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Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture

I INTRODUCTION

Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture, the art and architecture of the indigenous civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Andes and of neighboring cultures before the 16th century ad. For the art of ancient indigenous cultures north of Mexico, see Native American Art.

For 3000 years before the European exploration and colonization of the western hemisphere, the Native Americans of Latin America developed civilizations that rivaled the artistic and intellectual accomplishments of ancient China, India, Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean world. The quality of these accomplishments is even more impressive because much of the essential technology of eastern hemisphere civilizations was unknown to the Native American. The wheel, for instance, was used in Mesoamerica only for toys and was never developed into the potter's wheel, wagon wheel, or pulley system. Metal tools were rarely used, and then only in the last stages of pre-Columbian history. The elaborate sculptures and intricate jade ornaments of the Maya, therefore, were accomplished by carving stone with stone.

Pre-Columbian and post-Columbian Native American art and architecture evince a concern with the relation both of the structure to its environment and of the object to its material. This regard for nature resulted in an aesthetic rooted in an awareness of natural dualities—day and night, sun and moon, land and water, life and death. The tension in most Native American art, therefore, is derived from the contrast of opposing design elements such as light and dark, open and closed compositions, the static form and the mobile form, the realistic and the abstract, and the plain and the ornate.

II GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE

Pre-Columbian cultures are grouped according to general geographic area. Although scholars sometimes differ in the precise regions they identify, their basic divisions are more or less the same. In this article the Mesoamerican Area, a major cultural region, includes the present countries of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Peru and Bolivia make up the Central Andean Area, the other major cultural region. Constituting the Intermediate Area are the lower Central America and the northern South American nations of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador; the Peripheral Area comprises the rest of South America, as well as the Caribbean islands. Although these areas were initially regarded as separate cultural entities, recent archaeological research has indicated substantial cultural relation rather than isolation. Cultural similarities, therefore, are being as actively investigated as were differences in the past. Many anthropologists, archaeologists, and art historians are also now studying modern Latin Native American cultures for vestigial manifestations of or similarities to pre-Columbian civilization.

III CHRONOLOGICAL DIVISIONS

To distinguish the major characteristics of pre-Columbian civilizations, three general chronological divisions have been widely used: the Pre-Classic, or Formative, period (circa 1500 bc-c. ad 300); the Classic, or Florescent, period (circa 300-c. 900); and the Post-Classic period (c. 900-1540). Although the term classic suggests the height of a cultural development, current scholars and critics deny the once-common assumption that the finest pre-Columbian art and architecture were achieved in the Classic period. The art and architecture of the Post-Classic Mixtec and Aztec of Mexico and the Chimu and Inca of Peru are not less distinguished than those of their Classic predecessors, but only different in accomplishment and taste.

The Pre-Classic period was an age of experimentation and innovation, the achievements of which were expanded and refined by later civilizations. In this early period the Americas were primarily isolated into chiefdoms and small kingdoms that were largely independent of one another in their cultural development. Evidence exists, however, of some distribution of religious ideas and art motifs. The Olmec of Mexico, the San Agust?n culture of Colombia, and the Chav?n of Peru all worshiped a feline deity, and all shared a similar iconography (pictorial vocabulary) in their art.

During the Classic period complex empires developed. Their rulers were often priests, rather than the warrior-priests who were the principal administrators of Post-Classic civilizations, and cultures were more readily disseminated or assimilated. Although this is often considered a peaceful period, recent archaeology has demonstrated that most major Classic civilizations were warlike. Conquest and extensive trade resulted in wealth that was spent on constructing or elaborating ceremonial centers or cities, as well as creating increasingly luxurious personal effects and high-quality objects for funerary or ritual use.

The Post-Classic period was characterized by frequent wars resulting from the socioeconomic pressures of increased population and technological development. The terminal cultures and civilizations of this period are the best documented, because they were directly encountered by the Spanish, who recorded their personal impressions or had histories compiled of the conquered.

IV CULTURAL TRAITS

Pre-Columbian civilizations were primarily agricultural, with maize (corn) being developed as the dietary staple in Mesoamerica, and the potato in Andean Peru and Bolivia. Until the relative secularism of the Post-Classic period, religion was also central to the formulation and development of pre-Columbian American culture. Religious ideas and rituals, however, were largely determined by the concerns of agricultural societies for crop fertility. Much pre-Columbian art and architecture, therefore, is involved with astronomy, which helped the Native Americans determine appropriate times for planting and times for harvesting.

Two types of urban design were developed. One was the ceremonial center, a complex of structures primarily consisting of religious and administrative buildings constructed around plazas, but without common dwellings or streets. It is conjectured that only the secular and religious rulers and their courts lived in these centers, while the majority of the population resided on small farms in a surrounding suburban zone. The other type, true cities, had streets organizing residences of rich and poor, as well as plaza-oriented temples and administrative buildings. Recent mapping projects at sites in Mesoamerica have shown that what were once thought to be ceremonial centers had resident populations of commoners and were thus more like true cities. Both ceremonial complexes and true cities served as centers for religion, government, and commerce. Important for supplying necessities and luxuries, commerce also provided the routes for transmitting ideas, technology, and art forms and motifs.

V KINDS OF ART

Outstanding in pre-Columbian artistic development were architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts such as pottery, metalwork, and textiles.

