American History

In the ancient Americas civilization is the advancement in the arts and technology bound up with the idea of urbanism.  From the Olmec heartland in the southern Veracruz and Tabasco region, to the Zapotec site of Montey Alban, or the great city of Teotihuacan that rose to power in the classic period, scholars of the Mexican preclassic and classic periods can note that these civilizations were not just basic communities but sophisticated civilizations.  

        The Olmecs were the most ancient Mexican civilization and were extremely urbanized.  Urbanism is typically judged upon the presence of public works such as monuments or in the case of the Olmecs, pyramids.  These early civilizations were extremely different from the preceding village cultures.  “Substantial populations were spread out in a low density settlement pattern focused upon one or more temple/ administrative complexes, with an absence of streets and avenues” (59).  This form of urbanism was typical of pre-Spanish Mesoamerica and especially of the lowland region.  

        Teotihuacan was an elaborately planned city which was extremely rare in the Classic city.  The city has been regarded as the most important site in all of Mexico and the largest city of the Pre-Colombian New World.  Sophisticate surveyors laid out the city with extreme detail taking everything into regard.  “Teotihuacan was laid out shortly after the time of Christ that is consistently oriented to 15 degrees 25 minutes east of true north” (108).  Some say that these layouts were because of astronomical alignments and that the most impressive thing about the city was that there was no precedent of the city plan anywhere.  The city contained huge monuments that were centrally located in the city.  “The pyrmaids of the sun and moon in the north, and the temple of Quetzalcoatl in the south: this last is the centerpiece of the huge Ciuadadela complex” (108).  The pyramid of the sun had sides that were 700 feet long and about 200 feet tall and was much taller than the surrounding monuments.  It was built in the late pre-classic period and was put together in stages in the Tzacualli phase.  “A major building phase was inaugurated by a rich deposit of obsidian, ceramics, and animal sacrifices” (108-109).  Eleven ceramic pots were discovered with the Teotihuacan Storm go