Unit Two Review Guide: Indigenous Art in the Americas and Africa

AP Art History, Spring 2017

Each of the following sections contains relevant terms and questions to guide your studies for the upcoming unit test. Be
able to not only identify the terms listed, but to be able to analyze their significance within the appropriate context.

Early Mesoamerica and South America

Works to Know:

Chavn de Huntar Yaxchiln

Chavn de Huntar plan Structure 40
Lanzn Stela Lintel 25; Structure 23
Relief sculpture Structure 33
Nose ornament

Terms to Know:

migration fatalism Axis mundi

land bridge theory dualism Maya
costal migration theory were-jaguar Petn basin
trans-Pacific migration celts Water instability
Olmec Chavn de Huantar cenote
Destination cities Andes sacrifice
ballcourt drainage Yaxichln
mounds metallurgy Liminal space
obsidian gold / silver smithing Relief carving
jade cloth production glyphs
step-pyramid piligrimage lintel
stone heads sunken courts roof comb
masks Lanzn stele

Guiding Questions:

1. The Olmecs are sometimes referred to as the mother culture of Mesoamerica. How is this evident in the common
themes, content, materials, and techniques of Mesoamerican art and architecture from 200 CE until the early 16 th century?
2. Describe the relationship between the Lanzn stela in Chavn de Huntar and the spiritual practice associated with the
temple complex. What do we know about religious ritual at Chavn? What dont we know? Why?
3. How did the Maya use architecture and art to convey political and religious legitimacy? Provide specific examples.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Indigenous North American Art

Works to Know:

Great Serpent Mound Bandolier bag Painted elk hide

Mesa Verde cliff dwellings Transformation mask Black-on-black ceramic vessel

Terms to Know:

Paleo-Indians Megafauna Siouan

Clovis points Algonquian Uto-Aztecan
Atlatl Iroquian Archaic Age
Midden piles Chaco Canyon Totem poles
Woodland period Pilgrimage Chilkat blankets
Adena Kivas Ledger paintings
Hopewell Cliff palaces Potsherd
Agricultural revolution Drought Boiling stones
Bow and arrow Hopi Basketry
Pottery Zuni Paddle and anvil
Mound-building cultures Kewa Temper
Ancestral Puebloans Mimbres Effigy pots
Four Corners Navajo Plasticity
Anasazi Sand paintings Burnishing
Basin-and-range Gender roles Mara Montoya Martnez
Pit-houses Katsinas Matte-black on polished black
Pueblos Masks Reduction firing

Guiding Questions:

1. How are North American cultures and their artistic production different from Mesoamerica and South America? How
are they similar?
2. Compare the pottery production of Mississippian and Puebloan groups. What commonalities exist between the forms,
methods, and decorations? What differences exist? Why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Late Mesoamerican and South American Art

Works to Know:

Templo Mayor (Main Temple) City of Cusco, including Walls at Saqsa Waman
Templo Mayor (reconstruction Qorikancha (Inka main temple), (Sacsayhuaman)
drawing) Santo Domingo (Spanish colonial Maize cobs
The Coyolxuhqui Stone convent), and Walls at Waman City of Machu Picchu
Calendar Stone (Sacsayhuaman) City of Machu Picchu
Olmec-style mask City of Cusco plan Observatory
Rulers feather headdress Curved Inka wall of Intihuatana Stone
(probably of Motechzoma II) Qorikancha with Santo All Toqapu tunic
Domingo

Terms to Know:

Mexica (Aztec) Nahuatl Ritual cannibalism

Tenochtitln Pochtec Auto-sacrifice
Texcoc Maize Superimposition
Tlacopan Cacao Stucco
Triple Alliance Chinampas Sanctuary
Great Speaker Huitzilopochtli Talud-tablero construction
Calpulli Quetzalcoatl Coyolxauhqui
City-states Tlalo Inca (Inka)
Tribute Flowery War Cusco

Guiding Questions

1. Describe Incan construction methods. What are some of their characteristics? Why did they choose to use these
techniques?
2. Explain the significance of the Coyolxuhqui stone found within Templo Mayor. Why is its placement significant?
Indigenous African Art

Works to Know:

Conical tower and circular wall of Contextual photograph: Bundu mask

Great Zimbabwe sika dwa kofi Contextual photograph:
Conical tower Ndop (portrait figure) of King Bundu mask
Circular wall Mishe miShyaang maMbul Ikenga (shrine figure)
Great Mosque of Djenn Ndop Lukasa (memory board)
Great Mosque of Djenn Contextual photograph: Lukasa
Monday market at the Ndop Contextual photograph:
Great Mosque of Djenn Power figure (Nkisi nkondi) Lukasa
Wall plaque, from Obas palace Nkisi nkondi Aka elephant mask
Wall plaque, from Obas Female (Pwo) mask Aka elephant mask
palace Portrait mask (Mblo) Contextual photograph:
Contextual photograph Mblo Aka elephant mask
Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool) Contextual photograph: Reliquary figure
Sika dwa kofi Mblo Veranda post of enthroned king
Bundu mask and senior wife (Opo Ogoga)

Terms to Know:

Nok Portraiture Dry fit

Terracotta Oni Granary
Coiffure Oba Monolith
Gender roles Ife Soapstone
Scarification Benin Ivory
Bronze Mali Queen mother
Bronze-casting Mosques Iy-oba
Fly whisks Adobe Naturalism
Christianity Lalibela Ndop
Islam Rock churches Saltcellars
Animism Great Zimbabwe

Guiding Questions:

1. What are some significant themes expressed in indigenous African art? How are these themes both similar and
different from themes expressed in indigenous American art?
2. What are some limitations which make it difficult for art historians to fully examine indigenous African works of art
prior to the 20th century?
3. What religious traditions have impacted African art? Provide specific examples.