The Americas Study Guide 4

Post and Lintel

a form of construction in which two upright posts support a horizontal beam (lintel).

Earflares

large ear ornament

Ritual Ballgame

an important social and ritualistic practice, literally and symbolically associated with life and death (origin story)

Colossal

very large scale, at least twice life size

Celt

an ax head, typically only used ceremonially 

Façade

exterior vertical face of a building, usually the front

Talud-tablero

an architectural configuration with rectangular elements perpendicular to the ground sitting on a sloping element

Hieroglyph/glyph

written script that uses conventionalized signs to represent concepts, sounds, or words.

Pakal

ruled the Maya for more than 60 years in a time of rising power for the Maya

Sarcophagus

a container for human remains

Kiva

an underground circular space used for political or spiritual rites

Tlaloc

god of rain/water and agriculture

Huitzilopochtli

god of the Sun and warfare

Chacmool

a reclining figure with a vessel

Vellum

a writing surface originally made from calfskin

Codex

a handwritten bound book

Screenfold book

a method of book-binding in which pages are attached to one another by their sides and folded into an accordion shape

Conquistador

explorer-soldiers in 15^th-16^th century from Spain or Portugal who participated in the conquest of the Americas

Kachina

in Pueblo culture, a deified ancestral or nature spirit; also a deity impersonator who wears the appropriate mask and costume in kachina rites

Sandpainting

art of pouring colored sand  into designs, part of the healing and ceremonial life of the Dine (Navajo) people

Matte

a surface that does not reflect light; has no luster or shine 

Lanzón sculpture, Chavín de Huántar, Peru, c. 900–200 BCE. Stone, height 15 ft.

Funerary mantle with embroidered decoration, Paracas, Peru, first century CE. Woven cloth, 55⅞ in. × 7 ft. 10⅞ in.

Hummingbird, Nasca line on a desert plain, Nasca Peru, c. 500 CE, approx. length 320 ft.

Portrait vessel, Moche, Peru, c. 400–600 CE. Ceramic with slip, height 13½ in.

Colossal Head, (Head 8), San Lorenzo, Mexico, Olmec, c. 1200-900 BCE, basalt, 7’2” x 5’5

Ceremonial ax (celt) in the form of a deity, c. 900-400 BCE, jade, height 11 ½”

Pyramid of the Sun, c. 150 CE, Teotihuacan, Mexico

Façade of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent (detail: reconstruction), with talud-tablero profile, c. 225 CE, Teotihuacan, Mexico

Chocolate vessel with palace scene, Maya, c. 600–900 CE. Ceramic, height 8 in.

Sarcophagus lid (detail), from tomb of Pakal, Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico. Maya, c. 683. Limestone, 7 ft. × 12 ft.

Maya rulers Shield Jaguar II and Lady K’ab’al Xook, Lintel 24 of Temple 23, from

Yaxchilan, Mexico, c. 725. Limestone, 43 × 30 in

Central Cahokia as it would have appeared about 1150–1200. Settlement area shown approx. 2 × 2 miles (3.2. × 3.2 km); height of central mound approx. 100 ft.

Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo culture, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, 830–1250

Templo Mayor, drawing showing earlier stages inside the latest iteration. Reproduces construction phases c. 1350–1519.

Calendar Stone, from the Templo Mayor precinct, early sixteenth century,

Mictlantecuhtli and Ehecatl, modern facsimile copy of the Borgia Codex, original possibly from Puebla or Tlaxcala, Mexico, original c. 1400–1500. 10⅝ × 10⅜ in.

Otto Pentewa, kachina figurine, Hopi, New Oraibi, Arizona, before 1959. Height 12 in

María Montoya Martínez, jar, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, 1940s. diameter 9 in.

Kwakiutl Crooked Beak of Heaven mask (closed), British Columbia, Canada, late nineteenth century. Wood, plant fiber, cord, pigment, 18¼ × 40⅛ in.

Bandolier bag, Lenape, Eastern Woodlands, c. 1850. Hide with silk and glass beads