Comprehensive Study Notes: Arts of the Pacific and the Americas

Overview of Oceania: Geography and Settlement

• Geographic Divisions: Oceania is traditionally divided into four main regions:

  • Australia

  • Melanesia (including New Guinea and New Britain)

  • Micronesia

  • Polynesia (including Hawaii, New Zealand, Easter Island, and the Marquesas Islands)

• Settlement History:

  • Migrants from Southeast Asia settled these islands over a vast period.

  • $26,000\,BCE$: New Guinea was populated.

  • $800\,CE$: Migrants reached New Zealand.

  • The disappearance of the land bridge linking Asia and Alaska led to the isolation of the Americas and Pacific Islands.

• Material Culture and Tools:

  • Primary Materials: Tools were crafted from stone, bone, or shell.

  • Architecture and Textiles: Houses, canoes, mats, and cloth were made using wood, bark, and small plants.

  • Technological Limitations: Traders did not introduce metal until the $18th$ century. Pottery is scarce due to a lack of clay.

  • Navigation: Polynesian (Hawaiian) navigators used multi-hulled canoes ($c. 1781$).

Common Traditional Beliefs of Oceania

• Earth Mother and Sky Father: The belief that life forms were created by the union of the Earth Mother and Sky Father.

• Ancestors as Intermediaries: Ancestors in the spirit world act as intermediaries between living people and the gods, influencing future events.

• Mana: Defined as spiritual power that resides in persons, places, or things. Many art forms are intended to possess Mana to ward off adversity, promote community well-being, and enhance personal power.

Arts of Australia: The Aboriginal Tradition

• Human Presence: Dates back $40,000$ years. Aboriginal people maintain an intimate bond with nature.

• Lifestyle: Historically semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, utilizing a few highly effective tools while eschewing permanent shelters or clothing.

• The Dreaming (Dreamtime):

  • A mythical, eternal time when ancestral spirit deities created and shaped the world.

  • Stories of the Dreaming explain geographic features (waterways, mountains) and the creation of all living creatures.

  • Aboriginal art focuses on abstraction for essence and universal concepts, often featuring elaborate patterning.

• Specific Artworks and Techniques:

  • Bunia (Mid-$20th$ Century): A Dreamtime painting using natural colors on bark.

  • Visual Storytelling: Paintings often use hatching and cross-hatching. A specific example depicts a story in four time segments:

    • Upper Left: A dying man on a funeral platform.

    • Lower Left: A didjeridu player and dancer performing.

    • Upper Right: The spirit leaving the platform to cross over the great snake into the spirit world.

    • Lower Right: Using a stone to kill a fish for food during the journey.

  • Djalumbu (by Lipundja, 1964): Features a center log coffin representing a catfish to assist the soul. The "eyes" on the coffin symbolize the alert gaze of an ancestor. During rituals, noisemakers emulate diver birds (predators of the fish).

  • Aboriginal Rock Carving: Recognized as the oldest known Pacific art form. Recent studies suggest sites were chosen for their acoustic properties and sound reflections.

Arts of Melanesia: Solomon Islands

• Protective Prow Figure ($19th$ Century):

  • Wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl (6\frac{1}{2}\" high).

  • Birds often appear with human figures in Melanesian art, serving as guides or messengers.

  • Prow figures act as protectors, watching for reefs or shoals.

Arts of Polynesia: Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

• Moai (Stone Figures on Ahu Naunau):

  • Carved from volcanic stone (average height $36'$) and placed on pedestals.

  • Scholars believe they are memorials to dead ancestors or important rulers who have taken on spiritual power.

  • Features include prominent eyes staring out to sea and some with stone "topknots" of a different color.

  • History: Date back to $c. 900\,CE$. Most were destroyed by warfare and restored in $1978$.

  • The "Walking" Theory: It is thought the statues were "walked" into place using ropes or rolled on logs. The island was deforested to facilitate the creation and movement of these megaliths.

Arts of Polynesia: Maori of New Zealand

• Maori Meeting House (Whare):

  • Represent the body of the Sky Father: The ridgepole is the spine, rafters are the ribs, and the exterior features his face and embracing arms.

  • Relief Carvings: Ancestors are depicted with abalone shell eyes that catch light.

  • Lattice Panels: Contain patterns of stories about deities and heroes. These were woven by women from the outside of the house; women were not permitted to enter.

  • Posture: Carved figures often show crouching ancestors in aggressive war dance stances.

Arts of Polynesia: The Marquesas Islands

• Tattooing (Tatau):

  • Derived from the Tahitian word meaning "hitting repeatedly."

  • Purpose: Expressed identity and personality, signaled social status/rank, and offered protection against evil spirits.

  • Sacred Rite: Performed by a specialist called a "tukuka."

  • Mythology: The art was taught to humans by the two sons of God Ta’aroa: Mata Arhu and Tu Ra’i po’.

