Mexico [antikvár]

HISTORY AND CULTURE THE ORIGINS OF MEXICAN CULTURE The history of what is now known as Mexico had its beginnings many millenia ago. During the most recent Ice Age (the period starting some 35,000 years BC), wandering tribes came from Asia over the then-frozen Bering Sea into the region of present-day Alaska in small nomadic groups. They subsisted as hunters and gatherers. From there they moved southward and settled the entire region, extending into South America. Among the numerous peoples that developed and flourished, two high cultures are worthy of note: one in Meso-America, which extends, roughly speaking, from central Mexico to western El Salvador and Honduras; the other, that of the Incas, became established in the central Andean region of South America. Until the emergence of what we now call "Indian" peoples and high cultures (the expressions Indio and Indian are avoided in Mexico, therefore in the following text the designation Indígena -indigenous or aboriginal - will be used), the historical development of Meso-America can be divided into three periods. During the paleo-Indian or Early Hunter Epoch (35,000 to 7000 BC), nomadic tribes populated the regions from Mexico to Costa Rica. The hombre de Tepexpan, a skeleton discovered near Mexico City, has been roughly dated to 8000 BC. About 12,000 years ago the continent began to warm after the retreat of the most recent Ice Age. Swamps were transformed into semi-deserts, and as a consequence of the changing vegetation Previous pages: Relief in Chichón Itzá. Children immaculately dressed to participate in a fiesta. Let Olmec sculpture. numerous prehistoric animal species became extinct, including the mammoth and the mastodon. Impressive archeo-logical discoveries from this period are found in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. During the Neolithic period (that is roughly 7000 to 2500 BC) cultivation and harvesting of crops began. The development of maize, the bean, various types of chilies and the pumpkin and gourd took place during this period, which also saw cotton being cultivated and woven into material for clothing. The previously nomadic peoples became increasingly sedentary. Due to the fact that seeds and the harvested produce had to be stored, the first vessels of clay appeared. Advanced methods for working stone, the keeping of domestic animals, agriculture and permanent settlements evolved during the fifth millenium BC. The development of the high cultures began during the Formative or Pre-Classical Epoch (roughly from 2000 BC until the beginning of the Christian Era). The production of ceramics was refined, agriculture became more efficient and permanent settlements were expanded. This resulted in members of society being freed for construction work, clerical functions, leadership tasks and the arts. This development was a precondition for the evolution of higher civilization. The Pre-Columbian Era The Olmecs, whose civilization is considered the precursor of the rest of Meso-American culture, constructed the first pyramid-like hills on the Gulf of Mexico, initially of mud and clay with only a slight angle of incline. They created altars of granite, sculptures of basalt and figures of clay. Presumably their early temples were constructed of wood. These relics have given us some indication of their first religious beliefs and rituals - a 13