MESOAMERICA
❚The Olmec (ca. 1200–400 BCE) is often called the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica. At La Venta and
elsewhere, the Olmec built pyramids and ball courts and carved colossal basalt portraits of their
rulers during the Preclassic period.
❚In contrast to the embryonic civic centers of the Olmec, Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico was
a huge metropolis laid out on a strict grid plan. Its major pyramids and plazas date to the late
Preclassic period, ca. 50–250 CE.
❚The Maya occupied parts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. During the Classic period
(ca. 300–900 CE), they built vast complexes of temple-pyramids, palaces, plazas, and ball courts
and decorated them with monumental sculptures and mural paintings glorifying their rulers and
gods. The Maya also left extensive written records and possessed a sophisticated knowledge of
astronomy and mathematical calculation.
SOUTH AMERICA
❚The ancient civilizations of South America are even older than those of Mesoamerica. The earliest
Andean sites began to develop around 3000 BCE.
❚Between ca. 800 and 200 BCE, during the Early Horizon period, U-shaped temple complexes were
erected at Chavín de Huántar in Peru, where archaeologists have also uncovered monumental
statues and reliefs.
❚The Paracas (ca. 400 BCE–200 CE), Nasca (ca. 200 BCE–600 CE), and Moche (ca. 1–700 CE) cultures of the
Early Intermediate period in Peru produced extraordinary textiles, distinctive painted ceramics, and
turquoise-inlaid goldwork. The subjects range from composite human-animals to ruler portraits.
❚The Tiwanaku (ca. 100–1000 CE) and Wari (ca. 500–800 CE) cultures of northern Bolivia and southern
Peru flourished during the Middle Horizon period. The Tiwanaku culture is noteworthy for its
monumental stone architecture. The Wari produced magnificent tapestries.
NORTH AMERICA
❚The indigenous cultures of the United States and Canada date as far back as 10,000 BCE, but most
of the surviving art objects date from the past 2,000 years.
❚The Eskimo produced small-scale artworks in ivory beginning in the early first millennium CE,
reflecting a nomadic lifestyle that required portable objects.
❚The peoples of the Mississippian culture (ca. 800–1500 CE) were great mound builders. Cahokia
in Illinois encompassed about 120 mounds and was the largest city in North America during the
early second millennium CE.
❚In the Southwest, Native Americans have been producing pottery for more than 2,000 years.
The black-and-white painted bowls of the Mimbres (ca. 1000–1250 CE) are among the finest.
❚The Ancestral Puebloans were master builders of pueblos. The pueblo at Chaco Canyon, New
Mexico, had about 800 rooms. Cliff Palace, Colorado, is noteworthy for its sophisticated design,
wedged into a sheltered ledge to take advantage of the winter sun and the summer shade.
THE BIG PICTURE
NATIVE ARTS OF THE
AMERICAS BEFORE 1300
Colossal head, La Venta, Olmec,
ca. 900–400 BCECastillo, Chichén Itzá, Maya,
ca. 800–900 CEEar ornament, from Sipán, Moche,
ca. 300 CEGateway of the Sun, Tiwanaku,
ca. 375–700 CECliff Palace, Colorado,
Ancestral Puebloan,
ca. 1150–1300 CE