A Architecture

The earliest pre-Columbian buildings were constructed from wood, bundled reeds, fiber matting or thatch, and other perishable materials. A permanent, monumental architecture using stone or adobe (sun-dried brick) was developed principally in Mesoamerica and the Central Andean Area.

Pre-Columbian architectural technology was rudimentary. Most structures were built with the post-and-lintel or trabeated (horizontal-beam, archless) system, although the Chav?n of Peru and the Maya of Mesoamerica employed the corbeled, or false, arch, in which one stone was extended above another to form an archlike shape. Stone rather than metal tools were used, and human labor rather than machines was used for transporting and building such characteristic structures as pyramids, palaces, tombs, and platform temples (built on earth platforms).

The pre-Columbian pyramid was once regarded as different from its Egyptian counterpart because it was intended not as a burial structure but as the residence of a deity. Recent excavations, however, increasingly indicate that tombs were sometimes incorporated into pyramids. Pictographs in Mesoamerican codices (screen-fold books of paper, produced from fibers or the bark of various plants, or deerskin) illustrate that pyramids were also used for military defense. The Aztec symbol for conquest was a burning pyramid of which the calli, or house of the god (the temple atop the pyramid), had been toppled by the conqueror. In order to make them more monumental or reflect favorably on the current ruler, many Mesoamerican pyramids were periodically rebuilt over a preexisting structure.

B Sculpture

The majority of extant pre-Columbian sculptures are clay figurines and effigy pots. Stone sculpture is found primarily in Mesoamerica and only occasionally in the Central Andean and Intermediate areas, regions in which the use of metal was earlier and more extensive. Although metalworking technology was highly sophisticated, carving was done with stone rather than metal tools.

C Painting

Archaeologists are continually excavating new examples of painted pre-Columbian architectural decoration. Teotihuac?n in Mexico had buildings covered on both the interior and exterior with a thick plaster that was painted with either decorative patterns or narrative scenes. At the Mexican sites of Bonampak and Chichén Itz?, the Maya and Maya-Toltec painted their temple interiors with realistic frescoes that depict historical events. Although primarily found in Mesoamerica, architectural painting has been discovered in the Intermediate Area in the geometrically patterned underground tombs at Tierradentro in Colombia and the mythological murals at Panamarca in Peru. Also in Peru, Moche effigy pots of architectural structures indicate that the exteriors of buildings were often boldly painted with symbolic motifs.

The refined drawing abilities of the Maya, Mixtec, and Aztec peoples are demonstrated in their picture or pictographic writing preserved in the codices. Most Post-Classic codices were destroyed during the 16th century by Spanish missionaries who saw them as instruments of evil. Among the few preserved were the Maya codices (now in Dresden, Paris, and Madrid), the Codex Zouche-Nuttall of the Mixtec (now in the British Museum, London), and some Aztec works.

Another type of pre-Columbian painting was the decoration of pottery. Maya, Moche, and Peruvian Nazca ceramics provide many of the finest examples of design and technique.

D Decorative Arts

Many objects recovered from pre-Columbian sites are associated with burial offerings and are utilitarian or ceremonial rather than decorative in function. Despite the lack of many technological advantages in their manufacture, these objects were equal in design and execution to any of the finest examples of preindustrial art in any part of the world.

D1 Pottery

Possibly first developed in Colombia or Ecuador, pottery succeeded baskets and gourds as containers. Throughout the entire pre-Columbian world, pottery became the most common surviving artifact. Both hand-modeled and molded pots and clay objects were made. Decoration involved incising designs, carving or molding reliefs, and employing various techniques of painting and polishing. Although polychromed ceramics were produced, most pottery was painted with one or two colors or left unpainted.

D2 Metalwork

From its probable origins in the northern Central Andean Area about 700 bc, metalworking spread to the Intermediate Area and finally was transmitted to Mesoamerica about ad 1000. Because of European greed for gold and silver, most unburied or unhidden objects of these materials were melted down by the Spanish conquerors and exported to Spain as ingots. Although iron and steel were unknown, copper was widely worked and the alloying of bronze was discovered about ad 1000. Tumbaga, an alloy of copper and gold, was employed in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. Many techniques were used for working metal, including the lost-wax process, soldering, and repoussé or embossing. Metalwork was frequently engraved, gilded, or inlaid with various stones and shells.

D3 Textiles

Because of the extremely dry climate of the Peruvian coast, this is the only pre-Columbian region where major examples of early textiles have survived. Buried in desert tombs, especially in the Paracas Peninsula, 2500-year-old textiles have been perfectly preserved, as they were in the arid climate of ancient Egypt. Cotton was the most common fiber used for weaving cloth, although in the Central Andean Area llama, alpaca, and vicu?a wool was also used. These materials were often colored with mineral and vegetable dyes. Besides woven patterns and images, textiles designs were achieved through painting, stamping, embroidering, and appliqué. In Post-Classic Mesoamerica and Peru, fabric was also made of feathers.

VI MESOAMERICAN AREA

The majority of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican sites are located in present-day Mexico.

A Pre-Classic Period

The major Pre-Classic cultures of Mexico were the Olmec and the western cultures of Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit.

