Do you know about Mesoamerican culture?

Question

This question (at the bottom) was asked by my Chicano Studies teacher and even though I understand the last section of the question, can anyone please emphazise on the first part of the question with rational answers. Thank you.

Discuss the importance of looking at both natural and human history in trying to understand the development of Mesoamerican cultures, ideologies, religions, technologies, art, architecture, etc. What allowed formerly nomadic or semi nomadic societies to become sedentary? What did they begin to develop and why?

Answer 1

I would focus on the Mayan culture.  Southern Mexico, Belize etc.  The Mayan empire was agricultural an one of the three state level societies to originate in the Americas prior to European contact.  The interesting thing about the Maya is that the empire had collapsed b the time the Spanish made contact.  There were immense temple complexes and there were Quechua (Mayan language still spoken in Mexico and central america today) speaking people farming in the middle of them with no idea about who built them.  This was 600 years after the collapse.  There have been many studies showing the effect of el nino on flood patterns and harvests whic lead to the collapse.  Do a search on JSTOR or pick up a copy of Jared Diamond's book Collapse for detailed information.

Answer 2

Natural possible means evolutionary history, but in social science you can never be sure what they mean. The answer to the later questions can be explored in the history of agriculture.

Answer 3

http://wikipedia.org