Transcript Coil Pot Power Point

Mesoamerica includes southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize,
El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and
Costa Rica.
Coil Pots of the:
• Aztecs
• Mayans
• Olmec
• Chavín
• Nazca
Nazca Pottery of Ancient Peru
Killer Whale, Nasca Culture,
Larco Museum. Lima, Perú
Nazca Culture is known by many, thanks to the
colorful ceramics that were found at the many
cemeteries located along the banks of the
Nazca River. The curiousness of these vessels is
that they show in a very realistic way the
ancient world of the Nazca men, showing
mainly their everyday life, animals, plants,
birds, and gods, stylized creatures, including
zoomorphic and anthropomorphic designs that
sometimes reach more than ten colors in just
one vessel. The best examples of these Nazca
ceramics can be seen today in museums .
Peru Vessel
100 – 600 A.D.
Earthenware
with pigment
Nazca pottery is known for:
• Round, oval or egg shapes
• Visual themes of everyday life, aminals,
birds and plants
• Painted on designs that repeat subjectmatter but leave room for a more pictorial
representation
Aztec Coil Pottery
The Aztecs took pride in creating a variety of beautiful
pottery. Other nations from around the lands often
traded for the prized Aztec pottery. They made
everything from small simple bowls to tall jars that
were heavily decorated and painted.
White-ware from around 600 A.D.
Aztec pottery is known for:
• Geometric shapes that are intricately drawn,
with repeating patterns
• Colors of red, orange, black and white
• Clay was used to make household items,
earrings, masks and sculptures
Chavin Pottery
Chavin Pottery is known for :
• Raised smooth designs that are organic or
geometric repeated patterns
• Backgrounds of texture
• A stirrup spout
• Earth toned colors
Olmec Pottery
Olmec Pottery is known for :
• Carved designs
• Smooth backgrounds
• Extremely thin walls and rims
• Earth toned colors
Mayan Coil Pottery
The ceramics of the Maya consisted of various cylindrical vases,
bowls, and shallow flat-bottomed plates with flaring sides.
The Mayan ceramic artist used the coil building technique to
create their vessels.
Maya artisans were primarily concerned with religious, daily life
and historical themes.
 Maya artisans used hieroglyphics and abstract symbolism along
with images of humans and animals.
Maya artists conveyed perspective and a sense of movement
while depicting such activities as rituals, warfare, and scenes of
everyday life.
Late Classic codex plate from Chaak.
Guatemala Late Classic, AD 550-950
Highly decorated
ceremonial vessel on low
ring base, the pictorial
field decorated with two
seated chiefs holding
bowls, the panels
separated by slanted
columns with geometric
design; painted in bright
shades of red-orange and
black on a white-cream
ground, the interior a
reddish brown.
The upper register in this
vase displays a band of
pseudo-glyphs or false
writing. The pictorial part
of this vase shows a
character with his body
painted black, holding a
spear in one hand and a
package in the other. He
may or may not be
related to the deity
known to scholars as God
M, the merchants' patron,
who is also always
depicted with a blackpainted body.
This beautiful example of a
codex-style vessel (so called
because of the resemblance to
codex pages) was found in an
elite tomb in the Southern
Campeche site of Calakmul. It
displays an image of the Maize
God being born from a seed. The
upper band is a typical example
of a Primary Standard Sequence,
typically stating the use of the
vessel and sometimes its owner
and/or author. The lower band
displays water imagery, typical of
allusions to the Underworld.
Mayan Pottery is known for :
• Thin walls
• Painted pictorial designs
• The use of hieroglyphics to tell history
• Cylindrical forms
• Colors include red, black, orange, brown