Basketmaker II And Maya
Introduction
The culture of Southern America and Mexico are highly reliant on the previous existence of various indigenous societies. Some of the most common communities that existed in the region are the Basketmaker II and Mayan. Each of the two groups of people is unique in the practices it executed in its activities.
QUESTION ONE
Introduction
These people are mainly known to have originated from the New Mexico. They were mainly involved I weaving activities that saw them command exclusive respect in the region. The group of people existed between 1500 BC and 500 AD. Also, the people engaged in extensive agricultural practices that led to the exclusive growth of the community. The community lived together in their pithouses, which shows the significance of the family unit among the people. They practiced exclusive activities that make the society remain significant among the American Archaeologists.
Members of the community
The Basketmaker II does not refer to a specific group of people. However, the group includes different classes of people. The group consists of the Mogollon Rim who originated from New Mexico. These people practiced extensive weaving activities where they mainly made baskets. The activities in the region were marked by existence of sites such as Navajo Reservoir. The basketmaker II also consists of people from Utah, Mesa Verde Region, and Arizona (Basketmaker II, 2014).
Origin and location
These people lived in the Northern Southwest between 1500 B.C to A.D 500. This was a period that marked exclusive changes in the cultural practices of the people who around this area. The period had taken several centuries before people began relying on agriculture in their regions of existence (Matson 151).
Activities
The people who lived in the region engaged in various activities. One of the main activities that the people exercised is agriculture they tilled their lands and planted crops. However, they also practiced hunting and gathering. They changed their pastoralist behavior to remain close to their homes to allow them have adequate time to attend to their crops. Maize was the main crop that they planted (Basketmaker II, 2014).Therefore, it was their main food at a time.
The individuals lived in different forms of pithouses, which were large, deep, basin-shaped, and shallow depending on one’s taste. Logs and rock were extensively useful in laying foundations for these houses. The houses were strong as they involved exclusive ability of construction by some of the people from the region (Matson 154).
Contribution
The Basketmaker II people are extensively significant to the American archaeology. Through the activities that the people engaged in, it is easy to locate the evolution of the activities of the Americans. The people mark the evolution in use of different tools in America. The group believed in the power of family, and they embraced the social unit (Sinagua 2014).
QUESTION TWO
Maya people
Introduction
The community is made of Native Americans in Southern America as well as Mexicans. The group makes extensively high contribution to the population. They got extensive cultural practices that make them highly significant in the American society. They have unique traits that make them highly recognizable in the two regions. They are individuals with exclusive respect for family, and all members of the family are assigned duties. The Maya people have exclusive political command.
Regions of occupation
It consists of an extensive range of Native Americans in Southern Mexico, as well as northern Central America. The name “Maya” is designation to include all individuals from the same region who share similar cultural and linguistic heritage. The Mayans are approximately 8million. These people are mainly found in areas such as Guatemala, Southern Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, as well as the Yucatan Peninsula (Medina 358).
Physical identity
A distinctive feature of the Mayan people in the brightly colored, yarn-based, textiles that are woven into shirts, dresses, and capes. It is easy to locate different cities in which these people lived. This is because; people used this feature in a distinctive manner in the different regions (Medina 354).
Activities
The Mayans are exclusively significant in the American literature. There were extensive Mayan stories and legends that mark the significance of the group of people to the lives of the Americans. The Maya people are also believed to have been exclusively talented artists who introduced various forms of art to define their mark in the modern society.
Cultural values
There are various archaeological, iconography, epigraphy, and ethno history elements attached to the ancient group of people. As a result, the Maya culture will remain relevant and extensively significant to Americans, as well as Mexicans who have direct experience. The Mayan culture brings out children as extremely important elements of the society. According to the culture, the children should be involved in carrying out various duties at home (Medina 355).They should assist in handling chores and executing all the duties assigned to them by their parents at home. Because of their effort, the Mayans remain extensively useful to the Mexican and South American cultures. They are extensively significant in the politics of these regions as they form a large portion of the population of these regions (MayaArcheaology 2014). In the social setup of the group of people, they firmly believe in family as a social unit.
Work Cited
"Basketmaker II: 500 B.C. to A.D. 500."Basketmaker II: Birth of Pueblo Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 July 2014.
Matson, R. G. "What is Basketmaker II?." The Kiva (2006): 149-165.
MayaArcheaology. "Mayan archaeology seen from the year 2012 calendrical perspective, art, iconography, religion including resources for students and scholars, plus help for visitors to Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, and Honduras for the year 2012 calendrical end - maya-archaeology.org." Mayan archaeology seen from the year 2012 calendrical perspective, art, iconography, religion including resources for students and scholars, plus help for visitors to Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, and Honduras for the year 2012 calendrical end - maya-archaeology.org. N.p., 16 May 2014. Web. 1 July 2014. <http://www.maya-archaeology.org/>.
Meckes, Mariana, et al. "A microbiological evaluation of medicinal plants used by the Maya people of Southern Mexico." Phytotherapy Research 9.4 (1995): 244-250.
Medina, Laurie Kroshus. "Commoditizing culture: Tourism and Maya identity."Annals of tourism research 30.2 (2003): 353-368.
<http://www.crowcanyon.org/educationproducts/peoples_mesa_verde/basketmaker_II_overview.asp>.
Sinagua. "Anthropology Laboratories."Ancestral Pueblo. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. <http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/d-antlab/Soutwestern%20Arch/Anasazi/bask
