When the first Europeans came to the Americas, they were confronted with a civilization that was very different from anything they had seen before.The locals had no idea about the many concepts, long and firmly rooted in the Old World.The peoples of pre-Columbian America did not use the wheel, do not iron tools and rode horses.
more surprising by the fact that the Indians, as they called the Native Americans came from Europe, managed to build some pretty advanced civilizations.They had the city, state, long paved roads between the settlements, writing, astronomy, as well as unique artistic artifacts.
civilization of pre-Columbian America arose independently in two geographic regions - in Mesoamerica and the Andes.Up until the Spanish conquest, these areas were centers of intellectual and cultural life of the continent.
Mesoamerica
This geographical area covers the territory of central and southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.The first people came here in the 12th century BC.Cities and states have emerged in the third millennium BC.From then until the beginning of the Spanish colonization in Mesoamerica, there were several advanced cultures.
The earliest was the Olmec civilization that lived on the Gulf Coast.They had a tremendous influence on all subsequent tradition of peoples occupying the region.
Olmec culture
most ancient art of pre-Columbian America is represented by a very unusual and mysterious artifacts.The most famous monument of the Olmec civilization are giant head made of basalt boulders.Their sizes range from one and a half meters to 3.4 meters, and they weigh 25 to 55 tons.Since the Olmec had no written language, the purpose of these animals is unknown.Most scientists are inclined to believe that this is most likely portraits of the ancient rulers.At this point the details of hats, and the fact that those sculptures do not look at each other.
Another area of Olmec art - jade mask.They were carried out with great skill.After the disappearance of the Olmec civilization, these masks were discovered by the Aztecs, who collected and stored them as the valuable artifacts.In general, the culture of pre-Columbian America was formed under the strong influence of this ancient people.The figures, statues and sculptures of the Olmecs found hundreds of kilometers from their territories once occupied.
Mayan civilization
next great culture of Mesoamerica arose around 2000 BC and lasted until the era of European colonialism.It was the Mayan civilization, leaving behind a great many works of art and monuments.The highest rise of the Mayan culture occurred in the period from 200 to 900 years BC.In this era of pre-Columbian America urban development flourished.
frescoes, bas-reliefs and sculptures of the Maya made with great finesse.They are quite accurately convey the proportions of the human body.The Mayas were writing and calendar, they also created a detailed map of the sky and were able to predict the trajectory of the planets.
Art Mayan
Color Image badly stored in a humid climate.Therefore, to have survived not so much the Mayan murals.However, fragments of images found everywhere in the ancient cities of this nation.The surviving fragments show that the art of pre-Columbian America to the best works of the classical civilizations of the Old World.
Maya achieved excellence in the manufacture of pottery, including painted.From clay they are fashioned not only dishes, but also figurines of gods, rulers, totem animals, as well as scenes from everyday life.Maya made jewelry made of precious stones and engaged in wood carving.
save a lot of sculptures and bas-reliefs, which reflect the history of pre-Columbian America of that period.Artists Maya often left etched in stone important events of public life.Many picture is an inscription, which is very helpful in the interpretation of historians presented at these plots.
Architecture Maya
American culture during the time of the Maya experienced its heyday, which could not but reflect on the architecture.In the cities, in addition to residential homes were a number of specialized buildings.Being enthusiastic astronomers, the Maya built an observatory to monitor the celestial objects.Also, they had grounds for ball games.They can be considered the forerunners of modern football fields.Sami balls made from the sap of the rubber tree.
Maya erected temples in the form of stepped pyramids, on top of which was a sanctuary.Built special platforms, up to four meters in height and is designed for public ceremonies and religious rites.
Teotihuacan
on the territory of modern Mexico is a ghost town with ancient Indians perfectly preserved buildings.Nowhere architecture of pre-Columbian America did not reach such heights (literally and figuratively) as at Teotihuacan.Here is the Pyramid of the Sun - a giant building height of 64 meters and a base of more than 200 meters.Previously, it was the top of the wooden church.
Nearby is the Pyramid of the Moon.It is the second largest structure of Teotihuacan.It was built after the Pyramid of the Sun and is dedicated to the great goddess of earth and fertility.In addition to the two large, the city has several smaller four-tiered stepped structures.
