AP AH College Board Presentation

Medsker-Mehalic Content Area #5 Indigenous Americas Chapters 14 and 30 • “If you listen close at night you will hear the creatures of the dark, all of them sacred- the owls, the crickets, the frogs, the night birds. And you will hear beautiful songs, songs you have never heard before. Listen with your heart. Never stop listening.” –Henry Quick Bear (Lakota) Chapter 14 From Alaska to the Andes Native Arts of the Americas before 1300 • Content that emphasizes unity with the natural world and a five-direction (North, South, East, West, Center) cosmic geometry • Three major distinct cultures and styles of Ancient Mesoamerica were the Olmec, Maya, and Mexica (Aztec) • Mesoamerican sculpture and 2D art focuses on the figure- glorification of specific rulers • Colonial artists preserved certain pre-Hispanic traditions both overtly and covertly in their art • Indians, Native Americans, North American Indians (in the United States), and First Nations (in Canada) • Due to the history of suppression and forced assimilation into white culture, the influence of Native North American art on modern U.S. and European art styles has been minimized • Summary Link Chavin de Huantar-Plan, Northern Highlands, Peru. Chavin. 900-200 B.C.E. • Stone • Archaeological and cultural site in the Andean highlands of Peru • Once thought to be the birthplace of an ancient “mother culture” • Location of Chavin seems to have helped make it a special place- temple became an important pilgrimage site that drew people and their offerings from far and wide • 10,330 feet in elevation- between the eastern (snowless) and western (snowy) ranges of the Andes • For over 700 years, the site drew many worshipers to its temple- helped spread the artistic style of Chavin • Two building phases: U-shaped Old temple (900 B.C.E.) New Temple (500 B.C.E) addition of rectangular sunken court • Summary Link • Video Link Chavin de Huantar- Lanzon Stela, Northern Highlands, Peru. Chavin. 900- 200 B.C.E. • Granite • The god for whom the temple was constructed represented in the Lanzon, a notched wedge-shaped stone over 15 feet tall, carved with the image of a supernatural being, and located deep within the Old Temple, intersecting several galleries • Lanzon means “great spear” in Spanish- reference to the stone’s shape- digging stick used in traditional highland agriculture (indicated deity’s power was ensuring successful planting and harvest) • Mixture of human and animal features • Visual complexities- contour rivalry • Probably only seen by priests- same iconography and contour rivalry used in Chavin art outside of the Temple (axis/conduit connecting the heaves, earth, and underworld • Video Link Chavin de Huantar Relief Sculpture, Northern Highlands, Peru. Chavin. 900-200 B.C.E. • Granite • Depicts jaguars • Covers the ruins of a stairway • Instead of depicting local flora and fauna, the artists sculpted images of caymans, jaguars, and crested eagles (often combined as composite creatures)- dominate carnivores of the water, land, and sky in the tropical Amazonian rain forests to the east of Chavin • Sunken, circular courtyard containing obelisks and stone monuments • Excavation of burial sites gave evidence of a small elite class with tombs containing elaborate burial goods • Paper on Chavin de Huanter • Chavin de Huantar Archaeological Acoustics Project Chavin de Huantar Nose Ornament, Northern Highlands, Peru. Chavin. 900-200 B.C.E • Hammered gold alloy • Serpent motif • Nose ornament- pinches or passes through the septum, common form in the Andes • Upward-looking eyes (same as Lanzon stela) • Ornament worn by an elite person showing their wealth, power, and allegiance to the Chavin region • Metallury in the Americas first developed in South America- objects combining wealth and religion are among the earliest known examples • Cleveland Museum of Art Link Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings, Montezuma County, Colorado. Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi). 450- 1300 C.E. • Sandstone • 12th and 13th century structures made of stone, mortar, and plaster remain the most intact • Anasazi (ancestral Puebloan peoples) built more than 600 structures into the cliff faces of the Four Corners region of the United States (CO, NM, AZ, UT) • Structures mostly residential- some used for storage and ritual • “Mesa” means table in Spanish- refers to the flat-topped mountains. “Verde” Spanish for green • Accessed dwellings with retractable ladders • Cliff Palace- largest cliff dwelling, has 150 rooms and more than 20 circular rooms • Summary Link Yaxchilan- Structure 40. Chiapas, Mexico. Maya. 725 C.E. • Limestone • Yaxchilan- located on the south bank of the Usumacinta River in Chiapas, Mexico • Significant Maya center during