South American traditions. Customs and traditions of the peoples of North America Traditions and customs of the ancient Indians of South America

It is impossible to describe the population of South America using only criteria of ethnic origin. It is too much of an oversimplification to describe Guyanese society as one of various racial groups. Terms such as Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese refer to ethnic identity. But significant physical and cultural differences exist between ethnic communities. This division may lead to the mistaken belief that there are two Guyanas with completely different origins, behavior and political and economic interests in the same country.

All immigrant groups adapted to the dominant British culture in the colony. In many ways, the descendants of different immigrant groups are more similar to each other than to their distant ancestors. In addition, the descendants of immigrants have moved beyond their previous social niches. Indo-Guyanese can be found not only in the sugarcane and rice plantations, but also in the cities, where some of them have become entrepreneurs, professionals or simply workers. Afro-Guyanese can also be found at all levels of Guyanese society.

All immigrants in Guyana share a common experience. They all worked on plantations. With the abolition of slavery, the nature of the labor force changed, but not the work itself. The Indians did the same work as the African slaves before them, and lived in the same housing as the former slaves. All immigrants were exposed to the dominant influence of the British value system and had nowhere to preserve their values.

Africans consider themselves to belong to different cultural groups, and Indian society has also been differentiated by religion and caste. For the English, however, race was the only characteristic, and all Indians were classified into one group and all Africans into another.

The greatest influence on assimilation was the use of language. English became the primary language of all Guyanese, with the exception of some old people and some Amerindians. The universal use of English has proven to be a powerful unifying cultural force.

The descendants of immigrant groups became increasingly anglicized. Cultural differences weakened. And even physical differences were blurred through intermarriage. Cultural differences retain their symbolic meaning. Many of these cultural differences were not inherited, but arose locally. For example, Guyanese Hinduism is closer to Islam and Christianity than in the homeland of Hinduism itself. Humanity tends to think in stereotypes. So the population of South America is divided into stereotypical groups by the population of South America itself.

Racial stereotypes developed in Guyana early in the founding of the colony. British planters characterized Africans as physically strong but lazy and irresponsible. Indians were characterized as hardworking, but clannish and greedy. To some extent, these stereotypes were recognized by the immigrants themselves, with positive stereotypes readily attributed to themselves and negative stereotypes to others.

In the process of the country's development, stereotypes explained the behavior of representatives of different nationalities. Africans were characterized as short-sighted when they refused to work for low wages on plantations or enter into long-term contracts with planters. Indians were called selfish when all efforts were directed towards maximizing the acquisition of capital.

In modern Guyana, ethnic characteristics are less susceptible to stereotypes. Other differences matter more now. There is a gradation into “metropolitan” manners and “coolie” manners. However, what is considered metropolitan manners in the provinces can at the same time be recognized as coolie manners in the capital itself.

Along with these stereotypes, the colonial attitude towards European countries also persists, when all British customs, morals and behavior were idealized. The British education system contributed to the preservation of Eurocentrism. The idea of ​​the superiority of British culture was recognized and accepted among slaves. In particular, former slaves still believe that adherence to Christianity is a sign of human civilization.

The middle class, which was formed from the end of the nineteenth century from among Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese, was also based mainly on British values, the idea of ​​which was the most progressive and civilized.

The culture of South America represents a unique manifestation of the creative genius of mankind. Using its example, one can trace the dynamics of the early stages of the development of the world cultural process: from the primitive stage to its class stage, which demonstrated the peaks achieved by ancient civilizations.

Some scientists believe that people came to South America already in the 11th-10th millennium BC. e. across the Isthmus of Panama. Walking along the Colombian rivers Cauca and Magdolena, along the coast of Ecuador, they entered the Central Andes region, and then settled throughout the continent, reaching the 8th millennium BC. e. Strait of Magellan. This is evidenced by the finds of stone tools and sites of hunters of long-extinct animals. Perhaps in the VIII-VII millennium BC. e. in South America they began to domesticate animals, and in the 7th-6th millennium BC. e., just like in the Old World, agriculture was already emerging in the river oases of coastal deserts and the first sanctuaries appeared. By the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. they could sculpt and burn clay there, and in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. the first civilizations arise.

In 1531, Spanish soldiers led by a conquistador Francisco Pizarro(1475-1541), landed on the mainland, which was inhabited by peoples who were at very different stages of the formation of human society.

Numerous groups of tribes isolated from each other, who were at the primitive stage of development, lived in the forest-steppe zones of tropical forests, on the plains of South America and in the Tierra del Fuego region. Separated by high mountains, fast and mighty rivers, and vast plains, over the past centuries they have not been able to emerge from the state of primitiveness and continue to remain in it to this day.

Tierra del Fuego and forest-steppe zones

The tribes who lived in the region of Tierra del Fuego, the forests and steppes of eastern Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, were at the primitive stage of development of society and culture. Their lifestyle was extremely mobile. Settlement locations changed after resources were depleted. The main occupations included sea fishing (hunting for seals, dolphins, shellfish, fishing), land hunting (monkeys, turtles, jaguars) and gathering (nuts, tubers, pods, insect larvae, young plant growth). They lived in communities. Each family had either its own shed or a light oval-shaped hut. Food was prepared without special utensils: shellfish were baked in shells, meat was fried on stones and coals, and fish, poultry and eggs were baked.

Clothing was minimal. Residents of the steppe and forest zones walked naked. Only men “covered” their hips with laces. But everyone wore jewelry: wooden plugs were inserted into the lower lips and earlobes.

The clothing of the Fuegians was something resembling a cloak made of otter and seal skins, and the privilege of women was fur aprons. The “wardrobe” was complemented by shell necklaces and leather bracelets.

Inhabitants of plains and tropical forests

The life of the inhabitants of the plains of eastern Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and Uruguay was similar, but they had no housing and used special throwing stones for hunting.

The inhabitants of the tropical forests of South America, located mainly in the Orinoco and Amazon river basins, have gone somewhat further in their development. In the 16th century n. e. Numerous peoples lived here: the Tupi-Guarani, part of the Arawaks, the Caribs and many others, whose ethnicity is not defined even today. These were hunter-gatherer cultures that already knew how to grow plants, most notably cassava. Cassava tubers contain substances that turn into a strong poison (hydrocyanic acid) when they are separated from the trunk. But the tubers were washed in running water for a long time, peeled, ground on a grater, the mass was squeezed out and baked in the form of round cakes in hot clay pans (these tribes knew ceramic production). The cultivation of turtles in special pens served as a major support for the economy of the forest tropics.

One of the most famous inhabitants of this area was the same tribe. It became famous for its lower lip, which was severely deformed by wooden disks and stretched to the size of a saucer.

The worldview of these tribes and peoples was completely typical of primitive man: the world and way of life were sanctified by myths, and nature was inhabited by spirits and supernatural forces.

A completely different stage of human evolution was represented by the cultures of the peoples living in the Central Andes region and in the so-called Intermediate (Circum-Caribbean) zone. It is here that the unique civilizations of Chavin, San Agustin, Paracas, Nazca, Mochica, Tihuaunaco, Tayrone, Chimu, Chibcha and the Incas flourish.

Chavín culture (1000 BC - 300 BC)

The first civilization to shine as a bright star in the Central Andes was the Chavín (“Sons of the Jaguar with Spears”). Its center - the city of Chavin - arose in a place surrounded by snowy peaks and non-melting glaciers. A road leading to it was located at an altitude of 4100 m; the entrance to the city was through a tunnel dug into the mountain.

Chavin was a cult center, so only the highest priests lived there. The main object of their worship is animals from the cat family (puma or jaguar). Their menacing, stylized faces decorate almost all the city’s buildings.

The most remarkable thing about Chavin is the architecture and sculpture. The famous Chavin ensemble consisted of terraces, ritual platforms and stone buildings. Its crown is a magnificent four-story temple, shaped like a stepped pyramid (its base area is 72 x 72 m and its height is 13 m). Inside it there is a series of prayer houses and underground corridors, which stretch deep underground beyond the buildings, going under the bottom of the river. One of the main objects of the temple is "Big square", having a quadrangular shape and surrounded on all sides by special platforms. At its center was one of Chavin's most remarkable works of art - Obelisk "Deity at the tip of a spear", which was an almost five-meter column in the shape of a dagger, on top of which was installed a sculpture of a frightening creature with a human body, the face of a jaguar, with snake hair on its head.

Typical Chavin sculptures include about 90 roughly hewn stones discovered in the Casma Valley (Cerro Sechin), depicting male warriors with a jaguar grin, in high helmets, with richly decorated wide belts and staffs in their hands. At the head of the army is a military leader in a magnificent robe, on a special belt from which the severed heads of enemies hang. It is possible that these figures once framed the façade of the pyramid.

The main occupation of the population was agriculture. Powerful irrigation systems helped to obtain high yields. One of them, occupying two and a half hectares, was discovered near the modern city of Cajamarca. Its main part is an aqueduct carved into the rock. The water coming from it went through several tunnels, the walls of which were decorated with peculiar petroglyphs.

The Chavins tamed the dog and the llama. Lamas carried loads, provided meat, wool, and their droppings were good fuel. Tools were made from stone and bone. Of the metals, only gold was known. It was used to make a variety of jewelry - earrings, crowns, beads, etc. Ancient craftsmen beautifully processed semi-precious stones, shells and wood.

The emergence of the Chavin culture occurred quickly and in an organized manner. This suggests that even before penetration into this area it was already fully formed. Its main feature was the cult of the jaguar. However, this animal never lived in the Andes. The worship of the spotted predator and a number of other peculiar features (deformation of skulls, the use of corn, the proximity of artistic motifs) allowed some researchers to look for connections with the famous Olmec culture of Mesoamerica.

The area of ​​the Chavin culture was much wider than the city itself. Its traces are found throughout Peru. They can be easily recognized by their characteristic artistic style, specific ornaments (decorating ceramics, colorful fabrics, stone and bone items), the ubiquitous magical number 7 and, of course, the jaguar elements. The Chavín culture disappears around 300 BC. e. just as suddenly as it appeared.

San Agustin (1000 BC - 0 AD)

In parallel with the Chavin civilization, the amazing culture of the Intermediate region grew and strengthened. It is characterized by high mounds, graves, underground tombs covered with stone slabs with geometric designs, and water pipes carved into the cliffs. But most famous are their steles and large unusual two-headed statues. The heads are located next to each other or one above the other, and the second is always the head of the animal. Most likely this is an image of a nagual - another “I” of a person. In the hands of the stone idols there is a club and some kind of spherical object (a ball or a stone). There are many figures with children in their arms. However, more typical of the San Agustin culture were fairly large images of frogs, salamanders and tadpoles placed near sources of drinking water. The combination of complex stone patterns and reflections of water creates a harmonious image of a single whole and testifies to the high artistic taste of the Indians. The level of processing of basalt slabs suggests a significant antiquity of this culture.

