first populated is still wanting in substance, it is generally accepted that the first people to arrive in the New World did so around 18,000 years ago. Occasionally data will surface that suggests that pre-modern humans may have come to the Americas prior to 16,000 BCE, but these conclusions are largely speculative, or based on data that cannot be corroborated. It is unknown if the migration played out as a single event, or if it happened in a succession of waves. Regardless, there are a few prominent theories on how genetically modern humans were able to make the last great migration from the Old World into the Americas. In any case, despite our murky understanding of how humans arrived in Mesoamerica, it is clear that once there, human civilization and culture was not only able to subsist, but thrive under a set of conditions that were unique to the region.
The most widely understood theory of human beginnings in the Americas involves a land bridge that would have “extended over what is now the Bering Strait and linked north-eastern Siberia to Alaska.” A migration of this sort would have necessarily occurred prior to 9,500 BCE during the last of Earth’s glacial maximums. During this glacial period the sea levels would have been relatively low, exposing the areas of Beringia that are currently underwater. This land bridge — as it is often referred — would have supported large herds of several species of megafauna, such as mammoth, bison, and horses. Paleolithic hunters and gatherers could have easily followed these herds out of the Eurasian tundra and into North America.
An alternative theory suggests that humans may have traveled to the Americas...
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... several major epicenters of trade and culture. They were set on course to become a fully actualized civilization and a center of Mesoamerican culture.
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In the article written by Heather Pringle, “The First Americans,” she combines findings of various archaeologists across the globe that have aimed to debunk a popular theory of migration to the Americas. As stated in the article, it is commonly believed that the first to arrive in the New World traveled across the Bering Straight, a passageway far north connecting the northeastern tip of Asia and Alaska. 13,000 years ago, these hunters were said to have followed the mammals and other large prey over the ice-free passageway. Evidence of their stone tools being left behind has led them to be called the Clovis people. This article uncovers new evidence presented by archaeologists that people migrated to the Americas in a different way, and much earlier.
Architecture, like many things, can also be made for the use of or inspired by the symbols people believe in. Therefore, art and architecture in Ancient Mesoamerica can be stated to be made for the use of religious symbols. Making architecture and art forms takes effort, dedication, and patience. Architecture can take years to make, as was s...
Even though many archaeologists accept this theory, there is no persuasive evidence to support it. Despite the fact that the article discussed different possibilities of who the first Americans might be and where they might have come from, it did not conclude on a precise explanation of who they are or where they are from. Instead, the article concludes by pointing out that the Clovis culture "is too widespread, is found in too many environments" and has too many diverse activities to be the product of the first immigrants in America. According to the article, spearheading would most likely be the first American invention, and that the Clovis people probably made their way of living by trading these inventions.
Around 3500 B.C.E to 3000 B.C.E., civilizations emerged in many places. Egypt and Mesoamerica are distinctive two of them. Considering the different aspects of civilization, historians can find some same characteristics and differences which are valuable for historians to understand civilization in-depth.
Parada, P., & Pando, E. De. (2006). America ’ s First City ? The Case of Late Archaic Caral. In Andean Archaeology III North and South (Vol. 3, pp. 28–67). doi:10.1080/08858198809527931
The three main Indian empires in Mesoamerica were the Olmec, Mayan, and Aztec. These intriguing cultures had three very different religions and origins, but there were some similarities. In all three cases, they built their cities mainly as religious centers, and had some similar forms of worship. All of their societies revolved around their separate religions.
About 40,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers began migrating from Asia towards the Americas. As they migrated, they began to spread to South America as well as east across the Northern American Plains. As the years passed on, these peoples adapted to their new environment by forming governments, constructing buildings and shelters, and gathering different types of food. Sometimes, their location even aided in trading with other nearby-societies. These hunter-gatherers later developed into what they are known as today: The Maya, Inca, and Aztec tribes.
Fagan, Brian M. (2001) "Mesoamerican Civilizations." The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World: Unlocking the Secrets of past Civilizations. New York: Thames & Hudson, 491-509.
The lands and human societies that European explorers called a New World were in fact very old. During the Ice Ages much of the world’s water was bound up in glaciers. Sea level dropped by hundreds of feet, creating a land bridge between Alaska and Siberia. Asians walked across to become the first human inhabitants of the Americas.
Bindon, Jim 2004 Fossil Hominids. ANT 270 Notes. http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant270/lectures/ hominids1.pdf Delson, Eric 1981
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The ancient Maya once occupied a vast geographic area in Central America. Their civilization inhabited an area that encompasses Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. "From the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization produced awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, highly accurate calendars, mathematics and hieroglyphics, and a complex social and political order" ("Collapse..." 1). Urban centers were important to the Maya during the Classic period; they offered the Mayans a central place to practice religion.
This paper explores information gather from several articles that report on the Mayan Civilization throughout the years of their rise, their conquering, and their fall, as well as their interactions with other civilizations, specifically the Spanish. The Mayan civilization dates back before the 16th century, before they were conquered by the Spanish Conquistadors and the civilization diminished. During their reign, the Maya civilization thrived in what is now parts of Southern Mexico and Central America. However, their supremacy was struck down when the Spanish and their beliefs
The Aztecs landed in Mesoamerica around the start of the thirteenth century. The Aztecs, who were then called the Mexica, were a poor, nomadic people from the harsh deserts of northern Mexico (McDougal 453; ch. 16). The Aztecs assembled extraordinary urban communities and created a complex social, political, and religious structure. The force of the Mexica individuals got to be more merged and they started to structure partnerships. Their military force developed also, and they started to vanquish individuals in the encompassing regions. A large number of the locale's city-states were under their control by the fifteenth century. Aztec public opinion was exceedingly organized, in view of agribusin...