Meso-America 1500 BCE - 1500 CE
Olmec 1200-900 bce flourished
Jaguar
Teotihuacan 350-650 CE flourished
Pyramid of the Sun, Moon & Queltzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent)
Tlaloc
Maya 1100 BC-1500 CE flourished
Ball court
Bonampak c. 790 CE
Chichen Itza800-1000CE
Caracol Temple
Castillo Pyramid
Ball Court
Chacmool – Jaguar King
Aztec1300-1525 CE flourished
Goddess of the Moon Coyolxauhqui
Art of the Americas – Pre-Columbian
Meso America & The Andes 1500 BCE-1500 CE
Olmec 1200-900 BCE
Meso-America Ball Court Begins with Olmec (figure R)
Similar to this one at Monte Alban (Teotihuacan)
La Venta Heads
#1 left
#4 below
850-700 BCE
Tres Zapotes Head, Vera Cruz
La Venta # 3
Jaguar – top South American Predator
Olmec Jaguar
Olmec Seated Jaguar (were jaguar)
San Lorenzo c. 1200-900 BCE 35”
Block-like form
Jaguar merged with human child = were-jaguar
Olmec
were jaguars
Obsidian, jade
stone
OLMEC
Seated Female Figure with Mirror Ornament.
La Venta, Mexico. Jade & hematitel
Crawling baby, ceramic, hollow
700-500 BC.
Teotihuacan c. 350 CE
Once identified as Mayan
View of Pyramid of Sun from Pyramid of Moon
c. 350 BCE
Pyramid of the Moon
Teotihuacan c. 350 BCE
Temple of Quelzalcoatle (Feathered Serpent) at Teotihuacan c. 300 bce
80 warrior skelatons found beneath temple
Qelzalcoatl (feathered serpent)
& Tlaloc (rain god)
Map of Maya Empire
c1100 bce- 1500 CE
Mayan Lord 6th wood –
Mayan Lords stone reliefs (Palenque top)
Maya Leiden Plate Jade 8 ½”
Mayan ball court
Copan c. 800 bce
Mayan ball players
Maya Bonampak Murals c. 790 CE reconstructed
3 rooms at temple site in Chiapas
Room 2 below R aftermath of battle Aug. 6th 792 ce
Bonampak 792
“Borgia” Codex 14-15th century
Moon Goddess Maya, clay
Maize god, Palenque stone 750 ce
Maya Chitzen Itza c. 800-1300 CE
Temple (caracol), castillo top L & warrior temple top R
Chitzen Itza 800-1300 CE
Temple of the Warriors
Chocmool (Jaguar King) 3’6” high
Castillo aka Temple of Kukulcan (Feathered Serpent)
Name of King who founded Chichen Itza 9-13th centuries
Chitzen Itza Ball Court 9-13th
vaders of Chitzen Itza – the Toltecs? C. 800 & later Aztecs c. 1400 occupy sit
Aztec Calendar of Sun
15th century, stone
COATLICUE
Aztec Mother Goddess,
Grandmother, Lady of the Serpent ,
Earth Goddess
Gives birth to sun, moon, all
celestial beings
Aztec Moon Goddess Coyolxauhqui
15th century 88” diameter
Brother Huitzilopochtil kills sister
for beheading mother
Aztec Eagle Warrior, clay 15th century 67”
Aztec sacrifice of captives
Spanish Conquistador vs Aztec Eagle Warrior 15th century
Diego Rivera mural 20th Eagle Warrior & Conquistador
Aztec Huitzilopochtli (blue hummingbird obsidian knife God of Sun?)
R leg olmec fish monster (top) dragon below)
Olmec were-jaguar
MAYA
Stela 11
Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala
Stela 11 200-50 BC
Kaminaljuyu, GuatemalaGranite
BC
200-50 198.1 x 67.9 x 18.1 cm
Granite Nacional de Arqueología y
Museo
x 18.1 cm
198.1 x 67.9Etnología, Guatemala City.
Museo Nacional de Arqueología y
Etnología, Guatemala City.
MAYA
Maize God
Plate Portraying Enthroned King.
Maya Area. AD 200-400. Ceramic with pigment. Diameter approx. 28
cm.
The Art Institution, New York