Paracas culture (700-200 BC)

The traditions of the majestic Chavín were supplemented by younger cultures mainly from the coastal Andean region. The exact time of their appearance is unknown. However, it is believed that the first culture after the disappearance of Chavín was that which arose on the southern coast of Peru. It received the name Paracas, since its main finds were made on the Paracas Peninsula (“Sand Rain”).

It was an Indian city of the dead. In the system of underground cells of the coastal strip or in underground burial structures that resembled the remains of a residential complex (necropolis), mummies of the ancient inhabitants of Peru were discovered, wrapped in well-preserved material, which even a thousand years later did not lose its colors and elasticity.

Each Paracas mummy is wrapped in one or more magnificent cloaks. The more cloaks, the more noble the person. Cloaks were woven from cotton or wool, skillfully decorated from top to bottom with thin embroidered patterns of a wide variety of colors (up to 190 shades). The colors were of natural origin. Favorite subjects of embroidery are condors, hummingbirds, fish, geometric patterns reminiscent of animal body parts, deities in the form of sphinxes, birds and animals with human faces. Some researchers believe that these figures are signs of the oldest Peruvian script. It is generally accepted that Paracas raincoats- the best textile products of ancient cultures of the world.

Smartly dressed deceased people are usually in a sitting position with their knees tucked to their chins and their arms crossed over their chests. Their skulls are deformed, many have traces of intravital trephination (surgical intervention). Scientists tend to see in this signs of a special magical cult. Perhaps such operations were a type of sacrifice. The skulls indicate a high level of development of Paracas medicine. Doctors (or priests) knew how to remove bone fragments from a broken skull, pressing on the brain and causing paralysis. The Indians, as a rule, closed the holes in the cranial bone with gold plates. During the operation, surgical instruments made of stone and bone (tweezers, obsidian knives, needles, scalpels, tourniquets for clamping blood vessels, etc.) were used of such high perfection that modern doctors have attempted to use them in their work. The experiment led to positive results.

Traces of the Paracas culture are lost around 200 BC. e.

Nazca culture (100-500 AD)

Another important center of the southern Peruvian coast is Nazca. Its main centers were the valleys of the Ica, Nazca, and Pisco rivers. Representatives of this culture did not leave behind palaces, temples and pyramids, but were known as good farmers. 2000 years ago, the area of ​​dehydrated land here was much larger than in the 20th century, and the Nazcan people were often forced to look for water underground. They built large water reservoirs, dug huge aqueducts, and brought water pipelines directly to the fields, which still serve their distant descendants. Underground water tunnels have a large cross-section (as tall as a person) and a significant length.

However, the Nazcas became famous not only for their magnificent hydraulic structures, but also for their excellent ceramic products. They were created without a potter's wheel, covered with glaze and multi-colored. To paint the vessels, the artists used about 11 colors (several red and yellow shades, brown, gray, pink, purple, as well as ocher and bone color), but did not know blue and green paint. Various color combinations complemented each other and delighted the eye with colorful inflorescences. Nazca pottery often took the form of a goblet or vessel with two necks connected by a bridge-like handle in the shape of a human or bird's head.

Nazca pottery is the most colorful in the Americas and is distinguished by the subtlety of its polychrome painting. The Nazca ornament is peculiar: anthropomorphic images of some fantastic human-jaguar-bird figures, plants, animals, fish, birds (hummingbirds and swallows) and an abundance of severed enemy heads, which were perhaps the most favorite subject of the Nazca people. This motif is associated with the widespread custom of constantly wearing the severed head of an enemy, hanging it from the belt or attaching it to the arm or thigh, which testified to the valor of the warrior and the large amount of magical energy that such a trophy gave him. This bloody custom was not widespread anywhere else on such a scale as in Naeka.

Nazca textiles were just as famous for ceramics. They were woven from cotton, wool and human hair. A range of more than 200 colors and shades was used in the production of canvases. Fabric designs often repeated motifs found on vessels. Ancient craftsmen knew embroidery, production of brocade, carpets and other types of weaving techniques.

The bearers of the Nazcan culture did not gain the reputation of being good city planners, despite the fact that they had fortresses (Chovacento, Amato, Huarato), temples (Cahuachi), administrative and residential buildings made of sun-dried mud brick. The Nazca buildings are not distinguished by their beauty, grandeur, or originality. The most beautiful city of Nazca is considered to be the capital of civilization - Cahuachi (in the valley of the Nazca River). The city is still poorly studied, but it is known that it was inhabited by several thousand inhabitants. Cahuachi's most famous monument is the Esqueria sanctuary, consisting of hundreds of mesquite (algarroba) tree trunks. The center of the monument is a quadrangle formed by twelve rows of trunks with 12 pillars each. Its true purpose has not been definitively established: most scientists assume its connection with the calendar.

The Pampa de Nazca brought worldwide fame to the Nazca culture. The valley, which is 70 km long and 2 km wide, is dotted with many shallow lines and rows of stones. Lines and stones run parallel to each other, intersect, forming closed spaces, triangles, squares, trapezoids and other shapes. They are mostly indistinguishable from the surface of the earth, so they were first noticed from an airplane in the early 30s. XX century Among the intricacies of lines, drawings of animals are visible: 120-200-meter birds, lizards, monkeys, iguanas, spiders, killer whales (one of the Nazca deities), snakes and dogs .

An inventory of the figures and lines of this unique giant art gallery was first made by the German mathematician, Professor Maria Reiche, as a result of almost 30 years of research in the Nazcan desert. The images exactly match the designs on the ceramics. In order to apply them to the surface of the earth, it was first necessary to draw everything on a small scale on a plan with exceptional accuracy, since even 1 mm of deviation when transferred to the ground would produce distortions of several tens of meters. To do this, there had to be special tools and units of measurement. M. Reiche proved that the basic measure of the Nazcans was 1 m 10 cm. It was skillfully divided into tenths (i.e., they used the decimal system), but the most common unit was 33 m 66 cm. The age of the “gallery” is approximately 14 centuries.

It is unclear how many people took part in the implementation of such a grandiose event and what purposes this unique monument served (a cosmodrome, an airfield, a kind of calendar, a religious object, a message to the gods, or a system of lines dividing the territories of individual clans and connecting sanctuaries). One thing is clear, the images are indeed tied to the winter and summer solstices, had a certain relationship to the moon, and some lines determined the position or movement of stars and constellations.

The last traces left by the mysterious Nazcan culture were lost in the 5th century. AD, leaving many mysteries for descendants.

Mochica culture (400-800 AD)

A contemporary of the Nazcas and one of the most significant civilizations of Peru before the advent of the Incas was the Mochica culture, which received its name from the valley considered its main center. However, one should not think that Mochica is a local culture. Its area of ​​influence is 24 oases located in the valleys of the coastal rivers Chicama, Viru, Santa and others, separated from each other by desert zones. It had a good coastal climate and fertile soil. Like Egypt's Nile Valley, the Mochican land was regularly flooded by river waters and produced high harvests twice a year. Naturally, in such conditions, the main occupation of the residents was agriculture.

We are surprised by the agronomic and engineering knowledge Mochica. They used irrigation systems up to 150 km long, fertilizers, improved the quality of crops such as maize, potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, and cultivated the land with wooden sticks and copper tools. The Mochica bred llamas and guinea pigs, whose meat was prized. The sea provided a lot of food (fish, crabs, shellfish, etc.), because the Mochica were skilled fishermen: going far out to sea on rafts and canoes, they caught fish with rods and nets. Hunting had an auxiliary value and was most likely a privilege of the nobility. Using dogs, pens, nets, spears and throwing tubes, they hunted deer, pumas and birds. The Mochica menu was complemented by beer (chicha) made from fermented maize.

Crafts played a major role in the economy: weaving, making clothes and feather products (hats and jewelry), and jewelry making. The Mochicas are recognized as the best metallurgists of pre-Inca Peru. They worked with gold, silver and copper, mastered chasing, forging, soldering, inlaying with semi-precious stones and mother-of-pearl. With the help of these techniques, the Mochica achieved significant success in the art of all types of small sculptures made of gold, wood, shells and bones. Those found in the 19th century are notorious. Colonel La Rosa graceful butterflies that could float in the air if you blew on them. Each of the butterflies, and there were about five thousand of them, weighed less than a gram and were not similar to the other. Unfortunately, this entire unique collection was melted down into gold bars.

The main achievement of the Mochica culture remains ceramics
. The most significant feature is the absence of genre scenes; its plots are associated with myths and beliefs. The purpose of most Mochic ceramics was not domestic, but religious, aesthetic and socio-political. Highly skilled craftsmen who specialized in this field worked on behalf of the state, creating works of art with complex pictograms that had deep meaning. The skill of the Mochica craftsmen was so perfect that the ceramic drawings seem to come to life, become dynamic and make it possible to observe, for example, the transformation of an ordinary sea snail into a demon growing before our eyes, rushing about in its shell. Even emotional states (pain, joy, sadness, etc.) were brilliantly reproduced.

The subjects of ceramic products allow you to get acquainted with the social structure of the Mochica. At the top of the social pyramid stood the main ruler, supported by two to four co-principals (according to the number of “quarters” of the state), who divided among themselves spheres of influence (state, army, priests, judiciary).

The Mochi laws were harsh. For the slightest offense, any part of the body (arm, leg, nose or lips) was cut off. The highest penalty is murder by stoning. All these procedures took place publicly.

The basis of society was the largest part of the population - free community members - farmers and artisans. Below were servants, free people who did not have land, and at the very bottom of the social pyramid were slaves.

It was possible to determine the social affiliation of various segments of the population by clothing: the nobility had rich clothes with many decorations, ordinary residents had simple clothes, slaves went naked.

The Mochica, like all Indians, were very religious. They still revered the divine jaguar, but the cult of this animal was already eclipsed by the worship of the mysterious night luminary, which commands the ebb and flow of rivers and seas, influencing crops and human emotions - the Moon (Si). However, the most important deity of the Mochica was considered the god-man - Ai Apeka ("He who creates"). He created the Universe and maintains its vitality, fights Darkness and Chaos, and helps people. The falcon, sea eagle and dog were considered the Creator's faithful guides. Like the Mesoamericans, the Mochica people “fed the gods with human blood,” which was “transmitted” to the sacred powers through the mediation of messengers - sea hawks. That is why drawings so often depict these birds drinking from a ritual bowl. This is the most common motif in Mochic culture.

