The earliest and well-known Mesoamerican cultures include the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec and the Aztecs. These groups were different from one another and had distinct art forms — the earliest Olmecs’ designed sculptural stone heads with large complexes. The Mayans developed written language symbols, which are comparable to the hieroglyphics. The Aztecs who were warriors are known for painted frescos, ceremonial masks and jewelry. The similarity in art between the Mesoamerican groups is using the stone to create artifacts. Native America refers to the indigenous people of Canada, and the U.S. Art forms of the indigenous North American people reflected the environment they lived. They designed objects for utility and ceremonial purposes. In recent studies, archeologists and art historians have discovered connections between the native North American and Mesoamerican art. Such relationships are believed to have been brought about by trade, shared beliefs, migration or conflict. This essay will look try to look for the connections between Mesoamerican art and Native North American artworks.
Ceramic Artwork and Agricultural Connections
The Mesoamericans artists are primarily known for their production of megalithic sculptures and sharp weapons using stone. They did feather work and stonework from basalt, turquoise and jade. Exceptional textiles and metallurgy flourished from further south. The Mesoamericans and Native North Americans shared characteristics such as a ritual ball game, pyramid building, agriculture and religion dedicated to deities relating to rain, storm or fire. Like the Native Americans, the Mesoamericans also built economies based on irrigation agriculture, craftsmanship and trade. They also grew corn and regarded it as the sacred heart of the fields; this was a metaphor for life as a gift from the gods. The Mesoamerican artisans designed obsidian tools, ceramic vessels, and sculptures of human beings. Through established trading routes, the Mesoamericans were able to exchange trade and religious beliefs with the North. The Mesoamericans particularly the Olmecs designed ceramics sculptures in the form of a human heart which suggested that the Olmecs may have practiced human sacrifices and removing the hearts of sacrificial victims. The Olmecs also designed baby figures with puffy facial features, fleshy lips, and slit eyes. The sculptures depicted an elongated head suggesting an Olmec custom of shaping the cranium of infants, which they considered a sign of high rank.
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The native Americans have also been called ‘mound builders’ given their history in the creation of earthworks in different shapes, sizes, geometry and animal shapes. The earthworks demonstrated an evolving civilization that seemed to spread up the Mississippi river cultures throughout central and North America (Zevin, 2016). Some of the native American people included the Mississippian cultures. They included the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Chisea, Chickamauga and Shawnee bands. These were farmers who raised vegetables, tobacco, and corn. The Mississippian cultures traded their agricultural products with the Southwestern cultures through the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, which extended down to the Gulf of Mexico. Through this trade, the Native American became influenced by the Southern Mesoamericans. An example of relational influence between the two cultures manifests in the Mississippians art forms of ceramic renderings of human beings, which were believed to have been primarily influenced by the Mesoamerican cultures in Mexico. Whereas no Mexican artifacts have been found at the Mississippian sites, there is artistic evidence that suggests contact between the Mesoamerican and Mississippian cultures. The pose of the ceramic sculptures represents part of the ritual dances performed by the warrior guilds of the Mesoamericans. Some of the elements of the ceramic sculptures found among the native American cultures include a flat pyramid nose, which suggests Mesoamerican influences. From the agricultural and trade relations between the North and Mesoamerican cultures, we can deduce that the Mesoamericans mainly influenced the Native American art in designing effigies and using ceramics in artworks. It can also be observed that both cultures used the stone to create different types of artifacts.
Ceramic Vessels
The Mesoamericans ceramic vessels production dates back to 2500 BCE. The making of ceramic vessels has been used in their history as a craft for making utility wares and an art form for making artistic vessels and sculptures. The traditional Mesoamerican ceramics were made using the coil, slab, and pinch techniques and outdoor firepits. The Mayans made thin orange vessels using smooth clay that made thins walls with polished surfaces and decorated walls. The properties of this medium made the vessels very delicate and fragile. The traditional methods of ceramic vessels production continued up to the 16 th Century and were commonly practiced around the town of Puebla in Mexico.
