The Sinagua’s economy was heavily focused on trade with other tribes from near and far. The Sinagua became one of the most successful traders of the prehistoric Southwest around 700 AD. They didn’t just trade from village to village, but went as far north as one hundred miles with the Hopi and as far south as Mexico. Some of the items exchanged were shell jewelry, cotton cloth, argillite, pigments, copper bells, salt, decorated pottery, and even live macaws. Millions of years ago, when the limestone was forming, massive droughts caused evaporative salt to accumulate in a lot of places in the surrounding area.
Nieli'kas are found in most Huichol sacred places such as house shrines (xiriki), temples, springs and caves. In the past thirty years, about four thousand Huichols have migrated to cities, primarily Tepic, Nayarit, Guadalajara and Mexico City. It is these urbanized Huichols who have drawn attention to their rich culture through their art. To preserve their ancient beliefs they have begun making detailed and elaborate yarn paintings, a development and modernization of the nieli'ka. This blue beaded Huichol art bear depicts symbols of peyote, scorpion, and corn.
The Culture of ancient Egypt was born 5000 years ago, and for many centuries powerful rulers called pharaohs ruled the land. The people of ancient Egypt respected their Pharaohs and helped them by constructing the buildings to honor their leaders and gods. This is evident from the remains of the breath taking architecture left behind by their civilization. Today over 80 pyramids remain all over Egypt, most of them found along river Nile up to the capital Cairo. The Egyptian culture mixes African, Asian and European ideas.
For many indigenous peoples, the natural world is a valued source of food, health, spirituality and identity. Land is both a critical resource that sustains life and a major cause of struggle and even death. Each indigenous culture is distinct and unique. While many peoples may express similar worldviews and a common indigenous identity, their cultures are nonetheless based on different histories, environments, and creative spirits. (www.indigenouspeople.net/) Here in Trinidad indigenous people existed for over 6,000 years before the arrival of Columbus, and numbered at least 40,000 at the time of Spanish settlement in 1592.
SERPENT MOUND An effigy mound is a raised section of land built in the image of either an animal, human, symbol, or any other image that was of great importance to the creators, commonly known as the Mound builders. Mound builders were a Prehistoric group of people that inhabited North America now know as the Midwest in states like Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio from around 3000 BCE to the 16th century CE. The effigy mounds that these people constructed were believed to be built primarily for religious, astrological, and sometimes burial purposes. These mounds hold significant value to many different cultures, primarily Native American, and are also important to the science community but are under an immediate threat. Despite lasting centuries and centuries of natural deterioration, they are being looked at as bumps in the ground that need to be flattened out for urban growth and ever expanding land for farming.
The world houses many different types of societies that exhibit a plethora of traits. Among the ancient societies, there are a couple that flourish significantly more than others. Some powerful civilizations in Mesoamerica include the Incas, Mayas and Aztecs. Between these civilizations, the Mayan empire stood tallest. They were a dominating society of Mesoamerica, rich in culture and community.
Chichen Itza which means “at the mouth of the well of Itza “, is the 2nd most visited archeological site of Mexico today. It is located midway between Merida and Cancun in the northeast part of the Yucatan Peninsula and was built from 800-1000 AD. Chichen Itza is filled with many ceremonial structures such as El Castillo, The Great Ball Court, The Sacred Cenote, Platform of Eagle & Jaguar, Temple of the Jaguar, The Observatory, Venus Temple, The Temple of 1000 Warriors (columns), The Market, Casa del Venado and The Ossuary. Possibly the best known construction in Chichen Itza is El Castillo (Kukulcan Pyramid). El Castillo, whose literal translation is “the castle,” is a square-based, stepped pyramid that is approximately 75 feet tall.
They developed an agriculturally intensive, city-centered empire consisting of numerous independent city-states During this period the Mayas numbered in the millions, they created a multitude of kingdoms and small empires, built monumental palaces and temples, engaged in grandiose ceremonies, and developed an elaborate hieroglyphic writing system. The political, economic, and culturally dominant ‘core’ Mayan units of the Classic Mayan world system were located in the central lowlands, while its corresponding dependent or ‘peripheral’ Mayan units were found along the margins of the southern highland and northern lowland areas. The Maya civilization participated in long distance trade with many of the other Mesoamerican cultures, including Teotihuacan, the Zapotec and other groups in central and gulf-coast Mexico, as well as with more distant, non-Mesoamerican groups, for example the Taínos in the Caribbean. Archeologists have also found gold from Panama in the Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza. [12] Important trade goods included cacao, salt,seashells, jade and obsidian.
Teotihuacan will be the trading, cultural, and religious center of Mesoamerica for several centuries. The Mayans built more than 80 ceremonial centers and other settlements from 300 to 900 C.E. The ceremonial centers had many temples, palaces, and pyramids
They were also big on hunting, and farming as a profitable methods. The Shang saw bronze as giving the impression of an advanced social standpoint. Bronze was largely used by upper class families, trustworthy associates, and emperors. The Zhou dynasty rained for more than 800 years, and did just as the Shang did oust out the current leader at the time. The Zhou ousted out the Shang.