A special ritual was running sports, and daily rituals included reading prayers and drinking coca leaves, which have a narcotic effect.

One of the most grandiose Peruvian buildings is dedicated to the deity Ai Apek - "Pyramid of the Sun". This stepped monumental structure, erected in the cult metropolis in the valley of the Mochi River (Pampa de los Mochica), had a base area of ​​342x159 m and a height of 48 m, it was complemented by the “Pyramid of the Moon” (base 80x60 m, height 21 m), internal the walls of which were covered with numerous paintings. One of them, for example, depicted the rebellion of things and their war with people. There are also “portraits” of prisoners destined for sacrifice to the gods. The remains of unique ritual buildings have also been preserved in the valleys of the rivers Nepeña (six-step twenty-meter pyramid), Hequetepequi (the religious center of Pacatnamu - 57 pyramids) and other areas. They were connected by wide roads (9.8 m), although the Indians of ancient Peru did not know the wheel.

It is impossible to say for sure whether there was writing in the Mochican culture. According to some scholars, drawings on ceramic vessels replaced Mochica writing. However, Peruvian researcher Rafael Larco Oile believes that the original writing system is beans
, covered with various dashes, circles, crosses and dots, which are often found on dishes and fabrics. From this he concludes: the messengers depicted in the pictures convey to each other not just leather bags, but written messages.

The Mochica culture, having reached a high level of development and independence, disappeared from the historical arena at the beginning of the 9th century. n. e.

Tiahuanaco culture (500-1100 AD)

The Tiahuanacan culture is recognized as one of the most significant in the South American region. Its distribution area was the Central and Southern Andes, and the center from which its influence emanated was the city of Tiahuanaco, located on the Bolivian Plateau (Upper Peru) at an altitude of 4 thousand m above sea level. Tiwanaku is often called the "American Tibet". A cold, highland plain surrounded by the snow-capped Cordillera lies just south of the world's highest navigable Lake Titicaco. It is believed that during the heyday of culture it reached the city itself.

Tiahuanaco occupied an area of ​​450 thousand square meters. m. Its magnificent buildings were made of stone masonry. Cubes weighing 60 tons are placed on 100-ton sandstone blocks. It is unclear how the smooth surfaces are held in place using copper clamps. All stone processing is done exceptionally clean. The most impressive building of the settlement is Akapana - a pyramid 15 m high and a base length of 250 m, on top of which there is an artificial lake, clearly oriented to the east.

The most mysterious structure of Tiahuanaco is considered "Semi-Submerged Temple", its base is lowered to a depth of almost two meters. No less famous is another outstanding monument of the city - Kalasasaya Palace. This largest Tiahuanacan structure (128 x 118 m) has a rectangular base and is surrounded by stone pillars with masonry in between. The courtyard of Kalasasaya is located below the earth's surface. The ancient inhabitants of the city entered the palace through a large stone gate along a monumental staircase with six steps. The complex was decorated with gold. Even the nails that held up the gold foil that covered the building were gold.

The monumental sculpture of Tiahuanaco also deserves attention. In size it surpasses even the Olmec. These are mostly giant colossi from 3 to 7 m: either statues or steles. The most famous of them is the so-called "Bennett's Monolith". The head of the statue made of pink stone is decorated with a turban, its arms are folded on its chest, its stomach is tied with a wide belt, and its eyes look straight ahead, creating the illusion that tears are flowing from them. Perhaps this monolith was once painted.

Tiahuanaco "Gate of the Sun" (Inti-Lunku) was glorified
, carved from a single block of andesite 3 m high and 4 m wide. Their weight exceeds 10 tons. The upper part of the gate is decorated with a rich relief, in the center of which is the figure of the main deity. The sun's rays radiate from his head, his hands clench the wands, and tears flow from his eyes. Running creatures with wings on their backs and crowns on their heads rushed towards God. Some of them are anthropomorphic. Some scientists are inclined to see in the “Gate of the Sun” an ancient solar (lunar) calendar or an “atlas” of the sacred forces of the world.

The divine world, according to the myths of this people, was headed Kon-Tiki Viracocha- Creator of the world. Being in the inaccessible depths of the Universe, he created light, and then the earth. In order for it not to be empty, God created people who built the city of Tiawanaku. But since the people did not want to follow Viracocha’s orders, the angry god turned them into stones and sent a flood to the earth that lasted sixty days. After the waters receded and the earth dried out, the Creator continued creation - he created the “heavenly disks”:

The Sun, Moon, Venus and other planets, stars and constellations and again people - men and women. He sent them in pairs all over the world. Then God created animals. Time will pass and Viracocha, in the form of an enlightener, will appear on Earth in order to divide people into tribes and peoples, give them laws, religion, rituals, and teach them useful activities.

At the end of the 1st millennium AD e. A powerful and educated ruling elite was emerging in Tiahuanaco, which fed itself from the surplus labor of farmers (the main product was potatoes and Peruvian rice). At the service of the nobility were artisans, peasants and traders, who were called people without a title. It can be assumed that the city was a state with a highly centralized government, since the construction of Tiahuanacan structures and the delivery of heavy building materials required the organized labor of thousands of workers. In Tiahuanaco, copper, bronze, tin, gold and silver were processed, and the elegance of pottery products was not inferior to Nazca ceramics. Tiahuanacan craftsmen create perfect porcelain products of various shapes: cups and bowls with smoothly diverging walls (kero), zoomorphic vessels in the shape of the heads of a jaguar, llama, and condor. The ceramic painting was polychrome, naturalistic and stylized (decorated with Greek-style ornaments and stepped motifs). It was clearly outlined in black and light brown paints. Men's and women's clothing was made in the same style. Its most common type was ponchos. Some ponchos had rows of dark stripes. It is believed that such ponchos were the uniform of civil servants.

However, all the splendor and fundamentality of the Tiahuanaco culture is gradually declining. At the beginning of the 12th century. The Tiahuanacan state ceased to exist. Another unique civilization is leaving the forefront of South American culture.

Tyrone (600-1100 AD)

In the area of ​​the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta lived tribes who would later be called Tayrona (“goldsmiths”). They were engaged in terrace farming (maize, yucca), gardening, fishing and beekeeping. The Tyrones were excellent builders. Their cities are quite large - several square kilometers. In the center of each of them stood a temple. Tyrone architecture is characterized by high stone platforms under houses and long staircases with tiled steps leading to dwellings located high in the mountains, as well as enclosed triangular squares, aqueducts, canals, bridges and stone-paved roads.

Tyrone craftsmen made a variety of ceramics (figurines and whistles, amphoras and zoomorphic incense burners, funeral urns and anthropomorphic vases), cotton clothing and feather headdresses. But most of all, they became famous for their flashy jewelry: nose pendants, bracelets, large amulets, rings worn on the hands and feet, beads and necklaces.

Chimu culture (1200-1476 AD)

The Chimu culture is considered to be the successor of the Mochica and a contemporary of Tiahuanaco. At the first stage of development, it covered the territory of its great predecessor. Subsequently, Chimu influence spread throughout the entire coastal strip of Peru.

According to legend, the Chimu people sailed by sea on balsa rafts from somewhere in the north. It was led by a man named Takainamo. In the Moche Valley, he went ashore and erected a sanctuary, where he performed thanksgiving rites to the gods who patronized him. The local population recognized him as a new ruler. The Chimu's domain extended over thousands of kilometers. It was the most powerful state previously known in South America. In the conquered areas, the Chimu rulers left their governors, who controlled the administration of the local princes. Representatives of such strata of society were called "high-ranking men". They were contrasted with “servants”.

In the state of Chimu there were many cities, whose dead ruins survived to the present day. These are Apurlek, Fado, Chakma, etc., but the magnificent white-green city of Chan-Chan was considered the capital of the state. Translated, this meant “House of Snakes” - after all, snakes were revered there as sacred creatures. During its heyday, the city was inhabited by more than one hundred thousand people.

Chan Chan is located near the famous cult metropolis of the Sun and Moon (Pampa de los Mochica). It occupied an area of ​​20 square meters. km and was built very thoughtfully, according to a pre-drawn plan. The city was divided into ten quarters, surrounded by 20-meter walls, additionally reinforced with hardwood tree trunks. Each quarter had its own sanctuaries and parks, squares and well-planned streets, public buildings and gardens, and reservoirs. The buildings were decorated with intricate stamped clay ornaments. Relief decorations depicted stylized animals and birds and consisted of lattices and stripes, crosses and a stepped meander. As a rule, they were painted with white paint. Between the blocks within the city there were irrigated fields. To increase security, Chan Chan was surrounded by two powerful defensive walls.

Defensive structures are a characteristic example of the Chimu culture, and the Paramonga fortress is recognized as their standard. It protected the southern borders of the state and stood on the hill of the westernmost spur of the Cordillera, between two rivers with a very fast current. It was impossible to take the fortress by storm; it was surrounded on all sides by mighty walls. The fortress had a stepped pyramidal structure. There was a gate on the defensive rampart that could be quickly barricaded. From them a well-fortified road led to the next fortress step. The center of the structure was located on the third stage, also surrounded by a wall, but even here the enemy’s penetration was hampered by many dead ends and corridors. Moreover, the Chimu even managed to install a water supply system into this “eagle’s nest.”

But truly the most amazing and grandiose structure of Peruvian architecture in general and Chimuk architecture in particular was the so-called Great Wall of Peru. It extends from the seashore to the highland of Suchimancillo and is 5 m thick, 3 m high and about 100 km long. The wall was built from stone, held together by chips, and fortified with fourteen small fortresses. This multi-kilometer rampart is very reminiscent of the famous Great Wall of China, which protected the Qin Empire from invasion. Most likely it served these purposes in Peru as well.

In addition to architecture, the Chimu also achieved high results in metallurgy. They alloyed various metals and were the first to discover bronze in South America. Their knives, hoes and spears were highly prized, as were gold and silver jewelry. Preference was given to silver - it was considered the metal of the Moon, which was worshiped as the supreme deity.

But Chimuk ceramics did not bring fame to the Chim. It was practical, but not particularly beautiful and sparsely ornamented. However, its production, organized by the state, was almost industrial in nature.

A special type of artistic activity of Chimu craftsmen was the manufacture of clothes for aristocrats from yellow, green and blue bird feathers. The most prized items were cloaks and overlays made of cotton, decorated with original appliqués. Such products not only looked beautiful, but were also practical - they did not get wet.

