NATIVE AMERICAS PART 2

Question 1

CLASSIC (300-900)
Maya

Stele D portraying Ruler 13, Great Plaza, Copán, Honduras 736

Answer 1

Ruler 13 reigned during the heyday of Copán. On this stele he wears an elaborate headdress and holds a double-headed serpent bar, symbol of the sky and of his absolute power.

Question 2

CLASSIC (300-900)
Maya

Ball court, Copán, Honduras 738

Answer 2

Ball courts were common in Mesoamerican cities. Copán’s is 93 feet long. The rules of the ball game itself are
unknown, but games sometimes ended in human sacrifice,
probably of captives taken in battle.

Question 3

CLASSIC (300-900)
Maya

Temple I (Temple of the Giant Jaguar), Tikal, Guatemala ca. 732

Answer 3

Temple I at Tikal is a 150-foot-tall pyramid that was the temple mausoleum of Hasaw Chan K’awiil, who died in 732 CE. The nine tiers of the pyramid probably symbolize the nine levels of the Underworld.

Question 4

CLASSIC (300-900)
Maya

Ball Player from Jaina Island 700-900

Answer 4

Maya ceramic figurines represent a wide range of human types and activities. This kneeling ball player wears a thick leather belt and arm and kneepads to protect him from the hard rubber ball.

Question 5

CLASSIC (300-900)
Maya

Presentation of captives to Lord Chan Muwan, Bonampak, Mexico ca. 790

Answer 5

The figures in this mural—a cross between fresco and tempera—may be standing on a pyramid’s steps. At the top, the richly attired Chan Muwan reviews naked captives with mutilated hands awaiting their death.

Question 6

CLASSIC (300-900)
Maya

Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc, lintel 24 of Temple 23, Yaxchilán ca. 725

Answer 6

The carved lintels of this eighth-century temple document the central role elite women played in Maya society. Lady Xoc pierces her tongue in a bloodletting ritual intended to induce a visionary state.

Question 7

POSTCLASSIC (900-1521)
Maya

Aerial view of the Castillo, Chichén Itzá, Mexico ca. 800-900

Answer 7

A temple to Kukulkan sits atop this pyramid with a total of 365 stairs on its four sides. At the winter and summer equinoxes, the sun casts a shadow in the shape of a serpent along the northern staircase.

Question 8

POSTCLASSIC (900-1521)
Maya

Chacmool from the Platform of the Eagles, Chichén Itzá, Mexico ca. 800-900

Answer 8

Chacmools represent fallen warriors reclining on their backs with receptacles on their chests to receive
sacrificial offerings. Excavators discovered one in the burial chamber inside the Castillo.

Question 9

Toltec

Colossal Atlantids, Pyramid B, Tula, Mexico ca. 900-1180

Answer 9

The colossal statue-columns of Tula portraying warriors armed with darts and spear-throwers reflect the military regime of the Toltecs, whose arrival in central Mexico coincided with the decline of the Maya.

Question 10

Mixteca-Puebla Culture

Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl, Borgia Codex ca. 1400-1500

Answer 10

One of the rare surviving Mesoamerican books, the Mixteca-Puelba Borgia Codex includes this painting depicting the gods of life and death above an inverted skull symbolizing the Underworld.

Question 11

Aztec

Reconstruction of the Great Temple, Tenochtitlán, Mexico ca. 1400-1500

Answer 11

The Great Temple in the Aztec capital encases successive earlier structures. The latest temple honored the gods Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, whose sanctuaries were at the top of a stepped pyramid.

Question 12

Aztec

Coatlicue ca. 1487-1520

Answer 12

This colossal statue may have stood near the Great temple. The beheaded goddess wears a necklace of a human hands and heart. Entwined snakes form her skirt. All her attributes symbolize sacrificial death.

Question 13

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Tairona Culture

Pendant in the form of a bat-faced man after 1000

Answer 13

The peoples of the Intermediate Area between Mesoamerica and Andean South America were expert goldsmiths. This pendant depicting a bat-faced man with a large headdress served as an amulet.

Question 14

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Chavin

Raimondi Stele, Chavin de Huantar, Peru ca. 800-200

Answer 14

The Raimondi Stele staff god wears a headdress of faces and snakes. Seen upside down, the god’s face becomes two faces. The ability of the gods to transform themselves is a core aspect of Andean religion.

Question 15

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Paracas Culture

Embroidered funerary mantle 1st C

Answer 15

Outstanding among the Paracas arts are the woven mantles used to wrap the bodies of the dead. The flying or floating figure repeated endlessly on this mantle is probably either the deceased or a religious practitioner.

Question 16

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Nasca Culture

Bridge-spouted vessel with flying figures ca. 50-200

Answer 16

The Nasca were masters of pottery painting. The painter of this bridge-spouted vessel depicted two crowned and bejeweled flying figures, probably ritual impersonators with trophy heads.

