The cultura madre civilization of the Olmec is characterized by its primitive and eccentric works of art, such as that of the Kunz Axe. Comparable to the Ceremonial Axes, the Were-Jaguar masks are found all over the gulf coast of Mexico, and both works can be easily discerned by their carvings from jade, almond eyes, human and man-jaguar style, deformations, and clefts. Themes of Maize and the Were-Jaguar are also prominent within this Olmec civilization, so we can see how the Were-Jaguar figure and the Kunz are greatly associated. All of these similar attributes, which are Olmec-specific, enable us to compare Olmec art to the art of the Aztecs through figures like the Coyolxauhqui Effigy Mask. Museums such as the J. Paul Getty Museum take …show more content…
Political power in La Venta was derived from control over the maize agriculture, so jade objects like the Kunz Ax were vital and acted as symbols for maize. Maize was described as, “A central component of a complex ideology involving agricultural surpluses and wealth” and “...the stuff of human substance and life” (Taube 297). Evidently, agriculture and the natural world were super important to the Olmec. The Kunz Axe also served as a kind of Nahual or “duende” to act as a spirit force for the maize crops while protecting the fields. Additionally, the Kunz Axe displays the theme of animal-human transformations. The idea of the “were-jaguar” may also revolve around the idea of the Nahual, (Bernal 98). The feline depiction seen in the axe, “...can be an animal mythically associated with a certain man so closely that his life depends upon that of the animal; if the animal dies, the man will surely die also” (Bernal 98). In essence, the Kunz Axe presents a naturalistic theme with an emphasis on individuality and bodily experience, which set the stage for how later art in Mesoamerica took …show more content…
2) , one can see that despite having a similar materiality, there are attributes that separate Olmec art from art of other civilizations. Additionally, by comparing the Ceremonial Axe to the Were-Jaguar mask (Fig. 3) found at the Getty, we can see that they share certain attributes. Both works of art share almond shaped eyes, a broad nose, a prominent squared shaped mouth, incised lines, upturned lips, deep blue color, along with the theme of the transformation of a jaguar into a supernatural being. When comparing the Coyolxauhqui Effigy Mask from Tenochtitlan to the Ceremonial Axe, however, one can see that both share few attributes including similar material to the Olmec greenstone masks, an emphasis on the large head, and an open mouth. We can see that the Coyolxauhqui Mask differs in that it features closed eyes, an emphasis on hair, several ornaments, eyebrows, and holes at the top of its
In the article "Sacred Sustenance: Maize, Storytelling, and a Mayan Sense of Place," the author, Leah Alexandra Huff, is arguing that Ethnographers should pay more attention to stories because they allow for a deeper understanding of cultures. To support her argument, she uses the example of the significance of maize in the Mayan civilization as well as their sense of place. Huff first describes the importance of place in building and maintaining a community and developing it identity. She explains that place was important for indigenous communities such as the Mayans because land was part of their cultural and spiritual systems. Huff then goes on to detail the importance of storytelling. She argues that storytelling helps create identity,
... A few photos of Tenochtitlan and warriors headdresses, clubs and obsidian blades would increase the pleasure 10 fold. Also in places the author tends to divert to other Ameriindian cultures and use their ritual practices as examples. These comparisons can bring the ritual practices of a 500 year extant culture into modern day belief.
Guthe, Carl. Pueblo Pottery Making: A study at the Village of San Ildefonso. Massachusetts: Yale University Press, 1925.
Although the Aztec civilization is a popular subject studied by the scholars, it tends to be one-dimensional: the elite and religion are the hearts of the study. The work here goes beyond that, as it tries to give us a new perspective on the “ordinary people”. The book studied here is titled Aztecs: An Interpretation, by Inga Clendinnen, first published in 1991. It studies the Aztecs people, also known as Mexicas, living in the empire that was Tenochtitlan, in the valley of Mexico. This work tries to be a reconstruction of the pre- colonial kingdom, before the arrival of the Spaniards in August 1521. Clendinnen successfully highlights how religion and sacrifices are perceived among the common people, and how they forge the lives of the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan. Nevertheless, even if she brings fascinating new elements, her lack of multiple sources puts doubt on the truth and accuracy of her statements.
The Aztec Calendar stone has become one Mexico’s national symbols. After decades of Latin American Art being degraded, underappreciated, forgotten, and abused, it has become one of Mexico’s most national treasures. After years of research from the Codex Mendoza, the Calendar, and documents by the Spanish conquistadors, it has gradually become clear as to how the Aztecs truly lived and how art played such a huge role in their society. It has not only given researchers insight to the Aztec culture and religion and has also given influence to modern and the mainstream media today such as fashion and graphic design.