A1 Olmec

Along the central coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the Olmec developed the first major Mesoamerican civilization, between about 1500 and 600 bc. Major ceremonial centers such as La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and San Lorenzo were located in the swampy jungle river basins of the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Many of the most characteristic elements of Mesoamerican civilization originated with the Olmec and are especially evident at La Venta, which is this culture's best known spiritual, intellectual, and administrative capital.

La Venta, like most later Mesoamerican sites, is planned with a north-south orientation so that building doors open east to west, corresponding to the daily passage of the sun. A mounded-earth pyramid 30 m (100 ft) high, among the earliest in Mesoamerica, was constructed as the focal point of an axial arrangement of platform temples and plazas. This urban arrangement would become a common plan for later Mesoamerican ceremonial centers. The Olmec were the first to use stone architecturally and sculpturally, although it had to be laboriously quarried and transported from the Tuxtla Mountains 97 km (60 mi) to the west. Architectural stone mosaics also were created for the first time in the Americas.

The most impressive Olmec artifacts are colossal stone heads of males, about 2.7 m (about 9 ft) high, that are portraitlike in their realism. Large, detailed relief carvings depicting mythological deities or events have been discovered, as well as small, exquisitely carved, in-the-round sculptures of basalt or jade. Despite the importance of sculpture, however, it was not integrated with the architecture as it would be in later Mesoamerican civilizations. Isolated stone stelae, or slabs of rock, were erected to commemorate significant events, and they were inscribed with complex iconography, precursor to later Mesoamerican writing.

Olmec art, like that of the Maya, is characterized by a high degree of naturalism. Emphasis is placed on the curvilinear rather than the rectilinear, thus encouraging fluid, rhythmic forms that seem more harmonious to a tropical locale than the stylized angular art that is commonly found in the relatively austere mountain valleys of central and southern Mexico.

The Olmec sphere of influence extended from the Gulf of Mexico coast (its heartland) through the highlands of Mexico, the Valley of Mexico, the Oaxaca region, and westward to Guerrero. Although pottery produced in the Olmec heartland was not distinguished, at the Olmec highland sites of Tlatica and Tlapacoyan are found hollow clay figurines, probably the first made, which are among the finest examples of Mesoamerican ceramic sculpture. The indigenous culture of Tlatica also produced vast numbers of very small individualized figurines of women with elaborate hairstyles and detailed body ornamentation. Their exaggerated female anatomy seems to indicate their use as fertility images.

In the Mexican states of Morelos and Guerrero, Olmec influence is seen in Xochipala clay figurines, in the cave painting at Oxtotitlan, in Guerrero, and in the reliefs carved on the cave walls at Chalcatzingo, in Morelos. The last two sites are dedicated to the cult of a jaguar deity, whose power and relation to ruling chiefs were the subject of most Olmec art.

A2 Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit

In the late Pre-Classic and early Classic periods, major cultures developed in western Mexico. Once mistakenly called Tarascan, they are now referred to by the names of the Mexican states in which the sites are located: Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit.

No major architectural sites were constructed, and little stone sculpture was made, but some of the most accomplished Mesoamerican clay effigy pots and figurines were produced. At Ixtl?n del R?o in Nayarit, artisans created detailed genre sculptures depicting all aspects of village life. These negative-painted scenes (with unpainted figures defined by the painted background) possess the clarity and immediacy of photographs. Although less naturalistically dynamic and spontaneous, Colima figurines are also realistic, but are more monumental in form and essential in contour. Jalisco figurines are the most naive stylistically but are characterized by an arrestingly bold presence. The vital realism of western Mexican clay sculpture has made these artifacts among the most popular examples of pre-Columbian art. Because they were buried in deep underground shaft-and-chamber tombs, an unusually large number of pieces have survived.

B Classic Period

Teotihuac?n, the Maya cities, the Zapotec center at Monte Alb?n, and the Classic Vera Cruz culture were the dominant civilizations of the Classic era.

B1 Teotihuac?n

Some 40 km (some 25 mi) northeast of Mexico City is the site of Teotihuac?n (“Place of the Gods”). Here the first truly urban Mesoamerican civilization developed; the largest city in the pre-Columbian western hemisphere, it grew into an important city during the 1st century ad, flourished until about ad 650, and had a population of at least 125,000 at its peak. A classic aesthetic evolved, emphasizing order and refinement. Austerely elegant, stylized design resulted in the creation of a monumental art, the effect of which is serene simplicity and noble grandeur. Buildings, for example, were designed using the talud-tablero (slope-and-panel) system. With this type of design the contrasting horizontal and vertical elements were all rigidly controlled and unified, as were the projecting and recessive structural areas, the light and dark effects, and the illustrative and geometric ornamentation.

The monumentality of Teotihuac?n architecture is evident in the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula, the largest single pre-Columbian structure, and the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuac?n, which is second in size. In area covered and in volume, both structures are larger than any ancient Egyptian pyramid. Palace complexes organized around plazas are among the most impressive examples of pre-Columbian residences. All Teotihuac?n architecture was thickly covered with stucco, which was usually painted with murals. The best remaining examples of these frescoes decorate the interior walls of palaces at Teotihuac?n. Three styles of murals have been categorized: decorative designs with symbolic meaning; stylized conceptual images of deities and mythological creatures; and narrative scenes that are more perceptual or realistic than abstract and schematic.

