Teotihuacan Art

Throughout the humanities course, I have been intrigued by a vast amount of information on different cultures. However, there was a particular section that truly caught my attention, and has piqued an interest in me that has caused me to do my own research aside from this paper. The culture of the Mayas, and the Aztecs has been extremely fundamental in understanding my ancestry, being that I am Mexican American. I took an interest in their beautiful architecture, their ritualistic and sacrificial religious practices, as well as their history and how they began. Throughout this paper I will outline the similarities and differences of these two cultures, as well as articulate an understanding of the humanity disciplines outlined above.

Mesoamerica have been connected the North and South America culturally and geographically throughout the history. Mesoamerican culture and aspects heavily influenced southwestern United States, being the frontier borderline between North America and Mesoamerica. It is very important to study the relationship between the Mesoamerica and American Southwest because American Southwest contains various elements of Mesoamerican culture and this provides fundamental information about human behaviors, history, interactions, and tradition in America. Our group has selected Agriculture, Architecture, Religion, and Trade as our categories to analyze the relationship between American southwest and Mesoamerica. Fair trade, we will focus on scarlet macaws and how it got traded from Mesoamerica in the American southwest and its significance. For architecture, we will compare the ball courts of Hohokam and that of Mesoamerica. Significance of ball courts and how it got introduced into the American southwest from Mesoamerica will be discussed as well. Religion will be analyzed by focusing on the cosmological beliefs of both groups and the similarities and differences between Mesoamerican cosmology and American southwest cosmology.

Mesoamerica was once a place filled with expanding, ruthless empires and civilizations, although none was like the Aztecs and their empire. Although they started off with a humble beginning, they quickly grew into a great civilization that dominated present day Central Mexico. They conquered and expanded into an empire stronger than the other neighboring empires. The heart of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan, was a grand capital filled with many people and astounding temples. The Aztecs were also ahead of their time with fully-functional government and irrigation systems. They continue to astound many historians with their diverse way of life. They impacted the way of life for many people today with their customs and ways of life. Throughout the years, the Aztecs were able to grow and prosper with their sufficient supply of agriculture and blessed fertile lands of the Mexican Valley, and demonstrated to be an important part of Mexican heritage. The Aztec civilization was truly one of Mesoamerica’s most influential empires because of their history, vibrant culture, and unique architecture.

The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.

Aztec and African are two distinctive cultures with many differences. The two cultures are on different continents that are far away from each other, and there is a wide difference between the two cultures. The beliefs and practices of the people are different in both of these cultures. However, as the world becomes more global, and as people become more exposed to different cultures, the differences between them seem to be narrowing. There are several similarities and differences between Aztec and African, specifically, dance, food and the education system. We live in a world with numerous countries and diversities. Each culture has its own appeal and positives and often times comparing the similarities and differences between these cultures based on a variety of aspects like topography, culture, language, economy, government dynamics. In this essay, I am going to compare the Aztec that are located in Central Mexico and the African culture that is located in all of Africa are two cultures that are studied by many anthropologists.

Throughout the previous time, pre-European civilizations in the Americas, the Aztec and Inca empires were separate and distinct civilizations. The two civilizations stayed with no question very progressed and had their own intricated but very efficient society. Polytheism (who beliefs in multiple gods) dominated both empires. They adored ideals broadly and fascinatingly, the Sun God maintained the high place in mutually civilizations. However, both civilizations shared some similarities, there were remarkable differences among the two empires. These contrasts and similarities could be observed in many significant ways.

In this essay, I will compare and contrast two different sculptures from two different contexts of art. The first being an Olmec Colossal head (monument 1), from the context of “Art of the Americas,” and the second sculpture being ahead from Rafin Kura. The head from Rafin Kura comes from the context of “Art of Africa.” Both sculptures come from two different time periods and parts of the world. They also are both made with natural materials and have their own symbolic meaning.

