...0521817404 - Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians - Timothy R. Pauketat Excerpt More information 1 Civilization in North America This wasn’t a chiefdom; it was a kingdom! Robert Carneiro1 “Civilization” is not a word typically associated with ancient North America. The cities, stone pyramids, and writing systems of the Old World, Mexico, or Peru are not generally thought to have existed in the pre-Columbian Mississippi valley. However, if we define a civilization as a kind of political culture or as a great tradition associated with popu- lated administrative centers and spread across some portion of a conti- nent, then it is clear that there was a pre-Columbian civilization in the Mississippi valley, or at least the early stages of one. Archaeologists often call it “Mississippian culture” and refer to the many peoples of the time simply as “Mississippians.” There were political and religious centers associated with the Mississip- pian civilization, the largest of which was Cahokia, along the middle por- tion of the Mississippi (Fig. 1.1).2And there were historical...
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...of my time in the Ancient Mediterranean area, chiefly the section displaying ancient Greek art. My task was to find several different items, each representing an aspect of Greek civilization. After a process of elimination, I chose four items that I felt best depicted the daily lives of Greeks in the past. In this paper I will attempt to briefly identify them. Part I- An item of custom The first item I chose was one that showcased Greek cultural norms. For this I chose a grave stele depicting a small child playing with his pets. According to the museum, this artifact was made sometime around 330 B.C.E., so it is from the transition time between the Classical and Hellenistic Periods. It was found in Athens and the museum identification number is 88.2012. It was donated anonymously (AI info). Relatively intact, the image on its front is very easy to interpret. It is very clearly a young Greek boy, playing with his pet dove and dog. He holds the dove outstretched in his right hand and the dog appears to be jumping towards it, perhaps out of excitement. This stele is about 3-4 feet high and maybe a foot and a half wide. At one point it was painted, because there is a very feint trace of the colors red and blue. In Greek culture, stele had several uses. Some like those of the god Herma, were used as marker points and had information on distances and where you were at the time. Others were decorated and used in festivals. As I mentioned before, this particular one marked the grave...
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...The men and women who survived a deadly virus that wiped out much of earth's human population hunker down amidst the ruins of San Francisco; meanwhile, a growing ape population has built a lovely and thriving community outside of San Francisco in Muir Woods. The tension between the two societies drives the action-packed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to the 2011 Rise of the Planet the Apes that starred James Franco. As this sequel begins, Franco's character has been dead for a decade, and the apes have had plenty of time to create their version of civilization. But in real time, it's been just three years since the Rise movie. In the world of motion picture technology, though, that's an eternity. Long enough to create computer graphics gear robust enough to take out of the studio and deep into a real forest. And long enough that moviemakers no longer need to give a recognizable Hollywood star top billing to bring in audiences. In fact, if you passed the leading man of Dawn—Andy Serkis—on the street, you wouldn't recognize his face at all, for you never see it on the screen. That's because his performance in the woods (actually, forests near Vancouver, not San Francisco) wasn't fillmed traditionally, it was motion captured, and used as a framework for a computer-created realistic digital ape, Caesar. And, for the first time in my knowledge, it's the performances of the motion capture actors, not the regular actors portraying humans, that are getting all the good reviews...
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...Every culture known to history and folklore has seen in the heavens distinctive patterns, called constellations, and formed by the stars. Constellations are usually consist of bright stars that appear close to each other. Oriental cultures formed complicated patterns from some of the faintest stars, creating hundreds of constellations. "Constellation" is the name we give to seeming patterns of stars in the night sky. "Stella" is the Latin word for star and a constellation is a grouping of stars. In general, the stars in these groups are not actually close to each other in space, they just appear to be close when viewed from Earth. Constellations are named patterns of stars. All societies created them. The classical ancient constellations that populate our sky began in the lands of the middle-east thousands of years ago, their origins largely lost to time. They passed through the hands of the ancient Greeks, who covered them with their legends and summarized them in story and verse. During Roman times they were assigned Latin names. The ancient constellations limit out only the bright patterns. From around 1600s to 1800s, astronomers invented a large group of "modern" constellations from the faint stars that rest between the classical figures, from pieces of ancient constellations, and from the stars that occupy the part of the southern sky that could not be seen from classical lands. The patterns they imagined are the constellations. Today, it can be difficult to make out...
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...The Pre-Columbian peoples of the Mesoamerican area are a population that has since fascinated historians and archaeologists to this day. Exploration and investigation has brought to light the great advancements these civilizations made in the areas of art, technology, and even astronomy. By means of examining and analyzing the remains, the massive structures and artifacts left behind by the early people of these civilizations, we have come to know of their rich culture and traditions. One group that we know a great deal of, the Classic Maya, exhibited a culture that was not only sophisticated and ahead of its time, but also one of great art and rituals. What was of great significance to these people was the Mayan Ballgame. The ballgame will be analyzed throughout this text, signifying its importance to the Mayan culture as evidenced in various articles and how these articles contribute to our understanding of these people. Though these written articles differ in some aspects they are all effective in advancing our knowledge of Mayan history and civilization because collectively they communicate how the ballgame taught Mayan values and proper behavior, was crucial in Mayan ritual and civilization, and how it was used as an interaction with other civilizations. How was this Mayan ballgame played? All the information historians have on the ballgame derived from visiting the actual sites in Mesoamerica where these games were played and the interpretation of various glyphs...
