The document provides an overview of art from the Americas from 10,000 BCE to the present day. It describes the major historical periods and discusses the evolution from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural civilizations with complex artistic traditions among cultures like the Olmecs, Mayans, and Incas. Specific artworks and sites highlighted include the Nazca lines, Colossal Olmec heads, a Hopewell pipe, and Bill Reid's modern Haida sculpture "The Spirit of Haida Gwaii." Machu Picchu is discussed as an example of Inca architecture and urban planning. The document also defines some key vocabulary terms related to Americas art.

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

2. Historical Background
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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)

3. Artistic Background
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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

4. Artistic Life
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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

5. 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

6. Western Comparison
• Machu Picchu and Abbey of Saint Gall
VS.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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
Can a brother get
some WOOD?
- 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

10. 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.
No, keep
paddling.
Are we there
yet?

11. 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.