Mesoamerica Notes * The moon is normally represented as female * Lots of rulers in the Olmec period were expressed with gender ambiguity * Shamanism is basically the representation of trance state through art * All the Mesoamerican peoples were using the same ingredients in their cooking because there was interaction over distance

Reading Notes 1/31/16 * Traits of Mesoamerica * Food via cultivation * Basic crops * Corn * Beans * Squash * Avocado * Papaya * Animals * Fattened voiceless dog (I cry everytime) * Duck * Economic Practices and Materials * Industries and tools * Construction of stone or clay * Ceramics * Stonepolishing of obsidian * Metallurgy * Textiles and basketry * Exchange * Markets * Transport * Hanging bridges * Gourd rafts * Military organization and gear * Wars for purpose of sacrifice victims * Ritual Practices and Materials * Deities: a series of divinities, ie “Tlaloc” * Sacrifice-related practices * Human sacrifice * Removing the heart form living persons * Head trophies * Canabalism * Some kinds of self-sacrifice * Ritual use of paper and rubber * Sacrifice of quail * Sprinkling sanctuaries with blood * The flying game or ritual * Ritual materials and rites * Game with rubber ball * Pyrite mirrors * 14 as a ritual number * Confession * Drinking water from bathing a deceased relative * Afterlife