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...diseases that the natives were not used to and technological superiority, the conquistadors quickly claimed the land that they sought. “After an initial wave of conquistadors—aided by military advantages and infectious diseases that decimated the native populations— defeated the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, Spain organized a huge imperial system to exploit the land, labor, and mineral wealth of the New World…” (Schmoop Spanish). Spain’s exploitation of the locals and treasure gathering The conquistadors were after gold and other valuables that they could put on the ship and send back to the crown. During these escapades they successfully overthrew two main civilizations, the Aztecs in Mexico and the Incas in Peru (Spanish). The Spaniards were more seemingly more concerned with taking over land and stealing treasures than they were colonizing. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t profitable. Perhaps the largest and most important Spanish colony in North America was Florida. The most important town in that time in Florida was St. Augustine; St. Augustine still stands today as one of the oldest remaining colonies in the United States. There are several buildings and markers of the regions past scattered throughout the town. The other most notable colony of Spain’s was Cuba. Cuba was a valuable resource to the Spaniards due to its efficient position in the Caribbean. Ships could easily reach many destinations leaving from Cuba without having to bring many...
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...Kroisos and King Menkaure and Queen Throughout time, humans have been represented in artwork. With each great civilization, different conventions are used to depict the human figure, especially between Egypt and Greece. When Greece art was first developed, it borrowed many characteristics from Egyptian works. However, there are also significant differences between the human representations of the two cultures as well, as can be seen in Kroisos and King Menkaure and Queen. Both Kroisos and King Menkaure and Queen were representations of real people. Both statues stand relatively tall, with Kroisos at 76” tall and King Menkaure and Queen at 54 ½” tall. The stances of both figures are relatively similar. Both Kroisos’s and Menkaure’s left legs...
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...Ancient Engineering Ashley Shehan World Civilizations 1: History103 Samson Tsahiridis October 15, 2012 Ancient Engineering Ancient civilizations are credited for many inventions and engineer advancements that have been perfected and still used today. These advances have laid a foundation for today’s way of life; convenient, efficient, and technology improving faster than ever. Introduction of roads, domestication of animals, and the use of ships are all examples of engineering used to increase power, efficiency, and the quality of life. With the use of roads, ships, and calendars, civilizations were able to improve their economy, increase their power, increase population, and expand their power. Roads Romans The Roman Empire’s success was greatly due to the extensive paved road system built, connecting virtually the entire empire. The Appian Way was built in 312BCE, one of the earliest Roman road built. The network or road would eventually consist of over 55,000 miles of road, with a width of 20-40 feet, depending on the amount of traffic and use of the road. Built mostly by soldiers, the use of these roads greatly empowered the Roman Army. Unaffected by weather, quicker deployments, and faster distribution of communication, supplies, and food were possible, increasing efficiency. Post houses to tend or change horses were located every ten to fifteen miles along the routes, while Inns to accommodate travelers, and were located every twenty to thirty...
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...not trade his love for all the money in the world. In lines 10-12, Shakespeare uses a metaphor to compare his love to the lark who sings songs to the heavens. He uses this metaphor to show the reader how happy the thought of this love makes him feel. Ozymandias: Shelley portrays the ruins of Ozymandias as something that barely still stands. One example of this is in lines 3-4. By doing this, Shelley is trying to get across a clear and powerful message to the reader that regardless of how influential and powerful a leader may be during their time as ruler, they will not last forever and their time will eventually come when they will fall. This shattered sculpture of the once mighty Ozymandias also represents the certain decay of civilization. All that's left of the once mighty and powerful Ozymandias is now shattered remains. On My First Son: In this poem, the author uses tone to show how he feels about the loss of his only son. Various tones such as anger, forgiveness, and loving are used throughout the piece. Line 5 shows the authors anger caused by the loss of his son. This is saying that he is losing his fatherhood, and his need to mourn like a father. In line 7 the poem shifts to forgiving, when the author mentions how his son won't have to go through all of the hardships and trails that he had to face. The final shift in tone to loving is in line 12. He speaks about how much he loved his son, and how he could never like or love anything else again. How do I love...
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...threat is a transgression of the prevailing order; it signifies something intangible, such as a contrasting ideological framework, like Islam, or the memory of a dangerous or troubling history or discourse surrounding that population, for example, slavery, colonialism, Nazism, the Cold War, and the “Clash of Civilizations.” (Sheth, 49) Furthermore, population control is only one aspect affected by sovereign power. Sovereignty power and population, over time, have become racialized. Sheth suggests that racialization can happen among a population at juridico-political, or institutional level. She supports her claim, when she describes features that over time contribute to the racialization of a population. Sheth uses the term, a description marker, she further explains, “This description has the function of delineating a group against the background of a different population.” (Sheth, 51) An example of this today, can be seen through the Black Lives Matter Movement. A Commentary on Racism and Public Health, an article written by two doctors, goal is to reiterate how salient structural racism is in our society. The section, Race is Not Racism, connects to Sheth’s description marker, it says, “For example, being Black (a race category) does not tell us more about one’s health risks. However, being Black in America (a racially stratified society) has negative implications for educational and professional trajectories, socioeconomic status, and access to health care services and resources...