Few monumental examples of stone sculpture survive. The most famous of these stone sculptures is an architectonic monolith of the water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue. The most characteristic examples of Teotihuac?n stone carving are stylized human masks that were originally attached to mummy bundles.

Two distinct types of ceramics were produced. Delicately shaped, thin orange-ware was widely traded throughout Mesoamerica, but the most prized pottery consisted of ceremonial objects thinly coated with plaster that was incised and then painted in a manner resembling ceremonial murals. The tripod—a straight-sided bowl supported by three flat legs—was the vessel shape initiated and most used by Teotihuac?n potters. Clay figurines were produced, many being representations of people of the time and of dancing spirits of the dead.

B2 Maya

Maya civilization dominated southern Mesoamerica in the second half of the first millennium ad. Although originating in the Pre-Classic period and continuing until the time of the Spanish conquest, Maya culture achieved its most significant artistic and intellectual achievements during the Late Classic phase, from about 600 to about 900.

In variety and quality of architecture, the Maya are unexcelled by any other pre-Columbian civilization. Primarily found in lowland tropical areas, Classic Maya sites, with proportionally more emphasis on ceremonial features, appear to be less truly urban than Teotihuac?n. The majority of Maya ruins are in Mexico; they include Palenque, Yaxchil?n, and Bonampak and, in the Yucat?n Peninsula, Chichén Itz?, Cob?, Dzibilchalt?n, Edzna, Hochob, Kabah, Labna, Sayil, Uxmal, and Xpujil. Other major sites are Cop?n in Honduras and, in Guatemala, Piedras Negras, Quirigu?, and Tikal, the largest of all Maya ceremonial centers. Maya architecture is characterized by an exquisite sense of proportion and design and by structural refinement and subtle detailing. The Maya used sculpture more extensively for architectural decoration than any other pre-Columbian civilization. The corbel arch was employed not only to vault interior spaces, but also to construct freestanding arches. Despite the lack of carts and domesticated beasts of burden, the Maya built paved roadways. These connected major religious and administrative centers and seem to have been used mostly for ceremonial processions and to symbolize political links.

Maya art is the most highly refined and elegant in technique and design of any pre-Columbian civilization. Dignity and majesty were stressed in figurative art, as well as the representation of both physical and psychological reality. Rather than stasis and economy of form, the Maya seem to have sought exuberant, sensual movement and lavish ornamentation. Although Maya artists adhered to the basic precepts of their aesthetic tradition and iconography, innovation and individuality were encouraged.

Stelae with figurative carving and inscriptions are the most characteristic examples of the monumental freestanding stone sculpture of the Maya. The most elaborate examples are found at Cop?n, where the softness of the stone made possible baroque flamboyance of ornament. Most major sites have well-developed traditions of architectural relief panels in stone, and at Palenque stucco was effectively used for reliefs.

The Maya mastered all known pre-Columbian art forms except metalworking. Although no Maya textiles remain, their character and decoration can be discerned from representations in painting, figurines, and sculptures. Jade was skillfully carved, as were wood, bone, and shell; in clay, however, the Maya excelled. Realistic figurines (especially those from the islands of Jaina) and polychromed pottery with mythological or genre scenes (produced at Chama) are among the finest accomplishments of pre-Columbian sculpture and painting.

Fresco painting was practiced. Particularly fine examples have been found at Bonampak, Palenque, and Tikal. The Maya also had libraries of codices with images and text. Of the three remaining codices the Dresden Codex (Sachsische Landesbibliothek, Dresden, Germany) best illustrates the Maya's descriptive and formally dynamic use of line.

B3 Zapotec

In the Valley of Oaxaca the Zapotec culture (sometimes referred to as Monte Alb?n culture) had been developing since the Pre-Classic period (beginning circa 1500 bc), but it reached its height between about ad 300 and 700. Monte Alb?n (flourished about 500 bc-ad 500), the major Zapotec urban complex, indicates that this civilization had early links with the Olmec, then with Teotihuac?n. Because of their strong focus on elite ancestor worship the Zapotec produced much art for use in funerary rites. Tombs at Monte Alb?n and throughout the Oaxaca area have yielded elaborate burial urns depicting elite ancestors associated with natural forces such as rain and wind.

The temples of Monte Alb?n show the influence of the talud-tablero design of Teotihuac?n architecture, as do the spacious plazas surrounded by monumental stairways leading to platform temples. Stelae with political reliefs and glyph inscriptions are scattered around the site. Tombs were often multichambered and adorned with frescoes that reflect the influence of Teotihuac?n murals.

B4 Classic Vera Cruz

Along the Gulf of Mexico coast another culture developed; once erroneously called Totonac, it is now referred to as Classic Vera Cruz (after the modern Mexican state in which its activity was concentrated). El Taj?n was the culture's principal ceremonial center. Its seven ball courts indicate the importance of the Mesoamerican ritual ball game tlachtli to this culture's ritual observances. Many of the most significant reliefs decorate the ball courts, and some indicate human sacrifice of the players.

The major artifacts of the Classic Vera Cruz culture are associated with the ball game. Hachas (“axes”), yugos (“yokes”), and palmas (“palms”) are all made of stone and resemble in shape the objects for which they are named. Their actual use remains much debated; however, most scholars now believe they were awarded to leading ballplayers and were worn not during play but for ceremonial processions and celebrations. The hachas may also have been ball-court markers.