The entire life of the Chimu state passed under the sign “Xi”. That's what they called the night star here. The Sun in the desert was an enemy, and the Moon, ruling the rivers and seas, was a friend. Since she could cover the Sun with herself, she was therefore a more powerful deity. Therefore, solar eclipses were a holiday in Chimu. But when the shadow of the Earth fell on the Moon, mourning was declared in the state. To help their main deity live and defeat enemies, five-year-old children were sacrificed on small colored blankets. In addition to the Moon, the constellation Pleiades (Fur) was surrounded with special honor - the new year began with its appearance in the sky. Another significant planet was Venus (Ni).

However, the stars and planets that the Chimu worshiped did not save them from the attacks of their enemies. In 1476, the last supreme ruler, Chimo Capac, was defeated by the Inca army, and the state itself was annexed to the territories of the winner.

Chibcha culture (1200-1500 AD)

The glory of the famous cultures of the Intermediate Region - the San Agustinians and Tayrones - was eclipsed by the achievements of the tribes of the Chibcha linguistic group who lived in the valley of the Bogota and Sogamoso rivers and called themselves Muisca. The basis of the Chibcha economy is agriculture. They grew corn and potatoes, beans, sweet potatoes and tomatoes, pineapples and avocados, as well as tobacco and coca used for ritual purposes. The only source of meat food was hunting. Of the Chibcha animals, only the dog was domesticated. Exchange played a major role in the economy. His main items were salt, linen, coca, gold and emeralds. These precious green stones were mined from the Chivore and Sumundoki mines. But the Chibcha (Muiscas) did not have gold; it was brought from afar. Nevertheless, they achieved amazing results in processing this particular metal. The Chibcha were the only ones in pre-Columbian America who made small disks (tejuelos) of gold that served as coins. However, they cannot be called money in the full sense of the word. Most likely they were decorations, and not a form of universal equivalent.

Every four days, large auctions were held in large Muisca settlements. Foreign trade also flourished. To improve it, a road was built, which was called the Salt Road. Salt was the main export item.

By the time the Europeans arrived, the Chibcha had nine nascent state associations - tribal unions. They consisted of the population of one valley, which included from 80 to 120 villages. At the head of each village was a local chief, who directed all the affairs of the community and was subordinate to the supreme ruler of the valley.

The bulk of the population and the main producers were free chibcha - peasants, artisans and miners. They were called "those who paid taxes". They cultivated fields, made pottery, wove cotton fabrics and painted them using the printing method. Slaves existed in society, but they did not play a significant role in production. Ordinary Chibcha lived in patriarchal families in which polygamy was common. A group of families made up a community.

Leaders and priests were the elite of society. They could be recognized not only by their well-equipped life, but also by their clothing - magnificent painted robes with gold plates. Tiaras and necklaces belonged only to the supreme ruler. His palace was lined with gold and decorated with carvings and wall paintings. No one dared to look the ruler, considered the earthly incarnation of the Moon God, in the eyes. He had many wives, whom ordinary Muiscas gave him as tribute (in addition to food and handicrafts). When he died, the son of his elder sister usually took the throne, preparing for his “position” for six years: he lived in a temple, from which he could only leave at night, did not eat meat, did not salt or pepper his food, did not know women .

When there was no legal heir, the ruler chose his own successor. Candidates for the throne were subjected to preliminary testing and coronation rites.

The coronation of the Chibcha ruler was associated with religious ideas. It is known that the Colombian Indians worshiped the Sun and the Moon, who lived in the depths of the sky long before people were created. The latter, according to legend, were created from dust: a man from clay, and a woman from grass. But there were also those who were of divine origin. One day the goddess Bachue came out of the waters of the sacred lake with a little boy in her arms. Upon reaching adulthood, he became her husband. From this marriage children were born who gave rise to dynasties of leaders. Having grown old, the divine parents returned to the waters of the lake from which they came and turned into snakes.

Later, when people settled across the earth, the god of warriors and rulers appeared from the east - Bochika. He had white skin, blond hair, a mustache and beard, and a long cloak decorated with small wooden crosses flowed from his shoulders. Bochica taught the Indians goodness and love. He showed how to spin cotton, make fabrics, sew clothes and draw the sign of the cross on them. But the Muisca religion was dualistic, and Bochik had an opponent, Chibcha-Chum - the god of those who were associated with gold: miners, jewelers, traders. The struggle between two deities is reflected in the myth of Tekendama Falls. In order to punish the inhabitants of the Bogotá plateau, Chibcha Chum flooded it. People turned to Bochica for help. With a golden rod, he made a cleft in the mountain, and the water began to flow away. But there was so much of it that since then it has been falling and falling from the cliffs.

The religious rites of the Muiscas were led by priests (sheke). They appeased the gods and spirits of their ancestors with generous sacrifices - baskets of gold and emeralds. Human sacrifices were performed only in honor of the sun, but were extremely numerous. The victims (prisoners of war and 15-16-year-old youths (mojas) from the Marbarache tribe) were considered intermediaries between people and God. The ritual took place high in the mountains at the hour of sunrise. Blood was supposed to help the birth of the luminary. It was poured onto the stones, the sacred power of the hearts went into the heavens, and the lifeless bodies remained lying on the rocks so that the Sun could take away every drop of all their strength and energy.

When the rise of the Inca culture began (1200-1572), all previous outstanding civilizations of South America disappeared from the arena of history or were rapidly approaching decline. The Inca country was located in the southwestern part of the continent, stretching from north to south for many thousands of kilometers. During its heyday, 15-16 million people lived on its territory.

Myth about the origin of the Incas

Legends tell about the origin of this people. The Sun God Inti watched with sadness the life of people on earth: after all, they lived worse than wild animals, in poverty and ignorance. One day, taking pity on them, Inti sent his children to the people: son Manco Capac and daughter Mama Oklo. Having given them a staff made of pure gold, the divine father ordered them to settle where the staff would easily enter the ground. This happened in the Cusco Valley (Navel). In fulfillment of the divine will of the Sun, his children stayed and founded a city, which was also called Cusco. They gave religion and laws to the people who lived there, taught men how to cultivate the land, mine rare metals and process them, and taught women how to weave and run a household. Having created the state, Manco Capac became its first Inca - the ruler, and Mama Oklo - his wife.

Harsh natural conditions (oxygen deficiency, low atmospheric pressure, low soil fertility) and rapid population growth necessitated the struggle for survival and expansion of the occupied territory. At the same time, the Incas resettled the indigenous inhabitants of the conquered territories into the internal regions of the state, and their lands were populated by people from the central regions of the empire; Quechua was introduced as the official language.

Territorial organization

The Incas called their state Tawantinsuyu - "Land of Four Parts". Indeed, the empire was divided into four parts - provinces.

In turn, the provinces were divided into districts, which were governed by an official appointed by the Inca. The district included several villages. Each of them belonged to one or even several genera. The clan owned a strictly defined area of ​​land. From the communal land, each man received an allotment (tupa), and the woman received only half of it.

All land in the empire was divided into three parts: the fields of the community, the “land of the Sun” (the income from it went to support the priests and sacrifices), as well as the fields of the state and the Inca (intended to supply the state apparatus, warriors, builders, the Inca himself and his retinue , in case of natural disasters, as well as a fund for widows, orphans and the elderly). The lands of the priestly fund and the state were cultivated by free residents in their free time, after the family plots were cultivated. This additional labor was called minka. It was perceived as a necessary, feasible and sacred contribution of everyone to the common cause.

Farming Basics

The standard of living of ordinary community members and their families was almost the same (amount of food, clothing, quality of houses and utensils). There were no starving poor. Those who could not work were provided with the necessary minimum by the state.

The basis of the Inca economy was agriculture and animal husbandry. They cultivated the same plants and the same animals as elsewhere in Peru. Natural conditions forced the creation of irrigation structures: dams, canals, etc. The fields were arranged in terraces. The land was cultivated by hand, using special sticks the size of a man.

Craft production was well organized. The bulk of goods were produced in the community, and the most skilled potters, gunsmiths, jewelers and weavers were resettled in Cusco. They lived at the expense of the Incas and were considered public servants. The best of their works were used for religious purposes and gifts; tools and weapons were stored in state warehouses. The Incas achieved great success in metallurgy. Copper and silver deposits were developed. Weaving received special development. The Incas knew three types of looms on which they could even make carpets.

There were no purchase and sale relations; they were replaced by developed regulated state exchange, the functions of which were to meet the needs of residents of different climatic zones. The form of exchange was fairs - city and village, held every ten days.

Political-administrative structure

The ruler of the empire and the coordinator of its life was the autocratic Intip Cori - the Son of the Sun (another name is Sapa Inca - the Only Inca). It was believed that he descended to earth in order to fulfill the will of the luminary - the Sun. The subjects of the Great Inca also called themselves “Inca” - sons of the Sun, God's chosen people.

Only a man of royal blood could sit on the throne in Cusco. The future Inca prepared for a difficult role for a long time: he comprehended the secrets of existence, studied religion, various sciences and kipu - knotted letter. He was also taught good manners and military skills.

The Inca was the unlimited, absolute ruler of the empire. Political, economic, legislative and military power were concentrated in his hands. For a long time, in addition, he was also the high priest. His rich clothing and the gold and silver utensils with which he ate were not used twice.

The Inca sat on a low carved mahogany throne. Visitors could not see his face - he was separated from them by a curtain. The Inca had hundreds of concubines at his service, and up to eight thousand servants from among the representatives of noble families served him. Fifty of them had access to the ruler and were replaced every seven to ten days.

During his travels, he was guarded by a guard dressed in shiny uniforms decorated with gold and silver jewelry. The Inca was carried in a stretcher made of gold (only the frame was wooden). After his death, the Inca's body was embalmed. The mummy was seated on a golden throne, and a golden statue of the emperor was installed next to it.

All the blood relatives of the Inca belonged to the ruling elite. They occupied the highest government positions (high priest, provincial rulers, etc.). The lower category of nobility included the leaders of conquered peoples and members of their families, as well as people who were able to break into high society thanks to their abilities (outstanding military leaders, engineers, artists, etc.).

The primary and basic unit of Inca society was the family, led by the father. On its basis, the social organization of society expanded according to the pentadecimal system: one link - 5 families, the second link - 10, the third - 50, the fourth link - 100 families. Each link was headed by its own leader, who was obviously re-elected every year. They regularly held meetings to solve pressing problems, in which women took equal part.

In the Inca Empire there were four permanent army formations of 40,000 people, the command of which was subordinate to the ruler of the entire people.

The Inca army was the largest in pre-Columbian America. For men of age categories suitable for service, there was universal military service. Each underwent rigorous military training from the ages of 10 to 18. The warriors had uniforms. The Inca army was distinguished by high discipline: the death penalty was threatened even for absence without the knowledge of the military leader. In battle, in addition to conventional weapons (slings, axes, clubs), psychological ones were also used - various frightening sounds, wild screams, the sound of shells, flutes, drums.

