Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture

D

2

Inca

The Inca, who called themselves Tawantinsuyu, ruled from Cuzco an empire extending between Ecuador and Chile. A highland warrior people, the Inca preferred an aesthetic that was formally simple, decoratively sparse, and functional. Because the Inca were the Native Americans that the Spanish conquered, their culture is the Central Andean Area civilization of which most is known; however, as happened with the treasures of their Mesoamerican contemporaries, the Aztecs, many Inca artifacts were destroyed by the Spanish, out of greed for gold and silver or out of Christian militancy.

Highland Inca cities such as Machu Picchu were carefully planned to harmonize with the landscape, both through the use of indigenous materials and through the architectural repetition of surrounding natural forms. Structurally among the most accomplished in the pre-Columbian period, Inca buildings were constructed with carefully shaped, precisely fitted stone masonry that was left undecorated. Trapezoidal doors and windows were characteristic.

The Inca produced neither large-scale freestanding statues nor architectural sculpture. Metal figurines and small stone ceremonial bowls in the shape of llamas and alpacas are among the finest examples of their sculpture.

Inca pottery, like that of the Chimu, was mass-produced, but it was less distinguished. The most characteristic shape was that of the aryballos, a polychromed container for carrying liquids. In both textiles and metalwork, the Inca continued the Central Andean tradition of high-quality design and execution.

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VIII

Intermediate Area

In lower Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador notable artistic and architectural styles also developed.

A

Lower Central America

Well-executed, large-scale stone sculpture was carved in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In addition to statues of deities reflecting Mesoamerican influence, the Central American cultures made elaborately conceived ceremonial stone metates, or surfaces for grinding corn. Jade was made into celts, or ceremonial axes.

Metalwork, which was widely practiced, indicates the influence of northern South America. Among the finest examples are body ornaments made by the Veraguas culture of Panama and the Chiriqui culture of Costa Rica.

The boldly drawn and colored pottery of the Panamanian Coclé is strikingly similar in its dynamic rhythmic patterns to the modern molas, or reverse appliqués, sewn by the Kuna of San Blas. On the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica the Chorotega culture made the best examples of Central American polychromed effigy pots.

B

Colombia

Few major architectural sites have been discovered in Colombia. The earliest and largest archaeological zone is San Augustín, an area covered with freestanding stone sculptures, many related to a feline cult. Underground tombs and temples were also built. At Tierradentro, deep richly painted shaft tombs were cut into the rock. The Caribbean site of Tairona has stone streets and stone foundations for circular houses.

Goldwork was the major Colombian art. The Calima, Quimbaya, Tairona, Tolima, Sinu, Darién, and Chibcha, or Muisca, all produced different regional styles of metalworking and developed particular shapes and iconographies. Reflecting the influence of Central Andean metallurgy, Colombian metalwork is, however, often more innovative in form and technique.

Pottery seldom reached the aesthetic level of metalworking except among cultures such as the Quimbaya, whose robust clay figurines and pots were the equal of their goldwork.

C

Ecuador

Although fine metalwork was produced in Ecuador, high-quality ceramics were more commonly produced there than in Colombia. Scholars argue whether the earliest pottery in the western hemisphere was made at the Ecuadorian site of Valdivia (c. 3000 bc), or whether it was being produced at the Colombian north coast site of Puerto Hormiga at approximately the same time. Figurines and effigy pots were made by such cultures as the Chorrera, Guangala, Bahia, Jama-Coaque, La Tolita, Mantano, and Carchi.

Architectural and freestanding stone sculpture was rarely carved. The Mantano low reliefs at Cerro Jaboncillo are among the finest examples. Also from the Mantano period (ad 850-1500) are Manabi carved stools; these U-shaped seats borne by sculpted humans or animals are the most characteristic Ecuadorian stone artifacts.

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