21ARC 1.

4 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE – I
Dr.R.Jagannathan
DESERT AND MOUNTAIN CULTURE
The first civilizations of America

Maya, Inca and Aztec

• While classical civilizations were developing in the Mediterranean & Asia, advanced societies
were developing in isolation in the Americas
• During the Ice Age, prehistoric nomads migrated across the land bridge between Asia &
America.
• During the Neolithic Revolution, these nomads settled into farming villages; Some of which
became advanced civilizations.
 The Earliest Americans
Paleoindian Americans
– Clovis Culture – earliest-known
hunting culture
– Folsom points – smaller
spearheads needed when
megafauna died
The Archaic Period
– Conditions warmer and drier, so
people depended on gathering
as game disappeared An artists depiction of PaleoIndian
– Little is known about social Americans hunting giant armadillo.

organization in this period

 Agricultural Revolution
in the Americas
Result of environmental change
• First occurred in Mexico
• Chili, pumpkins, beans, plus maize
• Farming spread across Mexico to
Central America and coastal Peru by
1500 BCE
• High productivity made possible the
great civilizations Farming spread from Mexico
to Peru
EARLY MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• Mesoamerica (Middle America): central Mexico and Central
America
• Earliest civilizations located on elevated plateaus or tropic
lowlands
• Polytheistic theocracies ruled by astronomer-priests of (semi-)
divine status
• Used accurate calendars to regulate agriculture and religion

The ceremonies we very

bloody
EARLY MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• Cities were religious centers with pyramids, temples, palaces
and ritual ball courts
• Masses witnessed awe-inspiring, bloody ceremonies
• Elites created writing and numerical systems
• Extensive trade networks also catalysts for cultural exchange

The ceremonies we very

bloody
 Olmecs and Chavin
• Olmecs, 1500-300 BCE
– “People of the Land of Rubber” - solid rubber balls for
ballgame
– Southern Mexico - developed first culture with regional
influence
– Elite group – priests had great powers
– Ruler probably a hereditary king/high priest
– Established vast trade networks in Central America
– Religious faith centered on worship of ancient feline -
heads of basalt
– Skill in stonework – The Great Pyramid
– Primitive form of writing and number system
The Olmecs
• The first American civilization were people known as the Olmec in an area known as
Mesoamerica
• The Olmecs developed a strong trade network in Mesoamerica that brought them great
wealth.
• The Olmecs used their wealth to build large stone monuments & pyramids to honor their
leaders & gods
• Olmec trade allowed them to spread their culture to other Mesoamericans
• The Olmecs are often called the “mother culture” because they influenced other
Mesoamerican societies
• For unknown reasons, the Olmec civilization declined by 400 B.C. but their cities & symbols
influenced later cultures, especially the Mayans
The Olmecs
 Maya, 400 – 1500 CE
• Maya supplanted Olmecs
• Most advanced of all pre-Columbian Amerindians
• Hierarchy of cities ruled by kings
• Public buildings, temples, palaces, ball courts
• Wealthy hereditary elite held power, powerful priesthood
 Maya, 400 – 1500 CE
• Common folk were freemen, serfs
and slaves
• Noblewomen held positions in
religion and politics, certain rights
• Lower classes tended garden,
domestic animals, weaving, and
home religious rites
• Religious belief was important in
the order of daily life
Mayan Indian
 Maya
• Pyramids: sacred mountains with chambers where priests
mediated
• Mayan cosmology has 13 heavens and nine hells
• Human sacrifices common - companions for rulers for next
world

A human
sacrifice
 Maya
• Prosperity brought decline - overpopulation and ecological
collapse
• 200 years later, Mayan achievements forgotten
• Most notable accomplishments:
– Accurate astronomy based on mathematics
– Mayan calendar
– Mayan only pre-Columbian people who were literate

Mayans
 The Mayans

Religion: Mayans were polytheistic &

offered their blood, food, &
sometimes human sacrifices to
please the gods
 Mayan Empire
• Accomplishments of the Mayans:
– Developed system of mathematics & number system
– Created accurate calendar with 365 days that could accurately predict eclipses & finding the
day of the week many thousands of years in the past or future
– Had exact knowledge of phases of the moon & cycle of Venus
– Developed hieroglyphic-style writing to record astronomical observations, calendar
calculations, & historical information
 Teotihuacan and the Toltecs
• Teotihuacan (Place of Gods) 200 BCE
– Another high culture in Valley of Mexico
– Unfortified city, theocracy devoted to agricultural, crafts, and commerce not war
– Pyramids and temples center of religious rituals, offerings to the gods
– Largest and most impressive of ancient pre-Columbian centers: population 200,000
– Hub of commerce: trade networks from northern Mexico to Central America
– Final years more militaristic
– Invading warriors destroyed Teotihuacán in about 650 CE
– Two centuries of chaos and conflict among rival groups
• Toltecs
– Federation of nomads
– Chief city was Tula
 THE MILITARISTIC AZTECS
• Fall of Teotihuacán – warlike nomads migrated
• Modern Mexico gets name from the Mexica, known later as Aztecs
• Mexica-Aztec converted from despised nomads into elite of huge
militaristic state
• By 1500, with alliances and expansions, the Aztec Confederation
dominated center of present-day Mexico down to Mayan Guatemala
• Lives of ruling elites revolved around conquest and warfare