In the Inca Empire, ten age categories of citizens were legalized. For men, the first three groups consisted of children under nine years of age (“playing children”); fourth group - from 9 to 12 years (hunting with snares); fifth - from 12 to 18 years (livestock protection); sixth - from 18 to 25 (military or courier service); seventh - from 25 to 50 years (purekhs who paid taxes and worked for public needs); eighth - from 50 to 80 (raising children); the ninth - from 80 onwards (“deaf elders”) and the tenth group - the sick and infirm without age restrictions. The women's classification was somewhat different from the men's, but its principles were the same.

When moving from one age category to another, the person's name changed. The first name was given in infancy and, as a rule, reflected the impression of the child (for example, Oklyo - innocent, pure). A person received a second name during puberty. It was final and characterized the inherent qualities of a person.

In Incan society, great attention was paid to cleanliness and neatness of clothing. Men wore short trousers down to the knees (a sign of maturity) and sleeveless shirts, and women wore simple long woolen dresses, which were pulled over the head and cinched at the waist with a wide, elaborately decorated belt. On her feet were sandals made of llama wool. In cold weather, all Incas wore long and warm cloaks.

Court and legislation

In Tawantinsuyu the laws were unwritten, but they were clearly divided into civil and criminal. Blasphemy, atheism, idleness, laziness, lies, theft, adultery and murder were unacceptable. The issue of guilt was decided by judges - community leaders and representatives of the nobility. The laws were based on clear principles: the officials responsible for the decimal division were accomplices in each case; the instigator of the crime was punished, not the perpetrator; an offense committed by an aristocrat was considered a more serious offense than the same offense of a commoner (their cases were considered by the Supreme Inca himself).

The punishments used were expulsion, scourging, torture, and public reproach, but the most common measure was the death penalty (hanging, quartering, stoning, etc.). Persons who threatened the security of the state were placed in cells infested with poisonous snakes or predatory animals. The villages in which they lived were razed to the ground, and the inhabitants were executed. With such harsh laws, crime in the country was extremely low.

Religion and priesthood

The basis of the trustworthiness of citizens in Tawantinsuyu was not only laws, but also beliefs. According to the Incas' worldview, the supreme creator of the Universe and the creator of all other gods was Kon-Tiki Viracocha. When creating the world, Viracocha used three main elements: water, earth and fire. The Inca cosmos consisted of three levels: the top - celestial, where the Sun and his wife-sister Moon live, directly influencing the life of mankind; the middle one, in which people, animals and plants live; the lower one is the habitat of the dead and those who are about to be born. The last two worlds communicate through caves, mines, springs and craters. Communication with the upper world is carried out through the mediation of the Inca, who carried out the will of the Sun on Earth.

The official state ideology was cult of the Sun (Inti). White llamas were sacrificed to him almost daily, burning them at the stake. In order to ward off epidemics and attacks from enemies, to win the war and for the health of the emperor, tall, beautiful children under the age of 10 were given to the Sun without any flaws. The second-ranking deity was considered Mama Kilja - the patroness of women, women in labor, and then god of lightning and thunder(Ilyapa), goddess of the morning star(Venus) and many other divine stars and constellations.

The sacred forces, whose cults were especially widespread among the broad masses, included spirits. They lived in rocks and caves, in trees and springs, in stones and in the mummies of their ancestors. They prayed to the spirits, made sacrifices, and dedicated certain days to them.

All religious ritual in Incan society was the responsibility of the priests. The high priest was the Inca's brother or uncle. He wore a sleeveless red tunic and wore an image of the Sun on his head. He often decorated his face with colorful parrot feathers. He was forbidden to marry or have children out of wedlock, to eat meat, or to drink anything other than water. The rank of high priest was for life. His duties included observing the exact rules of the solar cult, the coronation of the great Inca and his marriage.

The high priesthood was subordinate to ten main clergy. They directed religious life in individual patriarchates and came from only one specific family. The highest clergy included religious teachers of individual provinces, and the lower clergy included oracles who knew how to speak with the dead and predict the future from the entrails of animals and birds. The priests professed and performed religious rites, for example, during the four main holidays of the year: the Inca festival, the Water festival, the Moon festival and the Sun festival, celebrated after the harvest. The institution of brides of the Sun is associated with the festival of the Sun.

Brides of the Sun

Every year, beautiful, intelligent girls of four or five years old were selected throughout the country and placed in monasteries in the main cities of the provinces. Here they learned music, singing, as well as cooking, spinning and weaving. At the age of 10-13, brides were “certified”: some were elevated to the rank of “mother servants of Inti”: they performed religious rites in honor of Iiti and performed some other sacred duties, others became concubines of aristocrats or were sent home. The Virgins of the Sun could be recognized by the white robes of the novices, a special veil on their heads and gold jewelry. It is believed that the number of Virgins of the Sun reached up to three thousand.

The capital and symbol of the empire was Cusco - a fairy tale of stone and gold. Here were the residence of the Inca, the main authorities, the ritual center and city services. It was an important economic and cultural point where funds were distributed, taxes were paid and the most important educational institutions were located, where for four years they taught everything that the Incas achieved.

The city is considered one of the largest capitals in the world during the Conquest. In the 16th century about 200 thousand inhabitants lived in it and there were more than 25 thousand houses, painted in bright colors, decorated with marble and jasper, gold door and window frames. Cusco even had running water and sewerage. The city was built according to a pre-developed plan and was distinguished by thoughtfulness. Such a high location of the Inca capital (more than 3 thousand meters above sea level) is surprising. The valley in which Cusco is located is surrounded on all sides by mountains and is only open to penetration from the southeast. The outline of the city resembled the body of a puma, which is why it was the symbol of the city.

In the center of Cusco there was the “Plaza of Joy”, bordered by the largest golden chain in the history of mankind (length - 350 steps). The square and surrounding streets are surrounded by a complex of shrines and temples. The main one is considered to be the Temple of the Sun. Its walls were lined with gold plates. Inside the structure there was an altar with an image of a huge disk of the sun from which rays emanated. Along the walls of the temple, the mummies of the late rulers of the empire sat on golden thrones covered with carpets.

Adjacent to the great temple is the palace-residence of the high priest and five beautiful buildings in which his assistants lived. These buildings were covered with thatch, into which gold threads were woven.

Nearby was the Temple of the Moon, lined with silver. His altar in the form of a night deity was guarded by the mummies of the deceased Inca spouses.

On the other side of the building complex were the shrines of Thunder, Lightning and Rainbow. And not far from it was the fantastic golden garden of Cusco - half natural, half artificial. According to legend, water flowed here through golden gutters, and in the center of the garden there was also an octagonal fountain covered with gold. The entire world of the Incas was reproduced here from gold in life-size: eared fields, shepherds and llamas with cubs, trees and shrubs, flowers and fruits, birds and butterflies. The Inca people gave the unique creations of skilled craftsmen to pay the ransom for the life of the last supreme Inca, Atahualpa (1532-1572).

Machu Picchu

There were many amazing things in Cusco, but nevertheless the citadel of Machu Picchu (c. 1500) is considered the main wonder of South America. The last Inca fortress, Machu Picchu, is located high in the Andes, 120 km east of the capital, on very rough terrain, but the builders of the fortress were able to turn the disadvantages of the landscape into advantages, achieving unity of architectural structures with the environment. The pointed battlements of the main fortress tower seem to be part of the mountain, and the stone terraces are in strict accordance with the curves of the rocks. All buildings in Machu Picchu are located at different heights, so there are more than 100 stairs in the citadel. The center of the fortress city is considered to be “the place where the Sun is tied” - an observatory carved into the rock. Next to it are the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows (with the three largest trapezoidal windows in Peru) and the palace of the high priest. This is the first part of the city. Its second part - the Royal Quarter - consists of a semicircular fortress tower emerging from the rocks. The Princess's Palace is the residence of the ruler's wife and the Royal Palace of the Inca. The third part of the fortress was a block of residential buildings for ordinary residents. The entire city was surrounded by powerful ramparts.

All the settlements of Tawantinsuyu were connected by an elaborate system of magnificent roads, paved with stone and framed by a barrier. They were intended for walking. There were two main roads that crossed the Inca Empire from end to end. One of them began at the northern border of the empire, near the equator (modern Ecuador), and ended at the Maule River. The total length of this road is about 5250 km. The second road connected the northern coast (Tumbes) with the south. Both roads crossed mountain peaks, swamps, impenetrable jungles, rapid rivers, over which were suspended rope bridges made of agave fibers, and were connected by a series of transverse roads. Along each of them, approximately 25 km from each other, there were inns with postal posts. This is another achievement of the Incas - after all, other ancient civilizations did not have mail. Special couriers with a white headband transmitted messages along the relay race, running along 2 km of their section. Since the distances were short, a high delivery speed was achieved: 2000 km was covered in three to five days.

Messages sent by mail were most often written in the form of a knotted letter - quipu, which is not considered a letter in the full sense of the word. For the most part, it was only a means of recording statistical data: the size of the population or troops, the number of weapons or crops. The khipu consisted of several cords. One, thicker one, was the base; many thinner multi-colored cords of various lengths and with a certain number of knots - digital indicators - were attached to it. The colors of the laces were symbolic. White meant silver and peace, yellow meant gold, black meant illness or time, red meant army, etc. The largest khipu that has come down to us is 165 cm long and 6 cm wide.

Writing. Literature. music and dancing

It is believed that the Incas also had another writing system that Europeans simply did not recognize. Chroniclers mention special canvases kept in temples, on which “everything that needed to be known about the past” was painted, and about messages from rulers drawn on fabrics. Most likely it was a pictographic script, accessible only to the nobility; Moreover, some scientists tend to consider images on ceramic vessels - kero - as inscriptions.

Despite the fact that there are no ancient written texts of Inca literature, it is still known that it had a fairly high level. There were religious and secular hymns, legends, myths, ballads, prayers, short epics, poems and fables, songs and elegies. Their authors lived in the palaces of rulers. Among them there are poets-philosophers and lyricists, but their work remains nameless.

The Inca drama in verse “Apu-Ollantay” is called the pearl of world drama. She talked about a courageous and noble commander, a native of the provincial aristocracy, who dared to fall in love with the daughter of the Inca himself - the “Laughing Star” - and achieve her reciprocal love. To this day, this drama is still performed on the stage of the Indian theater of Latin America.

