UNIT 15 - Art of the Americas

Bandolier bag

A large, heavily beaded pouch that crosses the body.

Contour rivalry

A visually complex technique where two images share parts or outlines, leading to a deliberately confusing overlapping of imagery.

Earthwork

Art made of the earth and located amongst nature, not in galleries or museums.

Fitted stone masonry

Inca technique where blocks of stone are kept to their natural shape as much as possible, with edges flattened off and then fitted together with other stones without mortar.

Formline style

Characteristics of Northwest coastal Native American culture; masks are bilaterally symmetrical, with thick undulating black lines and ovoid shapes.

Kiva

A plaza that was the religious or social center for Native American pueblos.

Prairie style

Native American decorative arts style that utilized colorful glass beads fashioned in floral patterns.

Pueblo

Village of adjoined flat-roofed structures; made of adobe or stone.

Repoussé

A sculptural technique where a thin sheet of metal, gold, or bronze is fit onto a mold; the mold is beaten from the backside/inside, leaving a raised design on the surface/exterior.

Roof comb

A wall rising from the center or front of a building to give the appearance of greater height.

San Ildefonso

Neolithic Puebloan ceramic style; revived in the 20th century.

Seed beads

Small glass beads; prized for their brilliant colors.

Terrace

Common element of Inca highland agriculture; flat arable land cut into cliffsides.

Warp

Basic threads of a textile.