Archive for the ‘Ancient South America’ Category
By: The Scribe on September, 2007
No matter which what you call it, Incan khipu/quipu were recording devices created and used throughout the Incan Empire, made out of colored strings – generally spun and plied from alpaca or llama hair – with information encoded on them by a complex system of knots. It was originally believed that these khipu only contained numeric values, however there are theories that some strands of knots contained a form of binary code that was capable of recording words, or “logographic” information. If that is the case, that may mean that the Incan khipu contain stories of the people’s history and past.
Unlike other Bronze Age civilizations, the Incan Empire did not seem to develop their own written language. They created monumental structures, accomplished incredible architectural feats, invented excellent pieces of technology and were highly skilled at urban planning, and definitely knew how to mobilize people and resources to maximize their effectiveness when needed – needless to say, the Incans were very intelligent people. However… it seems that they just simply didn’t feel the need to write anything down. As a result, they created their own recording system through knotted strings and cords, which was likely developed simply due to the practical need for resource tracking.
The problem is, no one has yet been able to completely decipher the vast amounts of khipu left behind by these people. There’s no doubt that some of the knotted strands were used for things like tax accounting, census records, and general numerical information concerning livestock and farming resources, and these records would have been under the care of basic community administrators. Historians know that the Incans used a decimal or base 10 system of counting, and so the khipus that contain this numerical information have been “read”…but the tide of thought about whether this was the only use is beginning to change.
Since the Incan people were using a decimal system of counting, there is a distinct possibility that they learned how to utilize a binary system to convey other information – much like the way that computers work with information, using distinct combinations of the numbers 1 & 0. After all, of the 700 or so known khipu that still exist, only about 2/3 of them are thought to be arranged in a numerical pattern – leaving open the distinct possibility that the other third may be narrative material that holds the key to stories and information about Incan history.
In 2005, researchers at Harvard University in Boston found that several khipu contained a repeated 3-knot pattern in some of the strings, and after a great deal of investigation, they concluded that this kind of knot pattern may in fact be indicative of a place-name, or ‘toponym’. Even if this place-name identification is only found in some of the accounting documents, it still marks the first time that an actual word has been identified rather than simply a number – and if the Incans were able to convey specific place names… why wouldn’t they have been able to record additional information with words in other khipu?
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Tomorrow: Colgate Cavemen!
By: The Scribe on September, 2007
Known best for their production of the Nazca lines in the Peruvian desert, it appears that the Nazca culture did more than just create sand art – they also created some fantastic pieces of pottery… ceramic heads, to be precise. In fact, the Nazca were rather fond of worshiping their ancestors through human sacrifice: they would decapitate their victims, modify the skull to be a ‘trophy’ head, and display this as a symbol of their worship.
The only problem is, no one is quite sure whether the victims in these sacrificial rituals were actually enemies from war or rival tribes, or if they were simply local people who offered themselves up for the sake of the group. Fortunately in 2004, an archaeologist from Texas State University discovered a Nazca burial that may help to shed some light on the dilemma.
The burial contained a rare, headless skeleton inside of a tomb-like structure, sitting cross-legged and with a ceramic ‘head-jar’ by his left elbow. By looking at the age of the skeleton and the condition of the burial – as well as taking into account the ceramic jar, painted with dual inverted faces – it has since been determined that the victim was killed and buried in a ritual of ancestral worship. At the time of death, the victim was a 20-25 year old male, and there are still visible cut marks along the neckline – meaning that not only was this person decapitated, but the cuts were made on fresh bone…ergo, it would have taken quite the effort to cut off this person’s head!
The site of the burial was at a place called La Tiza, where only several other Nazca head jars have been found before. Although they’ve typically been considered a part of high-status burial ritual, the function of the replacement head jars is also still under debate. Judging by where this man was buried and the style of death, his sacrifice was likely meant to honor the ancestors buried at this Nazca cemetery – in effect, he was killed in order to appease the ancestral spirits and ensure the fruitful continuation of the community.
