On August 3, 1492, the first expedition of the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus began. The traveler hoped to discover the shortest sea route from Europe to India. After 70 days of sailing, the expedition discovered America.
What is known about pre-Columbian America today? And a lot and a little. Each new discovery adds mysteries to the life of the peoples who inhabited the continents long before the arrival of the first colonists.
Origin: Asians, Egyptians or …?
From 6 to 60 million people lived on the territory of the ancient continent - scientists still cannot determine the numbers more precisely. The settlers spoke 550 languages.
There is no consensus among researchers on the origin of civilizations in Central and North America. Some believe that the ancestors of the Indians came from Egypt (hence the ability to build pyramids, and hieroglyphic writing).
Others are convinced that they were from the East. Confirmation of this theory is the similarity of the DNA of the natives and the inhabitants of northeast Asia. The Indians themselves, primarily living in the foothills of the Andes, were sure that their ancestors were two survivors of the flood Unu-Pachacuti, arranged by the supreme deity Viracocha.
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Inca writing
Now there is no doubt that writing existed among the Incas. That's just how she looked - remains a mystery.
Even the first colonists who arrived in Peru noted that information is transmitted using the "kipu" - a knot system used on multi-colored braid. Nimble envoys of the "Chaski" delivered threads with knots to different parts of the empire, telling with their help about new decrees and orders. However, researchers have always been tormented by the question: did the Incas have no written codes of laws and did not keep a chronicle of their history? This is hardly possible, because, for example, throughout the entire territory of the empire, the same punishment was applied to people who committed the same crime, which means that the judges were guided by generally accepted rules.
Who destroyed Tikal?
In 1848, the largest Mayan city was found in the jungles of Guatemala by American archaeologists, which was named Tikal (translated from the Mayan language - "a place where voices are heard"). This discovery made it possible to learn more about the life of the ancient civilization.
According to scientists, one hundred thousand people lived in the city. The buildings were connected by roads. Artificial embankments were used as foundations, which reached a maximum height of 40 meters under the temples.
Plaster and whitewash were applied to the walls, and then they were painted with bright drawings.
Stelae and altars were a characteristic feature of any Mayan city found. It is easy to determine the age of their construction - they are all dated. They were built not only in honor of a significant event for the city - military victories, the election of a new priest - but also at the end of the time cycle - every 20 years. Many of the steles found in Tikal were broken. Did the inhabitants of the city do this during the popular unrest? Or was Tikal conquered by the Mexican Pipil tribe? Whatever the answer is, the largest Mayan city with 600 years of history was abandoned by the end of the 9th century.
"Daily bread
Agriculture was one of the sources of subsistence for almost all Indian tribes, except for North American ones. Pre-Columbian Peruvians had beans as their main crop. Even in the driest years, crops were harvested twice a season, with a koya digging stick being the main tool. The bean was so prized that its image was placed on the faces of the most revered gods.
The Great Lakes Indians harvested wild-growing water rice, the harvests of which were so generous that, for example, the Menomine tribe even managed to "export" the surplus.
Representatives of the ancient civilization of Teotihuacan, which existed until the 7th century AD, cultivated corn, tomatoes, pumpkin in "floating gardens" - chinampas - artificial islets literally cobbled together by Indians from swampy mud.
Rock palace
The stereotypical view that Indians lived in wigwams is only partly true. For example, the five-thousand-strong tribe of the Mesa Verde civilization, which flourished in 1100-1300, lived in pueblo - huts in the rocks. They were made of bricks, using wet clay instead of masonry mortar.
The Rock Palace is one of the largest settlements in ancient North America. One and a half hundred living quarters in the rocks are combined into one building. The rooms are connected by courtyards enclosed by stone fences.
It was in the courtyards that women made baskets, sewed blankets with bright ornaments, sculpted and painted dishes. In summer, a fire was lit to prepare dinner, but in winter, bonfires were burned in all rooms around the clock. The remnants of lunch and all unnecessary things were simply thrown out of the windows by the Indians, as a result of which a rich "harvest" for researchers accumulated at the bottom of the canyon.
To reach your vegetable garden or cornfield, you had to climb a long wooden staircase up to the plateau. Those wishing to descend to the bottom of the canyon for water should have demonstrated even greater miracles of rock climbing, sliding off the cliff along hollowed out depressions.
Divide and rule
In 2011, the Berlin Ethnographic Museum in Damlei hosted an exhibition on the most autocratic form of government in the history of world civilizations.
The Inca supreme had absolute power. All men of the empire were considered his sons, all women - wives. Unquestioning obedience and unquestioned authority.
A similar form of government existed in the Natche tribe. Every morning the leader of the Big Sun went out of his luxurious house and showed his heavenly brother the Sun which way to go - from east to west. It was a great honor of the time that the "king" was reclining on the couch and "led" the midshipmen - "stinking" (as the "gentlemen" were called ordinary fellow tribesmen).
But among the Menominee Indians, government was carried out according to the principle of a tribal community. Each member of the society was a member of one of five brotherhoods, between which the main functions were clearly distributed. Bears settled civil disputes, Eagles were military, Wolves were foraging, Cranes were engaged in construction, including making canoes and traps. Finally, the moose were raised, harvested and stored.
Sacrifice
The army and the mentality of the subjects, which was supported by regular rituals, helped to effectively manage large territories.
So, the most beautiful children sacrificed could influence a good harvest for the Incas.
For them, a "festive dinner" was arranged with coca leaves and an intoxicating potion. When a child lost consciousness, he was turned into a cocoon, repeatedly wrapped in cloth and "layered" with treats and tatem figures. Then the victim was carried high into the mountains, where the body quickly turned into a mummy. At the aforementioned Berlin exhibition, in particular, one could see several such mummies: wide-eyed masks, long hair decorated with feathers, behind a belt - all the necessary things for a successful journey to the afterlife.