Clay figurines of outstanding quality were also widely produced, especially in the Remojadas region, which is famous for its broad-faced laughing figurines. Highly naturalistic hollow figurines, produced wholly or partly by molds, are among the most significant large-scale pre-Columbian clay sculptures. Their detailed features and ornamental detail were characteristically emphasized by applying black pitch or asphalt after firing.

Because of its central location and accessibility, the Classic Vera Cruz culture was eclectic. Its art and architecture, especially at the site of Cerro de las Mesas, show Olmec, Teotihuac?n, Zapotec, and Maya influence.

C Post-Classic Period

During the Post-Classic period important cultures developed among the Toltec, the Tarascan, the Huastec and Totonac, the Mixtec, and the Aztecs.

C1 Toltec and Maya-Toltec

About 64 km (about 40 mi) north of Mexico City is Tula, the capital of the militaristic Toltec, whose early Post-Classic empire was established in the 10th century ad. An austere society of pragmatic warriors, the Toltec were concerned more with function than form, and they produced few luxury objects. Their most valued pottery, for example, was plumbate ware imported from non-Toltec artisans who lived on the Pacific coast near the Mexico-Guatemala border. (The only glazed pottery developed in ancient American, plumbate ware had a metallic, usually greenish-gray surface that resulted when a clay coating melted to form glaze.)

Toltec architecture and sculpture were diminished reflections of the ruins of nearby Teotihuac?n. The psychology of Toltec aesthetics, however, was to inspire temporal fear rather than the spiritual aspiration and harmony sought by the Teotihuac?n civilization. The temple atop the pyramid of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli at Tula has columns 4.6 m (15 ft) high, fashioned as fearsome warriors rigidly guarding the sacred precinct. Around the base of this pyramid are palaces and ceremonial halls, probably for the military elite. At the north foot of the pyramid is an architectural feature developed by the Toltec; called the coatepantli, or serpent wall, it may have enclosed a secret ceremonial space. Another Toltec innovation to inspire dread was the tzompantli, a low platform near the main pyramid on which racks were erected to display the severed heads and skulls of human beings that had been sacrificed.

According to later mythical-historical accounts of doubtful reliability, the Toltec invaded (circa 1000 ad) the Yucat?n Peninsula and made the Puuc Maya city of Chichén Itz? their colonial capital. Most of this site now reflects the juxtaposition of Late Maya and Early Toltec taste and iconography. In addition to Tula architectural innovations, serpentine columns shaped like the god Quetzalcoatl (the Plumed Serpent) and Chacmools—recumbent figures holding offering bowls—are also found. Frescoes depict conquest. The quality of design and artistry at Chichén Itz? is superior to that at Tula, reflecting the more advanced artistic abilities of local Maya architects and artisans.

By 1250, in the Yucat?n, a new Maya capital was established at Mayap?n, a walled city rather than the open center built by the Classic Maya. Tulum is another Post-Classic Maya walled city. Located on the Caribbean coast, this was the first Mesoamerican city described by the Spanish.

C2 Tarascan

The Tarascan flourished in western Mexico from the beginning of the Post-Classic period until the Spanish conquest. Their capital at Tzintzuntzan on Lake P?tzcuaro had yacatas—characteristic stepped circular temples arranged in a line and connected by a single rectangular platform. The earliest metalwork in Mesoamerica probably was done by the Tarascan, who may have learned the technique through Pacific Ocean trade with Central American or Andean Native Americans. Tarascan copper ornaments were as sought after as their feather work and textiles.

C3 Huastec and Totonac

At the time of the Spanish conquest the Huastec culture was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, while the central coast was occupied by the Totonac, whose major city was Zempoala. Excellent stone sculptors, the Huastec were also known for carving seashells with intricate cutout designs.

C4 Mixtec

By the 10th century Mixtec rulers from the neighboring highlands had fought and married their way into parts of the Zapotec Valley of Oaxaca. Occupying Monte Alb?n as a necropolis, or city of the dead, they built fortified cities such as Yagul, as well as the important religious center of Mitla. Mixtec edifices are decorated with distinctive geometric stone mosaics.

Mixtec codices (the only one of which was preserved is the Codex Zouche-Nuttall), murals, and painted pottery attest to this people's accomplishments at drawing and painting. They were the finest metalworkers of Mesoamerica, and the pottery produced in the Mixtec-Puebla style at Cholula was the most highly valued ceramic ware in 14th- and 15th-century Mexico. The Mixtec also excelled in decorating masks, sacrificial knives, and other objects with mosaic inlays of coral, shell, turquoise, and other stones, as well as obsidian. Woodcarving was also a highly developed craft, used particularly for making intricately decorated atlatls (spear-throwers) and for carving teponaztli (slit-drums, or hollow horizontal, cylindrical percussion instruments), for ceremonial use.

C5 Aztec

The last major Mesoamerican civilization was that of the Aztec, who were also called Mexica (from which the name Mexico is derived). Between 1428 and 1521 the Aztec produced and collected as imperial tribute some of the finest remaining examples of pre-Columbian art (see Aztec Empire).