Images at Teotihuacan
almost all the buildings in the city have frescoes.Background they usually red.Other colors are used to represent characters and other details of drawing.Plots frescoes largely symbolic and religious illustrating the myths of pre-Columbian America, but there are also scenes of everyday activities.There are also images of rulers and warriors fighting.In Teotihuacan many sculptures, including those which are the architectural elements of buildings.
Toltec culture
Today, little is known about what has been pre-Columbian America in the period between sunset Mayan civilization and the emergence of the Aztecs.It is believed that at that time lived in Mesoamerica the Toltecs.For information about these modern scholars derive mostly from the Aztec legend, in which real facts are often intertwined with fiction.But archaeological evidence is still possible to obtain some reliable information.
Toltec capital of Tula was located in what is now Mexico.In its place the remains of two pyramids, one of which was dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent).At its top are four massive figures representing Toltec warriors.
Aztec culture
When the Spaniards arrived in Central America, where they met a mighty empire.This was the state of the Aztecs.On the culture of the people we can judge not only architectural monuments.Thanks to the Spanish chroniclers, who described what they had seen civilization preserved information about poetry, music and theater art of the Aztecs.
Poetry Aztec
poetic art of pre-Columbian America, apparently, had a long-standing tradition.Anyway, by the time the Spaniards the Aztecs were poetry contest held a large gathering of people.The poems are usually attended by the metaphor, words and phrases with a double meaning.There were several literary genres: lyric poetry, military ballads, mythological legends, and so on. D.
Art and architecture of the Aztecs
capital of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan.Its building was dominated by architectural forms that are invented earlier civilization of pre-Columbian America.In particular, the city rose 50-meter pyramid, reminiscent of similar structures of the Maya.
Figures and bas-reliefs depict the Aztecs as scenes from everyday life, and a variety of historical and religious events.There are pictures of them, and human sacrifices, which were held during religious festivals.
One of the most unusual and mysterious artifacts is the Aztec Stone of the Sun - a large circular sculpture, a diameter of nearly 12 meters.In the center is depicted the god of the sun, surrounded by symbols of the four past eras.Around deity inscribed calendar.It is believed that the Stone of the Sun served as a sacrificial altar.This artifact culture of pre-Columbian America reveals its multiple facets - astronomical knowledge, violent rituals, artistic skills merge into a single entity.
Inca Culture
peoples of pre-Columbian America reached a high level of development not only in the central part of the continent.In the south, the Andes, the Inca civilization flourished unique.This nation was geographically cut off from the Mesoamerican cultures and developed separately.
Incas achieved excellence in many types of art.Huge interest of patterns on fabric called tokapu.Their purpose was not only to make clothes more elegant.Each element of the pattern was also the symbol for any word.Located in a certain sequence, they form phrases and sentences.
Andean music
musical art of pre-Columbian America, partly preserved in the Andes, home to the descendants of the Incas, to the present day.There are also literary sources since colonization.From them we know that the Incas used a variety of wind and percussion instruments.Music accompanied the religious rituals, many of the songs have been associated with the cycle of the field work.
Machu Picchu Inca
famous and unique city built high in the mountains.It was discovered in 1911 already deserted, so his real name is not known.Machu Picchu in the language of the local Indians means "top of the old."Buildings in the city are built of stone.The blocks are so precisely adjusted to each other that the skill of the ancient builders surprised even modern specialists.
Culture North American
Indians, who lived to the north of present-day Mexico, did not build stone buildings, such as the Pyramid of the Sun, or Machu Picchu.But the artistic achievements of the peoples of pre-Columbian America, lived in raoyne rivers Mississippi and Missouri, is also quite interesting.In this region, many ancient burial mounds.
Besides simple mounds in the form of a hill in the valley of the Mississippi River there are staggered platforms and mounds, in which the outlines of veiled figures of various animals, such as snakes and crocodiles.
Effect of pre-Columbian art of America's modern
civilizations of the ancient Indians in the past.But the current American culture bears the imprint of the ancient pre-colonial traditions.Thus, the national costumes of indigenous peoples of Chile and Peru are very similar to the clothes of the Inca.In the paintings of Mexican artists are often found stylistic devices typical of the fine arts of the Maya.And in the books of Colombian writers fantastic events intricately woven into a realistic story with familiar ease of Aztec poetry.
