Respond to the following question with 250 words . Please no plagiarism, no AI, No chat bots .
From your perspective, “Why is it important to study pre-Columbian art from a global and cultural perspective?”
Please use this book as a reference
TEXTBOOK
The History of Art: A Global View: 1300 to the Present
ISBN-13: 9780500293560
ISBN-10: 0500293562
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Publication Date: 2021-12-01
Author: Robertson, Jean, Hutton, Deborah, Colburn, Cynthia, Harmansah, mr, Kjellgren, Eric, Koontz, Rex, Lee, De-nin, Luttikhuizen, He
What do you know about the ancient arts of the Americas?
Have you heard the term Pre-Columbian before this class? What does it refer to in the cultures of the world?
We are leaving Italy and Europe to explore the arts of the Americas. What has been called Pre-Columbian Art that is art created before the Western World of Europe knew that this world existed. These works of art are the product of the peoples living on the continentThe Inca, Aztec, Mayan and more. These cultures date back to millennia. Including the Olmec.
When Columbus arrived, there were already monumental architecture, sculpture, textile weaving, ceramics as well as metal works in production and in use. Most often, these works were in use in rituals, ceremonies and relating to cosmological and religious uses. These works reflect cultural traditions, world views and beliefs.
Cultural Groups
Mesoamerica: Cultures: Olmec, Maya, Aztec Artworks: Stone carvings. Pyramids. Goldwork. Hieroglyphs. Ceramics and Murals. Books.
Andean: Cultures: Moche, Nazca, Inca. Artworks: Naca lines (massive desert glyphs) Textiles. Ceramic vessels. Monumental architecture.
North America. Cultures: Hopewell, Mississippian. Art works: Earthwork mounds. Stone and bone tools, Textiles. Basketry.
- Achievements: Major advancements in astronomy, mathematics, engineering, art (pyramids, temples), and agriculture (maize, beans).
- Trade: Extensive trade networks existed, exchanging goods like obsidian, textiles, and cacao across vast distances.
- Significance: Marks the era before dramatic shifts caused by European disease, conquest, and cultural exchange.
- What does pre-Columbian mean?
- The original inhabitants of the Americas traveled across what is now known as the , a passage that connected the westernmost point of North America with the easternmost point of Asia. The Western hemisphere was disconnected from Asia at the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 B.C.E.
- In 1492, the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus arrived at the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), mistakenly thinking he had reached Asia.
- Columbus miscalculation marked the first step in the colonization of the Americas, or what was then seen as a New World. Incorrectly referring to the native inhabitants of Hispaniola as Indians (under the assumption that he had landed in India), Columbus established the first Spanish colony of the Americas. Pre-Columbian thus refers to the period in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus.
- The term pre-Columbian is complicated however. For one thing, although it refers to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the phrase does not directly reference any of the many sophisticated cultures that flourished in the Americas (think of the Aztec, Inka, or Maya, to name only a few) and instead invokes a European explorer.
- For this reason and because Indigenous peoples flourished before and after the arrival of the Europeans, the term is often seen as flawed. Other terms such as pre-Hispanic, pre-Cortesian, or more simply, ancient Americas, are sometimes used.
- Maya Jimnez, “Defining pre-Columbian and Mesoamerica,” in Smarthistory, August 19, 2016, accessed January 16, 2026, .
- Before 1607 in North America, an introduction
- by
Requirements: art history
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