INDIGENOUS AMERICAS
1000 B.C.E. - 1980 C.E.
Mesoamerica - Olmec, Maya, Mexica (Aztec) Andean South America - Chavin, Inca Native North America

Major Civilizations​
  • Olmec (1200-400 BCE) Mexico
  • Teotihuacan (1 BCE- 800 CE) Near Mexico City
  • Mayan (300-900 CE)Belize, Gautemala, Honduras, Yucatan
  • Nazca (200-600 CE) Coastal Peru
  • Moche (1-700 CE) Coastal Peru
  • Anasazi (550-1400 CE) American Southwest
  • Mississippian (800-1500 CE) Eastern United States
  • Aztecs (1400-1521) Central Mexico
  • Inca (1400-1521) Peru (no writing but a kept a record system, khipu)
  • NW Coast Native American (18th c- present) Pacific NW
CONTENT: What do you see?
FORM: The details (what you see more exactly). How the artist delivers the content.
CONTEXT: Everything NOT observable.
FUNCTION: The intended purpose of the work.

ART WORKS

South America
153. Chavin de Huantar                
  • Lanzon Stela
  • Relief sculpture
  • Nose ornament
155. Yaxchilan Structure 40        
  • Lintel 25, Structure 23
  • Structure 33
157. Templo Mayor                      
  • The Coyolxauhqui
  • Calendar Stone
  • Olmec-style mask
​158. Ruler’s feather headdress
        (Motecuhzoma II?)
159. City of Cusco Peru (Inca)
  • Curved Inka wall of Qorikancha
  • Walls at Saqsa Waman
160. Maize Cobs Inka
161. City of Machu Picchu Peru
  • Observatory 
  • Intihuatana Stone
162. All-T’oqapu tunic Inka

North America
154. Mesa Verde cliff dwellings Colorado (Anasazi)
156. Great Serpent Mound  
163. Bandolier Bag  
164. Transformation Mask Canada
165. Painted elk hide
166. Black-on-black ceramic vessel 

CONTEXT
Art of the Indigenous Americas developed independently from northern Asia between 10,000 BCE and 1492 CE, marking the beginning of the European invasions. Regions and cultures are referred to as INDIGENOUS AMERICAS to signal the priority of First Nations cultural traditions over the colonizing and migrant peoples that have taken over the American continents for the last 500 years.
  • Categorized by geography and chronology into designations of Ancient America (art created before 1550 CE south of the US/Mexico border) and Native North America (cultures north of the US/Mexico border - emphasis 1492 CE to present)
Artistic traditions exhibit overarching traits:
  • content emphasizes unity with natural world
  • spirituality/visionary shamanism
  • value on animal-baed media
  • incorporation of trade materials
  • stylistic focus on essence not appearance of subjects
  • aesthetic objects with functional aspect
  • art that is participatory and active
Cultural similarities of ancient Mesoamerica:
  • similar calendars
  • pyramidal stepped structures
  • sites/buildings oriented in relation to sacred mountains/celestial phenomena
Cultural similarities of Ancient Central Andes:
  • emphasis on surviving/interacting with the environment
  • reciprocity (practice of exchange for mutual benefit)
  • reverence for animal/plant world in practice of shamanistic religion
  • influence of three distinct ecosystems: mountains, desert coast, rain forest (Amazon)
  • environments influence materials
  • necessity to interact with dissimilar environments put emphasis on trade in exotic materials
  • asymmetrical dualism (opposing ideas - male/female, sun/moon)

VOCABULARY

​Mesoamerica
earthwork
ashlar masonry
effigy mound
courses
​pre-Columbian
comb roof
repousse
axis mundi

INDIGENOUS AMERICAS

  • BIG IDEA 1: Artists manipulate materials and ideas to create an aesthetic object, act, or event.
                    1.  What is art and how is it made?
                             Materials (Environment/Geography)
                             Art making techniques
                             Why make art? (Function)
  • BIG IDEA 2: Art making is shaped by tradition and change.
                   1. Why and how does art change?
                             What features/changes of a tradition do you see?
                              Why was the art influential?
  • BIG IDEA 3: Interpretations of art are variable.
                   1. How do we describe our thinking about art?
                                What are the formal qualities and content of the art?
                                What is the context of the art? (context = differing interpretations)
                                 What attributes of a work can we attribute to other works of art? (similarities and differences?)

QUICK HISTORY

  • Indigenous cultures of North America date back to 10,000 BCE but  most artifacts date only from the last 2,000 years
  • Geography plays a huge role in Andean Art. Coastal plains acted individually while in the mountains they united against the elements.
  • Old civilizations are used as foundations for new ones. (building upon preexisting sites)
  • Artworks were often part of a workshop where many worked on one piece
  • Pre-Columbian cultures occupy what is now Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and parts of El Salvador before Christopher Columbus invaded the area
  • The Aztec Empire was the dominant power in Mesoamerica before Henan Cortes overthrew them
  • Developed huge city-states that prominently featured temple complexes rivaling any on Earth
  • Rapid decline of civilizations in the 16th c. due to the introduction of disease by the Europeans
  • With the arrival of the Europeans, the native people of North and South America were destroyed and persecuted. Archeology, oral tradition, documents, and museum records are the basis for research.