The Incas were good musicians. There were only five sounds in their scale (do, re, fa, sol, la), but this did not stop them from playing bone and metal flutes, drums, tambourines and vessels with water, the neck of which was covered with leather, as well as reed or clay Andean pipes. The inhabitants of Tawantinsuyu often danced to the sounds of music. The dances were mainly of a magical and ritual nature, but sometimes they were performed simply for pleasure. There were several types of dance: men's military, shepherd's, secular, folk, etc.

Scientific knowledge

The inhabitants of the great empire of the Sun could not only sing and dance. Among them were good mathematicians, astronomers, engineers and doctors. The basis of Inca science was mathematics. It was based on the decimal system and marked the beginning of the development of statistics.

Mathematics has found wide application in astronomy. Observatories were located throughout Peru, where the days of the solstices and equinoxes were determined, the Sun, Moon, Venus, Saturn, Mars, Mercury, the constellations of the Pleiades, the Southern Cross, etc. were observed. The Incan solar year was divided into twelve months of thirty days each, plus one additional month of five days.

Tawantinsuyu had its own geographers and cartographers who made beautiful relief maps, as well as historians. There was even a post of official historian of the empire, who was elected from the relatives of the great ruler.

But medicine is recognized as the most developed science in the state. Diseases were considered a consequence of sin, so priests and healers practiced medicine. They treated with magical techniques, fasting, bloodletting, gastric and intestinal lavage, as well as herbs. In severe cases, they resorted to operations (craniotomy, amputation of limbs), etc. They used a special method of treating wounds - with the help of ants, as well as painkillers, such as coca, which was highly valued. Evidence of the effectiveness of Incan medicine was the longevity of the inhabitants of the empire - 90-150 years.

However, despite the well-functioning state system and the high level of achievements of the great power of the Sun, it did not last long and suffered the fate of all the civilizations of pre-Columbian America in the 16th century. When she meets the Europeans, she dies, broken by the onslaught of a world of greed and treachery incomprehensible to the Incas.

Using the example of the civilizations of South America, one can trace the evolution of the organization of human society, which was also characteristic of the Old World. The culture of the peoples of South America of the pre-Columbian period went through three stages: primitive, created by Indian tribes who were in the early stages of the development of human society; a higher level, which is characterized by a combination of early class and primitive elements, and the stage of highly developed class civilizations. Primitive society took place throughout South America, the second type appeared in the intermediate region located between Mesoamerica and the Central Andes, and a high level of civilization is characteristic of the peoples living in the western part of the continent (Central Andes zone).

However, despite the general patterns of development inherent in the South American peoples, the characteristic features, ideological basis, and value system with a strong emphasis on spirituality were fundamentally different from the philosophy of the Christian world. The great civilizations of South America collapsed under the onslaught of Europeans. And who knows what the world would be like if they had survived to this day. It is possible that the invaluable experience of the ancient Indians would have helped to avoid the problems facing humanity today, or at least to solve them in an optimal way. However, history has left us alone with the question “What should our planet be like in the future?

South America is a continent that is crossed by the equator, most of which is located in the Southern Hemisphere.The Portuguese conquerors brought their religion, customs, architecture, and language to America.

Portuguese cultural traditions influenced the formation of Brazilian music, literature, etc. The traditions of South America (Brazil) are primarily a fusion of Indian, African and Portuguese elements. Currently, two trends are observed in its development. The first of them is the conservation of local traditions and customs of South America. The second trend is strictly aimed at replacing them with cultural national traditions.

The Brazilians adopted the traditions of weaving household utensils - hammocks, rugs and bedding - from the Indians. One-story houses, most often built of clay, are covered with vines or palm leaves tied in a special way. Villagers sometimes hang crossed knives above the entrance to their houses, thereby protecting the house from evil spirits. The interior decoration of the house is extremely simple - wooden or wicker chairs, tables and often hammocks that replace the bed. Clay dishes are used in everyday life. In the modeling technique, local residents use centuries-old Indian traditions

Nowadays, most of the country’s population does not even know where they developed such customs, which they try to pass on from generation to generation.

The traditions of the peoples of South America include rituals. For example, a marriage must be sanctified by the church, but a “sorcerer” is also invited to the celebration, who protects the young from the evil eye.

Legends and the famous “cycle of Indian songs” became widespread, in particular myths about the king of snakes, and dances.

Holidays and carnivals are a favorite pastime of Brazilians.

Almost the entire population of South America participates in them and the influence of common cultural traditions is especially noticeable in them.

Many borrowed African rituals and beliefs have become quite tenacious. Among them, the most popular and persistent among the blacks of Brazil is Candomblé - the Afro-Brazilian fetishistic cult.

Brazilians are quite musical. There are a huge number of clubs open in the country that study and tell everyone about folk music.

Radio and television play an important role in the development of local residents, which serve as their only sources of information, because approximately 20% of the population is illiterate. Popular sports in Brazil include basketball and football. Brazil is one of the largest football countries in the world. The leading football teams are Cruzeiro, Santos, etc. Young people are fond of surfing.Argentina is another, but more developed state in South America, which has formed its own special culture. There are quite a lot of people from Germany, the British Isles, as well as Slavic countries, but there are almost no Indians, only small groups of them live in the extreme south and north of the country.

Despite recent economic disasters that have greatly impacted the standard of living of the inhabitants of this once prosperous South American country, Argentines still remain what they have always been - an independent and proud people, preserving their history and traditions.

Argentines are known for their Latin temperament, which is characteristic of both women and men. At the same time, the attitude towards people is very caring. Politeness is the custom here. Moreover, this is not just window dressing, but completely natural behavior of people. And if you meet well-known people, then the mutual compliments and smiles are endless.

When meeting, Argentines kiss each other on the cheek, and strangers shake hands. Everyone is literally obsessed with football and politics, as well as what people will think of them and what impression they will leave on their interlocutor. Argentines speak only Spanish with various jargons and slangs, such as "lunfardo" or Buenos Aires.

In Venezuela, the main traditions are festivals with dances and holidays, which fill the entire calendar.

In a state in northeastern South America, Guyana has developed sports such as rafting and kayaking.

In general, all the traditions of the population of South America are similar in all countries. It's always very interesting to learn something new. If you are affected by the information, go to South America, you will be greeted with joy there, and you will plunge into the mysterious life of this continent

Customs and traditions of peoples

North America.

"The First Americans."

How and when did the diverse historical and cultural regions of North America emerge? Archaeologists have undertaken to answer this question. No centers of origin of great apes have been discovered in North America. Consequently, the indigenous population of the North American continent had to be newcomers. But where did the “first Americans” come from - the Paleo-Indians, that is, the Stone Age Indians, mammoth hunters?

Most researchers are inclined to believe that man first appeared on the American continent 25-29 thousand years ago. According to anthropologists - scientists who study the origins of man - America was inhabited by representatives of one racial type - Mongoloid. From their distant Asian ancestors, the American Indians retained blood types, among which those currently existing on the Eurasian continent are completely absent. They are distinguished by spade-shaped incisor teeth typical of Mongoloids; men rarely go bald in old age, and women almost never turn gray. The people who settled the American continent were strong, resilient and energetic.

Culture and life of the ancient population of North America.

Approximately 15-10 thousand years ago, during the Ice Age, life was in full swing around the hearths. Here archaeologists find tools made of stone and bone, as well as the bones of animals that these people ate. The “First Americans” were hunters of large, now fossilized, animals: first the mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, then the deer, and the bison. Gathering edible plants supplemented their diet.

They had throwing weapons - darts and spears, bows and arrows. They knew how to use fire and build temporary shelters covered with round skins. They hunted mammoths, musk oxen, moose, bears, bison and elephants. To create tools, like their counterparts in Western Europe, they widely used bone. It was from bone that they made arrow shaft straighteners, throwing tips, and needles. They used these needles to sew fur. They made practical and comfortable fur overalls from fur, as well as suits consisting of several items: trousers, parka boots with a rounded bottom edge - a “tail”. It is this detail of the cut of the parka - a long cape, or “tail” - that testifies to the connection of the ancient Americans with the population of ancient Eurasia, in particular, the population of the Siberian Taigit - the Tungus.

In the town of Folsom in southwestern North America, archaeologists found the bones of 23 bison fossils and stone laurel-leaf throwing points. These items belonged to people who lived in North America about 15 thousand years ago. Traces of hunters of large fossil mammals - bison, horses, sloths - have been found throughout what is now the United States.

About 4 thousand years ago, the first Cocheese farmers appeared in the southwestern United States. The first experiments in cultivating corn, beans and zucchini date back to this time. At the same time, American archaic man used fish resources and edible aquatic plants. Among the household items of the Kochisi, baskets for collecting edible plants, grain grinders, knives, drills, and scrapers are known.

About 2 thousand years ago, the Cochisi farmers were replaced by Hohokam and Mogollon immigrants from Mexico. The creators of these cultures were not only hardworking farmers, but also producers of magnificent pottery, varied in shape and skillfully decorated with geometric decorations.

The dishes used in everyday life were very simple. These are bowls and vessels with a flat bottom, varying in size and shape. The painting is located on the outside of the walls of such vessels. But many ceramic vessels were made for religious purposes. For example, bowls in which sacrificial food made from cornmeal and other gifts were presented to deities were often decorated on the inside with complex geometric designs. These bowls and vessels were placed in the graves along with the dead.

Ornamental compositions on ceramic vessels consisted of complex geometric images of sacred animals and birds. Scientists have suggested that these birds and animals were revered as totems. Compositions on the inside of vessels were often inscribed in a circle or triangle and, as a rule, placed in the central part at the bottom of the vessel. The drawings were made mainly in black and red paints, which perhaps symbolized the idea of ​​life and death.

Representatives of these cultures built irrigation structures in their fields, erected places of worship on earthen platforms, and lived in houses buried in the ground, the walls of which were lined with unfired clay bricks and the floors with wooden planks.

Around 200 AD, the creators of the Hohokam and Mogollon cultures were replaced by basket makers in the southwestern United States. They were called this because they made waterproof baskets that were shaped like pots. Basket makers cooked food in such vessels on hot stones. Basket makers lived in caves.

In the canyons of Arizona, in the valleys of the Mencos and Rio Grande del Norte rivers, in the Colorado Canyon, famous for its archaeological monuments, there lived people who were called cliff-dwellers (translated from English as inhabitants of cliffs, rocks). Like their predecessors, the basket makers, the creators of the Cliff Dwellers culture lived in rock crevices, under rock overhangs and in caves. But there they built entire cities. Their houses made of mud brick were created not only by people, but also by nature itself; they were squeezed into rocky recesses, grew in breadth and depth, and piled on top of each other. In fact, it was one large house in which a community lived, consisting of several large families - clans. Each family had its own sanctuary, which was a round building in plan and resembled a well. The Indians called such ancestral sanctuaries kiva.

