History of Pre-Columbian America

obligatory courses

Classroom

Classes “History of Pre-Columbian America” are a basic course in the field of archaeology and history of the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and South America.

During the seminar, students get to know the history of cultures of pre-Hispanic America on selected examples. Particular emphasis is placed on the Inca, Aztec and Maya cultures, but the program also includes other cultural areas of pre-Hispanic America.

Classes are conducted in a stationary form. In case of a sudden introduction of new pandemic restrictions related to Covid-19, classes will be held online. The classes are distributed over at least 12 meetings. Each of them is divided into two parts: an introductory lecture is presented during the first 45 minutes; during the second, 90-minute part of the course, a didactic discussion is held. The classes end with an exam.

Classes “History of Pre-Columbian America” are a basic course in the field of archaeology and history of pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and South America.

The entire course was divided into two geographical and cultural parts: in the first part, students will learn about the history and archaeology of the pre-Hispanic South America and Easter Island, in the second: about the history of the North and Central Americas

Classes are conducted in a stationary form. The classes are distributed over at least 12 meetings. Each of them is divided into two parts: an introductory lecture is presented during the first 45 minutes; during the second, 90-minute part of the course, a didactic discussion based on obligatory readings (historical documents and fragments of books, articles, and reports) is held. The classes end with an exam in a stationary form. If it is not possible to organize the exam in a stationary form, it will take place online via the Google Meet platform and Google Classroom form or via Kampus UW platform.

During the seminar, students get to know the history of cultures of pre-Hispanic America on selected examples. Particular emphasis is placed on the Inca, Aztec and Maya cultures, but the program also includes other cultural areas of pre-Hispanic America (including Amazonia, Easter Island, and the Caribbean region).

Thematic areas:

I. Introduction to the archaeological and historical studies. Geography of the South America region.

II. Andean region before the Incas (Formative Period – Middle Horizon).

III. Andean region before the Incas and history of the Incas (Late Intermediate Period and Late Horizon).

IV. Non-Andean World: Amazonia, The Caribbean and Easter Island.

V. Mesoamerica – introduction: geography, chronology and historical sources.

VI. Mesoamerican codices, calendrical systems and related festivities.

VII. The Maya in the Postclassic period. Mayan myths and beliefs.

VIII. The mythology of Central Mexico.

IX. Mytho-history and political history of the Aztecs.

X. Ruler and authority in Mesoamerica.

XI. Aztec economy and society. Elements of everyday life.

XII. Revision.

Literature for South America classes:

Arguedas, Jose Maria, Bogowie i ludzie z Huarochiri, tłum. Jan Szemiński, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1985.

Campbell, L. V. Grondona, The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide, Boston, 2012.

Cobo SJ, Bernabé: Historia del Nuevo Mundo. W: Mity, rytuały i polityka Inków (2006), Mariusz Ziółkowski i Jan Szemiński. Warszawa, PIW.

Coe, Michael; Snow, Dean; Benson, Elizabeth. Wielkie kultury świata. Ameryka prekolumbijska. Penta, Warszawa 1997.

Collapiña, Suponi i in., Relacja o potomkach i rządach Inków i o tym, jak dokonano ich podboju, w: Dzieje Inków przez nich samych opisane, ed. Jan Szemiński, Warszawa, 1989.

Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe: Nueva Crónica y Buen Gobierno. Tomo I (2005). Słownik i tłum. Jan Szemiński. Meksyk, Lima, Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Hunt L. Terry, Lipo P. Carl, Chronology, deforestation, and “collapse:” Evidence vs. faith in Rapa Nui prehistory, [w:] Rapa Nui Journal, vol. 21 (2), 2007: 85-97.

Kula, Marcin, Historia Brazylii, 1987.

McEvan, C., L. Borrero, A. Prieto, Patagonia: Natural History, Prehistory and Ethnography at the Uttermost End of the Earth, Princeton, 1997.

Makowski K., 2010 Horizontes y cambios lingüísticos en la prehistoria de los Andes centrales. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP, nr 14.

Makowski, K., Andean Urbanism, w: Handbook of South American Archaeology, ed. H. Silverman, W. Isbell, 2008.

Molina, Cristobal de: Ritos y favulas de los Ingas. W: Inkowie o Inkach. Antologia (2015). Spolszczył, przypisami i komentarzami opatrzył Jan Szemiński. Warszawa, Wydział „Artes Liberales” UW.

Moore, J.D., A Prehistory of South America. Ancient Cultural Diversity on the Least Known Continent, 2014.

Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua, Joan de Santacruz, Opowieść o starożytnościach Królestwa Peru, w: Dzieje Inków przez nich samych opisane, ed. Jan Szemiński, Warszawa, 1989.

Pizarro, Pedro: Relacja o odkryciu i podboju Królestwa Peru (1995). Tłum. Maria Mróz, Gdańska, Novus Orbis.

Politis, G., The Pampas and Campos of South America, w: Handbook of South American Archaeology, ed. H. Silverman, W. Isbell, 2008.

Rostworowska, Maria. Historia Państwa Inków. CESLA UW, Biblioteka Narodowa, Warszawa 2004.

Routledge, Scoresby, The bird cult of Easter Island [w:] Folklore, vol. XXVIII, nr IV, 1917: 337-355.

Ryn, Zdzisław Jan, Wyspa Wielkanocna. Eskulap na Rapa Nui, Kraków, 2013.

Szemiński Jan i Mariusz Ziółkowski: Mity, rytuały i polityka Inków (2006). Warszawa, PIW.

Szykulski, Józef, Pradzieje Południowego Peru. Rozwój kulturowy Costa Extremo Sur, Wrocław 2005.

Ziółkowski, Mariusz: Posłowie. W: Historia Państwa Inków (2007). Maria Rostworowska, Warszawa, PIW.

Ziółkowski, Mariusz „Dlaczego przegrali, czyli o grzechu pychy w polityce”, w: Przegląd Akademicki, 2012, cz. I.

Vargas, Patricia, Cristino Claudio, Izaurieta Roberto, 1000 años en Rapa Nui: Arqueología del asentamiento humano en la Isla de Pascua, Editorial Universitaria, 2006.

Vega, Inca Garcilaso de la: O Inkach uwagi prawdziwe (2000). Tłum. i przypisy Jan Szemiński. Warszawa, Wydawnictwo TRIO CESLA UW, Ambasada Peru w Polsce.

Literature for Mesoamerica classes:

Blanton, Richard (2006) “Powstawanie cywilizacji w Mezoameryce”. W: Goran Burenhult (ed.) Wielkie Cywilizacje. Bielsko-Biała, Wyd. Debit: 229-233.

Clendinnen, Inga (1996) Aztekowie. Próba interpretacji. Warszawa, PIW.

Cortés, Hernán (1997) Listy o zdobyciu Meksyku. Tłum. Maria Mróz i Ryszard Tomicki. Gdańsk, Novus Orbis.

Durán, Diego (2006) Historia de las Indias de Nueva España e Islas de la Tierra Firme. Meksyk, Editorial Porrúa.

Grube, Nikolai (red.) (2001) Majowie. Niezwykła cywilizacja. Warszawa, Wyd. Buchmann.

Karttunen, Frances i James Lockhart: The Art of Nahuatl Speech: The Bancroft Dialogues (1987). UCLA Latin American Studies Volume 65.

Kettunen, Harri i Christopher Helmke (2011) Wprowadzenie do Hieroglifów Majów. Tłum. Boguchwała Tuszyńska, materiały pokonferencyjne. Kopenhaga, XVI Europejska Konferencja Majanistyczna.

Landa, fray Diego de (1937) Yucatan Before and After the Conquest. Tłum. William Gates. Dostęp online: http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/maya/ybac/index.htm.

Legend of the Suns. W: History and Mythology of the Aztecs. The Codex Chimalpopoca (1998). Tłum. John Bierhorst. Tuscon, University of Arizona Press

López Austin, Alfredo i Leonardo López Lujan: El pasado indígena (2001). Meksyk, El Colegio de México, Fideicomismo Historia de las Américas, Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Marcus, Joyce i Kent Flannery (2000) „Cultural evolution in Oaxaca: the origins of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations”. W: R. Adams I M. MacLeod (red.) The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 358-406.

Martin, Simon i Nikolai Grube (2000) Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Londyn, Thames & Hudson.

Mikulska, Katarzyna (2009) „Prekolumbijskie cywilizacje Mezoameryki”. W: Marcin F. Gawrycki (red.) Dzieje kultury latynoamerykańskiej. Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN: 73-84.

Mikulska, Katarzyna (2014) Znak graficzny w przedhiszpańskich księgach wróżebnych środkowego Meksyku. W: Zbigniew Kloch, Łukasz Grützmacher i Marek Kaźmierczak (red.) Znakowe wartości kultury. Warszawa, WUW: 55-78.

Olko, Justyna (2007) Mitologie Świata. Aztekowie. Warszawa, Rzeczpospolita S.A., New Media Concept.