Aztecs
 Aztec Empire
• The Aztec Empire began lasted from
1427 to 1521 (conquered by Spanish
conquistadors)
• The capital, Tenochtitlán, was located
on the present-day site of Mexico City.
• The Aztecs were founded by the
Mexica, (came from west Mexico)
• Legend predicted the Mexicans would
found a great civilization where they
saw an eagle perched on a cactus
growing out of a rock
• Aztec civilization was created on Lake
Texcoco—strategic with abundant food
supplies & waterways for transportation
When captured by Spanish conquistadors, Tenochtitlán was
possibly the largest city in the world
 Aztec Empire
• Farming was the basis of the Aztec economy, but land was not large enough to
produce enough food for the population; Aztecs created chinampas (floating
gardens), by putting mud on huge mats made of woven reeds & placed them in
lake—farmed on soil on these “farms” Aztec were excellent warriors who expanded
their empire by conquering their neighbors
• Aztecs were the “people of the sun” who honored many gods, especially sun god;
used human sacrifices to keep the gods happy—victim’s heart was removed &
priest ate flesh as sign of respect.
• Farming provided the basis of the Aztec
economy. The land around the lakes was fertile
but not large enough to produce food for the
population, which expanded steadily as the
empire grew. To make more land suitable for
farming, the Aztec developed irrigation
systems, formed terraces on hillsides, and used
fertilizer to enrich the soil. Their most important
agricultural technique, however, was to
reclaim swampy land around the lakes by
creating chinampas, or artificial islands that are
known popularly as “floating gardens.” To
make the chinampas, the Aztec dug canals
through the marshy shores and islands, then
heaped the mud on huge mats made of
woven reeds. They anchored the mats by tying
them to posts driven into the lake bed and
planting trees at their corners that took root
and secured the islands permanently.
 Aztec Empire
• Aztec farmers had no plows or work animals. They planted crops in soft soil using
pointed sticks. Corn was their principal crop. Women ground the corn into a coarse
meal by rubbing it with a grinding stone called a mano against a flat stone called a
metate. From the corn meal, the Aztec made flat corn cakes called tortillas, which
was their principal food. Other crops included beans, squash, chili peppers,
avocados, and tomatoes. The Aztec raised turkeys and dogs, which were eaten by
the wealthy; they also raised ducks, geese, and quail.
 THE MILITARISTIC AZTECS
• War shaped their religion and social
structure
• Aztec religion included human
sacrifices, cannibalism
• Aztec government and society
– Emperor (semi-divine status),
officials, priests
– Class of warriors
– Ordinary free people
– Serfs and slaves
– Upper class women had some
rights
The Aztec Empire
and freedoms
 SOUTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• Inca - Andes Mountains of modern Peru
• Militaristic empire
• Achieved first unification of entire Andean area
• Pre-Columbian Peru a complex mosaic of ethnic and linguistic
groups

The first image of the Inca in

Europe
 SOUTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• Culmination of centuries’ developments in agriculture,
commerce, religion, architecture, and government
• Collective food basket very nutritious: fish from Pacific Ocean,
tubers from highlands, fruit from tropical forests
• Industries: fishing, farming, textiles, metallurgy

One of the main events

in the conquest of the
Inca Empire was the
death of Atahualpa, the
last Sapa Inca of the
empire on 29 August
1533
The Andean civilizations were complex
societies of many cultures and peoples
mainly developed in the river valleys of the
coastal deserts of Peru. They stretched from
the Andes of southern Colombia southward
down the Andes to Chile and northwest
Argentina.
 Ancient Andean Lifeways
• Ayllu or clan - basic unit of society
and government
• Village: 2-4 clans, male head who
expected absolute loyalty
• Priests, agricultural calendars, ayllus:
labor for farming + building
• Religion – worship spirits that lived
in rivers, cave, mountains
• Rulers were demigods

Ayllu people
 Ancient Andean Lifeways
• Textiles and fibers important: fishing nets, roofs, rope bridges,
cotton, (alpaca) woolen cloth
• Women and girls spun and wove cloth
• No known writing system
• Northern and Central areas: El Niño – drought, famine led to
downfall of these states
• Southern and Central civilizations expanded with alliances,
colonizing, and warfare

