1. Pre - Columbian Art What you need to know to survive DCHS Art Week

2. Pre-Columbian Art and Civilizations in Mexico The cultures of pre-Columbian Meso- America are very complex and cover thousands of years…. (yes, I said thousands of years! ) This is time BEFORE Columbus! So get comfortable! I have underlined what you need to know!

3. This time includes many peoples, languages, beliefs, crafts, architectural styles and ways of life. The geography of Mexico itself separates people. They developed different customs over time and still remain quite distinct from one another. Yet, all relied on corn as the basic food staple which was complemented by many vegetables. For the most part, pre-Columbian peoples also shared similar beliefs including the rain god, a calendar system of 365 days, rituals such as the ball court, and human and animal sacrifice. Prehistoric human presence in Mexico dates back to some 15,000 years ago with finds at the site of Hueyaltalco. However evidence of humans dates even longer ago to about 1,000 B.C. to northern Mexico. Most archaeologists think that people of the Americas traveled across the land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska. They made their way down to the tip of South America. This journey took 1000’s years. Even after the Spaniards conquered the great civilizations of Latin America, the strong artistic traditions survived. There were great changes after the Conquest: the introduction of new raw materials, sources of colors and designs, techniques of manufacture and others Just Kidding!!!

4. Mexico….. Corn was the basic food staple. Mostly the people of Mexico had similar belief systems. These beliefs included the rain god, 260 day Aztec calendar, rituals, human and animal sacrifices.

5. Even after the Spanish conquered the civilizations of Latin America, strong traditions lived on…and on. Even today these traditions live on in many villages and remote areas of Mexico.

6. What traditions???? The Olmecs are an ancient group that in habited the State of Tabasco.

7. Olmecs around 800-400 BC Olmec works of art, made of stone, clay, and jade, represent the first sophisticated artistic style that had been discovered in the Americas.

8. Olmec art continued to be an influence for more than 2300 years. Codices were folding books made out of bark or animal skin throughout Mexico and Central America. These books told the stories about chiefs or conquests through pictures.

9. The Zapotecs were located at Monte Alban which is 4000 feet above current day Oaxaca.

10. This is a picture of Monte Alban. You can see the ruins in the picture.

11. There are 140 stone slabs that have carvings of dancers on them. These danzantes (dancers) have strong Olmec features.

12. The Aztecs took prisoners to use as human sacrifices. They felt that it was their duty to sacrifice these prisoners to their gods.

13. There were many gods that were important… god of rain, god of sun, god of fire. All of these gods had different names based on the language. However, they were all a part of the culture. These are seen within carvings, drawings etc.

14. Painters specialized in murals in the temples and palaces. Also they made numerous kinds of ceramics, textiles, baskets… etc.

15. The Aztec Capital was named Tenochtitlan which was located North of present day Mexico City. Teotihuacán was also an important city. Below is a picture of one of the ruins.

16. Example of Aztec drawings. Notice the shapes, colors and symbols

17. The Aztecs had a sophisticated way of dying and weaving in order to produce bright colored textiles. These same practices have survived the centuries and are still used today by the quarter of a million contemporary Aztecs.

18. Fighters….not…? The Aztecs were fighters. They were very fierce warriors. The people they conquered hated them because they sacrificed their prisoners. The Aztecs made these sacrifices to appease the gods. When they felt like the gods were angry with them they made human sacrifices to gain the favor of the gods.

19. Human Sacrifices He has someone’s guts in his hand….nice huh?

20. Modern Day Aztec Dancers

21. Aztec rain god

22. Example of current artists trying to recreate Aztec art. (1997)

23. We cannot mention the Aztecs without talking about El Día de los Muertos. November 1 st and 2 nd each year this holiday is celebrated. The roots of this holiday dates back to the Aztecs. You can find many pieces of art (drawings, carvings etc.) that reflect death and the offerings (ofrendas) given to those that have died. I have included some pictures…..

26. Here is another picture of the Aztec Warriors… what do you see?