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Comparative Arts

Comparative Arts. Americas and Africa – Chapter 10 November 2010. The Americas. Between 30,000 and 12,000 years ago, at the height of the Ice Age, tribal hunters began to migrate across the Bering Straits from Asia into the Americas By 11,000 BCE, humans had reached the tip of South America

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Comparative Arts

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  1. Comparative Arts Americas and Africa – Chapter 10 November 2010

  2. The Americas • Between 30,000 and 12,000 years ago, at the height of the Ice Age, tribal hunters began to migrate across the Bering Straits from Asia into the Americas • By 11,000 BCE, humans had reached the tip of South America • Why was there a movement of humans across the Bering Straits? How did they get from Asia to North America?

  3. Mesoamerica • What is Mesoamerica?

  4. Mesoamerica • What is Mesoamerica? • A cultural area extending from central Mexico to Honduras, Belize, Guatemala • Ancient Mesoamerican cultures include: Olmecs (1300-600 BCE), Maya (250 BCE – 900 CE), Toltecs (900-1200 CE), precursors of the Axtecs (1350-1521 CE), Teotihuacan (100-800 CE) • Mesoamericans spoke many languages, dialects of which survive today in southern Mexico and Guatemala • Mesoamericans share many features: • Hieroglyphic writing • Knowledge of astronomy • Early cultivation of maize • Use of calendars • Monarchical form of government intimately linked with religious ideas and practices

  5. The Olmecs -the Olmecs produced the earliest Mesoamerican arts (1300 BCE) -they lived in the Gulf of Mexico -Olmecs were outstanding carvers – 16 colossal stone heads have survived, each up to 12 feet high -8 were found near Veracruz facing outwards -the heads are carved of basalt – the nearest basalt quarry is 50 miles away

  6. the stone for the heads was dragged down from the mountains, loaded onto rafts, floated to the Gulf of Mexico, and then up river to San Lorenzo. There, they were dragged up and positioned on the ceremonial plateau • believed to be portraits of Olmec leaders wearing helmets used in both battles and a ceremonial ball game played throughout Mesoamerica

  7. Ancient ball court, Oaxaca, Mexico -a sport with ritual associations played starting about 3,000 years ago in Mesoamerica

  8. Teotihuacan

  9. -Teotihuacan is one of the most magnificent Mesoamerican ancient cities -the height of its political and cultural influence was between 350-650 CE, when its population was between 100,000 and 200,000 – one of the largest cities in the world at the time -the people of Teotihuacan were great pyramid builders -the city is laid out in a grid pattern with a giant avenue at its center, which links two great pyramids: the Pyramids of the Moon and of the Sun, which are focal points for 600+ smaller pyramids, 500 workshop areas, 2,000 apartment compounds, numerous plazas, a giant market area

  10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oWOk8Rtv-Y -The overall design of Teotihuacan suggests its role as an astronomical and ritualistic center. -The relation of the Pyramid of the Sun to the others suggests the order of the universe, a cosmological order that influenced all aspects of life, including political organization, social behavior, religious ritual, and time itself: -the stairs on the two staircases on the Pyramid of the Sun add up to 365 -this spatial representation of the solar calendar is echoed in the 364 fangs on a temple serpent -what brought about the end of Teotihuacan?

  11. Mayan Culture -Mayans inhabited the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, part of Honduras and El Salvador -Mayans had their own form of hieroglyphic writing but shared many aspects of their culture with other Mesoamericans: used books made of fig-bark paper or deerskin -why do we know so much about Mayan writing? -their knowledge of arithmetic and astronomy rivaled the Babylonians

  12. Mayan Empire

  13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyvw6G9Max0&feature=fvsr Built by ….?

  14. Aztecs The Aztecs flourished until relatively recently, from about 1350 until 1521 when it was overcome by Spaniards What is the most famous Aztec city? Aztecs spoke Nahuatl, still spoken by about 2 million people • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKl2NSQagRc&feature=fvsr • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4UVxrJWacw

  15. Cultures of Peru: Inca At the same time that the Aztecs in Tenochtitlan were growing more powerful, the Inca civilization emerged in Peru around 1300 CE.

  16. -Spanish Conquistadors reached the Inca Empire in 1526 and it was clear the Inca were wealthy -in 1529, the Spanish expedition returned to Spain to get permission to conquer the Inca region -Smallpox, originally brought by the Europeans, weakened the Inca and other civilizations of the Americas -The Spanish told the Inca that the diseases killing their people were sent from the Christian god as punishment for their idolatrous ways -architecture was the most important art of the Inca – extremely advanced engineering to create Machu Picchu -because of the mountainous terrain, Inca regions were not good for farming – they cut terraces into steep slopes to plant crops and used irrigation -Incan crops: maize, quinoa, squash, tomatoes, peanuts, chili peppers, melons, cotton, potatoes -The Inca was the first civilization to plant and harvest potatoes and it was their main crop

  17. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2YBVlgqqco

  18. Nazca Lines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDe0VbEmHA0&feature=fvsr

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