Art of the Indigenous Americas is among the world’s oldest artistic traditions. While its roots lie in northern Asia,
it developed independently between c. 10,000 B.C.E. and 1492 C.E., which marked the beginning of the European invasions. Regions and cultures are referred to as the Indigenous Americas to signal the priority of First Nations
cultural traditions over those of the colonizing and migrant peoples that have progressively taken over
the American continents for the last 500 years.
Vocabulary
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1. Mesoamerica
2. Lanzón 
3. pre-Columbian
4. effigy mound
5. earthwork
6. ashlar masonry
7. courses
8. comb roof
9. repousse
Major CivilizationsAndes Civilizations
  • Chavin (900-200 BCE) Coastal Peru
  • Inca (1400-1521) Peru (no writing but a kept a record system, khipu)
Mesoamerica
  • Mayan (300-900 CE) Belize, Gautemala, Honduras, Yucatan
  • Aztecs (1400-1521) Central Mexico
North America
  • Anasazi (550-1400 CE) American Southwest
  • Mississippian (800-1500 CE) Eastern United States
  • NW Coast Native American (18th c- present) Pacific Northwest
Short History of Indigenous Americas
  • Indigenous cultures of North America date back to 10,000 BCE but  most artifacts date only from the last 2,000 years
  • Geography plays a huge role in Andean Art. Coastal plains acted individually while in the mountains they united against the elements.
  • Old civilizations are used as foundations for new ones. (building upon preexisting sites)
  • Artworks were often part of a workshop where many worked on one piece
  • Pre-Columbian cultures occupy what is now Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and parts of El Salvador before Christopher Columbus invaded the area
  • The Aztec Empire was the dominant power in Mesoamerica before Henan Cortes overthrew them
  • Developed huge city-states that prominently featured temple complexes rivaling any on Earth
  • Rapid decline of civilizations in the 16th c. due to the introduction of disease by the Europeans
  • With the arrival of the Europeans, the native people of North and South America were destroyed and persecuted. Archeology, oral tradition, documents, and museum records are the basis for research.