Olko, Justyna (2010) Meksyk przed konkwistą. Warszawa, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.

Olko, Justyna, Źrałka, Jarosław (2008) W krainie czerni i czerwieni. Warszawa, WUW.

Pool, Christopher (2007) Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Popol Vuh. Księga Majów o początkach życia oraz chwale bogów i władców (2007) Tłum. Dennis Tedlock, tłum. na j. polski Izabela Szybilska. Gliwice, Wyd. Helion.

Sahagún, Bernardino de (2007) Rzecz z dziejów Nowej Hiszpanii. Księgi I, II, III. Tłum. Kęty, Wydawnictwo Marek Derewiecki.

Sahagún, fray Bernardino de: Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España (2006). México, Porrúa.

Sahagún, fray Bernardino de: Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España. Tomo II (2002). Meksyk, Conaculta, Cien de México.

Sahagún, fray Bernardino de: Florentine Codex. General History of the Things of New Spain (1950-1982). Tłum. z nahuatl Charles Dibble I Arthur J.O. Anderson The School of American Research and the University of Utah, Santa Fe. Vols. 8, 10.

Stuart, David: The Arrival of Strangers. Teotihuacan and Tollan in Classic Maya History. Dostęp online: http://www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/news_archive/25/strangers/strangers.html.

Szemiński, Jan, Ziółkowski, Mariusz (2006) Mity, rytuały i polityka Inków. Warszawa, PIW.

Tomicki, Ryszard (1988) „Źródła do dziejów przedhiszpańskiego Meksyku. I. Historia Meksyku (1548?)”. Etnografia Polska, XXXII: 49-79.

Tomicki, Ryszard (1984) Tenochtitlan 1521. Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej.

Torquemada, fray Juan de (1986) Monarquía Indiana. México, Ed. Porrúa.

Tuszyńska, Boguchwała (2007) Mitologie Świata. Majowie. Warszawa, Rzeczpospolita S.A., New Media Concept.

Velasquez García, Erik (2016) Nowa Historia Meksyku, Warszawa, Wydawnictwo: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN

Strony internetowe:

FAMSI: http://www.famsi.org/

Museo Nacional de Antropología, Meksyk: http://www.mna.inah.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_sppagebuilder&view=page&id=4708&Itemid=538

Muzeum Templo Mayor w Meksyku: http://www.templomayor.inah.gob.mx/

Detailed literature will be given during the classes.

Student knows basic terminology related to the fields of history and archaeology, subject and fields of historical and archaeological research; the most important events in the history and archaeology of Mesoamerica and South America and important aspects culture and language related to the pre-Columbian context of Latin America (K_W03; K_W06).

Student knows how to read and understand texts concerning the history of pre-Columbian America; present their views, opinions, discuss, present prepared issues related to the history of pre Columbian America; identify different types of texts concerning the history of pre-Columbian America, place them in a general historical and cultural context, and analyze them using basic terminology and appropriate methods; independently acquire knowledge and develop skills using appropriate historical sources (e.g. encyclopedias, lexicons); write an essay using appropriate methods and sources (i.e. historical and archaeological); prepare oral presentations using appropriate methods and sources for the historical disciplines in the area of Mesoamerica and South America; use basic theoretical approaches, research paradigms and concepts specific to the historical studies of the Spanish language field (K_U01; K_U02; K_U03; K_U04; K_U05; K_U06; K_U07).

Student is capable of critical assessment of their own knowledge and skills and understands the need for continuous improvement and development; planning and organizing work, developing their entrepreneurship, team collaboration and compliance with professional ethics; active participation in the culture of the studied region using various forms and media and to work both in a team performing various roles and in an autonomous manner; keeping informed about contemporary processes and phenomena occurring in Latin America (K_K01; K_K02; K_K03; K_K04).

Attendance at classes is mandatory. Only 2 unauthorized absences are allowed during the entire semester. Other absences should be authorized with a medical leave up to 14 days after the end of the leave period. After 14 days, medical leaves will not be accepted and the absence will be considered unauthorized.

To pass the course, a minimum of 65% on the final exam is required. The exam consists of multiple choice questions and essay questions. The exam will be held in a stationary form. If it is not possible to organize the exam in a stationary form, it will take place online via the Google Meet platform and Google Classroom form or via Kampus UW platform.

To take the exam, a student must fulfill the following conditions:

- attendance (maximum of two absences per semester),

- active participation of a student in classes and discussions based on the texts read at home (historical documents and fragments of books, articles, and reports).

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