AP Art History - The Indigenous Americas (part 1 of 3)
Summary
TLDRThis lecture series explores the indigenous Americas, focusing on human migration, agricultural societies, and diverse art forms. It covers civilizations from the Chavin to the Maya, discussing their architectural styles, materials used, and cultural significance. The series also delves into the Mississippian culture's mound-building techniques and the Great Serpent Mound's possible meanings.
Takeaways
- 🌏 The script discusses human migration to the Americas during the Ice Age, highlighting the use of land bridges and the late human settlement of North and South America.
- 🏞️ It emphasizes the flourishing of agricultural societies in the Americas, particularly in equatorial regions, and the diverse forms of art and technology, including astronomy, that developed in these societies.
- 🏛 The lecture outlines the differences in art and architecture between sedentary cultures that built large, heavy structures and nomadic hunter-gatherer societies that used portable, non-refined materials.
- 🛍️ It mentions the extensive trade networks established by some cultures, such as the Aztecs, to obtain materials from afar, as well as the local materials used by others.
- 🗺️ The script provides a broad overview of the civilizations in North and South America, noting the coexistence and cultural crossover of these civilizations, especially in resource-rich areas.
- 🏺 It describes the early American civilizations as mysterious to science, with much early art associated with ritual and burial, often made from durable materials and found in isolated contexts.
- 🐾 The importance of animals in art and culture is highlighted, with motifs combining human and animal imagery, and animals like jaguars, pumas, and snakes holding religious and cultural significance.
- 🗝️ The script discusses the social classes of artists, often commoners, who could achieve a higher status through their skill in creating artwork for the ruling class.
- 🗝️ The Chavin culture of coastal Peru is highlighted, with its influential pilgrimage site and unique architectural and artistic style, including the use of contour rivalry in their sculptures.
- 🐉 The Maya civilization is detailed, with its unique aesthetic in sculpture and architecture, the use of hieroglyphic writing, and the significance of bloodletting rituals in maintaining cosmic order.
- 🏡 The Anasazi or Ancestral Puebloans' cliff dwellings and pueblos are described, emphasizing their strategic locations, agricultural practices, and the social and religious importance of plazas and kivas.
Q & A
What is the significance of land bridges in the context of human migration to the Americas?
-Land bridges were crucial during the Ice Age as they allowed people to cross large distances to reach North and South America, which were likely the last places to be populated by humans.
What is the timeline of human migration to the Americas as mentioned in the script?
-The script suggests human migration to the Americas occurred over several thousand years, with the earliest civilizations still being somewhat of a mystery to science.
How did agricultural societies in the Americas differ from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies in terms of art and materials used?
-Agricultural societies created larger artworks, particularly architecture, using materials like stone and metals, while nomadic hunter-gatherer societies made smaller, portable artworks using non-refined materials with little to no metal.
What types of materials were commonly used by indigenous cultures in the Americas for their art and architecture?
-Indigenous cultures used a variety of materials such as obsidian, feathers, animal skins, wood, jade, gold, copper, limestone, amethyst, and granite, as well as resources from animals and plants.
How did the Chavin culture's location influence its architecture and significance?
-The Chavin culture was located in the Andes, which provided a strategic location for trade and cultural diffusion. Their architecture, including Chavín de Huántar, was built to accommodate the mountainous topography and served as a pilgrimage site, influencing surrounding regions.
What is the significance of the Lanzón stone in Chavín de Huántar?
-The Lanzón stone is a massive sculpture thought to represent the patron god of Chavín de Huántar. It was located deep within the temple, accessible likely only to priests, symbolizing power and prestige.
What is contour rivalry, and how is it used in indigenous American art?
-Contour rivalry is an optical illusion where two images share parts or outlines, creating a complex and hidden meaning in art. It was used in indigenous American art to add complexity and was often associated with a sense of elitism, as it was thought to be understood only by priests or the elite.
What is the significance of the Maya civilization's unique aesthetic in sculpture and architecture?
-The Maya civilization is known for its unique aesthetic, including continuous lines in sculpture profiles and stepped pyramids that symbolize power and status. Their art often commemorated rulers and used hieroglyphic writing to narrate notable accomplishments.
What role did bloodletting rituals play in Maya culture, and how are they depicted in their art?
-Bloodletting rituals in Maya culture were seen as necessary to maintain order and were often performed by members of the royal family. They were depicted in art, such as in Lintel 25 from Structure 23, where Lady Xoc is shown performing a bloodletting ritual, possibly in connection with her husband's ascension to the throne.
What is the significance of the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, and how did their location affect their design?
-The Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings were strategically built into cliffsides, providing shade, protection, and a hidden living space. Their design included multiple stories, with rooms accessible through windows, doors, and ladders, and faced a central plaza for social and religious activities.
What was the agricultural technique used by the Mississippian cultures, and how did it benefit their farming practices?
-The Mississippian cultures used a farming technique involving the 'three sisters': squash, corn, and beans. This method promoted symbiosis and efficiency by preventing weeds, providing structural support for climbing plants, and enhancing nitrogen recruitment in the soil.
What are mound complexes, and what might have been their purpose in Mississippian cultures?
-Mound complexes are large earthen structures built by Mississippian cultures, possibly serving as strategic locations for observation and hierarchy representation. Their exact purpose is not well understood, but they may have been used for ceremonial, residential, or agricultural purposes.
What is the Great Serpent Mound, and what are some theories about its meaning or purpose?
-The Great Serpent Mound is a large earthwork in the shape of a snake, built by the Fort Ancient culture, possibly influenced by Mississippian mound builders. Theories about its meaning include representation of a snake deity associated with crop fertility, an astronomical phenomenon like an eclipse or comet, or a calendar to determine planting and harvesting times.
Outlines
🌏 Indigenous Americas: Migration and Cultural Flourishing
This segment introduces a series on the indigenous cultures of the Americas, highlighting the late human migration to North and South America facilitated by land bridges during the Ice Age. It emphasizes the broad spectrum of information to be covered, including the flourishing of agricultural societies in equatorial regions, the diverse art forms, and the technological and scientific advancements, particularly in astronomy. The lecture also touches on the differences between nomadic hunter-gatherer societies and more sedentary civilizations, noting the impact of these lifestyles on the type of art and architecture produced. Materials used in art, such as metals, wood, and jade, are discussed, along with the trade networks established to obtain them. A map is presented to give an overview of the locations and coexistence of various civilizations, setting the stage for a deeper dive into their cultural practices and art.
🏰 Chavin Culture: Art and Architecture in Ancient Peru
The second paragraph delves into the Chavin culture, which was influential in Andean and South America around 1500 years before the Inca civilization. Chavin de Huantar, a pilgrimage site, played a crucial role in spreading the Chavin artistic style across northwestern South America. The Chavin people were known for their architectural ingenuity, adapting their structures to the natural landscape, such as cliffs and rivers. The temple of Chavin de Huantar, situated at 10,000 feet above sea level, is a notable example of their architecture, featuring jaguar sculptures symbolizing power and prestige. The paragraph also discusses the significance of the Lanzón, a massive stone with a deity figure that combines human and animal elements, and the use of contour rivalry in their art to add complexity and hidden meanings.
🐍 Serpent Motifs and Chavin Art: Symbolism and Cultural Significance
This segment continues the discussion on the Chavin culture, focusing on the serpent motif prevalent in their art. The serpent is associated with religious and cultural significance in many indigenous American cultures. The architectural features of Chavin de Huantar, such as the temple complex and the Lanzón, are highlighted, emphasizing their alignment with cosmological lines and the strategic positioning along natural waterways. The Lanzón's shape and symbolism, related to successful planting and harvest, are discussed, along with the intricate relief sculptures and nose ornaments found in the ruins. The paragraph also touches on the concept of contour rivalry, an optical illusion used in their art to add complexity and hidden meanings.
📜 Maya Civilization: Aesthetics and Hieroglyphic Writing
The fourth paragraph shifts focus to the Maya civilization, which occupied the Yucatan Peninsula and surrounding areas. The Maya are known for their unique aesthetic, particularly in sculpture, where figures often have a continuous line from the forehead to the nose. Most sculptures commemorate rulers or those associated with rulers, and many are tied to monuments and architecture. The Maya also developed a hieroglyphic writing system used to narrate the accomplishments of rulers and important historical events. The paragraph introduces the city of Yaxchilan, hidden for centuries and rediscovered using modern technology. Yaxchilan is known for its carved stelae, which provide insights into local history, rituals, and the accomplishments of rulers.
🏙️ Yaxchilan Architecture: Plazas, Ball Courts, and Stele
This segment provides a detailed look at the architecture of Yaxchilan, a royal Maya city. The city featured a main plaza, ball courts, and numerous carved stelae that narrated local history. The ball court was significant for both recreational and ritual purposes, with games like paktapak played there. The stelae and relief sculptures in Yaxchilan are characterized by crisp outlines and flat backgrounds, creating a sense of depth. The paragraph also discusses the significance of the hieroglyphic inscriptions that surrounded these sculptures, often detailing the ruler's accomplishments and important historical events. The architectural elements, such as roof combs and lintels, are highlighted for their aesthetic and symbolic importance.
🏡 Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloans): Cliff Dwellings and Agricultural Practices
The sixth paragraph introduces the Anasazi, or Ancestral Puebloans, who lived in the American Southwest. Known for their cliff dwellings, the Anasazi built their structures, called pueblos, into cliffsides, providing strategic advantages and protection from the elements. The paragraph describes the layout of a typical pueblo, with small rooms, windows, and ladders, and the importance of the central plaza for social and religious activities. The Anasazi were agriculturalists, utilizing the area above the mesas for farming and bringing resources down to their cliff dwellings. The paragraph also discusses the engineering of their structures, such as kivas, and the adaptations made to ensure proper ventilation and prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
🌱 Mississippian Culture: Mound Builders and Agricultural Innovation
This segment explores the Mississippian culture, which encompassed numerous cultures in the Midwest region of what is now the United States. Known for their mound-building practices, these cultures developed advanced agricultural techniques, such as the 'three sisters' method of growing corn, beans, and squash together. The paragraph discusses the strategic importance of waterways for agriculture and irrigation, and the social hierarchy within these settlements. The city-state of Cahokia is highlighted for its massive mound complexes, which served as both practical and symbolic structures. The Great Serpent Mound, a mystery mound with uncertain purpose, is also discussed, with theories suggesting it may represent a snake, an astrological phenomenon, or even a calendar.
🐉 Great Serpent Mound: Astronomical and Agricultural Significance
The final paragraph delves deeper into the Great Serpent Mound, a mysterious earthwork that is believed to have been built by the Fort Ancient culture, influenced by the Mississippian mound builders. The mound's purpose remains unclear, but it is speculated to have been a symbol of a snake, possibly related to agricultural fertility or an astronomical phenomenon like an eclipse. The paragraph discusses the mound's construction, which would have been a significant effort, and the various theories surrounding its meaning, including its potential use as a calendar to determine planting and harvesting times. The connection between the mound and the phases of the moon and the summer solstice sunset is also explored.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Indigenous Americas
💡Land Bridges
💡Agricultural Societies
💡Sedentary Cultures
💡Nomadic Hunter-Gatherer Societies
💡Chavin Culture
💡Plaza
💡Hieroglyphic Writing System
💡Three Sisters (Agriculture)
💡Mound Builders
💡Kivas
Highlights
Human migration to North and South America was likely the last major migration event, facilitated by land bridges during the Ice Age.
Controversy exists over the precise timeline and routes of human migration to the Americas, with multiple waves over thousands of years.
Agricultural societies flourished in equatorial regions, influencing the development of art and architecture in indigenous Americas.
Indigenous American art includes a broad spectrum of materials and techniques, from architecture to metalwork and astronomy.
Nomadic hunter-gatherer societies produced portable art using non-refined materials, contrasting with the larger, heavier works of sedentary cultures.
Materials used in indigenous art varied widely, from local resources to extensive trade networks, as seen with the Aztecs.
The Chavin culture of coastal Peru was influential, with its artistic style diffusing across northwestern South America.
Chavin de Huantar, a pilgrimage site, was a center for the diffusion of the Chavin artistic style through trade and cultural exchange.
The Chavin temple at Chavin de Huantar is notable for its jaguar sculptures and its strategic location flanking rivers.
The Lanzóne, a massive stone at Chavin de Huantar, is thought to represent a patron deity and features a deity with both human and animal elements.
Contour rivalry, an optical illusion technique, was used in Chavin art to add complexity and hidden meanings to images.
The Maya civilization in the Yucatan Peninsula is known for its unique aesthetic, including continuous lines in figure profiles and stepped pyramids.
Mayan art and architecture often commemorate rulers and include hieroglyphic writing systems to narrate notable accomplishments.
Yaxchilan, a royal Mayan city, is known for its carved stelae that provide insight into local history and rituals.
The Anasazi or Ancestral Puebloans of the American Southwest are known for their cliff dwellings and agricultural practices.
The Mississippian cultures, located in the Midwest, developed the 'three sisters' farming technique with squash, corn, and beans.
Mound building was a significant practice among Mississippian cultures, with Cahokia being a notable city-state known for its large mound complexes.
The Great Serpent Mound, a mystery mound, is theorized to represent a snake or other celestial phenomena and may have been used as a calendar.
Transcripts
first of a three-part series on the
indigenous americas
this slide right here something that you
probably recognize from the
prehistoric art lecture this is again
just demonstrating
human migration over the course of
several thousand
years and reminding you that north and
south america were very likely the last
places to be populated by humans
one of the main ways that people are
able to
cross this distance is because of these
land bridges that are emerging during
the ice age
so this is some very broad spectrum
information
on the next three lectures that we're
going to cover so up to 30
000 years ago again this slide says 15
thousand
there's a lot of controversy and wiggle
room in terms of the precise states
where people are coming over there were
actually several waves
of people that were migrating using this
particular method over several thousand
years
but in any case um there were lots of
agricultural societies that flourished
in areas with
climate particularly in the equatorial
regions um
so around where central um and south
america are
there's lots of different kinds of art
that we're seeing in
the indigenous americas we have
architecture we also have the
incorporation of lots of
other media and technology including a
really
comprehensive understanding of science
particularly astronomy
we also have a lot of artworks that are
large and heavy and are used as refined
materials such as metals
which is something that we see in a lot
of these civilizations that are more
sedentary in nature
some cultures are nomadic
hunter-gatherer societies where they are
following their food
these tend to be the communities that
reside in the
plains the ones that are following bison
for example
and now in those cases the artwork tends
to be smaller
using non-refined materials so there's
little no metal and then they're also
portable
which makes sense if you're carrying
everything with you as you're following
your food
of course the more sedentary cultures
are going to be making
larger artworks particularly works of
architecture
and then using materials like stone like
heavier items
that are going to be more sedentary
there's lots and lots of materials
that people in these regions use and it
really depends like
in the particular on the particular
region that you're looking at
there are some communities that use
materials that are more or less
exclusively available within their areas
whereas
others actually establish these really
extensive trade work
networks to obtain materials from far
away we'll see that with the aztecs in
particular
to give you an idea of some of the
materials that are being used we have
obsidian which is a kind of shiny
volcanic glass
feathers animal skins wood jade gold
copper limestone amethyst granite
lots of precious and semi-precious
materials as well as
resources that are coming from animals
and plants
to give you a sense of what particular
areas that we're going to be
covering over the next couple of days i
have
added some things to this map of course
there are many more civilizations than
the ones that i have indicated
um however this map is just intended to
be like a comprehensive list
of these civilizations that they're
covering and their approximate locations
in north and south america just so that
you can root these things in your mind
and figure out where they are
so a lot of these civilizations are
coexisting at any given
time and what actually happens in a lot
of areas particularly ones
that are very resource rich and hot
commodities um there's actually several
successive civilizations that are built
on top of one another
so this kind of complicates the
archaeological record in a lot of cases
and also results in a lot of crossover
between cultures
of course you have to expect that the
evidence from older civilizations is
oftentimes destroyed or it's degraded so
far that we don't really
have any understanding of what it is
anymore
so the earliest american civilizations
are still somewhat of a mystery
to science however a lot of the early
art that has been found is associated
with ritual and or burial which makes
sense because when you have
burial items you are burying them you
are isolating and shielding them from
the elements and they're more likely to
survive
long periods of time a lot of these
items were
made for people that were wealthy or of
high status so there tends to be
a bias and skewing in terms of the items
that survive from those older periods
they tend to be from
um ritual burials as well as items that
are
buried with very wealthy individuals
oftentimes we will see deities and
animals as the subjects of art we will
see lots of
figures and motifs that combine human
and animal imagery
as well there's lots of animals that are
associated
with power and authority in various
mesoamerican cultures
we will see jaguars featured and pumas
featured pretty frequently as well as
snakes
these are animals that are um that
occupy a specific
like religious and cultural significance
in a lot of the cultures that we cover
we also have um architecture that is
produced in
more sedentary agricultural societies
oftentimes these works of architecture
are used for ritual residential
and public purposes so there's lots of
buildings that are
intended to serve as meeting places or
ritual spaces or places where people are
living
in terms of like social classes of
artists in most cases
artists were commoners and but a lot of
them could escape menial labor
if they were appointed to state projects
and workshops so they could
kind of be in a class of their own if
they were
a person who had a specific skill set
and was able to create artwork for
people
in the ruling class for example
one of the first cultures that we'll be
covering for this unit is the chavin
so the chavin occupied coastal peru and
some of the inlands
around 1500 years before they inca
civilization
um cropped up in more or less the same
region
the chavin were extremely influential in
andy and south america
so in this region right here this is
where the andes are
which is this mountain range that flanks
the western coast more or less of south
america
one of the um reasons that they were so
influential is because chavin de juantar
which is the pilgrimage site and kind of
like the
the center of the chavin people was
visited by pilgrims
from lots of regions around the area and
what they would do is that they would
purchase
wares in javin de juantar and then bring
them back to their
own localities so there was this um
diffusion that was happening over
several centuries where you had
this artistic style that originated in
this capital
diffusing to other parts of
northwestern-ish
south america so javin culture is named
after its main archaeological site
um we don't know what they call
themselves like in the archaeological
record
like there's not really indications of
what they named themselves but they're
named
basically by archaeologists after this
particular site
there is archaeological evidence that
they occupied many areas and climate
zones in modern day peru
including the coastline as well as these
very high altitude mountainous regions
the capital chavin de guantara is
actually around 10 000
feet above sea level which is pretty
remarkable
a lot of times due to necessity the
architecture
from the civilization is somewhat
retrofitted to the topography
that means that it is built to
accommodate
the location in which it was made so if
there is a cliffside they'll often take
advantage of the cliffs
to provide some support to the structure
and we see this in a lot of other
meso and south american cultures as well
there's also lots of buildings that
flank rivers
or natural waterways and then they
oftentimes have plazas that are facing
these optimal views
they're putting buildings in places
where there is some sort
of aesthetic significance or
there is this high or hallowed ground
there's lots of figures
in the compositions that are created by
the chavin culture
and then there's also lots of these kind
of like hybridized human animal figures
a lot of the work we also see is
symmetrical or near symmetrical so there
is
there's a lot of bilateral symmetry that
is used and the primary
style that is used to create these
sculptures is by polishing a rock or
flattening the surface and then carving
lines into it
so the style is relatively simple in
comparison to some of the styles that we
see
emerging later particularly with the
maya culture
that doesn't mean that they're not
complex though and you'll see in a
moment
how complex they can get
so this is our artwork for chavin it's
called
and the primary thing that you should be
focusing on for this artwork
is the temple so as i mentioned
previously the temple is about 10 000
feet above sea level and about 200 feet
tall
it's adorned with jaguar sculptures at
regular intervals that pop
up the oftentimes jaguars they're
they're apex predators they're at the
top of the food chain they're oftentimes
regarded as symbols of power and
prestige
we'll see in the maya culture that a lot
of rulers have actually named themselves
after um jaguars
here's an example of one of those jaguar
head motifs right here
this was the religious capital of the
chavin people and it was
a pilgrimage site as i mentioned
previously
there were lots of pilgrims that came
from around the area of like a hundred
mile radius
that came to this site and probably made
offerings to the gods
um and were able to bring back wares
from this site to their own homes
what you'll notice when you look at this
complex is that it's
flanking a river right here there's also
another one that's intersecting right
here and then the sides of the building
are or are oriented along the four
cardinal directions
this is something that we'll see a lot
in indigenous american architecture
there is
almost an obsession with alignment
with along like cosmological lines or
along like north south eastern western
axis
there's a lot of speculation in the
archaeological community
that this was very intentional that they
did this so
um one of the reasons that the site was
visited so frequently was because it was
one of the few
breaks in the andes where people could
get from the western coast
um of the andes to the east coast and
into the areas like brazil
so um this is one of those main
corridors that people are able to use to
get from one part of the continent to
another so you can imagine that it would
be a point where a lot of people aren't
meeting it's a sort of
bottleneck or stopover point so there
were two main building phases to chavin
de juantars temple
there was the old temple which is this
complex over here there's lots of these
subterranean tunnels that run throughout
the old temple
there's still a lot of speculation as to
what the particular purpose of those
tunnels were there is some evidence
that the tunnels may have been used
acoustically to project the voice of a
priest
or somebody in the temple out into the
courtyard or plaza right here
and that would have been like the word
of the god god's being communicated to
the people
there's also um a series of tunnels that
leads to this massive
stone called the lanzone which i'll talk
about in just a moment
one of the other kind of trends that
we'll see in um
indigenous american architecture is the
plaza
so the plaza is a structure that is
usually
some sort of gathering area um
in most cases it is a ritual space in
some cases it is actually
a location where people play like
ritually significant
games or engage in rituals
so this is the lanson right here there's
actually a hidden entrance in the old
temple complex that
leads to a couple of tunnels and then
those tunnels eventually converge
on the lanzone right here so it's
difficult to give you a sense of how
large the lanzone is it's about 15 feet
high
and it's shaped like a blade so it's
relatively
flat on both sides and this is one of
those sides right here and if you were
to
take the relief sculpture and flatten it
out it would look
like this this is the deity of the
lanzone right here
so it is thought that this is the the
like patron god of chavinte juanta
this statue was not something that was
widely available
to the public it was very deep
underground
it was in a location that not a lot of
people would have been able to access
it's theorized that
it was probably just priests that were
able to access this location
so a lot of the the name is
somewhat misleading lanzone means large
spear
or lance in spanish however the
the the the stone itself actually more
closely resembles a digging stick that
is used in highland architecture so an
item that is used to till the soil
so there's this connection to successful
planting and harvest that is implied
in the shape of this particular stone
there's also a couple of other motifs
when you look at the figure itself
um that are suggesting a godly status
for one thing he
this figure is looking up so towards the
heavens there's also one hand pointing
up and then there's one hand pointing
down
you'll also notice that there are
features on this
this deity right here that are combining
both human and animal elements for one
thing we can see that the figure is
bipedal it's standing on two legs
most animals in this region are
quadripedal they stand on four legs so
this is certainly a human element
we also see these very human-like hands
and feet
but the claws are something that you
would see like on a jaguar
same thing with the face right here
these are
these kind of tusks that are sticking
out or something that are closer to what
you would see on a jaguar
there's also these snake motifs that are
used
in the upper regions right here and
along the belt
again snakes are a very common motif in
indigenous american art
we will see them over and over again and
i'll explain why a little bit later
but we see the snakes here being used as
hair and eyebrows
so one of the terms that will come up
once or twice in this unit is contour
rivalry
so contour rivalry is a fancy name for
an optical illusion in which two images
share parts or outlines
so in this image for example we have
these this eyes right here and then we
have a nose
and then a mouth but if you turn it
upside down
then these eyes could also go to this
nose and this mouth right here
so this is something that is intended to
add complexity
and hidden meaning to pieces oftentimes
this would have been
a way for priests to kind of create like
a sense of elitism
where it's like oh it's not possible for
a typical person to understand this
image because it's so complex
there's a couple of other pieces that
are associated with chavin de juantar in
the ap curriculum
this is a relief sculpture so this was
found in
some the ruins of a stairway right here
we see this
shallow relief right here again that
same sort of
style that we're seeing in the lonzon
right here where it's a stone that's
been polished more or less flat with
some lines
and sized in relief right here so we're
seeing some jaguar motifs right here
um some jaguars in profile and then
there's also
again this kind of contour rivalry where
these jaguar heads meeting
in profile in the middle could be one
kind of central jaguar head
and then we have a couple of snakes over
here
here we are more snakes this is a nose
ornament
there are several nose ornaments of this
type that were found in chauvin de
juantar and in fact when you look at
indigenous american art and architecture
as a whole nose ornaments come up pretty
frequently
it's one of those those sorts of trends
that is
pretty consistent at least in central
and south america
so these kinds of nose ornaments were
worn by both men and women and were
usually
symbols of status they are made of gold
which is a precious material
so you would have had to been a person
of means to afford to commission one of
these things
um so they were held in place in the
in this top section right here either
they would be pinched clothes or
a person would have a piercing and then
we have the snake motif on either side
here
just like we saw in the lanzone we have
this
upward facing gaze as well as this
upward facing
motion of the snakes and these kind of
curling motifs right here
everything is very circular and intended
to represent kind of like the undulating
body of the snake
here's a couple of other pre-columbian
nose rings because
i always get questions from students
asking like what do the other ones look
like
like this one just has like a bunch of
spiders in it which is fantastic
like look at the degree of detail like
amazing so those of you who are in
jewelry this year
um some ideas for you
alrighty so now we're going to be moving
on to the maya civilization
so the maya occupied what is now
referred to as the yucatan peninsula and
the surrounding area so this is
modern day like south eastern mexico and
guatemala
so mayan figures have a pretty unique
aesthetic
oftentimes when you look at the profiles
of the figures you have this one