Question 17

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Nasca Culture

Hummingbird, Nasca Plain, Peru ca. 500

Answer 17

The earth drawings known as Nasca Lines represent birds, fish, plants, and geometric forms. They may have marked pilgrimage routes leading to religious shrines, but their function is uncertain.

Question 18

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Moche Culture

Vessel in the shape of a portrait head 5th-6th C.

Answer 18

The Moche culture produced an extraordinary variety of painted vessels. This one in the shape of a head may depict a warrior, ruler, or royal retainer. The realistic rendering of the face is particularly striking.

Question 19

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Moche Culture

Ear Ornament, from a tomb at Sipán, Peru ca. 300

Answer 19

This ear ornament from a Sipán tomb depicts a Moche warrior priest and two retainers. The priest carries a war club and shield and wears a necklace of owl-head beads. The costume corresponds to actual finds.

Question 20

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Tiwanaku Culture

Gateway of the Sun, Tiwanaku, Bolivia ca. 375-700

Answer 20

The Gateway of the Sun probably led into a sacred area at Tiwanaku. The central figure is a version of the Chavín staff god. The relief was once painted, inlaid with turquoise, and covered with gold.

Question 21

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Inka

View of Machu Picchu, Peru from an adjacent peak 15th C.

Answer 21

Machu Picchu was the estate of an Inka ruler. Large upright stones echo the contours of nearby sacred peaks. Precisely placed windows and doors facilitated astronomical observation.

Question 22

INTERMEDIATE AREA

Inka

Remains of the Temple of the Sun, Cuzco, Peru 15th C.

Answer 22

Perfectly constructed ashlar masonry walls are all that remains of the Temple of the Sun, the most important shrine in the Inka capital. Gold, silver, and emeralds covered the temple’s interior walls.

Question 23

NORTH AMERICA

Eskimo

Burial Mask ca. 100

Answer 23

Carved out of walrus ivory, this mask consists of nine parts that can be combined to produce several faces, both human and animal, echoing the transformation theme common in ancient American art.

Question 24

NORTH AMERICA

Mississippian Culture

Serpent Mound, Ohio ca. 1070

Answer 24

The Mississippians constructed effigy mounds in the form of animals and birds. This wellpreserved example seems to depict a serpent. Some scholars, however, think it replicates the path of Halley’s Comet in 1066.

Question 25

NORTH AMERICA

Mimbres Culture

Bowl with two cranes ca. 1250

Answer 25

Native Americans have been producing pottery for more than 2,000 years, long before the introduction of the potter’s wheel. Mimbres bowls feature black-and-white animals and abstract patterns.

Question 26

NORTH AMERICA

Ancestral Puebloans

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado ca. 1150-1300

Answer 26

Cliff Palace is wedged into a sheltered ledge to heat the pueblo in winter and shade it during the hot summer
months. It contains about 200 stoneand-timber rooms plastered inside and out with adobe.

Question 27

NORTH AMERICA

Hopi

OTTO PENTEWA. Katsina figurine carved before 1959

Answer 27

Katsinas are benevolent spirits living in mountains and water sources. This Hopi katsina represents a rain-bringing deity wearing a mask with geometric patterns symbolic of water and agricultural fertility.

Question 28

NORTH AMERICA

Pueblo

MARIA MONTOYA MARTINEZ. Jar ca. 1939

Answer 28

Pottery is traditionally a Native American women’s art form. Maria Montoya Martinez won renown for her black-on-black vessels of striking shapes with matte designs on highly polished surfaces.

Question 29

NORTH AMERICA

Kwakiutl

Eagle Transformation Mask, closed and open late 19th C

Answer 29

The wearer of this Kwakiutl mask could open and close rapidly by manipulating hidden strings, magically transforming himself from human to eagle and back again as he danced.

Question 30

NORTH AMERICA

Tlingit

War Helmet Mask 1888-1893

Answer 30

This war helmet mask may be a naturalistic portrait of a Tlingit warrior or a representation of a supernatural being. The carver intended the face’s grimacing expression to intimidate enemies.

Question 31

NORTH AMERICA

Tlingit

Chilkat blanket with stylized animal motifs early 20th C.

Answer 31

Chilkat blankets were collaborations between male designers and female weavers. Decorated with animal and abstract motifs, they were worn over the shoulder and were items of ceremonial dress.

Question 32

NORTH AMERICA

Great Plains

KARL BODMER. Hidatsa Warrior Pehriska-Ruhpa (Two Ravens) 1833

Answer 32

The personal regalia of a Hidatsa warrior included his pipe, painted buffalo-hide robe, bear claw necklace, and feather decorations, all symbols of his affiliations and military accomplishments.

Question 33

NORTH AMERICA

Great Plains

Honoring song at painted tipi 1880

Answer 33

During the reservation period, some Plains artists recorded their traditional lifestyle in ledger books. This one depicts men and women dancing an honoring song in front of three painted tipis.