Ayllus
• The Inca built one of the largest &
wealthiest empires in the world
• It began in the mid-1400s & was located on
the western coast of South America.
• Incan Empire extended more than 2,500
miles & included present-day Colombia,
Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, & Argentina—
huge territory covered deserts, mountains,
& rain forests
• Used terraced mountain- sides & irrigation
streams for farming.
• Most famous city was Machu Picchu
 The Incas
• Inca rulers claimed direct descent from the Sun
• Government: regimented, enforced conformity, social welfare
• Control of people: deported inhabitants, established colonies
• Cultural impact: Quechua (official language along with Spanish)
• Material Culture:
– Had no writing, but created record system called quipu (knots tied
to colored rope for recordkeeping, counting, reciting oral traditions
– Superb road builders and architects
– Irrigation systems, dams, and canals, terraces
– Machu Picchu, fortress-city, built without technology.
ANASAZI CIVILIZATION
 North Americans
• Ancestral Puebloan
civilization (Anasazi)
– Began agriculture about 400
CE
– Chaco phenomenon: 14
“Great Houses” multi-story
stone and timber pueblos
– Road system in nearly straight
lines converged on Chaco
Canyon
– Regional trade center
wielding great power
– Puebloan clans migrated
west, south, east about 1300-
1500
 ANASAZI CIVILIZATION

• The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native
American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United
States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New
Mexico, and southwestern Colorado.
• The people and their archaeological culture are often referred to as Anasazi,
meaning "ancient enemies“.
• The Ancestral Puebloans lived in a range of structures that included small family pit
houses, larger structures to house clans, grand pueblos, and cliff-sited dwellings for
defense.
• They had a complex network linking hundreds of communities and population
centers across the Colorado Plateau.
• They held a distinct knowledge of celestial sciences that found form in their
architecture.
• The kiva, a congregational space that was used mostly for ceremonies, was an
integral part of community structure.
The Anasazi built their dwellings under
overhanging cliffs to protect them from the
elements. Using blocks of sandstone and a
mud mortar, the tribe crafted some of the
world's longest standing structures.
The famed CLIFF DWELLINGS were built into the mountainsides with but one exit
for the sake of defense. With the exception of hunting and growing food, all
aspects of living could be performed within the dwelling. Deep pits were
periodically dug within the living quarters. These pits, called KIVAS, served as
religious temples for the ancient Anasazi. Sleeping areas were built into the sides
of the cliffs. Even water could be gathered between the porous cracks in the walls
— all by clever design, of course.
Ancestral Puebloan civilization (Anasazi)
DESERT AND MOUNTAIN CULTURE

THE SAHARA DESERT

• a desert on the African continent. With an area
of 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq
mi), it is the largest hot desert in the world and
the third largest desert overall, smaller only
than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern
Arctic.
• The name "Sahara" is derived from the Arabic
word for "desert" in the feminine irregular form
• Around 6000 BC, some pre-dynastic Egyptians who were in Egypt's southwestern
corner were herding some cattle and were constructing some large buildings.
• At this time, the subsistence in permanent and organized settlements
predominantly centered on animal agriculture and cereal.
• Animal agriculture would include goats, cattle, sheep and pigs. Metal objects are
already replacing stone objects.
• Weaving, pottery and Tanning of certain animal skins were also common at this
time.
• Around 3400 BC, the Sahara is noted to be dry as compared to its situation today.
Due to this, it was very much impenetrable to the earlier Egyptians or to any
human being for that matter. The only settlements were found scattered along its
oasis. Even so, only little commerce and trade was present throughout this desert.
• Thus, by the Neolithic era, prior to the desertification onset, the central portion of
the famous Sahara had a rich environment that supported a huge population that
ranged across the barren desert that it is now. A good example is what they called
Wadi el-Qa'ab.
• Later on, the Phoenicians or Phoenicia's residents who were around between 1200
up to 800 BC made a so-called "Confederation of Kingdoms" all over the Sahara and
even up to Egypt.
• Thus, after the Phoenicians, another urban civilization known as he Garamantes
arose in the Sahara's central area.
The Garamantes was noted to achieve a stronger kind of development via digging some
tunnels farther into the region's mountains. This is in order to flank the valley and tap some
fossil water they can bring to the fields they made. As the Garamantes became populous
and strong, they even conquered their neighbors and captured several slaves. These slaves
were the ones who worked on extending their tunnels.

THE GARAMANTES
This is one reason why the early Romans and
Greek regarded the Garamantes as
"uncivilized nomads". Even so, they
continued their trade with the Garamantes.
In fact, along Garama's Galamantes capital, a
Roman type of bath was discovered by
Archaeologists. Aside from this, eight major
towns as well as various other significant
settlements were found along the regarded
Garamantes territory. As per reports, the
civilization of the Garamantes eventually
collapsed due to the fact that they already
depleted all the available water within the
so-called aquifers. With this, they could not
sustain the task of extending their tunnels in
order to go further and deeper into their
mountains.

This is how the Sahara sustained several

civilizations that thrived in its arid
environment.
THE THAR DESERT
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great
Indian Desert, is a large arid region in the
northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent
that covers an area of 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq
mi) and forms a natural boundary between
India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest
desert, and the world's 9th-largest hot
subtropical desert.

About 85% of the Thar Desert is in India, and

about 15% is in Pakistan. More than 60% of the
desert lies in the Indian state of Rajasthan; the
portion in India also extends into Gujarat,
Punjab, and Haryana.
TRIBAL CULTURE
Who were the tribal people?

Tribals are are group of people who live in

forests or backward areas. They are completely
dependent on forests for their livelihood and
survival.