HIS 111 Unit 6

HIS 111
Unit 6: Mesoamerica

Pyramid of the Moon, part of the complex at Teotihuacan, near Mexico City, abandoned in the eighth century ce. See some additional photos and then have a look at the excellent website on Teotihuacan, The City of the Gods. I also have some photos of Inca civilization.

What you must do in this unit

Read chapters 5 and 18 in the textbook (chapter 11 in the Edgar text).
Read my notes on Mesoamerican civilization.
Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the unit.
Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum. Do not post your assignment there.

What you can do in this unit

Read the material about the Popol Vuh (if you are going to submit the Quiché optional paragraph).
Submit the Optional Quiché paragraph.
Listen to some further information about this unit as a mp3 file. You can also read the information as a txt file.
Please read the notes on the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá.

Some videos that you can watch for this unit

What the Ancients Did For Us - The Aztecs and Maya 1/3
Lost City of the Incas
Quest for the Lost Maya
In Search of History - The Aztec Empire
For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the url and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.

Extra Credit Options

Take the short 5-point quizzes for chapters 5 and 18. Log into Blackboard and look under "Chapter Quizzes." You have five minutes to complete each quiz (multiple-choice questions).
The Popol Vuh is the sacred book of the Quiché Indians, who are descended from Maya in present-day Guatemala. The book, recorded in the sixteenth century in Quiché in Latin script and translated in the nineteenth century, is the Mayan creation myth that had been handed down for thousands of years and reflects early Mesoamerican mythology. In many ways, the epic resembles Genesis of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For extra credit, in a one-page paper for a maximum of 50 points, consider a comparison of the Popol Vuh with Genesis. (There is also a version at www.jaguar-sun.com/popolvuh.html, and there is a new website, sponsored by Ohio State University, with versions of the PV in three different languages.) There are also complete versions of Genesis available online.
For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read Hernan Cortés Second Letter to Charles V, 1520, and in a long paragraph, explain what scholars can learn about Indian society from this account.
For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read Pedro de Cieza de Léon Chronicles of the Incas, 1540, and in a long paragraph, explain what scholars can learn about the Inca economy from this short excerpt.
For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course. Send the title of the site, the url and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.