Art of the Americas By: Dr. Ben Ewing, Professor George Tucker, Guillermo Lopez-Vila PhSwag

Historical Background •  10,000 to 12,000 years ago, hunters and gatherers roamed the Americas •  Agricultural way of life •  Appearance of ceremonial centers and towns •  Monumental Architecture •  Development of writing, astronomy, a calendar, mathematical systems •  Transformation to farming by 7000 BCE •  Settled villages by 2000 BCE •  History divided into 3 periods:

Formative/Pre-Classic (1500 BCE-250 CE) Classic (250-900 CE) Post Classic (900-1521 CE)

Artistic Background •  Many different cultures •  Most hierarchical societies

-Olmecs, Teotihuacan, Mayans, Paracas, Nazcas, Moche •  North American Art varied depending on region (NW, SE, SW etc…) •  Art forms: monuments, sculptures, ceramics, weaving, metallurgy •  Art varied depending on culture, however, was linked by trade •  Art was used for decoration

Monuments, Coins, Ceramic Vases and Jars

Artistic Life •  Art was part of everyday life •  Each culture was unique with artistic uses •  Monuments and religious spaces prevalent in all •  Not much is known about the artists themselves •  Did not sign their art •  Religious leaders like high priests commissioned the art

Machu Picchu ●  Means old peak ●  Built 15th Century by Incans 7,970 ft.

above sea level ●  In Cusco region of Peru ●  Believed to be created as an Estate for

the Inca ruler ●  Abandoned mid 16th century due to

Spanish Invasion ●  Many of the original buildings are being

restored ●  Gives insight into Incan culture b/c

never found by Spanish ●  Classical Inca style with dry stone walls

Western Comparison •  Machu Picchu and Abbey of Saint Gall

VS.

Nazca Lines ●  Series of Geoglyphs in Nazca

Desert in Peru ●  Believed to be created between

400-650 BC ●  Range from simple lines to animals ●  Created by removing red pebbles

and leaving behind whitish gray rock

●  Largest figures are over 660ft. across

●  Believed to have been created for religious purposes

Colossal Head ●  At least 17 heads throughout Mesoamerica ●  Found at 4 sites along Mexican Gulf Coast. ●  1 found outside of Olmecheartland ●  Range in size from 6-50 tons ●  As far back as 900 BC ●  Carved from Large basalt boulders ●  Boulders from mountains of Veracruz ●  Believed to represent individual Olmec

rulers ●  Each has a distinctive headdress ●  Transportation is still unknown

Beaver Effigy Platform Pipe - From the Woodland period (300 BCE - 1000 CE)

- Created by artists of the Hopewell tribe

- Many similar to this were created

- Native American pipes had two main purposes:

- Smoking dried leaves as in modern day tobacco pipes

- Inhale the “spirit” (smoke) of the animal carved on it during rituals

- Medium used to create pipe is a stone colloquially referred to as “pipestone”

- Hopewell people traded their signature stone for resources from other tribes

- Eyes on pipes were typically made of inlaid jewels

- Beaver Effigy Platform Pipe has pearl eyes

- Pearls and other white things were associated with the “spirit world”

- Now resides in Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Can a brother get some WOOD?

The Spirit of Haida Gwaii - Created in 1991, Modern Art of the Americas

- Artist is Bill Reid

- Representative of Haida mythology

- Made in an effort to revitalize traditional art

- Medium is bronze with black patina (makes it shiny)

- Features shaman in the middle with basket hat

- Bear sits on prow at the position of the war chief

- Raven at stern with Mousewoman (official guide of the Spirit World) steer the canoe

- Bear is being bitten by eagle which is being bitten by a seawolf (I have no idea what a seawolf is but I think I saw it in an article in Fake Science monthly)

- Nevertheless, shaman paddles on, representing family with differences working together

- Now resides outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Are we there yet?

No, keep paddling.

Vocabulary adobe - The clay used to make a kind of sun-dried mud brick of the same name; a building

made of such brick. atlantid - A male figure that functions as a supporting column. See also caryatid. atlatl - Spear-thrower, the typical weapon of the Toltecs of ancient Mexico. backstrap loom - A simple Andean loom featuring a belt or backstrap encircling the waist of

the seated weaver. effigy mounds - Ceremonial mounds built in the shape of animals or birds by native North

American peoples. embroidery - The technique of sewing threads onto a finished ground to form contrasting

designs. kiva - A large circular underground structure that is the spiritual and ceremonial center apse - A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a building, commonly found at the east

end of a church. khipu - Andean record-keeping device consisting of numerous knotted strings hanging from a main cord; the strings

signified, by position and color, numbers and categories of things. powwow - A traditional Native American ceremony featuring dancing in quilled, beaded, and painted costumes.