the Classic period (250-900 C.E.) • Many of the exteriors had elaborate decorations- the carved stone lintels above the doorways have made the site famous • The lintels were commissioned by the rulers of the city- provide a lengthy dynastic record in both text and image • Culture benefitted from commerce via the Usumacinta River and trading in copal resin and dyes processed from Brazil wood • Summary Link Yaxchilan- Lintel 25, Structure 23. Chiapas, Mexico. Maya. 725 C.E. • Limestone lintel • Lintels 24, 25, and 26 set above the three doorways of Structure 23 depict a series of rituals performed by Shield Jaguar II and his wife • Lintels 24 and 25 are on permanent display in the British Museum’s Mexican Gallery • Considered one of the masterpieces of Maya art- one of a series of three panels from structure 23 and Yaxchilan, where it was set above the left (south-east) doorway • Represents a bloodletting ritual performed by the king of Yaxchilan, Shield Jaguar the Great (681-742), and his wife, Lady K’ab’ai Xook • Wearing an exquisitely woven “huipil,” Lady K’abal Xook pulls a thorned rope through her tongue- sacrifice mirrored the Maya story of creation, when the gods let their blood to create the human race Yaxchilan- Structure 33. Chiapas, Mexico. Maya. 725 C.E. • Peten style, symmetrical • Double platform with staircases • Comb supported by interior buttressing • Built in honor of the mid-8th century CE Yaxchilan ruler Bird-Jaquar (ruled 752-786 CE) • Stucco decorations in the center of the roof comb (Bird-Jaguar) • Carved stalacite representing a sacred cave • Bird-Jaguar went on the expand Yaxchilan and constructed no fewer than eleven more buildings and 33 monuments • Summary Link The Great Serpent Mound. Adams County, southern Ohio. Mississippian (Eastern Woodlands). 1070 C.E. • Earthwork/effigy mound (1-3 feet in height) • Largest (1/4 mile long) serpent effigy in the world • Thought that the Fort Ancient Culture (1000-1650 CE) is principally responsible for the mound • Mississippians- constructed effigy mounds (mounds built in the form of animals or birds) • Numerous mounds were made by the ancient Native American cultures that flourished along the fertile valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers- most destroyed by modern farms • Twisting earthwork on a bluff overlooking a creek in Ohio • Head at the east, tail at the west, 7 winding coils in between • Snakes/reptiles attributed with supernatural powers- included in spiritual practices • Meaning unknown: mark time, document a celestial event, compass, astrological guide, place of worship? • Summary Link • Ohio History Link • Terms and Issues in Native American Art Chapter 30 Native Arts of the Americas after 1300 • Illustrated books were prized- only 4 survive • Different regions of Native America have broadly similar styles of art- geometric patterning, figures (mythic or shamanic), and animals (snakes, birds, bison, and horses) • Colonial and modern mistreatment of American Indians means that historical information sources may be highly contested by American Indians • European invasions prevailed beginning in 1534 C.E. • Andean culture and art had an underlying emphasis on trade in exotic materials Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza, Viceroyalty of New Spain, 1541- 1542 C.E. • Ink and color on paper • First viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, commissioned a codex to record information about the Aztec empire • The codex contained information about the lords of Tenochtitlan, the tribute paid to the Aztecs, and an account of life “from year to year” • Indigenous artists, images annotated in Spanish by a priest that spoke Nahuas (Aztec ethnic group) • Viceroy Mendoza intended to send the Codex to Spanish King, Emperor Charles V of Spain • Codex never made it to Spain- French pirates took it and it ended up in France • Andre Thevet (cosmographer to King Henry II of France) included his name on several pages including at the top of the frontispiece • Summary Link Miguel Gonzalez, The Virgin of Guadalupe, 1698 C.E., based on original Virgin of Guadalupe, Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City, 16th Century C.E. • Oil on canvas on wood, inlaid with mother- of-pearl (enconchado= shell) • Devotion to the Virgin Mary crossed the Atlantic with Spanish colonization of the Americas • After the defeat of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521 and the establishment of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain- Virgin Mary became one of the most popular themes for artists • Virgin placed atop an eagle perched on a cactus, Mexico City’s legendary coat of arms (rapid Creolization of the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe and her increasing association with a local sense of identity) • Surrounded by four roundels depicting her three apparitions to the Indian Juan Diego in 1531, and the moment when Juan Diego unveiled her image imprinted on his tunic • Ornate frames around enconchado paintings inspired by Japanese lacquer work • Video Link • Summary Link • Unframed Article Link Templo Mayor (Main Temple), Tenochtitlan (Modern Mexico City, Mexico), Mexica (Aztec). 