The making of ceramic vessels can also be observed among the Native North Americans from as far as 4000 BCE. Ceramic pottery was widely practiced among the civilizations of Southwest America. The oldest ceramic pottery forms, believed to be 4800 years old have been found in Augusta, Georgia. It is thought that pottery making in the southwestern United States came from the Chaco area, which is now New Mexico (Huntington, 2018). This could suggest that the native south Americans artworks in the form of ceramic vessels were influenced by central America, the then Mesoamericans. The native North Americans also used the coil or slab techniques to make ceramic pottery.
The native American art and Mesoamerican art share architectural designs. The ruins at Chaco Canyon in the northwest of New Mexico, the town of Pueblos gives an expression of Mesoamerican influence. It shares in rock art, ceramic designs, trade goods, spiritual and ritual dance and architecture. The architectural plans of the Chaco Canyon ruins in Pueblo has Mesoamerican traits such as stone masonry, square columns, tower kivas, tri-walled units, and T-shaped doorways (Desert USA, 2018). In the southwest of New Mexico, there are observed images of a Mesoamerican heritage in potteries. There are designs found among the native Americans of the Mesoamerican figures such as the Mayan moon goddess, with arched backs and a rabbit resting on a crested moon. The indigenous North American people draw architectural inspiration from the Mesoamericans for instance through the building of effigy mounds, sacred structures such as monumental pyramids and palaces.
Architecture
Whereas little remains of the Mesoamerican architecture, many of the prominent structures of their civilizations have survived. The Maya city-states with the largest, Tikal can still be found in present-day Guatemala. The cities of the Mesoamericans were constructed around an open public space (Plaza), surrounded by large buildings and stepped pyramids. The stepped pyramid was the greatest and widely known Mesoamerican architecture. During the Teotihuacan period, the early Aztecs built a “pyramid of the sun’ a vastly enlarged version of the Olmec temple-pyramid. The pyramid was 200 foot in height, 720 feet wide, and had a width of 775 feet. They served mainly as temples and internal chambers. They were made from stone, which meant they could survive all manner of weather. The remaining famous stepped pyramids include the El Castillo, the great central pyramid found in the Maya city in Chichen Itza, Mexico.
The Mesoamerican architecture extends beyond stepped pyramids to grand palaces. They constructed palaces for residential or administrative purposes using post and beam construction. They occasionally added corbel arches to aid in the aesthetic appeal of the structure. One of the other great Mesoamerican architectural forms includes the ball court. Here, players attempted to direct a ball through a stone hoop by only using the hip, knees or elbows. The court had sloping walls on either side with the hoop mounted on the top of each slanted wall.
Some of the architectural designs of Native North America were similar to the Mesoamerican. However, a few architectural designs differed slightly, for instance, the ceremonial chambers for the Native Americans, the Kivas, were underground chambers distinguishable from dwelling rooms by their size and positions. They had long ladders sticking out and up away from the floor. The floor of the Kivas was designed like the Plazas, and it was where most of the ceremonial activities took place.
The native North Americans constricted structures they called Hogans. These wooden octagonal structures were used as homes as well as ceremonial chambers. It was constructed using wooden logs and clay was used to fill any spaces. The door had to face east. The native Americas also designed Sweatlodges, structures which they referred to as altars which were used for ancient purifications. A few of the native American architectural designs borrowed from the Mesoamericans although the difference was minimal.
Conclusively, given that the Mesoamericans and the native North American cultures existed before modern civilizations, they had time to learn from each other and make the trade. Various connections can be linked between their cultures. It is believed both practiced agriculture, were religious and may have practiced human sacrifice. The Mesoamerican art is quite distinct across different generations as different people existed during different times. The Mesoamerican era has been classified into pre-classic, classic, and post-classic periods. The art of the Mesoamericans was ascribed mainly to be religious or mortuary. It had extremes of very naturalistic art pieces and very abstract art forms. The Native North-American art was primarily pottery, architecture and sculpting, which borrowed from the Mesoamerican culture.
References
Desert USA (2018) “Ancient Civilizations - Native Americans” Retrieved November 26, 2018, https://www.desertusa.com/ind1/ind_new/ind5.html
Huntington Y. & Arnold D. & Minich, J. (2018). Ceramics of Ancient America: Multidisciplinary Approaches. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. Retrieved November 26, 2018, from Project MUSE database.
Zevin, J. (2016). Teaching The First American Civilization Recognizing The Moundbuilders as a Great Native-American Civilization. The Councilor: A Journal of the social studies 77(2) 2016
