Art of the Americas Answers

This sculpture is entitled, Lord Pakal. It is made of stucco and was found in the tomb of Lord Pakal. You can see the figures head is cone shaped, which was considered ideal to the Mayans. They preformed a practice on babies in which they bound their heads in order to produce a cone shape.

The Mayans employed the codex-style of painting. Using this method, a vessel was covered in white slip, painted in light brown washes, then outlined in dark brown or black. Painters were often members of the ruling elite.

The Olmecs produced an abundance of basalt sculpture. Basalt blocks were quarried, then transported from distant sites.

This piece is entitled, Hunter’s Mural, and was found in Utah. It is believed to have been created by the Freemont people sometime between 800 and 1300 CE. It shows a hunting scene.

This piece is entitled, Anthropomorphs, and was found in Utah. To create this piece, the painted used his/her fingers and yucca fiber brushes to apply reddish pigment made from iron oxide to the rock.

The Olmecs created mainly sculptures out of basalt. The Mayans made sculptures out of stucco and created pottery out of clay. They also used the codex-style of painting in their pottery. American Southwest Natives created what was called Rock art, which was mainly painting on rocks or cave walls.

Mesoamerica includes the land between the continents of North America and South America. Its landforms range from rainforests to semiarid mountains. The different civilizations were linked by cultural similarities and trade. There was a sharp division between the elite and commoner classes.

The North American Southwest included the areas of present-day New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. It was mainly made up of farming cultures, which were slower to arise in the American Southwest. They built large-scale irrigation systems and elaborate, multi-storied structures.

Answers may vary, but should be similar to the following: The monuments have faced vandalism, flooding, and the wear-and-tear of time.

This is an Olmec colossal head, a massive stone sculpture carved from basalt. It shows a human head with strong features and a helmet-like headdress, and it may represent a ruler or important ballplayer. The sculpture is impressive because of its huge size and the skill required to carve and move the stone. This type of sculpture was created by the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica.