Traditions and Encounters, 4th Edition (Bentley)   Chapter
Outline    1. Early societies of Mesoamerica     1. The Olmecs
1. Migration to Mesoamerica         1. Large wave of humans
traveled from Siberia to Alaska around 13,000 B.C.E.         2.
By 9500 B.C.E., humans reached the southernmost part of South
America         3. As hunting became difficult, agriculture
began (7500 B.C.E.)       2. Early agriculture: beans, squashes,
chilies; later, maize became the staple (5000 B.C.E.)         1.
Agricultural villages appeared after 3000 B.C.E.         2. No
large domesticated animals, no wheeled vehicles       3.
Ceremonial centers by the end of the second millennium B.C.E.
4. Olmecs, the "rubber people," lived near the Gulf of Mexico
(1200 B.C.E.)         1. Elaborate complexes built         2.
The colossal human heads--possibly likenesses of rulers
3. Rulers' power shown in construction of huge pyramids
4. Trade in jade and obsidian         5. Decline of Olmecs:
systematically destr