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...North American Civilization HIS / 115 September 4, 2011 Some theories indicate the first settlers of the Americas took place in North America in Alaska. Asian hunters are thought to have traveled over the Bering Strait during a glacial period somewhere between 35,000 B.C.E. and 10,000 years later. The Asian people, referred to as Native Americans, did not realize their discovery of a new world. The early North American men and women were nomadic hunters and gatherers. As the further migration continued south an agricultural lifestyle formed. The European colonization of the Americas is thought to have been established by explorers and fishermen at a much later date. The blend of diversity was apparent as the migration of the Americas grew and strong developed societies were established. Although Native American descendants merely followed their survival instincts, they had discovered an abundant new world. The nomadic hunters tracked animals across the frozen land bridge and crossed into a new continent. The migration continued south along the west coast. “Over a span of 25,000 years settlement spread down the Alaskan coast, then deeper into the North American mainland, and finally throughout Central and South America.” (Davidson, 2006, p. 11). The original survival lifestyle...
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...The Romans were the first civilization to use art for decorations rather than using it for religious purposes. They would embellished stairways, walls and columns. The Romans did not invent any of the forms of art they used, however they did use it for different purposes. They would make statues of their emperors and place them in the forum (today's city hall, law courts, marketplace and church all in one.) Several people today play sports. Whether they play football, soccer, hockey, or baseball they all would play on field or rink. The field or rink would most likely have seating for fans. The Roman colosseum was basically a football stadium but much, much larger. The people watching the event in the colosseum would sit up in stands much like football stadiums today. ...
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... ethnicity, phenotype). The four regional groups that Dr. Diop mentioned are black General Type Egyptian, the General Type of all Europeans represented by the artist, General type of all the other groups of the interior continent of Africa, and General Type of all the Semites living the area of Asia. b. Identify the ethnicity of the artist The artist represented himself as the Black General Type Egyptian, so that indicates that the artist was black. c. Identify what was commonly used as artists’ signatures at that time. 3. In your own words: a. What is an Afrocentric frame of reference? An Afrocentric frame of reference refers to the centralization of Africans and the culture it developed when migrating to Western civilization. It emphasizes on African contributions to the development of the new world. 4. In Chapter 2, Karenga stresses the need for white women to stop overlooking and to recognize three aspects of their own feminism. a. Name the three aspects ignored by white women...
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...The idea that Africans have contributed little to world civilization is one which many in the West have for a long time assumed and taken for granted. Thanks in part to depictions of Africa which rarely extend past civil wars, famine and the primitive; information about Africa’s past advances and accomplishments have continued to remain obscure and little known. Since first contact between Europe and Africa the history of Africa has been fundamentally dominated by the way Europeans have portrayed themselves in relationship to that continent. So that most of what we read and see about Africa tends to say -- either directly or indirectly -- more about the history of European colonialism and its biases toward Africa than it does about the real Africa and its people (see Ahmad, 1987). The majority of people today of all backgrounds, including those of African ancestry, tend to know little about Africa and its history outside of the transatlantic slave trade and perhaps colonialism. While even in these instances knowledge about these events can be at times, limited. The African continent is too often conceived of as one with no legitimate history before contact with Europeans. Formal anthropological research is now showing that this notion could not be further from the truth. In the bible Ham's sons are believed to have fathered the peoples of Africa. Of Ham's four sons, Canaan, fathered the Canaanites, while Mizraim fathered the Egyptians, Cush the Cushites and Phut the "Libyans"...
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...status people. The second type of mound is referred to as a ridgetop mound. Cahokia experts have discovered 6 ridgetop mounds. We believe ridgetop mounds have several different purposes. Some ridgetop mounds were used as burial grounds, such as mound 72, and others are thought to be used as interior dividing lines or land markers. The most iconic ridgetop mound discovered so far is known as mound 72. Mound 72 is thought to be a mass grave of Elites. Researchers have concluded that at mound 72 a great chief was buried with lots of wealthy items, such as shells and jewelry. Another interesting feature about mound 72 is that there were nearly 300 other individuals found buried a long with the chief. The third, and final, type of mounds is known as a platform mound. Platform mounds make up nearly half of all the mounds, which is around 120 mounds in total. Platform mounds were used as foundations for building. The most iconic platform mound is Monks mound. Monks mound is the largest prehistoric site north of Mexico. The mound is nearly 100 feet tall and covers 14 acres that contains nearly 22 million cubic feet of earth. The Cahokia civilization revolved around the mounds, but at the same time it needed protection from outside sources. Another great feature that surrounded Cahokia was the stockade wall. The stockade wall surrounded central Cahokia, the grand plaza, and stretched nearly 2 miles. The wall itself was made out of logs that were about a foot thick and...
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