1375- 1520 C.E. • Reconstruction drawing • While digging in 1978, electrical workers in Mexico city found a finely carved stone monolith displaying a dismembered and decapitated woman • Monolith led to the discovery of the Temple Mayor, main Mexica temple located in the sacred precinct of the former Mexica capital, known as Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) • Positioned in the center of the Mexica capital • Design reflects the Mexica cosmos, composed of four parts structured around the naval of the universe (axis mundi) • 90 feet high, covered in stucco • Two grand staircases- twin temples (dedicated to deities Tlaloc (water/rain/agriculture) and Huitzilopochti (warfare/fire/sun)) • Summary Link • Video Link Templo Mayor- The Coyolxauhqui Stone, Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City, Mexico). Mexica (Azteca). 1375- 1520 C.E. • Volcanic stone (11 feet in diameter) • “Bells-Her-Cheeks” (Coyolxauhqui)- sister of the Mexica (Aztec) patron god, decapitated and dismembered • Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird-Left) victory over his sister and 400 brothers who plotted to kill their mother, Coatlicue (birth story) • Bodies of conquered enemies, sacrificed and hurled down the stairs onto stone (sacrificial stone) • Monster faces at her joints, connecting her to other female deities- some associated with trouble and chaos • Shown naked, sagging breasts, stretched belly indicating she was a mother *Nakedness considered a form of humiliation and defeat Templo Mayor Calendar Stone, Tenochtitlan (Modern Mexico City, Mexico), Mexica (Aztec). 1375- 1520 C.E. • Basalt, 11.5 feet in diameter, 24 tons • Iconic Mexica (Aztec) Calendar Stone/Sun Stone/Stone of the Suns • Perhaps the most famous sculpture made in the Americans before the arrival of Europeans at the end of the 15th century • Believed to be commissioned by Moctezuma Xocoyotzin between 1502 and 1521 • Originally placed in Tenochtitlan • Buried by Spanish Archbishop, Alonso de Montufar, on account of the murders and other offenses that were committed upon it • Rediscovered in 1790- Mexican writer and scientist convinced the viceroy that the Calendar Stone was not a religious activity- was instead a chronological and astronomical device deserving preservation • Became a tourist attraction- referred to as “Montezuma’s Clock” • Form and imagery of the sculpture link it to sacrificial altars, noble captives to feed the sun and earth • Aztecs believed that they had been ordained by the gods to keep the sun moving across the sky by feeding it with the hearts and blood of warriors • Video Link • Google Cultural Institute Link • Summary Link Templo Mayor Olmec Style Mask, Tenochtitlan (Modern Mexico City, Mexico), Mexica (Aztec). 1375- 1520 C.E. • Jadeite • Over a hundred ritual caches/deposits containing thousands of objects have been found associated with the Temple Mayor • Offerings relating to water, warfare/sacrifice, travel, historical/cultural traditions • Olmec mask demonstrates the Mexica’s awareness of the historical and cultural traditions in Mesoamerica • Olmec mask was made over a 1000 years prior to the Mexica- burial in Templo Mayor suggests that the Mexica found it precious and perhaps historically significant • After the Spanish Conquest in 1521, the Temple Mayor was destroyed- what did survive remained buried • Stones were reused to build structures like the Cathedral in the newly founded capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain • Video Link Ruler’s Feather Headdress (probably of Motecuhzoma II), Mexica (Aztec). 1428- 1520 C.E. • Feathers (quetzal and cotinga) and gold • 500 quetzal feathers taken from 250 birds • One of the best surviving examples • Still unclear if it was used or it belonged to emperor Motecuhzoma II • According to Pasztory (1983), a model of a crown used by Motechuzoma was depicted in the Codex Mendoza- made of turquoise, not feathers • When Motecuhzoma met Cortes, he gave the Conquistador luxurious items that included headdresses, gold and silver objects, etc. in a diplomatic gesture to please and salute Emperor Charles V. • Ferdinand, brother to Charles V, received the headdress as a wedding present • Probably used as military insignia instead of a crown Video Link City of Cusco- Plan- Qorikancha (Inka Main Temple), Central Highlands, Peru. Inka. 1440 C.E. • 11,000 foot