During the period 300 BC. e. - 800 AD e. In the valleys of the Ohio and Illinois rivers there lived people who learned to find native copper and process it in a cold way. They created a culture that scientists call the Adena and Hopewell cultures. In the middle reaches of the Mississippi, pre-state associations and a pre-urban culture arose. A feature of this culture was temple architecture in the form of pyramids, highly artistic metal and ceramic products.

The Aden and Hopewell cultures ceased to exist. The archaeological finds of these cultures excavated from the ground are stored in the most famous museums in the world, one of which is the Natural History Museum in New York. But as a reminder of the former greatness of these cultural traditions of ancient America, numerous mounds-temples have been preserved. They differ greatly in appearance and structure. Archaeologists have created a typology of mounds-temples of Adena-Hopewell.

Mounds - burial mounds used to be called mounds with coffins. These are peculiar burial grounds in which numerous burials were excavated. The height of such mounds does not exceed 10 meters. They are most numerous in the northern part of the Mississippi River basin. Archaeologists consider them to be the most ancient form of funerary structures of the Adenahopewell cultural tradition.

Pyramid mounds are structures on earthen platforms with geometric shapes. Obviously, the idea of ​​​​building such funeral structures was born nearby, in Mexico. The dead were rarely buried inside such pyramidal architectural structures. The burials were located on the territory of special cemeteries next to them.

Garbage mounds are a special type of “shell mound”, known in the Bronze Age culture of Europe as places where food waste and household garbage accumulated. In Chaco Canyon, such garbage mounds are located near settlements and mark the beginning of the road in a southeast direction from Pueblo Bonito. They consist of stones, shards, ceramics and other inorganic waste. At the same time they are burial grounds. They are rectangular in shape and look like platforms.

Mounds in the shape of animals and birds are the most mysterious and interesting form of religious architecture in North America. Such mounds began to be built after 700 by the creators of the Hopewell culture. They survive in the states of Wisconsin and Ohio. Some have the outlines of a snake (405 m in length), an eagle, a bear (17 m), a fox, an elk, a bison, a jaguar, a toad (46 m). Inside these structures, archaeologists discovered secondary burials with poor grave goods. It is possible that the symbolic figures of the maunds were considered as images of totemic ancestors, into whose wombs the deceased were placed for the purpose of their subsequent resurrection.

The dead were buried in mounds, accompanied by tools and weapons. Wooden funeral masks with deer antlers were placed on the faces of the deceased. The clothes of the dead were literally strewn with river pearls and decorated with metal plates and figurines of animals and birds.

Unlike the mounds of the Adena culture, the Hopewell burial complexes were built in two stages. Around the mounds, earthen fences were erected, which had a round, rectangular or octagonal shape. Such fences could reach 500 m in diameter. Two or more such burial complexes could be connected by paths. Rectangular-shaped enclosures contained dozens of mounds. Like all monuments of this type, these were not just burial grounds, but also special tribal sanctuaries that had cult and ritual significance.

The Hopewellians (the creators of the Hopewell culture) had several types of funeral rites, among which the most common was cremation - the burning of corpses. But for people who had a particularly high social status, there was a different burial custom. Special burial houses were built for them in specially selected places. They were buried in shallow graves or log tombs. The floor of such a burial was compacted and an adobe platform was built. A rectangular bed was erected on a clay platform, on which the body of the deceased was placed. Nearby were objects that were subject to a special procedure of “killing” or destruction. These items were supposed to follow the deceased to the next world. Among these items were items made from obsidian, a volcanic glass brought by traders from the far west; obsidian served as an ideal material for making ritual knives. There were also jewelry made of copper and freshwater pearls, which were literally showered on the bodies of the deceased. Smoking pipes were placed in the graves. The tube itself was made in the form of a flat platform on which the image of the animal was located.

Distant descendants of the “first Americans” eventually became the ancestors of the three major indigenous groups of North America - the Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts.

Aleuts.

The Aleuts are an island people of the Pacific North - hunters of marine mammals, fishermen, and gatherers. Their life is inseparable from the sea.

The sea near the islands of the Aleutian archipelago does not freeze. The Aleuts hunted sea otters and seals, northern fur seals and sea lions, large and small whales, dolphins, sea urchins, as well as foxes, cormorants, ducks, and geese. In addition, they caught fish - cod, halibut, salmon.

As a rule, hunters united 15-20 people. The Aleuts each went out to sea in their own kayak. Its frame consisted of an elastic wooden frame - a lattice. The parts of the lattice were fastened together with whalebone. Such a frame did not bend or break under the blows of ocean waves. The outside of the kayak was covered with sea lion skin. High-speed kayaks could reach speeds of up to 10 kilometers per hour, while the kayak moved silently through the water. The carrying capacity of the kayak is up to 300 kg.

The hunter who went hunting was carefully equipped. His body was protected from the cold by a parka made of bird skins. The parka was covered with a waterproof camel made from the intestines of a seal, into the seams of which miniature bunches of red bird feathers were sewn - amulets that protect the hunter from the forces of evil during the hunt and attract prey. To hunt marine mammals, the Aleuts used harpoons with throwing planks and spears, which were called “beaver shooters.”

To escape the bad weather, the Aleuts built dwellings buried deep in the ground. The traditional housing of the Aleuts is a dugout with an entrance through a smoke hole.

They went down into the house along a log with notches.

Before the arrival of the Russians, such structures were erected from whale bones; later, fins were also used as building material. 10-40 families lived inside such a dugout. In ancient times, the Aleuts lived in large houses that accommodated even more people.

The materials for making fishing tools, weapons and utensils were stone, bone, driftwood (wood washed ashore by the sea), and grass. Men used stone and later iron daggers, women used wide, short horizontal, slightly curved slate knives (“pekulki” or “ulu”).

Using needles made from bird bones, Aleutian craftswomen sewed clothes, covers for kayaks, made leather wallets for sale, and waterproof clothing from the intestines of marine mammals.

The Aleuts were very skilled in weaving mats and baskets. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, Aleut women made baskets made using the ring weaving technique from grass and willow twigs. In ancient times, such baskets were used as bags along with bags made from the skins of sea mammals. They were woven from multi-colored grass fibers, mostly yellowish and brownish. Using a variety of colors of grass fibers, craftswomen created geometric patterns based on symbolic figures: rhombus, rectangle, triangle, zigzag.

Aleuts - both men and women - wore long, closed clothes with sleeves without a hood. Men's parkas were made from bird skins, women's parkas were made from the skins of sea beavers and cats, with wool on the inside. On their feet, the Aleuts wore boots made of the skin of sea animals. The clothing was perfectly adapted to life in the conditions of the oceanic tundra - the Aleutian Islands.

Since ancient times, the Aleuts have sewn unique clothing from bird skins - parkas made from hatchets. It took 300-400 skins to make a parka. The skins were removed with stockings from the bodies of the hatchets, tanned and sewn together with sinew threads.

Parkas made from bird skins were made double-sided. They could be worn outside either with feathers (in the rainy season) or with leather (the feathers pleasantly cooled the body in the pleasant season). The skins were laid out in tiers and carefully sewn together. Strips of leather painted with red paint were laid between horizontal rows of skins. Embroidery was done over strips of leather. They embroidered clothes with deer hair. Now this technology has been lost, but earlier craftswomen worked so skillfully with bone needles that there were no traces of embroidery left on the back of the leather strip. Long white deer hair, taken from under a deer's neck earring, was considered sacred and was seen as a talisman.

One of the main elements of the Aleut hunting costume were wooden visors decorated with sea lion mustaches and conical headdresses, also made of wood, worn by representatives of the clan elite.

Beliefs.

The Aleuts worshiped nature spirits in animal forms. One of these animals was the whale. Keith generally played a special role in the life of the Aleuts. Whale ribs and skulls are often found in ancient Aleutian burials. Often the skull of a deceased hunter lay between two whale ribs.

The Aleuts made mummies from the bodies of the revered dead and buried them in caves. This method of burial has been known to the Aleuts since ancient times.

American Eskimos.

Eskimos live in the American Arctic and subarctic. They inhabited a vast area from the Bering Strait to Greenland. A small group of Eskimos live in northeast Asia.

Eskimo languages: Yupik, Inupiaq, Inuktikut.

Whale hunting played a special place in the life support system. When hunting marine mammals, the Eskimos used two types of boats: kayak and umiak.

The kayak is silent and fast. Its load capacity reaches 300 kg. The hunter, sitting in it, tightly fastened the belt around his waist. If the boat capsized after colliding with an ice floe, the hunter could turn it back over with a blow of the oar without taking in any water.

The main hunting weapon of the Eskimos was a harpoon with a shooting tip.

The Eskimos settled in small groups with weak ties between them. In summer, the Eskimos' dwellings were cone-shaped buildings made of poles, covered with birch bark and bark. Winter dwellings are dugouts with one or two living quarters and a room for storing supplies at the entrance. There were special sleeping places inside the dwelling.

During hunting expeditions to the central regions of the American Arctic, the Eskimos built snow dwellings, which were called igloos. Inside the igloo there was a canopy made of skins, which served as a living chamber. in the event of a sudden snowstorm, the Eskimos buried themselves in the snow with their dogs and waited out the bad weather.

Two families often lived in an igloo. the internal space was heated by fat-pots - bowls made of soapstone with a wick floating in seal oil. Food was cooked on the fat.

Eskimo clothing was well adapted to the cold climate of the Arctic. Summer clothes were made of fur in one layer, and always with the fur facing the body. Winter in two layers, one layer with the fur facing the body, the other with the fur facing out. The clothes were made from deer fur. Men wore a short jacket with a hood made of deer or seal skin, with the fur facing the body.

In the craft, a special branch of art was bone carving, and only on walrus tusk. The handles of tools were made from it, giving them the shape of animals and people, household and religious objects. Master carvers created very realistic sculptural compositions with the participation of people and animals, as well as images of spirits. Such figures were called pelicens. Pelikens are spirits of wealth and contentment. The Eskimos wore these figures as talismans.

North American Indians.

By the time Europeans arrived, more than two thousand Indian tribes lived on the North American continent. I'll tell you about a few.

Athapaskan.

Atapaskan is the collective name for the Indians of this vast region, who belong to various tribes: Kuchin, Koyukon Tanaina, Inalik and many others. Athapascans are hunters and fishermen. The fauna of the region is quite diverse. there were deer, caribou, moose, and many other animals, so hunting took precedence over fishing.

Housing and life.

