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Wednesday, September 18, 2019
The Maya Essay -- essays research papers fc
The Maya were a dominating society of Mesoamerica, rich in culture, community, and art. While life may not be completely interpretable yet, much in known about how these societies were constructed, and how their religion dominated their lives. Much is generally made of their massive stonework, their ceremonial complexes, and ritual sacrifices, but their small jade, ceramic, and stone sculpture deserves as much attention as the works of much larger size have received.      The Maya, inhabiting southern Mexico, Guatemala, and northern Belize, began to settle in communities around 1500 b.c. By A.D. 200, these communities had grown into large cities with expansive areas of temples, pyramids, ball courts, and plazas.1      Pre classic Maya sculpture developed under the geographic expansion of the inhabitants into a variety of ecosystems, inspiring technical and artistic change. The highland inhabitants may have been earlier in initiating stone sculpture.2 Figure 8, an anthropomorphic mushroom figure found in Guatemala may have been a symbol of fertility, judging by its shape’s connotation. Other regional sculpture includes figurines with swollen bellies, accentuated sexual regions, and even pregnant animal depictions. This could be because of the association of maternity and fertility with nature and Mother Earth.      The Classic Period of the Maya began to develop around A.D. 250 and flourished through A.D. 900. Around that time was the start of the Post Classic Period, which was conquered by the Spanish in the early 16th century.3 The information about the classification of these cultures is not strong in that it may be considered inappropriate to call certain periods Classic, Pre Classic, Post Classic, etc. because the rise and fall of Mayan cities was an overlapping sensation, and the establishment of a certain style would appear at many different times throughout the domination of the culture. For classification of the purposes of this paper, however, the division of the culture is used.      Small Mayan sculpture has been discovered at a variety of locations. An Early Classic jade piece, 4 1/4†tall, of the Bird-Monster God (fig. 9), was found at Copan, Honduras. This tiny, sculpted piece of a deity features human hands and feet, with the figure seated cro... ...assic Maya Art and           Architecture.†In The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes, ed.      Richard F. Townsend, 159-169. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago,           1992. Miller, Mary Ellen. The Art of Mesoamerica from Olmec to Aztec, 2nd ed.           London: Thames and Hudson, 1996. Reilly III, F. Kent. â€Å"Art, Ritual, and Rulership in the Olmec World.†In The           Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica, eds. Michael E. Smith and Marilyn      A. Masson, 369-399. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000. Valdes, Juan Antonio. â€Å"The Beginnings of Preclassic Maya Art and                     Architecture.†In The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes, ed.      Richard F. Townsend, 147-57. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago,           1992. The Maya Essay -- essays research papers fc The Maya were a dominating society of Mesoamerica, rich in culture, community, and art. While life may not be completely interpretable yet, much in known about how these societies were constructed, and how their religion dominated their lives. Much is generally made of their massive stonework, their ceremonial complexes, and ritual sacrifices, but their small jade, ceramic, and stone sculpture deserves as much attention as the works of much larger size have received.      The Maya, inhabiting southern Mexico, Guatemala, and northern Belize, began to settle in communities around 1500 b.c. By A.D. 200, these communities had grown into large cities with expansive areas of temples, pyramids, ball courts, and plazas.1      Pre classic Maya sculpture developed under the geographic expansion of the inhabitants into a variety of ecosystems, inspiring technical and artistic change. The highland inhabitants may have been earlier in initiating stone sculpture.2 Figure 8, an anthropomorphic mushroom figure found in Guatemala may have been a symbol of fertility, judging by its shape’s connotation. Other regional sculpture includes figurines with swollen bellies, accentuated sexual regions, and even pregnant animal depictions. This could be because of the association of maternity and fertility with nature and Mother Earth.      The Classic Period of the Maya began to develop around A.D. 250 and flourished through A.D. 900. Around that time was the start of the Post Classic Period, which was conquered by the Spanish in the early 16th century.3 The information about the classification of these cultures is not strong in that it may be considered inappropriate to call certain periods Classic, Pre Classic, Post Classic, etc. because the rise and fall of Mayan cities was an overlapping sensation, and the establishment of a certain style would appear at many different times throughout the domination of the culture. For classification of the purposes of this paper, however, the division of the culture is used.      Small Mayan sculpture has been discovered at a variety of locations. An Early Classic jade piece, 4 1/4†tall, of the Bird-Monster God (fig. 9), was found at Copan, Honduras. This tiny, sculpted piece of a deity features human hands and feet, with the figure seated cro... ...assic Maya Art and           Architecture.†In The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes, ed.      Richard F. Townsend, 159-169. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago,           1992. Miller, Mary Ellen. The Art of Mesoamerica from Olmec to Aztec, 2nd ed.           London: Thames and Hudson, 1996. Reilly III, F. Kent. â€Å"Art, Ritual, and Rulership in the Olmec World.†In The           Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica, eds. Michael E. Smith and Marilyn      A. Masson, 369-399. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000. Valdes, Juan Antonio. â€Å"The Beginnings of Preclassic Maya Art and                     Architecture.†In The Ancient Americas: Art from Sacred Landscapes, ed.      Richard F. Townsend, 147-57. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago,           1992.
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