elevation- Capital of Tawantinsuyu “Land of the Four Quarters” • It was an axis mundi- center of existence, and reflection of Inka power • City divided into two sections: hanan (upper/high) and hurin (lower)- paralleled the social organization • Further divided into quarters that reflected the four divisions of the empire- people from those sections inhabited their respective quarters of the city • Some scholars think that the city was deliberately laid out so that it was shaped like a puma, symbol of Inka might • Summary Link Curved Inka Wall of Qorikancha with Santa Domingo (Spanish Colonial Convent). City of Cusco. Central highlands, Peru. Inka. 1440 C.E. • Andesite • All of the doorways, windows, and wall niches were the distinctive Inka trapezoid shape with double-jambed doorways • Stones shaped into even courses of rectangular blocks, polished to a smooth finish, and covered in sheets of gold • Inside, a reproduction of the world in miniature took the shape of a garden made from gold, silver and jewels, with people, animals, and plants • At the heart of hurin Cusco was the Qorikancha “Golden House”- the most sacred shrine of the Inka dedicated to the worship of the sun • Was the center point of the empire, from it radiated imaginary lines, called ceques, which connected it to shrines throughout the Cusco valley • After the conquest, the Qorikancha was one of many Inka shrines turned into a Christian holy space- the monastery and church of Santo Domingo were built around and on top of the original shrine • The Qorikancha riches were looted following the Spanish conquest in 1532 and melted down for their precious materials City of Cusco- Walls at Saqsa Waman (Sacsayhuaman), Central highlands, Peru. Inka. 1440 C.E. • Masonry displays an understanding of stones as being like people- many different ones may fit together if properly organized • Stones individually pecked with tools and fitted to the one next to it • Inka rulers and their nobles lived in Cusco • Local leaders from all sections of the empire also lived in Cusco • Girls and young women served as “chosen women” to weave fine cloth for gods and nobles and to make corn beer for religious rituals, to serve gods in shrines • Young men brought to Cusco to be educated and raised in the Inka culture • Saqsa Wayman looks down on Cusco from the northwest • Unesco Video Link Maize Cobs, from the Qorikancha in Cuzco, Inka. 1440- 1533 C.E. • Sheet metal/ repousse, metal alloys • From the miniature garden that existed in the courtyard of the Qorikancha in Cuzco • Mimics the appearance of a ripe ear of corn breaking through its husk, still on the stalk but ready to be harvested • Inka metalsmiths expertly combined silver and copper to mimic the intrenal and external components of actual corn • Hollow and delicate, the ears of corn on the stalk are life-sized • Inka art often incorporated more naturalistic forms in small- scale metal objects • Miniature garden was looted by the Spanish royal agents and sent back to Spain • Summary Link • Denver Art Museum Link City of Machu Picchu, Central Highlands, Peru, Inka. 1450- 1540 C.E. • Granite • Naturally fortified sites + stone • Completely invisible from the valley below • Discovered in 1911 • Built as a royal estate for the first Inka emperor, Pachacuti Inka Yupanqui, in the middle of the 15th century • Location approximately a 3-days walk from the Inka capital of Cusco and nearly 3000 feet lower in elevation • Intended as a place where the Inka emperor and his family could host feasts, perform religious ceremonies, and administer the affairs of empire • Site chosen and situated for its relationship to the Andean landscape • Contains housing for elites, retainers, and maintenance staff, religious shrines, fountains, terraces, and carved rock outcrops • Essay on Machu Pichu • Summary Link City of Machu Picchu Observatory, Central Highlands, Peru, Inka. 1450- 1540 C.E. • Buildings of Machu Picchu clearly show the social divisions of the site- most of the high-status residential buildings in a cluster to the northeast • Emperor lived in a separate compound at the southwest of the site, indicating his unique status as the ruler • Observatory was adjacent to the royal residence, emphasizing the relationship between the elites, religious ritual, and astronomical observation • 2 main parts- upper curved stone enclosure with windows and niches placed in it and a cave beneath this structure with masonry additions that hold more niches • Modifications of the windows in the Observatory’s upper walls indicate that they were used to calculate the June solstice, as well as the first morning rise of the constellation Pleides and other important constellations • Also called the “Temple of the Sun” Intihuatana- City of Machu Picchu, Central