The entrance to the house was usually facing the river, so settlements usually stretched along the shore. Houses were made from logs. The winter dwelling had a dome-shaped vault sunk into the ground, and was covered with animal skins. There was a fireplace in the center of the house. The floor was covered with branches, and the entrance was through a short dug tunnel. The main element of the interior decoration of the home was the bunk. They sat on them, slept on them, ate. The dishes were made from wood, horn, grass and birch bark.

The Athapaskans wore clothes made of well-made suede, made from deer skin devoid of fur. Suede shirts were decorated with suede fringe and deer hair embroidery. The cut of men's and women's shirts was the same. The hem most often had pointed outlines, the edge of the hem was decorated with fringe, the edges of the clothing were ornamented, and fur or fringe was left there. these were amulets.

The suit was complemented by suede pants and special shoes - moccasins.

PRAIRIE INDIANS

The territory occupied by the Great Plains Indians is located in the heart of North America. She reached out

From the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan to Texas.

Teton-Dakota, Sioux, Comanche, Kiowa, Mandan - American traders and hunters were the first to meet representatives of these Indian tribes in the developing expanses of the Great Plains.

All the tribes spoke different languages ​​and did not understand each other. In order to communicate, they invented sign language and picture writing, the signs of which were understood by all Prairie Indians.

Hunting was mainly a male activity. The men tracked deer and elk, hiding in thickets of bushes or small forests. Most often this was an individual hunt. Collective hunting for bison in the summer.

The hunters' camp consisted of several groups, whose members were related to each other. Marriages took place between members of groups more or less distant from each other. The tribe united several camps. The inhabitants of such camps installed their portable dwellings - teepees - in a circle. Each family erected its tipi at a certain place in this ring, which was determined by the degree of participation of the family in public life.

Power was exercised by the leaders of the lower and higher echelons. Decision making was determined by agreement among the senior leaders. Leaders and veterans of war formed communities called men's unions. Men's unions were accepted taking into account the candidate's military merits. Military valor and generosity were highly valued.

The prairie Indians were excellent warriors. For example, the warlike nature and possession of horses made the Dakota tribe an aggressive people. The warriors were armed with bows and arrows.

After the arrival of Europeans, the Prairie Indians quickly mastered horse riding. The horse became an integral part of military equipment. Mobility and the speed of movement associated with it were the most important features of their culture, and it was mobility that defined opportunity for them across the vast expanses of the Great Plains.

The exploits of men were considered especially prestigious. The Indian could accumulate military >. It was considered prestigious to boldly look an enemy in the eye, to pick up a rifle from an enemy who had fallen from the saddle, to steal an enemy’s horse, sneak into his village unnoticed, and to remove the scalp from the head of a defeated enemy.

TOMAHAWK

The antler tomahawk has served as a symbol of the valor of the male warrior throughout Indian history. A tomahawk is a hatchet with a long handle. The design of the tomahawk has undergone evolution. The most ancient form of this melee weapon was the caribou antler tomahawk. A flint point or metal blade was inserted into the short sawed-off process of such a horn. The long process served as a handle. The lower part of the handle was decorated with suede fringe. Later, the handle was made of wood, traditionally decorated with fringe, and a metal blade was inserted into the upper end. This is what the tomahawks of the steppe Indians looked like. Later, when the Prairie Indians met the Europeans, they began to present tomahawks combined with a peace pipe as gifts to the Indian leaders.

PEACE PIPE

The peace pipe is a sacred object decorated with eagle feathers, which symbolized prosperity and well-being.

The most ancient rituals in which the peace pipe was used were dedicated to the cult of fertility. The Indians gathered together and sat in a circle. The most revered person - the military leader, chief or elder - lit the sacred pipe, took a few puffs and passed it to the warrior sitting next to him. He took a few puffs and passed it on to his neighbor. So the tube went around all the ceremony participants in a circle, uniting them. Smoke rose to the sky, symbolizing thunderclouds. Participants in the ceremony called on them to rain. Rain, prosperity and peace were closely related concepts. Therefore, when the Indians concluded peace agreements and stopped hostilities, they performed a ritual similar to the ritual of making rain: they sat in a circle and lit a peace pipe. Europeans who fought with the Indians and more than once observed rituals during truce ceremonies called the sacred pipe of the Indians - >.

Housing and life

Indian life was spent in practical small tipis. A teepee is a single-family dwelling designed for year-round use. In the center of the tipi there is a fireplace, the smoke from which escapes through a smoke hole. This hole could be covered with skin in case of bad weather. The lower edge of the tire was often rolled with stones or pinned to the ground using bone or wooden pegs. In the summer it was raised to check the room. The tipi is cozy and warm in winter, but sometimes it gets a little stuffy from the smoke. A tipi is a conical structure made of poles, covered with 8-12 bison skins. The skins are skillfully dressed and sewn.

The outside of the tipi cover was usually decorated with paintings. It was a special form of mnemonic writing.

The drawings that covered the bottom edge of the tipi cover were drawn by women. This form of fine art was passed down from mother to daughter and was very ancient. The antiquity of the idea of ​​​​painting images on the leather tires of hut-like dwellings is evidenced by the very archaic style of the drawings. The drawings are flat, there is no perspective in the compositions, the most significant images were distinguished by larger sizes. The figures of riders galloping on horses with spears, dressed in lush feather headdresses, images of foot soldiers, dogs and animals are so generally drawn that they resemble signs-symbols. These are really signs like letters of the alphabet. Tire painting itself was also a special form of patterned writing.

For example, the drawings could be read as follows:

>. During migrations, the stakes were folded into a V-shaped drag, which was pulled by a dog or horse.

Pottery was too heavy for the nomadic life of the Indians, so animal skins or stomachs were used for cooking. The skin was stretched on sticks, water was poured in and hot stones were thrown inside. Pieces of fresh meat were placed in boiling water, which did not need to be cooked for a long time. The spoons were made from bison horn, which was first steamed in water and then shaped accordingly. Such spoons were used exclusively for pouring food, as they ate with their fingers. The plates were made from growths on the trunks of elm trees.

WRITING MATERIAL

The Prairie Indians used the white surface of well-dressed bison hides as a writing material. On the surface of the skin they applied multi-figure compositions telling the military history of the tribe.

The art of tanning leather to make clothes was passed down through the female line. Fresh bison skin was stretched on the ground with the fur down. Using elk antler scrapers with an iron or stone blade, women cleared the surface of flesh. If the skin was intended for making clothing, the fur was removed. The skin was then soaked in water or buried in damp soil. After this, it was softened with oil or the surface to be treated was smeared with bison brain. Next, the remaining flesh was removed from the skin and hung over the smoke to smoke. Smoked skins took on a brown tint.

The Indians knew how to make delicious white skins that were used for ceremonial purposes. Softer elk skins were used to make clothes. Some skins were used in their raw form. Rawhide was used to make some tools: for example, rawhide belts were used to fasten ax blades to shafts.

The Indian men's costume consisted of a leather turban, sleeveless vest, suede leggings, moccasins and a buffalo skin shirt. The men's costume was complemented by a breastplate made of falcon wing bones, fastened with pieces of bison skin. This breastplate was considered a ceremonial decoration.

Women wore straight-cut knee-length shirts, leggings, and moccasins. Shirts were made by folding two bison skins, tails down. Therefore, a characteristic cape was formed in the lower part of women's shirts. The lower part of such shirts and the seams were decorated with suede fringe, which symbolized bison fur.

The leader could be recognized among his fellow tribesmen. A buffalo skin with magnificent winter wool is draped over his shoulders. The cape is decorated with owl feathers and rustling pendants. On the neck is a decoration of sixty grizzly bear claws.

The eagle feather was considered endowed with magical powers and was seen as a powerful amulet. The leader's headdress, whose feathers reached 68 cm in length, contained several dozen such feathers. The leader's hair was smoothed and covered with red dye, and rifle cartridge casings were woven into it. The leader's face was painted red.

The clothes were decorated with embroidery using porcupine quills. Personal jewelry made from bird feathers has become widespread.

Prominent warriors and leaders wore tall feather headdresses, which were often decorated with bison horns - a symbol of power.

BELIEFS AND RITUALS

The supernatural world of the Prairie Indians consisted of what they called >, that is, everything sacred.

Wakan is the Greatest Mystery that humanity can know. Contact between the world of people and the world of elemental creatures is carried out by professionals - shamans. Shamans have special knowledge that they can convey only through their own language, which is poorly understood by their fellow tribesmen.

Kamali is to perform a ritual, that is, to communicate with one’s helping spirits; they put on a suit made from animal skins.

The beliefs of the Indians were embodied in rituals and ceremonies that were theatrical in nature.

The Prairie Indians led a free life in the vastness of the Great Plains.

TLINKITS

The northwest coast of North America, from Yakutat in the north to the Columbia River in the south, was inhabited by numerous Indian tribes who lived a lifestyle of hunters and fishermen.

In addition to the Tlingit, the Chugach, Kwakiutl, Tsishman and other Indian tribes lived on the coast. Their villages were located along the shores of lagoons, on the banks of lakes or rivers. The houses had their entrances facing the water and were lined up in one line.

The Tlingit were skilled warriors. They dressed in armor and put wooden helmets on their heads that covered the lower part of their faces.

Hunting tools and weapons were made from stone, bone, and shells. The Tlingits were known for cold metal working - forging native copper. Copper was mainly used to make jewelry and daggers. They hunted with harpoons, arrows, and spears.

Religious ideas

Religious ideas were based on ideas about helping spirits. The Indians believed in the existence of patron spirits of various crafts, patron spirits of individual hunters, and personal assistant spirits of shamans. The Indians believed that after death the soul of the deceased moves into the body of an animal, which was revered as a totem.

Totem is an Indian concept that comes from an Ojibwe word recorded by European missionaries.

Crafts and art

The Indians masterfully mastered wood processing techniques. They had drills, adzes, stone axes, woodworking and other tools. They knew how to saw boards and cut figured sculptures. They made houses, canoes, work tools, sculptures, and totem poles from wood. Tlingit art is distinguished by two more features: multi-figuredness - the mechanical connection of different images in one object, and polyeikonicity - the flow, sometimes encrypted, hidden by the master, smooth transition of one image to another.

Living in the rainy and foggy climate of the sea coast, the Tlingits made special capes from grass fibers and cedar bast, which resembled ponchos. They served as a reliable shelter from the rain.

The works of monumental art included rock paintings, paintings on the walls of houses, and totem poles.

The images on the pillars are created in a style called bilateral (two-sided). The Indians of North America used the so-called skeletal style to apply drawings on ritual objects, ceramics, and also when creating rock paintings.