continuous
line between the top of the forehead and
the bottom of the nose
in most like humans like anatomically
there is a dip
that goes right here and then continues
on this way
this is just one of those aesthetically
pleasing
elements that is that one of those
aesthetic valuing things that is seen a
lot in the maya culture
there's actually some evidence as well
that
people in high society actually bound
boards to their infants faces in order
to achieve this sort of effect
to shape the skull in a way that was
aesthetically pleasing
this is actually present in several meso
and south american cultures
so most mayan sculpture and especially
the pieces that we're seeing in the
curriculum
are tied to monuments and architecture
from the records that we have and what
has been discovered thus far
most sculptures are commemorating rulers
or people who
are associated with rulers and this
makes sense because they would be the
people who have the resources to
commission
these oftentimes very intricate relief
sculptures
there's also lots of stepped pyramids in
maya architecture or may see that trend
continue over to the aztecs we'll see
that in a couple of days when we cover
tenochtitlan
um large pyramids word oftentimes serve
as symbols of power and status we again
have this
focus on elevation and culture where the
taller something is or the bigger
something is the more high radically
important it is so it stands to reason
that the tallest and largest structures
are the most
important in any given complex
we see plazas in maya architecture as
well so here's the plaza here
and there's actually a ball court right
here so ball courts had
like recreational and ritual
significance in a lot of central and
south american cultures
um the game in i believe the maya
civilization was called paktapak and it
involved using
your body parts other than your hands
and your feet to get a ball through a
tiny little hoop
so a lot of the relief sculptures that
you see
have these crisp outlinings and they
don't have that much
three-dimensional modeling they're
relatively flat there's usually a
foreground
that is brought forward and then the
background is carved out of the stone
and recessed back a little bit and that
creates a little bit of a cast shadow
and brings these
figures forward one of the things that
you might also notice when you look at
these images
are these lines of symbols right here so
this is
actually a hieroglyphic writing system
so the maya
actually had a writing system that they
used to narrate notable accomplishments
of their rulers and then oftentimes to
tell like important times in history
cosmological
events and so on so this this glyphic
system is still being decoded and
archaeologists have actually been able
to figure out what a lot of these
lentils say which is super cool
so our artwork for the maya civilization
is yaki lan
this was a royal mayan city that was
hidden for several hundred years
this is something that happens pretty
frequently in this region because
there's such
dense vegetation um there's actually
been a lot of this really cool
um stuff that's been happening recently
where there have been
drone there's been drone footage and ai
technologies that is used to figure out
areas where
mayan civilizations might have once
existed or settlements
so there's there's this rediscovery of a
lot of these
particular complexes that are happening
in this dense forest region nowadays
what you'll notice about this particular
complex is that it is
located in the um this portion of a
river right here the
the usu river right here kind of
loops back on itself right here
this is really a fantastically
advantageous
strategic location the river is wide
enough that it would be really
inconvenient
to try to get from one side to the other
there's also a pretty significant
elevation like this
this map right here shows elevations um
so the meters is like
meters above sea level right here and
you notice that they have chosen areas
that are relatively high
to build a lot of the more important
buildings so this
center right here is probably the
tallest and then we also have this
complex over here
and then important parts of this complex
right here are also relatively tall in
comparison to the others
so um this particular complex consisted
of a main plaza surrounded by several
other buildings
and then other kind of complexes that
were on the fringes it was added to over
several generations by lots of different
rulers that
occupied this area this was a really
strategic location as well because
of the not only the river right here
blocking entrance on this side
but also this bottleneck was that was
happening right here so you can imagine
that it would be really difficult to
come in
and invade this area because there was
this choke off point that prevented a
lot of people from being able to access
this area at once
so yakshilan is known particularly for
its numerous carved stele or stones
and a lot of them are narratives of
local history they depict deities
praise the accomplishments of rulers and
actually give
us a lot of insight into the particulars
of rituals that people would engage in
all right so there's a couple of
structures that are important to
remember for yakshilan we have structure
40 and structure 33
which are pretty similar in their um
physical appearance and method of
construction they're basically
one long cobalt vault
so think of taking like a semi-circle
and then making it into a tunnel so
there are three
entrances to each of these edifices
right here
there's a couple of humans here for
scale to give you a sense of how large
these buildings are
so they're eventual they're essentially
these relatively small
like interior spaces and they're made to
look taller because
of these structures that are built on
top of the building was called roof
combs
so these were almost purely aesthetic in
purpose they're intended to make things
look taller
again when you invest a lot of time and
materials into making something look
bigger and it doesn't really serve a
purpose
there has to be some sort of
significance to the fact that it's so
large
so these are roof combs and in a lot of
cases there's additional adornments and
relief sculptures that are placed
in the areas on the roof comb so there
was a statue right here
of a humanoid figure it's very likely
that this was bird jaguar who was
the individual that was um celebrated
and commemorated by the construction of
this building um
there's lots of relief sculptures and
steel a and narrative
um reliefs that depict the events and
accomplishments
of each of these rulers it is thought
that they would commission these
buildings to basically tell everybody
how cool they were
and to affirm their seat of power
this is lintel number 25 in structure
number 23.
