PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
NON WESTERN ART
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Pre-Columbian art flourished in Mexico, Central
America and South America before the arrival of
Europeans
• Artists from these Mesoamerican and Andean
regions produced architecture, sculpture, textiles
and ceramics of astounding quality
• Mesoamerica- Mexico and the northern countries
of Central America
• Andean- coastal and highland areas of Peru and
adjacent areas in South America
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Mesoamerica
Andean
region
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• The reason for the big jump from Asian artwork is
that this region still produced very non-western art
• Very technically and stylistically different from
western art
• Realism and forms, mediums, Element usage, art
ownership (as artist) and ceremonial/ religious
matters are all part of the major difference
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Most archaeologists and historians conclude that
people came to Canada, US, Mexico and Central
and South America from Asia along a land bridge
around 4000 BC
• Could have been looking for food or land
• Could have been leaving harsher areas
• Could have been simply exploring
• In Mexico and Central America, archaeologists
have found sculpture made of basalt and jadeite,
similar to those found in Asia
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• In architecture, the arch hadn’t been patented by
the Etruscans and Romans yet…
• So- corbeling. Corbeled arches were created for
openings
• Corbel- overlapping arrangement of stones, each
layer projecting a bit beyond the row beneath it, or
a bracket of stone, wood or brick projecting from
the face of a wall to support a cornice or arch
(today)
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Corbeled arches cannot span a wide area, so no
large openings are found in pre-Columbian
architecture
• Earthquake-proof temples and palaces were made
of fitted stones that were locked and bonded into
massive walls
• Temples were built pyramidal in shape, often built of
earthen mounds faced with finely fit stones or
sculptured adobe (mud brick)
• One or more sides outfitted with a massive stairway
• Carved mythological heads depicting deities were
cut and fit into the slopes
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Temple and Pyramids of Teotihuacan
Quetzlcoatl (feathered serpent)
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• There are a lot of conspiracy theories when talking
about a lot of older artwork.
• Just like not knowing the answer to the Easter Island
mystery, a lot of older artwork remains shrouded in
the unknown
• Sacsayhuaman (Saqsaywaman) is one such
mystery
• A lot of historians think that the Inca took over
already completed architectural sites and added
to them
• Regardless, mason and adobe work in PreColombian times was astounding
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Sacsayhuaman
consists of three zigzaggy layers and
numerous
outbuildings
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Machu Picchu is a similar walled fortress, built so
that it would be earthquake and invader safe
• Stand today in a testament to the engineering skill
of the Andean civilizations
• Late 15th century
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Architecture showed
a lot of prowess in
these early times
The mathematical
elements was
second to none,
numbers and
orientation to the sun
Echo to sound like a
bird call
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Sculpture throughout was often ceremonial, with
heads of full figures of gods carved in low or high
relief
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Human or animal forms very stylized
• Clay funeral urns popular for rituals and
remembrance
Clay Funeral Urn
Oaxaca
5th/ 6th century
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Close up of Quetzalcoatal
(feathered serpent)
The god Quetzalcoatl, is the
Feathered Serpent or Precious
Twin. He is the god intelligence
and self-reflection, a patron of
priests. Quetzalcoatl is a
primordial god of creation, a
giver of life. With his opposite
Tezcatlipoca he created the
world.
Also said he was a god of
vegetation- an earth and
water deity
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
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Ceramics were a significant product of nearly all cultures
None hand-thrown, no wheel
Handbuilding work only, but excellent
Terra cotta clays used and burnished (polished) to
produce shiny wares even though not glazed
Chimu ceramicists of Peru produced black wares by
firing with oxygen deficient reduction atmosphere in kiln
Pottery used for use in ritual and burial
Pots broken to release the spirits within when buried with
the dead
Stirrup shaped vessels predominant, handles as use
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Moche stirrup vessel
500-600 AD
One stirrup vessel,
not this one, made
about 500 AD and
found in Guatemala
in 1984 has a lid that
can be twisted off, a
unique invention in
the history of
ceramics!
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Teotihuacan ceramics
100-600 AD
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Metalworking originated with early culturesexcelling at working metals such as gold and silver
• Gold was associated with the sun, and silver with
the moon
• Copper, lead and alloys were also used to make
jewelry, death masks, whistles and ritual objects
• Hammered, shaped, soldered, inlaid, filigreed and
cast these materials with lost wax casting and open
molds
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Gold Funerary Mask
9th–11th century
Peru
Sican
Gold
Dimensions: H. 16 1/8
x W. 28 3/4 x D. 4 7/8
in
Most likely used to
cover faces of
deceased
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Beaker, Figure with Shell
10th–11th century
Peru
Gold
Dimensions: H. 10 3/8 x Diam. 8
in
Most likely used by high
ranking people for ceremonies,
then buried with them
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Stone Ear Flare
3rd–9th century
El Salvador, Mesoamerica
El Salvador; Maya (?)
Jade
Dimensions: Height 1-7/8 in.
Not metalwork, but an example of
jewelry of the times
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Pair of Earflare
Frontals
5th–7th century
Guatemala (?),
Mesoamerica
Maya
Shell
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Fabrics of cotton, wool, feathers or strips of hide and
fur were produced throughout the regions
• Weaving traditions date back to at least 1500 BC in
coastal Peru, where the Paracas culture produced
the finest of all ancient Meso and South American
fabrics
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Paracas Textile
300-100 BC
Cotton and wool
25 in x 59 in
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Tunic Section
7th–9th century
Peru
Wari
Camelid hair, cotton
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART- MESOAMERICA
VS ANDEAN CULTURES
• Most ancient culture in Mesoamerica is the Olmec
culture
• Lived along Gulf of Mexico from 1500 BC to 200 AD
• Huge monolithic basalt sculptures
• Teotihuacans built huge pyramids, and the Mayan
civilization also flourished after them constructing
similar pyramidal structures
• Mayan calendar that we all know and love and
fear also created in this time period
• Zapotec, Toltec and then Aztec civilizations
controlled middle America
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Olmec Colossal Heads
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Stela Fragment with Glyphs
4th–9th century
Mexico, Mesoamerica,
Tabasco
Maya
Stone
H. 21 1/4 in
Part of the Mayan
calendar, the piece that
some people thought said
the world would end Dec
2012
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Aztec era developed codices- illuminated
manuscripts- painted on deerskin parchment or
bark paper
• Aztecs also adapted the Mayan calendar
• ”Each page represents a thirteen-day “week” in a
260 day calendar; the ruling deities and symbols
associated with the week are prominently
displayed. In the boxes along the edge of each
page, the named and numbered days (1 to 13
dots) of the week are accompanied by their
governing supernaturals (birds and deities)”-Codex
Borbonicas, publications.newberry.org
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Aztec Calendar
Bas Relief
Stone
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
• Chavin culture of the Peruvian highlands began
Andean culture
• Followed by Paracas, Mochica, Nazca, Chimu and
finally Incan civilizations
• Jaguar- most powerful symbol in Andean art,
worshipped and feared
• Stirrups shaped vessels were first made here
• Lots of geometric shapes in pottery and weaving
• Excellent textiles and pottery artists
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Anthropomorphic Animal
Pendant
11th-16th Century
Gold alloy
Jaguar with serpents
coming from its head and
limbs
Animals and people used to
share similar features,
standing of the jaguar…
thus anthropomorphic
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
Feathered Tabard
15th–early 17th century
Peru
Cotton, feathers
25 x 30 in.
Feathers considered a luxury
item, used to embellish
costumes of elite
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
What is corbeling?
What cultures used corbeling and what is its limitation?
What shape were pre-Columbian temples?
Describe the temple of Quetzalcoatl? Who was Quetzalcoatl?
Which pre-Columbian culture was famous for its textiles?
List some of the metals used by pre-Columbian artists.
What did they make with these metals?
Specifically, how were gold funerary masks used?
What is the oldest Mesoamerican culture?
What types of sculptures did they carve?
What animal was the most powerful in Andean art?
Which two civilizations made calendars we refer to today?
What type of ornamentation did the upper class get on their
costumes?
• What separates a stirrup vessel from any other water holding
device?
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