This course discusses warfare, commerce, social organization, political diplomacy, disease, demographics, religion, and environmental degradation among the ancient peoples of the Americas as revealed by archaeological, art historical, and textual data. Students will gain an appreciation of the diversity of human life in the New World as well as an understanding of the tremendous cultural achievements of the Inca, the Aztec, the Maya, and their neighbors. We will use the concept of complexity as a framework for comparing different societies and for contextualizing the relevance of ancient civilizations for understanding global processes in the contemporary world.

This course discusses warfare, commerce, social organization, political diplomacy, disease, demographics, religion, and environmental degradation among the ancient peoples of the Americas as revealed by archaeological, art historical, and textual data. Students will gain an appreciation of the diversity of human life in the New World as well as an understanding of the tremendous cultural achievements of the Inca, the Aztec, the Maya, and their neighbors. We will use the concept of complexity as a framework for comparing different societies and for contextualizing the relevance of ancient civilizations for understanding global processes in the contemporary world.