Religion in Early Civilizations and States

Although archaeologists think that the first peoples arrived in North America from Asia between 15,000 and 18,000 years ago, as we have seen, indigenous sacred narratives frequently hold that peoples of the Americas originated in America, not elsewhere.

However, we know quite a bit about religion in later, larger-scale civilizations. Numerous major civilizations arose in Mesoamerica, such as the Olmec (1500-200 bce) and later the Zapotec (600 BCE-800 ce). Many ancient Mesoamerican peoples shared religious ideas, practices, and gods. The Mayan civilization thrived for centuries in what is today southern Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, and Mayan people of the region today are their descendants. The height of Mayan civilization was from about 300-900 ce. The ancient Mayans had sophisticated architecture and built large pyramids in many urban centers. They had a complex social organization and written language. Mayan religion recognized a complex pantheon of gods, and a three-layered cosmos, with an underworld, a middle world, and an upper world; we discussed Mayan religious teachings earlier in this chapter. Many ritual practices were part of Mayan religious life and included penitential bloodletting. Evidence of religious ideas abounds in architecture; for example, the origins of a complex ball game are in sacred narratives like the Popol Vuh, and ball courts can be found at many Mayan sites. After 900, Mayan civilization began to decline, and Mayan cities were eventually abandoned. Although scholars do not agree on why this happened, many think that overpopulation and a changing climate and accompanying drought were factors.

Farther to the west in Mexico, the city of Teotihuacan thrived from 200 âñå to 900 ce. Scholars believe that the city was very important as a religious and ritual center. The huge city is best known today for its two enormous pyramids, known as the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. There are numerous other structures that were likely temples, including one dedicated to the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, who was recognized in many Mesoamerican religions. The orientation of structures to celestial bodies suggests sophisticated astronomical knowledge and the likelihood that religious practices and ideas were calendrical. Archaeological evidence shows that numerous offerings, including sacrifices of animals, were likely made to various gods and goddesses at the site.

Somewhat later, the Aztec civilization thrived in the same region from about 1100 until the early 1500s ce. The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan had as many as 200,000 inhabitants by the 1500s, and it was the largest city in the Americas. Like many other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Aztecs were known for monumental architecture and agricultural sophistication. Scholars know quite a bit about Aztec religion due to surviving manuscripts, archaeological evidence, and written accounts of the Spanish. Aztec religion was complex and recognized many deities, including Quetzalcoatl. Numerous ritual practices, including sacrifices, focused on pleasing and honoring the deities. As a result of internal conflicts in the empire and the eventual Spanish siege of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec Empire collapsed in 1521 ce.

Large-scale civilizations also arose further north, in what is today the United States, although not nearly as many as in Mesoamerica. The Mississippian culture flourished from around 700 to 1400 ce. The Mississippian city of Cahokia, in what is today Illinois, was the largest preconquest city north of Mexico.

Around the same time but further west, the first pueblos, a term for communal urban dwellings something like apartments, were built in what is today the American Southwest. One of these sites is Canyon de Chelly, in Arizona, which was first inhabited nearly 5,000 years ago. Much later, around 1000 ce, the ancestors of contemporary Navajo and Pueblo peoples built permanent settlements in the area, including pueblo dwellings and kivas, which are special chambers dug into the ground that were used for ritual and social purposes; kivas are still in use today by Pueblo peoples Canyon de Chelly was eventually abandoned around 1300 ce, though scholars do not agree on why. Hopi and Zuni people trace their ancestors to the first inhabitants of the pueblos, and the Navajo people arrived centuries later.

Chaco Canyon, in New Mexico, is another ancestral site of the Pueblo peoples. The site flourished from the 8oos to noos ce, and its residents built impressive architectural structures, such as large multistory “great houses” and very large underground kivas. As with sites farther south in Mexico, such as Teotihuacan, structures of Chaco Canyon were oriented according to the positions of the sun and moon, showing astronomical expertise and perhaps the importance of the solar or lunar calendar in the ritual year. Trade goods from Mesoamerica, such as macaw feathers and cacao, show important connections with peoples to the south, and perhaps shared ritual practices.