The Aztec capital of Tenochtitl?n, the present site of Mexico City, was one of the largest and one of the most beautiful cities in the world at the time of the Spanish conquest. Built in Lake Texcoco on natural islands and artificial islands called chinampas, Tenochtitl?n was similar in concept to Venice, Italy. The streets were primarily canals, and boats were the major form of transportation. Today, the central plaza of Mexico City overlies the main Aztec ceremonial center. Recent excavations in the Aztec Templo Mayor by Mexican archaeologists have yielded the most spectacular archaeological discoveries of this century in Mexico.

The Aztec produced monumental freestanding stone sculpture. In this sculpture the Aztec were capable of abstraction, as well as a realism that reveals both the internal and external character of the deity, person, or animal portrayed. Much Aztec stone sculpture was used for architectural decoration and representations of deities; it was also employed for human sacrificial altars, cuauhxicalli (containers for human hearts and blood), calendar stones, and other major ceremonial objects.

In execution and conception the codices produced by the Aztec are of extremely high quality. Only a few survived the destruction of the Aztec libraries during the 16th century by the Spanish missionaries.

VII CENTRAL ANDEAN AREA

Unlike those in Mesoamerica, the earliest major ruins in the Central Andean Area date from before the discovery of pottery.

A Pre-Ceramic Period

The earliest evidence of ceremonial architecture comes from the Norte Chico region of Peru, where large step pyramids and other structures were built starting around 3000 bc. In the Chicama Valley of the northern Peruvian coast at Huaca Prieta, monumental ceremonial mounds were built about 2500 bc. Highly skilled cotton weaving has been found at this site as well as gourds carved with stylized geometric motifs. Another Pre-Ceramic site on the northern coast is Las Haldas, where pyramids and platform temples were constructed of earth about 1800 bc. El Paraido, or Chuquintanta, on the central Peruvian coast, is the region's largest excavated Pre-Ceramic site. Various residential complexes of clay and stone were built by piling rooms and terraces onto one another, as in the Pueblo towns in the southwestern United States. Another important Pre-Ceramic site is Kotosh in the northern highlands of Peru. At Kotosh, terraced temples were made of fieldstone set in earth and decorated with clay reliefs of crossed hands.

B Pre-Classic Period

Two important cultures developed in Peru in the Pre-Classic period, Chav?n de Hu?ntar and Paracas.

B1 Chav?n

Between about 1200 and 200 bc, in the northern Peruvian highland ceremonial center of Chav?n de Hu?ntar, a civilization flourished that in many ways paralleled the contemporary Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica. Both were major early civilizations in their archaeological areas, and both used feline images in their sacred iconography. It appears that Chav?n artistic influence was spread not by military but by religious and intellectual efforts. From Ecuador to southern coastal Peru, evidence remains of Chav?n artistic and iconographic influence.

Chav?n de Hu?ntar is composed of a series of platforms and temples with corbel vaults in some of the corridors. The finest stone sculpture in the Central Andean Area is found at Chav?n de Hu?ntar or at Chav?n-related sites such as Cerro Blanco and Cerro Sechin. Unlike the Olmec and other Mesoamericans, however, the Chav?n and later Peruvian civilizations created very little freestanding stone sculpture or even clay figurines. Chav?n shallow-relief carving achieved its expressive height in the stylized rectilinear design of the stela called the Raimondi Stone.

Probably originating in northern Peru, the stirrup-spout vessel—a closed pot having a hollow U-shaped handle surmounted by a tubular spout—was the most characteristic Chav?n ceramic shape. Resembling Olmec ceramics, fine Chav?n pottery was produced at outposts rather than at the principal ceremonial center. In northern Peruvian coastal valleys at Cupisnique, Chongoyape, and Tembladera, highly accomplished effigy pots were made with abstract and realistic designs.

Metalworking developed and the Chav?n excelled at making hammered gold, or repoussé, body ornaments. Characteristic of the metalwork of the Chav?n are cutout decorative plaques that were attached to garments, and high cylindrical crowns with mythological reliefs, which were worn by the Chav?n nobility.

B2 Paracas

Another civilization developed from about 1100 to 200 bc at Paracas on the southern Peruvian coast. Because of the area's extreme aridity, Paracas textiles have been perfectly preserved. Buried in desert tombs, mummies were bundled with layers of cloth that was woven or painted with complex designs or elaborately embroidered. Effigy pots were also found in the Paracas necropolis. Many of these show distinct Chav?n influence, especially in the use of feline-cult iconography.

Peruvian southern coastal art has always been more influenced by schematized textile designs, rather than by the clay and metal sculpture that promoted the realism of northern Peruvian art. The decoration of Paracas ceramics, therefore, was highly stylized, frequently incised, and brightly polychromed. The vessels themselves were often double spouted and round bottomed, rather than stirrup spouted and flat based like northern coastal pots.

C Classic Period

Dominating the Classic period were the Moche and Nazca cultures and the later Tiwanaku and related Huari cultures.

C1 Moche

Between about 200 bc and ad 700 a militaristic society flourished on the northern Peruvian coast. Formerly named after its language, Mochica, this civilization is now referred to by the name of its major ceremonial administrative site, Moche.

Centered on two large terraced platform pyramids of sun-baked brick, Moche is one of Peru's most monumental sites. Although a warrior society, the Moche displayed none of the spartan taste or disdain for luxury that characterized the Mesoamerican Toltec. Moche tombs were filled with some of the most proficient pottery and metalwork of the Central Andean Area.