Highlands, Peru, Inka. 1450- 1540 C.E. • “Hitching post of the sun”- carved boulder located in the ritual area of the site, to the west of the main plaza • Carved boulders were a part of the Inka relationship with the earth, and expressions of belief in a landscape inhabited by supernatural forces • Found throughout the heart of the Inka empire • Stone’s name refers to the idea that it was used to track the passage of the sun throughout the year • Sun was called “Inti” by the Inka • UNESCO Machu Picchu Link All-T’oqapu Tunic, Inka. 1450- 1540 C.E. • Camelid fiber and cotton (approximately 100 threads/centimeter) • Inka were great at exchanging high-status goods, helping to secure reciprocal but unequal economic and power relationships between the Inka and their subjects • Objects given to local leaders as part of a system of imposed obligations that gave the Inka the right to claim portions of local produce and labor as their due • Textile technologies were developed well before ceramics • Finely-made textiles from the best materials were objects of high status among nearly all Andean cultures (much more than gold or gems) • Entire textile process represents a huge amount of work • Finest cloth called qompi produced by acllas (chosen women) • Summary Link Bandolier Bag. Lenape (Delaware tribe, Eastern Woodlands). 1850 C.E. • Beadwork on leather- worn across the shoulder • Bags based on the bags carried by European soldiers armed with rifles who used the bags to store ammunition cartridges • Made by different tribes and First Nations across the Great Lakes and Prairie regions-differ in appearance • Often large in size and decorated with a wide array of colorful beads and ribbons • Due to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (signed by President Andrew Jackson), the Lenape were forcibly removed from ancestral lands and relocated- however, the Lenape continued to create objects as they had in ancestral lands • Men wore the bags- women created them • Initially did not have a pocket- ceremonial outfit • Summary Link Transformation Mask- Closed, Kwakwaka’wakw, Northwest coast of Canada. Late 19th Century C.E. • Wood, paint, and string • Kwakwaka’wakw transformation masks- lived on the western coast of British Columbia, Canada • Many groups believed that dead ancestors roamed the world, transforming themselves in the process • Used by religious specialists in healing rituals • Northwest Coast- transformation theme, usually an animal changing into a mythical being or an animal becoming another • Worn by dancers during ceremonies, strings pulled to open and move the mask • Summary Link Transformation Mask- Open. Kwakwaka’wakw, Northwest coast of Canada. Late 19th Century C.E. • Wood (red cedar), paint, and string • Transformed (opened) to reveal face of an ancestor • Variety of brightly colored surfaces filled with complex forms • “Formline” style (describes characteristics of Northwest Coast visual culture) • Bilaterally symmetrical, undulating, calligraphic line, ovoid shapes, s- and u- forms • Introduction and enforcement of Christianity resulted in colonization changing masking practices • After iron tools were introduced, masks demonstrate different carving techniques • Kwakiutl Ethnography Link Painted Elk Hide, Attributed to Cotsiogo (Cadzi Cody), Eastern Shoshone, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. 1890- 1900 C.E. • Painted elk hide • Reservation period • Personal exploits • Important native documents of a time of great turmoil and change • Painting, along with oral traditions, functioned to record history • Artists decorated the hides with geometric or figural motifs- by the later 19th century certain hide artists began depicting subject matter that “affirmed native identity” and appealed to tourists • May have functioned as a wall hanging or a robe • Summary Link • Artist Link Maria Martinez and Julian Martinez, Black- on-Black Ceramic Vessel, Tewa, Puebloan, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, c. mid-20th Century C.E. • Black-on-black ceramic vessel • Coil pottery • Abstracted forms- clouds, wind and rain • Maria became one of the best-known Native potters of the 20th century due to her excellence as a ceramist and her connections with a larger, predominantly non-Native audience • Reframed Native ceramics as a fine art • Before the arrival of the railroad to the area in the 1880s, pots were used in the Pueblos for food storage, cooking, and ceremonies • Known to have signed the pots of others- so that they would make more money • Pioneered a style of applying a matte-black design over polished black (influenced by ancestral Pueblo dig site) • Blackened process resulted in non-watertight and less hard pots which was fine with the new decorative market • Summary Link • Artist Link