Mesoamerica Exam 3 Flashcards
Valdivia Figurines
Valdivia Culture
Northern Coastal Desert
Lithic Period
10,000-3,000 BCE
El Caral
El Caral cultures
Central Coastal Desert
Cotton Pre Ceramic Period
3,000-1800 BCE
Cerro Sechin Reliefs
Cerro Sechin culture
Central Coastal Desert
Initial Period,
1800-1200 BCE
El Lanzón
Chavin Cultures
Central Mountain Highlands
Early Horizon
1200 BCE-200CE
Male and Female Staff gods
Chavin Culture
Central Mountain Highlands
Early Horizon
1200 BCE-200 CE
Raimondi Stone
Chavin culture
Central Mountain Highlands
Early Horizon
1200 BCE-200 CE
- Low relief and incision.
- Inverted other images are seen.
- Confusing images like this are usually associated with religion—beyond comprehension and confusing/mysterious.
- Upright—anthropomorphic figure
- Upside down—creature with telescoping mouth.
- Can tell which is upright because of the pendant eyes
- Called a staff god because of the staffs held in hands—a type of polymorph.
Stirrup Spout Vessel
Chavin
Central Mountain Highlands
Early Horizon
1200 BCE-200 CE
Paracas Bridge Spout Vessel
Paracas
Southern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
Linear Style Textiles
Paracas
Southern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
- Lots of geometric shapes. Thin lines usually, very repetitive,
- First to develop
- Horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines
- Usually only 4 colors. Red, Green, Gold and Blue
- Often in columns with border designs
- Motifs tend to be nested images. i.e. cat within a cat within a cat.
- Appear to emphasize abstracted ideas.
- Straight/angular outline shapes
- Repetitive designs
Block color textiles
Paracas
Southern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
- Curvilinear
- Varied imagery, usually not the same figure twice in the same textile.
- Outline every feature,
- Bright colors
- At least 19 different colors used in the same textile, sometimes as many as 100…
- A lot of their designs began with the Chavin staff god design.
Bridge-spout vessel of an achira
Nasca
Sourthern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
Spider Geoglyph
Nasca
Southern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
- Gigantic low relief sculptures on the ground.
- Look up nat geo article on it for visual step by step
- Monkeys, birds, whales, spiders, hummingbird—about 450 ft long, wings about 200 ft wide.
- Hummingbird, like Meso, represents or associated with war/warrior/soldier.
- Spider-also fierce animal.
- Associated with religion and ritual
- Could’ve been made to reflect their impressions of constellations
- Definitely used for ritual pilgrimage as they do today, and they all start at a point and end at the same point.
Great Warrior Priest rollout
Moche
Northern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
The Huaca del Sol
Moche
Northern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
- Bigger than the pyramids of Giza.
- Adobe structure
- Each level has a different brick mark and made by a different labor group.
- Largely destroyed by the Spanish because the Moche buried people and goods within the platform. Diverted the river to wash most of it away.
- Similar function to Huaca de la Luna
Tombs of Sipan Earspools
Moche
Northern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
La Senora del Cao
Moche
Northern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
Revolt of the Artifacts Mural
Moche
Northern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
Portrait Vessels
Moche
Northern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
Deck figure vessel (birth scene)
Moche
Northern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
Fineline Painting bowl of Weavers
Moche
Northern Coastal Desert
Early Intermediate Period
200 BCE-500 CE
- Painted in white slip and fired
- Very careful outlines in black
- Usually important historical or mythical events
- Combination frontal profile view
- Use the most identifiable position for any body part.
- Do this so that the message is very clear
Sun Gate
Wari-Tiwanaku
Southern Mountain Highalnds
Middle Horizon
700-1000 CE
➢ They made free standing gateways.—post and lintel. Found throughout the ceremonial centers.
➢ Appear to map out path of the sun moving across the sky.
➢ The Sun Gate is the most famous. Monolithic. Distinctive architectural stone carving they are known for.
➢ Little figures are called “winged, staff bearing attendants”
➢ Zoomorphized humans, and anthropomorphized
➢ Looks a lot like Chavin origins. Figure on low relief, tiered platform. Sometimes it is called the portal or gateway god.
➢ Probably represents a Tiwanaku Ruler.
Staff Bearing attendant textiles
Wari-Tiwanaku
Southern Mountain Highlands
Middle Horizon
700-1000 CE
Stepped frets and profile face textile
Wari-Tiwanaku
Southern Mountain Highlands
Middle Horizon
700-1000 CE
Repousse metalwork soldier
Wari-Tiwanaku
Southern Mountain Highlands
Middle Horizon
700-1000 CE
Repousse
Mosaics
Silver Bridge Spout vessel
Sican
Northern Coastal Desert
Late Intermediate Period
1000-1460 CE
Kero with Sican Deity
Sican
Northern Coastal Desert
Late Intermediate Period
1000-1460 CE
Tumi Knife
Sican
Northern Coastal Desert
Late Intermediate Period
1000-1460 CE
Ceremonial
Too soft to actually be used to cut
Soft Scuplture
Chancay
Central Coastal Desert
Late Intermediate Period
1000-1460 CE
Openwork textile
Chancay
Central Coastal Desert
Late Intermediate Period
1000-1460 CE
Quipu
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
Boulder Masonry
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
Ashlar Masonry
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
Qorikancha (with Church on Top)
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
• Covered inside and outside in gold sheathing. Inside it was studded with precious stones. Interior courtyard was the gold and silver garden.
Machu Picchu
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
- Rediscovered by Hiram Bingham.
- Highest point in Machu Picchu is Intihuatana—projecting trapezoid. Mostly carved out of living rock.
Torréon
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
The Observatory. Built around a certain stones. Unusual round wall around it. The rising sun shines directly through the window at summer solstice.
• Could’ve been a fortified rooftop city, or a retreat for royalty or something. Use is unknown.
Inca Royal Tunic with tocapus
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
Tocapus-probably represent different domains.
• The checkerboard tunic was the regular soldier’s military tunic.
Gold and silver corncob
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
Female figure with mantle and headdress
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
• Tupu pin—women used it to pin their tunics or clothing, shaped like a tumi knife
Urpu examples
Inca
Entire Andean Region
Late Horizon
1460-1533 CE
- Standardized measurements.
- Very fine versions were artistic, considered luxury items
Given to high status individuals
Chancay figure
Chancay
Central Coastal Desert
Late Intermediate Period
1000-1460 CE
- All look like children, pretty much all female.
- Black geometric designs.
- Painted on tunics
- And painted on facepaint.
- Holes that might have held ornaments.