Ancient Mexico is a grandiose mural which represents the main events of Mexico’s history from the Pre-Columbian Period to Modern Time. The inspiration came to Diego Rivera, from the nationalist movement of his country. Therefore, the mural elements are prototypical of the painting style’s era. Physically the mural is located on the stairway of the Mexican National Palace, in Mexico City; which is the place where the Presidents work. This mural was commissioned at the end of the Mexican Revolution by the federal government. Moreover, this masterpiece depicts its era, considering that this was the dominating genre in the 1920’s, among the Mexican painters.

Mesoamerica is full of rich culture. Expeditions have revealed monuments of valiant, female sultan erected for display and iconography feminine in appearance. Women have played a prominent role in defining cultures; such is the case for Maya, Inca, and Aztec societies.

Art was used by the Aztecs upper class to set them apart from the lower class. They adorned themselves with feathers, jewelry and fancy clothes. The rich also owned paintings, statues and music to honor and praise their gods. Most of the lower class, however, could make art but only to sell to the rich. The Aztec empire had an appreciation and fascination with birds, bugs and animals. These animals were praised and admired and as a result, they were popular subjects in the Aztec art. Aztecs believed that their gods took the forms of animals. Paintings of them were always brightly colored. The Emperor received art as tribute. The Aztecs considered art as a tool to reinforce their dominance.

Although they are grouped in the same area don't be fooled they are nowhere near similar to each other. The majority of these sections did not contain many paintings, but had handmade sculptures and pottery of each culture that had distinct designs that separated it from the sculptures of the other regions. Africa’s sculptures showed the daily lives of their people and looked very cartoon like. Asia's sculptures were based on their religion, beliefs, and gods and was mainly statues of a god or people worshiping one. And the Pacific Islands had many handmade masks and other objects that seemed very primitive. None of these sculptures show specific events but show their values and unique crafting techniques that they used to make these designs. It is almost like looking into the past lives of these people through their art, and it's an enchanting

Like most societies there are similarities and differences in religion and art; I will be discussing about three different regions. The three regions are The Eskimos, Olmec, and West Mexico. The Eskimos are well known for commonly using walrus ivory to make things out of mainly because wood is scarce at their location. The Olmec are known for creating mounds out of soil and adorned with colored clays to copy the mountains and volcanoes. Then we know have the West Mexico, which has a rich tradition of all sorts of clay sculptures that are commonly found by tombs.

The ancient world of Mesoamerica entered a long period of change that soon led to the development a mammoth city that would serve as a regional center for more than 600 years. Beginning in about 1000 B.C. the majority of the people in the Valley of Mexico relocated to one of two primary sites, that of Cuicuilco in the southwest corner and Teotihuacan in the northeast. By about 300 B.C., Cuicuilco dominated the region, but its heyday would soon diminish. (Sabloff 2000, p 60)

Massive temples hidden in the jungles of the Yucatan, mysterious stone stelas, and cryptic calendars eluding to advanced knowledge of the stars and mathematics are just some of the artifacts originating from the “Classic Maya” period (200 CE-900 CE). However, these popular items should not be the only defining characteristics of a society that dominated the Mesoamerican region for nearly a millennia. Dynastic lines, similar to those found in European houses, were important elements during this period in places like Palenque, Tikal, and Calakmul. Additionally, the Maya experienced violent and consistent warfare between localized powers and the backbone of their society, agriculture, suffered through several multi-year droughts. These factors

Many decades ago, northern Central America and southern Mexico cultures developed complex political and social ranks. Researchers today know this region as Mesoamerica, known for its rich soil, abundant amount of rainfall, and agriculture. (Judge & Langdon, 2012) The Mesoamericans, Aztec and Mayan tribes, developed into complex civilizations for multiple reasons. These societies were advanced and complex for their time in areas, such as architecture, agriculture, militarism, and education. Each had unique religion and political systems as well. The rise and fall of both were due to several factors.