Pre-Columbian Art: Mesoamerican & Andean Civilizations

Pre-Columbian Art in Latin America

Pre-Columbian, or Pre-Hispanic art, encompasses all artistic manifestations of cultures and civilizations that developed in the current Latin American territory before the arrival of European conquerors in the fifteenth century.

Mesoamerican Region

The Mesoamerican region, to the north, occupies what is now Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and part of Nicaragua. Here are located the Aztecs and the Mayans, who built pyramids and large patios with writing based on signs that appear in books called codices.

Andean Region

The Andean region, south along the Andes and Pacific Ocean coasts, includes Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and part of Chile. They raised monumental stone edifices and excelled in ceramics and goldsmithing, highlighting work in gold, bronze, and copper. They also managed advancements in mathematics and engineering.

Venezuela, Northern Colombia, Antilles, and Guyana

Venezuela, northern Colombia, the Antilles, and Guyana did not rise as high in this area. There are no large buildings erected in stone, but some people made remarkable stone sculptures in ceramics and metals.

Codices

Codices are strips of deerskin or maguey fibers covered with a layer of lime on both sides. Afterward, figures and painted scenes were folded.

Materials in Maya Sculpture

Materials utilized in Maya sculpture included soft stone like limestone and hard stone like basalt, diorite, granite, quartz, and jade.

Techniques in Maya Paintings

Techniques employed by Maya artists in their paintings included carvings and stucco reliefs. The carvings and stucco reliefs at Palenque and the statuary of Copán are especially fine.

Aztec Architecture

The most important building types in Aztec architecture were temples, palaces, and houses.

Mayan Architecture

The most outstanding pyramids of Mayan architecture include the Sacsahuaman pyramid in Cuzco.

Aztec vs. Egyptian Pyramids

The difference is that Aztec pyramids designed their pyramids with steps, and Egyptians made them with a smooth surface. Another difference is that Egyptians used them as tombs for their kings, and the Aztecs did so to govern their kings.

The Stone of the Sun

The most important monument of Aztec culture is the Stone of the Sun, which represents the cosmogony of this village and others.

Aztec Mural Motifs

Predominant motifs in Aztec murals were anthropomorphic and zoomorphic, and they commonly used conventional designs.

Inca Architecture

The main architectural construction of the Inca culture is the city of Machu Picchu.

Mayan Calendar

The base of the Mayan calendar, according to some, comes from more ancient cultures like the Olmec. For others, it is the origin of the Mayan civilization itself, since it is similar to the Aztec calendar, which is considered evidence that throughout Mesoamerica used the same calendar system. The Mayan calendar consists of two different classes known as time lag accounts simultaneously.