so this was originally set above a
doorway in a building and
this building was dedicated to
shield jaguar ii and his wife lady shock
so lady shock right here is shown in the
bottom
right hand corner and she has
instruments for giving
blood offerings so she has a bowl right
here and then she has a hand
extended out when you look at her bowl
there's a couple of sheets
of bloodletting paper which is made out
of bark as well as a spine
instrument so there are several
different um kinds of materials that
maya used in blood flooding rituals
there's this particularly grisly image
of a a queen pulling a
thorny cord through her tongue it's
quite gruesome so there were lots of um
and this was thought to
be an offering to the gods and be
something that you would do to
perpetuate the cycle of life and to
maintain order in the cosmos
the letting of blood was not something
that was violence for violence sake as a
lot of people tend to assume
but rather it was something that was
seen as necessary to maintain order
and it was one of the duties of members
of the royal family in order to make
sure that things proceeded as they were
supposed to
so ladies shock right here is shown in a
beautifully
detailed garment right here
and she also has this elaborate
headdress on she's obviously
a lady of high society here and she is
looking up
at this vision serpent that she has
summoned
so one of the things that people would
do in these bloodletting rituals is that
sometimes they would lose so much blood
that they would start to hallucinate
and oftentimes those hallucinations were
seen as
visions or they were recorded down and
used
to basically communicate the the will of
the gods to the people
so in this particular case the
hallucination here is this vision
serpent which emerges from over here
more or less and then there's this large
serpent head right here and then there's
a another figure that is coming out of
the serpent's head the identity that
of this figure is not quite known
um it's thought that it could be like a
mirror image of lady shock it could be
an ancestral deity or some sort of god
we're not entirely sure
so there's a hieroglyphic inscription
that is going around
the piece right here interestingly this
is inverted
so it's actually flipped backwards as if
it were a mirror the
intention of this is not entirely clear
but it might be like a reflection of the
other side of existence
or like looking into a reflection
the date um of shield jaguar the second
her husband's ascension to the throne is
also noted
in this inscription so it is implied
that this was some sort of ritual that
was done
upon her husband's ascent to the throne
to basically secure his rule and to
honor it
when you look at this piece you're again
noticing a lot of similarities to the
chavin culture in terms of these very
complex designs
lots of snake motifs but in this case
we're seeing
um a written language a hieroglyphic
language which is not something that we
saw with the chavin culture
we are now going to move um northward um
to the anasazi culture so in the navajo
language the word anasazi means ancient
ones
nowadays this culture is referred to as
the ancestral puebloans
so the anasazi or ancestral puebloans
occupied the american southwest so that
would be modern day new mexico
arizona colorado and utah so the anasazi
are best known for their dwellings which
the spanish settlers who came into the
area later called pueblos
so pueblos consisted of these many small
rooms that could be reached through
windows doors and ladders here is a
cross section of a pueblo
right here so there were oftentimes
these um
cubicular rooms that were separated by
small windows
of course there were oftentimes air
vents to permit airflow
they kind of look like ant colonies to
me in terms of like these
these sectioned areas that are intended
for different things
so um the wall thickness of a pueblo
determined
how high a structure could be you can
imagine that if your walls and the
foundations are really thin you wouldn't
be able to build too high because it's
not going to be able to support anything
so the tallest were about four stories
tall
so the um foundations of these buildings
were oftentimes made of stone and then
they would use
wood as a foundation and then they would
cover the wood in
stucco and um and some sort of
um like stone or brick
in most cases pueblos faced a central
plaza which served as a social and
religious
center of the complex so when we look at
the mesa verde cliff
dwellings these are the pueblos right
here and then these are kivas which
are these fire pits and then this was
the plaza right here
so these are the mesa verde cliff
dwellings these are in the four corners
regions so that um region that is
right where new mexico colorado
and um
arizona and utah kind of intersect it
creates this kind of intersection
i've actually been here it was a long
time ago when i was like 10 i wasn't
very excited it was pretty boring to me
at the time
i'd love to go back but in any case the
pueblo structures were built right into
the cliffside below a mesa so mesa is
spanish for table
in this case mesas are oftentimes used
to refer to
plateaus or like relatively flat areas
that have an overhang and then some sort
of area underneath
you can imagine that if you were a
person coming across this area 1500
years ago
that it would have been like yeah this
is a great area it's shaded from the
really
intensely hot sun it's also relatively
hidden and we could make something cool
out of this
so this is a really strategically um
advantageous location for people to live
which is probably why they built this
small community here
so this community probably housed around
250 people
it probably would have been a couple of
clans that had banded together for
mutual support and defense they were all
kind of looking out for each other
um the anastasi in this case were
actually agricultural
and they would conduct a lot of farming
in the area above the mesa and then they
would bring
water and food and all of their
materials down into
into this area right here so it was
worth the effort of
having to move stuff back and forth
enough for this location here
so um the top ledges of the pueblos were
usually really cool and dry so that made
these areas really ideal for storing
supplies especially when you have things
like
the weather anything between like a
really hot
like baking sun and snow
so having this um this overhang right
here will protect
not only your bodies but whatever
resources that you manage to collect
during those like agriculturally for
taught fertile periods
so um these structures all face a main
plaza which is right here
and then there's also these circular
pits um
throughout and these are called kivas so
these were usually used for gathering or
ritual purposes
there's actually when you go to mesa
verde you can actually see the kivas
they're quite
large and they're made using this sort
of coral
masonry they're circular
and they oftentimes have these sort of
um
pillars that are engaged in the sides
right here and there would have been
um some sort of wood that was used as a
roof
to cover these areas what's really
interesting is that there were several
like adaptations in place to make sure
that the people inside didn't die of
carbon monoxide poisoning
so there was this vent right here which
was carved into the side
and that would be one sort of
like ventilation shaft that was used to
make sure that like all of the
nasty air and smoke didn't build up in
this structure
there was also a hole that was built
into the roof to make sure that the
smoke would go up
there was also this particular structure
right here called a deflector which was
put in between the vent and the fire pit
to prevent the air from coming in and
blowing the fire out here
so it's just kind of like a a block
so these were specifically engineered to
