Indigenous Civilization and Art in the Americas

The Americas were populated thousands of years ago by nomadic tribes who crossed the Bering land bridge and spread throughout both continents. These settlers would go on to create diverse and numerous cultures varying in complexity. In pre-columbian North America, nomadic tribes and settled societies appeared at different, varying times and places. These tribes were more dispersed than their South and Central American counterparts. Native North American cultures are split up into different time periods. Many of these societies created highly developed societies with agricultural systems, architecture, and art. Paleo-Indian Clovis culture is centered around modern-day New Mexico in the United States.

Clovis culture is often used to categorize the hunter-gatherer tribes of southern North America from a little over ten thousand years ago. The Clovis period is identified by “Clovis points” or detailed and elegant spear points found throughout the region. Clovis people engaged in large-game hunting and used the spear points to hunt bison and mammoth. The points were often made from agate, chalcedony, flint, jasper, and other fine stones. Scholars have found that on occasion the raw materials used for the points were sourced through trade. They are distinctively large and fluted in comparison to the points of other hunter-gatherer societies. Flute flakes are flakes “struck from the base” of a point in order to insert it into a wooden spear. Beyond pure utility, Clovis points show a level of craftsmanship and complexity present in early nomadic tribes.

The Olmec’s are the earliest recorded civilization in Mesoamerica. Many pieces of surviving art and architecture. The Olmec civilization created their own form of written language which was inscribed on tablets, temples, and other structures. Olmec art has its own distinct style which utilizes human and animal figures to portray human emotions. Figurines and small statues were created out of jade, clay, ceramic and ochre. Feathers and pendants made of jade were also used to decorate clothing and the body. The Olmec’s are most known for their creation of the “Giant Heads”.

In August 1492 the Genoese Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain for the Indias with his three famous boats called Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. After ten weeks' navigation he sought an island in the Bahamas: he called it San Salvador. Immediately the indigenous population brought together to observe the European strangers. Columbus gifted to them red hats and beads, while Natives returned parrots, cotton and other goods. The Genoese described them as “People that walk naked, women as well, naked as their mothers had delivered them. They have a well-knit body and beautiful faces. They do not use either iron nor steel. They do not possess weapons and they are not even able to use them ”. Christopher Columbus was actually convinced that he had reached Oriental Indias and, as a consequence, he used to call them “Indians”.

Mural of Tlaloc, Unknown, ca. 14th–15th century

The Olmec’s are the earliest recorded civilization in Mesoamerica. Many pieces of surviving art and architecture. The Olmec civilization created their own form of written language which was inscribed on tablets, temples, and other structures. Olmec art has its own distinct style which utilizes human and animal figures to portray human emotions. Figurines and small statues were created out of jade, clay, ceramic and ochre. Feathers and pendants made of jade were also used to decorate clothing and the body. The Olmec’s are most known for their creation of the “Giant Heads”. Large heads carved out of Basalt have been discovered throughout Mexico at Mesoamerican archaeological sites. There is a great amount of speculation around the heads, as it is still undetermined their meaning. The facial features of the heads are similar to those of Mesoamerican Indians. It is hypothesized that the heads were those of leaders or were related to the Olmec polytheistic religion.

Olmec Colossal Head, Unknown, ca. 900 BCE

The Aztec Sun Stone, or Piedra del Sol. The stone is an incredibly famous piece of Aztec craftsmanship. The stone is a calendar of sorts. It represents the Aztec concept of time, but also Aztec beliefs about the creation and recreation of the world. There are five ages depicted in the stone. The fifth era was believed to be the present one, with four other eras falling before it. In a sense, the Aztecs believed that their era (the fifth) would also come to an end like its predecessors. The center of the stone depicts the Aztec sun god holding a human heart. Other gods are depicted around the calendar.

Mexico City, the stone was carved c. 1427 and shows a solar disk which presents the five consecutive worlds of the sun from Aztec mythology. The basalt stone is 3.78 m in diameter, almost a metre thick and was once part of the Templo Mayor complex of Tenochtitlan.

Aztec Sun Stone, Unknown, ca. 15th century

Watch the Video to Explore More

delve into the knowledge of colonialism through pre-columbus history