Native American
Mesoamerica
South/Central America
Native American
Native American Art and traditions are still being practiced today.
This diverse, yet distinguishable, art forms come from regionally
specific tribes throughout the USA.
Creative functional work is also of artistic significance – pottery,
dwellings, tools, textiles, etc.
They would use natural materials, pictographic symbols, abstract
designs with superb craftsmanship.
Common themes were nature, legends and myth, passed down from
generations and generations.
Cliff Palace, 1150, Mesa Verde. Pueblo
Hopi Indian Pottery
- linear
- Geometric
- Stylized
Warbonnets (or war bonnets) are
the impressive feather headdresses
commonly seen in Western movies
and TV shows. Although warbonnets
are the best-known type of Indian
headdress today, they were actually
only worn by a dozen or so Indian
tribes in the Great Plains region, such
as the Sioux, Crow, Blackfeet,
Cheyenne, and Plains Cree.
Contrary to popular belief, Totem poles are an ancient tradition of the Indian tribes of the
Pacific Northwest Coast only. The meanings behind them are as varied as the tribes
occupying the Northwest Coast.
From Saxman Totem
Park, Ketchikan,
Alaska
The K'alyaan Totem Pole of the
Tlingit Kiks.ádi Clan, erected at
Sitka National Historical Park to
commemorate the lives lost in
the 1804 Battle of Sitka
A totem pole in
Totem Park,
Victoria, British
Columbia
Woman’s Style 3rd Phase Blanket, c.1890 ‘s
Antique Navajo Germantown Pictorial Blanket, C. 1880′s
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately
from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
northern Costa Rica. The term, Mesoamerica, also refers to various tribes and
civilizations found in this area before Christopher Columbus, in 1492
The Olmec People & The Mayas
of Mesoamerica
Olmec Culture is the oldest civilization in Mexico (1500 BCE to
about 400 BCE). The most familiar aspect of the Olmec's is their
artwork, particularly the aptly named "colossal heads". Olmec
artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking
Mayans were noted for the only known fully developed written
language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art,
architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems.
The Olmec’s
Colossal
Heads
La Venta Monument 1
Monument 4 from La Venta with comparative size of an adult and child. The monument weighs almost 20 tons.
There are about 18 known Colossal Heads in the “Olmec heartland”
The Mayas
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian
Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in
what is now northern Guatemala.
* Pre-Columbian refers to before Christopher Columbus landed in the new world.
Seated bearded man
Mexico Maya lowlands
Jaina Island Late Classic
period 600-900 CE
Ceramic
San Bartolo mural: The king as
Hunahpu, 100 BC
Royal Profile Late Classic Maya Mexico
or Guatemala 650-800 CE Sandstone
Mayan Wall Panel, 790 AD
The Incas
The largest pre-columbian culture and arose from the highlands of the Andes Mountains in
Peru. The Incas were known as skilled ‘city’ planners to accommodate their population.
Maccu Picchu
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Architecture was by far the most important of the Inca arts, with textiles reflecting motifs that were at their height in architecture. The main example is
the capital city of Cusco. The site of Machu Picchu was constructed by Inca engineers. The stone temples constructed by the Inca used a mortarless
construction that fit together so well that a knife could not be fitted through the stonework.
This three-day, 26 mile hike from modern civilization to the lost civilization reaches a lung-squeezing height of 4,214 meters at its highest and there are
several sections of original Inca stone paths along the way. Due to the fear of erosion on those trails, limited number of people can take the trek.
Inca art was practical. The Incas were an artistic people who used materials available to them in
nature and blended them creating many artistic forms in utilitarian ways. Much of their artistic
expression was used in everyday life and had a religious meaning. Most of the Inca art was
melted down by the Spanish to satisfy their lust for gold and silver.
La Doncella
National Geographic Video
The mummy, called La Doncella or The Maiden, is that of a teenage girl who died more than 500
years ago in a ritual sacrifice in the Andes Mountains.
The girl and two other children were left on a mountaintop to succumb to the cold as offerings
to the gods, according to the archaeologists who found the mummified remains in Argentina in
1999.