The Popol Vuh doesn’t fall short in referencing and glorifying maize. One such reference in the Popol Vuh categorizes maize as a way to determine fate; if an ear of maize is planted and dries up, it indicates death. The article, “The Flowering of the Dead” concludes, “In Atiteco religion, ‘Flowering Mountain Earth’ is a place at the world’s centre whose primary manifestation is a maize plant or tree.” (Carlsen 27). A “Flowering Mountain Earth” is the center of the world that represents life, beauty, and the gods. Among this place, maize is an important object that animates and projects the qualities of a Flowering Mountain Earth. Maize is axis mundi, the center of the world. It is a staple crop in the Maya people; it is essential to the people and heavily relied on. The Maya saw maize as a fetish that truly gave them everything. Without it, everything that ties the Maya together falls apart. Successful growth of maize represents the life and well-being of the Maya, while a dying maize plant all but points to death and the failure of civilization. It is with the importance of maize in Maya culture, that it is omnipresent throughout the Popol
The perspective of another society is always subjective, especially when two completely different cultures interact for the first time. In Bernal Diaz del Castillo’s The History of the Conquest of New Spain, the first-hand account illustrates a barbaric and pagan society where sacrifices are pervasive in everyday life. However, David Carrasco’s essays titled “The Exaggeration of Human Sacrifice” and “Human Sacrifice / Debt Payments from the Aztec Point of View” shed a significant amount of insight into the religious roles that human sacrifice played in Aztec society, rather than the cruel and barbaric connotations which Daz heavily implied. Based on the readings of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Carrasco’s essays offered an outside perspective into the ritualistic practices of human sacrifice and in doing so, introduced the concept of nextlaoalli as well as the commonality of the ritual human sacrifice in Aztec society.
A major element of Aztec life was religion, as often is in the case in ancient civilizations. The Aztecs were a polytheistic people, and they often made use of human sacrifice to please their gods. Diaz often makes reference to the blood-stained walls of the Aztec temples in his account of the conquest. In reference to the success of Cortes and his soldiers, an anci...
Many tribes successfully preserved their art. For instance, local Indians of New Mexico still embroider beautiful blankets that have many geometric figures such as triangles and diamonds, similar to tessellations. See Figure 2 below (“Mathematics Used,” n.d.).
My friends, after traveling through the Asian continent and Japan, I continued on to the Americas. The art in the Americas has three regions, North America, Central America, and South America. Each region has a very distinct aspect to their forms of art. All cultures have some kind of art. Being curious about art, I have collected samples from five different areas. The following works of art are very different from European art, but there are still some similarities. The similarities of the human spirit are evident in the following images.
This paper first discusses the elements of art that Obata has used in his work. We see that Wasaka has company: his dog stares in despair while his master gives way and the barbed-wire fence stands throughout, rugged and forbidding. Bold and strong lines have been used to make Wasaka the focus of the work along with the fence of the camp while lighter and thinner curved lines have been used to bring closure and completeness to details like the wrinkles in the man’s clothes or the secondary outline of the dog beside him. Horizontal lines have been utilized to mark the barbed wire and in order to give the viewer a sense of a vast expanse of wilderness
Throughout the worlds history, many forms of folk art have been established. One easily identifiable is that of the Mexican folk art. Mexican folk art has great range and variety. This is primarily because the difference in available materials spread throughout the land. There are over a hundred types of clay, different woods and metals, and even a vast array of vegetable fibers used in textile work that let to a drastic amount of recognizable differences in the art. Artists used a large variety of animal, mineral, and vegetable products to dye and paint their pieces. There is also a very different stylization based on geographic locations and split of communities. This is due to the settling of invading Mesoamerican culture mixed with the Spanish and Arabic cultures. Although there is a vast amount of traditional folk art products from Mexico, pottery, wood burning, glass blowing, and paper mache are staples of the Mexican folk art culture. When Mexico ...
The Olmec’s religion had bizarre beliefs and ways of worshipping gods. The Jaguar was an ancestor and a god. They supposedly had influence on good in bad the world. Rain ceremonies were believed as a way to control weather. When they needed it most, they would smoke to summon rain. When the Olmec’s tribe master died, they would put them in the middle of a burial mound, which can be found in one of the four corners of the exhibit. When he was put in, they would toss in jade jewelry with the body. The Olmec really stood out from the other tribes because they worshipped a half man, half jaguar, stone heads, and other things.
The pieces of sculpture are both carved using the subtractive method of sculpting from stone. However, the types of stone used were very different. The sculpture of Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II was carved from a stone called greywacke, a dark colored, very hard stone the Egyptians prized for sculpture despite the fact t...
In the Central America, most notably the Yucatan Peninsula, are the Maya, a group of people whose polytheistic religion and advanced civilization once flourished (Houston, 43). The Maya reached their peak during the Classic Period from around CE 250 to the ninth century CE when the civilization fell and dispersed (Sharer, 1). Although much has been lost, the gods and goddesses and the religious practices of the Classic Maya give insight into their lives and reveal what was important to this society. The major Mayan gods and goddesses all have common characteristics and, according to “features which they share in large part with the gods of neighboring people of Middle America” (Thompson, 198). One of these characteristics is that Mayan gods and goddesses have “features which they share in large part with the gods of neighboring people of Middle America” (Thompson, 198).