keep this area inside here nice and warm
and well ventilated
so papua is not a term that's going to
come up on the ap exam i don't think
typically this is something that was
used as part of like ritual
from what i understand
we are now going to move a little bit to
the northeast to the mississippian
culture
so the mississippians were a
that's a very broad term to describe
dozens upon dozens of cultures that
existed in what is now the midwest so
this is a map right here that kind of
explains the extent of these cultures
and how many different ones
how many different cultures that there
were and these are just the ones that we
know of
so you'll notice that a lot of them are
in these areas that are
um flanked by waterways again having a
near source of water
is something that is really advantageous
to a lot of these civilizations because
you're able to have
agriculture and irrigation
so that's one of the reasons why they're
called the mississippian cultures
because they're by the mississippi river
so most of these settlements were
agricultural
and one of the main kind of like
hallmarks of these cultures and why they
were so successful is that they came up
with this
ingenious farming technique that
involved these plants that are referred
to as the three sisters so we have
squash corn and beans
so they were all grown together to
facilitate this
symbiotic and efficient farming here's
how it worked
so the squash would provide enough
ground cover to prevent weeds from
sprouting up so that would prevent
invasive species from coming in
and taking up all the nutrition in the
soil
the corn would provide a structural
place for beans to grow so they would
be able to wind up the stock of the corn
here
and then beans and other legumes have
mycorrhizae which is a special kind of
fungus that grows in their roots
and they are really good and efficient
at
recruiting nitrogen in the soil so
oftentimes
beans are re are planted in areas to
facilitate the movement of nitrogen in
the soil
um to the surrounding plants because
those mycorrhizae are able to do that i
mean that's
something that's more in biology but the
the idea here is that growing these
three items together
is intended to facilitate the uh the
growth
and survival of all of them which is
just really really ingenious
so some of these settlements became
popular population centers with social
hierarchy so you had like a ruling
individual and then several people under
them
a lot of them had advanced technologies
including the ability to work with metal
a lot of them had a very profound
understanding
of cosmology and the movement of the
stars and planets
um there were actually several ancient
city-states
that were that govern these large swath
of lands and were
known for their ability to build these
massive mound complexes
one of the most famous of these
city-states was cahokia
and this is one mound in
those regions to give you a sense of
scale as to how large these are this is
a car
which is pretty fantastic like again
this is an
age before tractors and before there
were tools out there
that were used to efficiently move large
areas
of earth so this was all moved by hand
so you can imagine that there's some
sort of significance to these mounds
in this idea that people are spending
this much time and this much effort in
building them
so you can imagine that mounds would
serve as a strategic location it gives
you a pretty high vantage point for
seeing the stuff around you
there's also again this kind of like
high position of hierarchy where the
higher
you are the more important you are so
um mounds were sometimes built to
support structures like we see in this
reenactment here
but the purpose of these less
utilitarian mounds is not as well
understood especially
given how a lot of these civilizations
have been layered
on top of one another so the provenance
of some mounds is is not really well
understood
and it's actually believed that several
of these mounds were started by one
culture and then added to and completed
by others
so that kind of could that kind of
confound the archaeological record in a
lot of ways
so this is the great serpent mound right
here this is one of those
mystery mounds where we're not entirely
sure what its purpose is
but we still have a couple of guesses
based on the context
so to give you a sense of how large this
is it is around 300 feet
long and around 1 to 3 feet tall
here is a section of the great serpent
mound right here and then a couple of
people taking pictures to give you a
sense of the scale
so mounds like these were usually added
to and changed over several years
several years and mound building
campaigns so there would be like
specific times when people are like yes
let's go out to the mound it's not like
it was built from start to finish
and one kind of continuous timeline in
most cases
there don't seem to be any temples or
burials that are associated with this
mound
um so there's not really a enough
evidence to substantiate that this was
built to commemorate
like a particular like temple or a deity
or a burial of some sort
of course there could have been stuff
buried there um that was removed
again this kind of goes back to the
hypothesis of maybe some people came
upon this mound and they took this stuff
out and then they added their own stuff
um again the provenance is not entirely
clear
um but it was very likely built by the
fort ancient culture
who were influenced by the
mississippians who were those mound
builders
so what's interesting about this piece
is that it can only really be fully
appreciated from a high vantage point
and of course the technology to do this
was not present at the time of
construction which was around a thousand
years ago
so that's kind of adding to the mystery
of it i highly recommend if you want to
see other kind of like
mystery images that you can't even
really
perceive unless you go up into the sky
look at the nazca lines
n a z c a nausea lines they're in peru
and they're fantastic
so there's a couple of theories as to
what this means it represents
um a lot of um people theorize that it
is a snake so again we're going back to
that serpent motif
um snakes are associated with crop
fertility and a lot of meso
and south american cultures you can
imagine that
like in the west snakes are seen as like
particularly vile there's association
with adam and eve and the garden of eden
and like being the root of all evil
but in meso and south american culture
snakes serve a really agriculturally
important role
in that they eat a lot of the the mice
and the rats that actually would
like eat the corn and the squash and the
beans and all of those other important
crop items
so in this sense snakes are seen as
beings
that are worthy of reverence and worthy
of respect and are oftentimes deified
they're made into gods
so it stands to reason that this very
well could be a snake
um the snake image right here um could
this could be the tail and this is the
head
a lot of people theorize that this is
the mouth and it's following the sun
um so this could be referencing like an
eclipse uh where the sun is disappearing
in the middle of the day
um it might depict an astrological
phenomenon like a comet
so haley's comment would have been
visceral around 1066 ce so maybe people
saw it in the sky and they're like we
gotta make a picture of that
it could also be a calendar there's some
evidence that suggests
that there's um that this was used as a
calendar or something to determine when
to plant stuff when to harvest stuff
the head of the comet is pointed in the
direction of the summer solstice
sunset and then um there's also
some connections to the phases of the
moon
and the curves here there's lots of
different theories there hasn't really
been one set thing that everybody has
agreed on quite yet
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