Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic.... at your service!!!!w

[micc at home.com]

Marisol,

the reason there is no consensus on what span of time the pre, classic,
and post, actually include is that not all areas fell into the "cultural
attributes" of these epochs.  for instance, although the Maya "classic
period" is said to end by the 800's A.D., some sites ended their
building programs earlier, and some went on into the "post classic"
period. Also, a great problem that many archeologists ignore when they
set the "starting dates" of eras, especially the pre-classic, is their
almost total absence of perishable materials (especially in the "olmeca
regions) that can be used to date the 'beginning" of a cultural
awakening.

  Who's is to say that the pre-classic did not start 2,000 earlier, with
nothing but wood, straw and paper utensils?  except for a few
discoveries, all we can judge by are the stone sculptures, and earthen
mounds that remain. I has always seemed to me that the "mysterious
olmeca" did not suddenly spring forth from the slimy steamy swamps of
tabasco and Veracruz.  They ahd to have had generations of empirical
evidence to create their writing, calendrical mastery, and religious
building blocks that later cultures would adopt and change.

imagine someone coming back from 3,000 years in the future. They could
say that judging but our current lack of using stone for building,
sculpture, and religious objects, the 20th century was a "dark age" in
human civilization....(and indeed it could be stated that it was judging
by WWWI and II, etc....) Not knowing of the perishable cultural
creations we have (paper or plastic?>>>>, virtual reality, imitation
mayonnaise, etc.)

basically the eras can be broken down into three general periods:

Pre-classic period:  "olmeca" Tres Zapotes, Monte Alban, Tlatilco,
Piedras negras, etc.

classic: Kaminaljuyu, Teotihucancan, Tikal, Palenque, Monete Alban,
Copan, Etc.

Post Classic: chichen Itza, Tajin, Cholula, Tollan-Xicocotitlan,
Azcapotzalco, Cacaxtla, Mayapan, Tulum, Tenochtitlan.


As any amateur ( the the full french sense of the word) can see, the
dates for these great and nobel sites overlap in many cases.  Even
though Teotihuacan was "abandoned" at the end of the classic period,
research shows that there were still people living in the city in
"toltec" times.  monte Alban stretches from pre-classic to Spanish
times.

In a crude and simplistic sense I would (and I probably will generate a
lot of "empty can mail" for this, but oh well...)
say that the pre-classic era was an era of local chiefdoms becoming city
states; writing was developed; and the pan-mesoamerican form of religion
was coalesced ( that is not to imply that there was a homogenous
"mesoamerican religion.  instead what I see is a "common denominator" of
imagery, venus worship ( as the Tlaloc-Quetzalcoatl cult) and human
sacrifice (here we go again!!!)

the classic was a period of state control of trade, religion, ritual
warfare, and a high level of mathmatics, egineering, artistic, and
literary development. It was also a time of serious and terminal
ecological destruction.

the post classic period was a time of "chichimec" intrusions into the
Mesoamerican world view. The Tlaloc-quetzalcoatl duality was replaced by
the tlaloc huitzilopochtli cult of the Mexi'ca   (of course this was not
the case everywhere!!) classic period institutions were transformed from
king based states to military-theocracies, The knowledge of the past was
religiously kept alive, memorized, and ritualized into mythology,
separate form its original historical relavence (Remember Tlacaelel
buring the ancient books with the 'truth" he did not want the Mexi'ca
people to know??). The "Toltec" lineage became of paramount authority in
highland maya ruling houses as well as in Chichen Itza (here is another
field of landmines!!), and of course in Anahuac where the Mexi'ca
systematically intermarried into the "cuhua" families of Culhuacan so
they could claim toltec blood.

Finally, it appears that the pochteca class was creating a powerbase
that transcended national boundires, since only they had the experitse
and contacts to bring elite goods form one area to another.


Anyway I will quit now, lest I be accused of pontificating again....:)





marisol wrote:
>
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> I have started a research on pre-Aztec history in central Mexico, and found
> that each source I have consulted, gives different years for the division of
> the pre-classic, classic and post-classic periods.
>
> PRECLASSIC from 1500 BC till the start of AD? or till year 100? or till year
> 300?
>
> CLASSIC from X above till 750, 800 or 900 AD?
>
> POSTCLASSIC from X above till 1521?
>
> Some other sources name an "ARCHAIC" period lasting till 1500 BC (?)
>
> Is a consensus on this division?
>
> I would be grateful if someone could enlighten me, and/or indicate which
> reliable texts/web sites to consult.
>
> Susana Moraleda
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marisol wrote:
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> Somehow the two very important messages I had received on this subject (from
> Fran Karttunen and "micc") got  inadvertently deleted.
>
> Fran and micc, could I receive another copy, PLEASE??
>
> Sorry for that.
>
> Susana Moraleda
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