Posted: February 17th, 2015

"The Americas" (2500 B.C.E.-1500 C.E.)

“The Americas” (2500 B.C.E.-1500 C.E.)

Order Description

Comparative Paper:
This assignment asks to select (1) chapter from chapters 10-16 in the source book ( I have chosen chapter number eleven-“The Americas’) and then answer one of the comparative questions found at the end of the chapter. The paper will need to analyze all of the sources within the selected chapter and include examples from several of them in the response. The comparative paper must be between 4 to 5 double spaced pages in length.
I am downloading chapter eleven- “The Americas” to this order.

11 The Americas 2500 B.C.E. -1500 C.E. 226
1 1-1 Stele 4, Ixtutz, Guatemala, 780 226
1 1-2 Maize Grinder Effigy Pipe, ca. 1200 228
1 1-3 Pedro de Cieza de Leon, From Chronicles:
On the Inca, ca. 1535 229
1 1-4 Diego Dura’m, From Book of the Gods and Rites,
ca. 1576-1579 233
V I E W P O I N T S
in Maya Society
a, 1 1-5 Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, On the Maya Ball
3 Game Tlachtli, ca. 1598 237
1 1-6 Father Francisco Ximénez, From the Popol Vuh,
ca. 1701-1703 239
j. COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS 243
11 ‘31:” 1a

CHAPTER l l
The Americas
2500 B.C.E.-1500 C.E.
ritten records of premodern societies in both Africa and the
Americas typically come from the perspective of outsiders. While
Muslim explorers and merchants created a record ofAfrican civilizations,
European conquerors and missionaries wrote accounts of the American
experience. These same Europeans also destroyed much of the writings
of native American civilizations to discourage traditional practices and
beliefs that opposed the spread of Christianity. This chapter explores the
cultures of the Western Hemisphere, specifically the Mississippian socie-
ties of North America, the Mayans and Mexica of Mesoamerica, and the
Inca in South America. European colonization of these peoples was so
successful that little evidence from the precontact period survives. Thus.
the most important information concerning these societies comes from
discoveries in archaeological excavations or from the writings of Europe-
ans, some of whom attempted to preserve native languages and cultures.
Stele 4, Ixtutz, Guatemala
780
Beginning with Olmec civilization (1500-300 B.C.E.), Mesoamerica was
the scene of an extensive urban society comprising several complex states.
The succeeding civilization, the Maya (300-900 C.E.), inherited much from
the Olmecs but continued to develop notions of kingship and writing. Thi
decipherment of Mayan was a complex process that was unlocked orfi
after World War II and continues to this day. Because Spanish bishops and
rulers wished to eradicate Maya culture, almost every book in Mayan was
destroyed, leaving only archaeological discoveries, such as this source. for