Moche ceramics, the best known of ancient Peruvian artifacts, are among the finest pre-Columbian accomplishments of sculptural realism and narrative drawing. So-called portrait-head effigy pots are especially notable for realistically depicting human features and portraying emotion. On other Moche pottery the curved vessel walls are decorated with dynamic scenes drawn with delicate stylized lines and showing this people's religious and military life. The Moche also produced more erotic pottery than any other pre-Columbian civilization. These artifacts are now interpreted as having ceremonial rather than pornographic meaning.

Moche metalwork was more ornate and technologically advanced than that of earlier civilizations. Body ornaments of gold, silver, copper, and alloys were frequently inlaid with turquoise and lapis lazuli. Geometric patterns and mythological motifs, especially the feline deity, were used.

C2 Nazca

The Nazca of Peru's southern coastal region were roughly contemporary with the Moche. Like their Paracas predecessors, the Nazca produced little architecture and excelled at making textiles and pottery with colorful stylized designs that contrast sharply to the realism and restrained color of northern Peruvian ceramics. Nazca pottery is as exuberantly polychromed as it is boldly designed and drawn. Paracas incising was no longer used, and color was applied before (instead of after) firing. Although both the Moche and the Nazca made pots that combined modeled elements and drawings, the Moche preferred sculptural pottery, and the Nazca, painted.

Among the most enigmatic of all pre-Columbian remains are the Nazca lines. These are drawings in the earth of geometric shapes, animals, birds, and fish that can be fully recognized only from the air. Certainly ceremonial in use, the images recall those painted on Nazca pottery. They were made by removing dark upper-surface stones to reveal a lighter substratum.

C3 Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku is a Bolivian site in the southern Central Andean highlands near Lake Titicaca. Although Tiwanaku was settled as early as about 200 bc, it was between about ad 200 and 600 that this urban complex became the center of another major Classic period civilization.

In Tiwanaku art and architecture the emphasis is on austerity, control, and permanence. Decorative motifs and religious imagery are rigidly stylized. Both buildings and sculpture are characterized by a monumental effect and monolithic appearance. The Gateway of the Sun at Tiwanaku is cut from a single stone and ornamented with finely executed relief decoration; only 3.7 m (12 ft) high, it appears more monumental because of its design. Scattered throughout the Tiwanaku area are pillarlike monolithic statues that reach heights of more than 6 m (more than 20 ft) and are decorated with low-relief detailing. The Tiwanaku culture was one of the few in the Central Andean Area committed to an extensive use of stone for architecture, sculpture, and ceremonial objects.

C4 Huari

The Huari (Wari) shared a religion and iconography with the Tiwanaku, but were socioeconomically separate. Between about 750 and 1000 the Huari Empire put an end to Peruvian regionalism, thereby preparing for the cultural unification of the Inca period.

Like the Moche, the Huari were a warrior society that appreciated fine artistry and design. Coastal Huari cultures (formerly referred to as Coastal Tiwanaku) produced textiles of the highest quality. Many of the patterns, especially for ponchos, were abstractions of motifs painted on Tiwanaku pottery. Although less refined than Tiwanaku ceramics, Huari pottery stressed solid construction, bold design, and a rich use of polychromy.

D Post-Classic Period

The Inca were preeminent during the Post-Classic period, rivaled only by the Chimu.

D1 Chimu

Northern Peru was dominated by the Chimu from about 1000 until 1470. Their imperial capital of Chan Chan was constructed of large walled adobe compounds reflecting those of earlier Huari settlements. The largest Andean urban site and a true city, Chan Chan consists of ten major quadrangles, each containing small pyramids, residences, markets, workshops, reservoirs, storehouses, gardens, and cemeteries. The buildings are decorated with geometrically patterned mosaics of adobe bricks or bas-reliefs, molded in clay plaster, of stylized animals, birds, and mythological figures.

Although Chan Chan was not fortified, the Chimu defended their empire by building fortresses on the frontiers. Paramonga, which defended the southern border, is considered a masterpiece of military engineering, as is the fortress of Saccasihuam?n above Cuzco.

Chimu pottery was primarily mass-produced through the use of molds. Its characteristic black color was achieved through almost smothering the flame, drastically reducing the oxygen in the kiln, during firing. Decoration was usually molded relief, and the surface was polished after firing to give the pot a silverlike sheen.

Metalworkers also mass-produced objects by using molds. Compared with Chimu pottery, however, the metalwork is more distinctive in design and individual in artistic execution.

Textiles were made with the same quality and quantity as other Chimu arts. The featherwork was especially outstanding, and their feathered ponchos were among the most luxurious garments made in the Post-Classic period.

D2 Inca

The Inca, who called themselves Tawantinsuyu, ruled from Cuzco an empire extending between Ecuador and Chile. A highland warrior people, the Inca preferred an aesthetic that was formally simple, decoratively sparse, and functional. Because the Inca were the Native Americans that the Spanish conquered, their culture is the Central Andean Area civilization of which most is known; however, as happened with the treasures of their Mesoamerican contemporaries, the Aztecs, many Inca artifacts were destroyed by the Spanish, out of greed for gold and silver or out of Christian militancy.