  • Process: Bone tools with fine teeth were dipped in soot and tapped with a stick to puncture the skin. Due to the expense and pain, only small areas were tattooed at a time.

  • History: Noted by Captain Cook. Later forbidden by Christian missionaries.

The Americas: Mesoamerica

• General Characteristics: Early civilizations ($c. 3,000\,BCE$) shared corn cultivation, pyramid building, a $260$-day ritual calendar, and blood sacrifice. The term "pre-Columbian" refers to the era before Columbus ($1492$).

• The Olmec ($1,500\text{--}300\,BCE$):

  • Known as the "Mother Culture" of Mesoamerica.

  • Colossal Heads: Massive basalt boulders (e.g., San Lorenzo Head $5$) at least $8'$ tall. These are believed to be portraits of powerful individual rulers and each features a unique headdress.

• The Maya ($c. 250\text{--}900\,CE$):

  • Accomplishments: Astronomy, biology, the concept of zero, a calendar, and a writing system.

  • Palenque: Site of the Palace and the Temple of the Inscriptions. Features step-pyramid architecture and corbelled vaulting.

  • Lord Pacal ($603\text{--}683\,CE$): A great ruler buried at Palenque. His sarcophagus lid and jade burial mask are famous relics. His stucco bust reflects the Mayan ideal of beauty (high cheekbones, eagle-like nose).

  • Bonampak Murals ($800\,CE$): Recorded history rather than just mythology. One mural depicts the presentation of an heir and details lost relics like jaguar pelts and woven textiles.

• Teotihuac!n ($200\,BCE\text{--}800\,CE$):

  • Name means "where man met the gods." A multi-ethnic city of $200,000$ people.

  • Pyramid of the Sun ($100\,CE$): Rises over $210$ feet. Sits over a deep cave (symbolizing humanity's emergence). Aligned to face the sunset on August $12$, the start date of the Mayan calendar.

  • Temple of Quetzalcoatl: Features relief heads of the storm god (goggle eyes) and the Feathered Serpent (Quetzalcoatl), the god of windstorms and rain.

• The Aztecs and Mixtecs:

  • The Mixtec ($Oaxaca$) were master artisans who created gold, turquoise, and pearl art for the Aztecs.

  • The Mask of Xiuhtecuhtli: A ritual mask reflecting Mixtec craftsmanship.

  • Spanish Impact: Much Aztec art was melted down for gold, and books were burned.

South and Central America

• Tairona Culture ($1,000\text{--}1,600\,CE$):

  • Produced gold pendants depicting rulers as shamans. They used the lost-wax process combined with acid baths.

• Inca Empire ($c. 1438\text{--}1533\,CE$):

  • Stretched $3,400$ miles and built $20,000$ miles of stone-paved roads.

  • Machu Picchu ($15th\text{--}16th$ Centuries): A royal retreat or spiritual center. Granite blocks were shaped through abrasion to fit perfectly without masonry.

  • Incan Tunic ($c. 1500$): A royal garment made of wool and cotton (35\" \times 30\"). It contains various patterns, such as a black-and-white checkerboard representing the military.

North American Cultures

• Adena Culture ($500\text{--}200\,BCE$): Known for the Effigy Pipe, used for smoking sacred tobacco to communicate with the spirit world.

• Fort Ancient Culture: Serpent Mound ($c. 1070\,CE$) in Ohio. An earthwork $1,348'$ long, serving a mortuary function. The head is aligned with the summer solstice at sunset.

• Navajo (Southwest):

  • Famous for Chief's Blankets ($19th$ Century) made of handspun wool and natural dyes (74\" \times 60\"). Though called "Chief's blankets," they were defined by high quality and waterproof density rather than rank.

• Anasazi (Ancestor Pueblo):

  • Cliff Palace ($1,200\,CE$): A communal dwelling in Mesa Verde, Colorado. Included over $200$ rooms and $23$ kivas (round religious chambers).

• Mimbres Culture ($c. 1100$): Produced ceramic bowls with geometric designs. Bowls were ritually "killed" by piercing a hole in the bottom to release the spirit of the vessel, mirroring the death of the human body.

• Lakota (Plains):     Hide Painted with Scenes of Warfare ($c. 1880$): Record of a battle between the Lakota and the Crow. Typical "exploit paintings" feature profile views and lack a horizon line.

• Pueblo/Hopi/Zuni:

  • Kachina Dolls: Educational toys used to teach children about the spirits. Over $200$ identified characters exist. Selling them was traditionally considered a crime that could bring disaster.

• Kwakiutl (Pacific Northwest):

  • Crooked Beak Mask: Used in ceremonies to represent mythical Cannibal Birds. These masks have hinged beaks that snap shut loudly.

• Tlingit (Pacific Northwest):

  • Community Houses: Decorated with elegant abstractions of whales, ravens, and bears.

  • Totems: Objects (animals/plants) serving as family emblems. Totem Poles are stacked symbols recording clan history back to mythological roots.