Since the ceramic jar was painted with two images of a human face – which, when looked at directly, one is right side up and the other upside-down – the jar was probably meant to serve as a ‘substitute’ for the victim’s decapitated head! Based on other Nazca images in the area, it is thought that the Nazca believed a person needed a head in order to enter into the afterlife – so naturally, a replacement head would have been necessary, especially for a sacrificial victim! Of course, this generous treatment leads one to think that perhaps the ritually killed individual was a local community member after all…or, there is always an alternative possibility that the man was killed in a battle and had his body retrieved by family members who simply chose to bury him here – however, that doesn’t make quite as interesting a story.
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Tomorrow: More Ancient Standard!
By: The Scribe on August, 2007
About 1,400 years ago, the Loma Caldera volcano near the ancient village of Ceren decided it was time to erupt. As a result, the little Mayan village of Ceren was buried under ten feet of ash – and was probably abandoned when the people realized that their mountain was in rather shaky condition.
Fortunately for today’s archaeologists, the ash layer perfectly preserved what was underneath – including a field of a nutritious crop called manioc. Also referred to as yucca or cassava, there had been no previous evidence for Mayan cultivation of manioc… however, this find may finally provide clues as to how the Mayan civilization was able to prosper and feed such a large population.
It has been long known that the Mayans grew and ate corn and beans, but what they grew to supplement this diet has, for the most part, been speculation based on artistic depictions and clues from various Mayan codex scrolls. This calorie-rich tuber would certainly have played a prominent role in ensuring the people ate a healthy and substantial diet – and helped to support their enormous cities such as Copan and Tikal.
Along with finding this ancient but freshly planted field of manioc, ground penetrating radar helped to locate the remains of homes, religious buildings, workshops, storehouses, kitchens, and even a community sauna at Ceren!
Other Central and South American cultures would also later come to rely on manioc as a large component of their diet, including the Pre-Columbia civilization of the Moche.
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Tomorrow: More Ancienty Goodness!
By: The Scribe on August, 2007
According to the ancient Aztecs, things like beauty, love, dance, and flowers were not necessarily associated with femininity, as they are in modern times. Instead, the Aztecs had their own male god to represent these things for them: Xochipilli was the god of games, maize, dance, love, beauty and flowers, and was also sometimes referred to as “Macuilxochitl”, which actually means ‘five flowers’.
Xochipilli’s name was formed out of two words from the Nahuatl language: xochitl, which means ‘flower’, and pilli, which means ‘child’ or ‘prince’. So, the god was quite literally a “flower child” (or “flower prince”, which is somewhat less demeaning to the modern ear)! In addition, the god was married to a goddess named Mayahuel, who was responsible for looking after maguey plants and fertility – literally a ‘womb protector’.
However, Xochipilli was not solely responsible for all the flowers and dancing, instead he shared this responsibility with his twin sister, the goddess Xochiquetzal (meaning “flower feather”), who looked after fertility, games, dancing, craftsmen, flowers… and also prostitutes and pregnant women (apparently the two went hand-in-hand to the ancient Aztec mind…).
It was in the mid-1800s when a statue of Xochipilli was discovered that dated to the 16th century, and it showed a single figure sitting on a base that looked somewhat like a temple. The interesting thing is that the carvings on the side of the base, as well as on the figure itself, are not only flowers – which is, of course, appropriate for this god – but are actually psychoactive flowers and plants associated with hallucinogenic effects.
These plants include mushrooms, tobacco, sinicuichi, and several other flowers – which may explain why the figure is depicted with his head tilted upward, his mouth half open and jaw tensed, and his arms raised skyward: the statue probably depicts the god while he’s high. The expression of the body, in combination with these plants that are known to have been used by the Aztecs in sacred rituals, almost certainly support this interpretation.
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Tomorrow: Mosaic rewrites history
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