Highland Inca cities such as Machu Picchu were carefully planned to harmonize with the landscape, both through the use of indigenous materials and through the architectural repetition of surrounding natural forms. Structurally among the most accomplished in the pre-Columbian period, Inca buildings were constructed with carefully shaped, precisely fitted stone masonry that was left undecorated. Trapezoidal doors and windows were characteristic.

The Inca produced neither large-scale freestanding statues nor architectural sculpture. Metal figurines and small stone ceremonial bowls in the shape of llamas and alpacas are among the finest examples of their sculpture.

Inca pottery, like that of the Chimu, was mass-produced, but it was less distinguished. The most characteristic shape was that of the aryballos, a polychromed container for carrying liquids. In both textiles and metalwork, the Inca continued the Central Andean tradition of high-quality design and execution.

VIII INTERMEDIATE AREA

In lower Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador notable artistic and architectural styles also developed.

A Lower Central America

Well-executed, large-scale stone sculpture was carved in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In addition to statues of deities reflecting Mesoamerican influence, the Central American cultures made elaborately conceived ceremonial stone metates, or surfaces for grinding corn. Jade was made into celts, or ceremonial axes.

Metalwork, which was widely practiced, indicates the influence of northern South America. Among the finest examples are body ornaments made by the Veraguas culture of Panama and the Chiriqui culture of Costa Rica.

The boldly drawn and colored pottery of the Panamanian Coclé is strikingly similar in its dynamic rhythmic patterns to the modern molas, or reverse appliqués, sewn by the Kuna of San Blas. On the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica the Chorotega culture made the best examples of Central American polychromed effigy pots.

B Colombia

Few major architectural sites have been discovered in Colombia. The earliest and largest archaeological zone is San August?n, an area covered with freestanding stone sculptures, many related to a feline cult. Underground tombs and temples were also built. At Tierradentro, deep richly painted shaft tombs were cut into the rock. The Caribbean site of Tairona has stone streets and stone foundations for circular houses.

Goldwork was the major Colombian art. The Calima, Quimbaya, Tairona, Tolima, Sinu, Darién, and Chibcha, or Muisca, all produced different regional styles of metalworking and developed particular shapes and iconographies. Reflecting the influence of Central Andean metallurgy, Colombian metalwork is, however, often more innovative in form and technique.

Pottery seldom reached the aesthetic level of metalworking except among cultures such as the Quimbaya, whose robust clay figurines and pots were the equal of their goldwork.

C Ecuador

Although fine metalwork was produced in Ecuador, high-quality ceramics were more commonly produced there than in Colombia. Scholars argue whether the earliest pottery in the western hemisphere was made at the Ecuadorian site of Valdivia (c. 3000 bc), or whether it was being produced at the Colombian north coast site of Puerto Hormiga at approximately the same time. Figurines and effigy pots were made by such cultures as the Chorrera, Guangala, Bahia, Jama-Coaque, La Tolita, Mantano, and Carchi.

Architectural and freestanding stone sculpture was rarely carved. The Mantano low reliefs at Cerro Jaboncillo are among the finest examples. Also from the Mantano period (ad 850-1500) are Manabi carved stools; these U-shaped seats borne by sculpted humans or animals are the most characteristic Ecuadorian stone artifacts.

IX PERIPHERAL AREA

Several archaeological sites in the Amazonian Basin have preserved pottery artifacts, and in the Caribbean, the Arawak, or Ta?no, developed a distinctive culture and art.

A Amazonian Basin

Most Amazonian art was and continues to be made of perishable materials such as wood, feathers, and plant fibers. The most important pre-Columbian ceramic remains from this region have been found in the Amazon River delta in Brazil. At Santarém (ad 1250-1500) vessels with elaborate figurative modeling have been excavated. On Maraj? Island, earth mounds dating from 1000 to 1250 have yielded intricately patterned, incised, and painted pottery, including enormous burial urns. Effigy pots of seated men were produced on Maraca Island.

B Caribbean Area

Pre-Columbian artifacts of the Caribbean area mostly come from the Greater Antilles islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The principal people to inhabit this area were the Arawak, who migrated from Venezuela's Orinoco River delta. Their arts, therefore, are closely related to those of northern South America. Settling in Puerto Rico about ad 200, the Arawak were known as the Ta?no, and their culture continued until the Spanish conquest. The most characteristic Ta?no objects are made of bone, wood, and stone. They include spatulas for inducing vomiting for religious purification; dujos, or carved wooden stools for chiefs or priests; and zemi, or triangular stones carved with human or animal features representing major natural spirits and deities. Pottery included incised pots with geometric designs and effigy vessels in human shapes.

The most monumental Ta?no architectural complex is at Utuado, Puerto Rico. Ten squares are surrounded by incised stones. The site indicates that the Mesoamerican ceremonial ball game tlachtli had been introduced from the Mexican mainland.

Contributed By:

Robert J. Loescher

Olmec Colossal Head

The Olmec flourished as the first major civilization of Mesoamerica between 1500 and 600 bc and were the first in the region to use stone for sculpture and architecture. Among other monolithic works, the Olmec carved three-dimensional stone heads, ranging in height from about 2 to 3 m (6 to 10 ft), out of basalt boulders quarried in distant mountains. Archaeologists believe the heads, all of which have similar facial features and wear helmets, are portraits of Olmec rulers.

Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York/Tom Owen Edmunds