Course Description
Two indigenous urban societies of the Americas, from farming village beginnings to the Spanish conquest, and their lasting impact on modern middle American culture. Topics include ecology, economy, political organization, urbanism, militarism, beliefs, art, architecture, and literature.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will have more advanced readings and will write an original research paper drawing on primary source materials and suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Athena Title
AZTECS & MAYA
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ANTH 3260
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Aztec and Maya environments, population, economy, politics, warfare, ritual language, art, music, and literature will be explored. In addition, the course will examine the relationship between the Aztec, Maya, and their neighbors. All students will be required to write a 10-20 page term paper that will account for 25 percent of their course grade. These papers will focus on controversial topics in archaeology, identified by the instructor, and will require the student to 1) research the topic, 2) analyze and evaluate the different positions regarding the topic that have been published in the scientific literature, and 3) provide a coherent argument for a solution to the controversy. Since archaeology is by its nature interdisciplinary, drawing on contributions from prehistory, geology, soil science, paleoenvironmental research, chemistry, and cultural anthropology, most paper topics will require that the student grasp and integrate published material from several different disciplines.
Topical Outline
I. Mesoamerica: Geography, Languages, and Peoples II. The Aztecs 1. Before the Aztecs 2. Aztec Culture 3. Conquest and the Aztecs Today III. Oaxaca: Between Aztecs and Maya IV. The Maya 1. Pre-classic Development 2. Classic Maya Culture 3. The Collapse 4. Post-classic Maya Culture 5. Conquest and the Maya Today V. Summary: The Evolution of Multi-Ethnic Civilization
Syllabus