DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0566
CHAPTER XXVI
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN ART
From Earliest Times to the Seventeenth Century a.d.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The study of the aborigines of America is still in its infancy,
and many of the important problems are unsolved. An Asiatic
origin seems probable. The subsequent history was a series of
migrations, frequently of nomad hunters, each tribe in turn
taking and assimilating the elements of civilization found among
the settled agricultural predecessors whom it conquered. Out of
shadowy mists where facts and legend confusedly mingle, at
least five important centers of civilization emerge — Mayan,
Toltec, and Aztec of Middle America, that is, Mexico and
Central America; and the pre-Inca and Inca of South America.
Though literary record is wanting, the art remains of these
peoples tell us much of their culture. As the relation of the
South American civilization to that of Middle America is not
clear, we shall study these two divisions separately^
A. MIDDLE AMERICAN
For the purpose of this study Mexico and Central America
constitute a unit. Here we find a great variety of geographic and
climatic conditions. The country lies in the belt of dry and rainy
seasons. Great reaches of plateau land, fertile for raising maize
and wheat wherever water can be secured, rise to heavily forested
mountain slopes and thence, at places, to perpetual snow; or
descend to the tropical, unhealthy jungles of the coastal plains.
These plains are marvelously rich agriculturally if man can only
clear the land and steadily pursue his battle against the rank
luxuriousness of nature. The country is a volcanic region; and
the volcanic rock, now coarse and now finely grained, together
with plentiful limestone furnished abundant material both for
building and for decorative carvings.
Of the three civilizations mentioned, the Mayan reached the
highest point of development and was also the most influential.
388
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN ART
From Earliest Times to the Seventeenth Century a.d.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The study of the aborigines of America is still in its infancy,
and many of the important problems are unsolved. An Asiatic
origin seems probable. The subsequent history was a series of
migrations, frequently of nomad hunters, each tribe in turn
taking and assimilating the elements of civilization found among
the settled agricultural predecessors whom it conquered. Out of
shadowy mists where facts and legend confusedly mingle, at
least five important centers of civilization emerge — Mayan,
Toltec, and Aztec of Middle America, that is, Mexico and
Central America; and the pre-Inca and Inca of South America.
Though literary record is wanting, the art remains of these
peoples tell us much of their culture. As the relation of the
South American civilization to that of Middle America is not
clear, we shall study these two divisions separately^
A. MIDDLE AMERICAN
For the purpose of this study Mexico and Central America
constitute a unit. Here we find a great variety of geographic and
climatic conditions. The country lies in the belt of dry and rainy
seasons. Great reaches of plateau land, fertile for raising maize
and wheat wherever water can be secured, rise to heavily forested
mountain slopes and thence, at places, to perpetual snow; or
descend to the tropical, unhealthy jungles of the coastal plains.
These plains are marvelously rich agriculturally if man can only
clear the land and steadily pursue his battle against the rank
luxuriousness of nature. The country is a volcanic region; and
the volcanic rock, now coarse and now finely grained, together
with plentiful limestone furnished abundant material both for
building and for decorative carvings.
Of the three civilizations mentioned, the Mayan reached the
highest point of development and was also the most influential.
388