Americas

North America and South America in the Western Hemisphere are what makes up the Americas. More than 900 people live in the Americas. The most populous countries being the United States, Brazil, and Mexico. Just like in several other periods, religion played a large role in their architecture. They had temples that provided spatial orientation for the town. Also, pyramids were meant to stand out and represent the gods and powers of the region. 

Olmecs was the first major civilization in Mexico. They developed hieroglyphic writing and were the 1st calendar in the Western Hemisphere. They had a temple focused city type that is pictured below. The ceremony center is composed of great pyramid of earth, ball court, smaller pyramids, burial grounds and giant stone heads

Olmecs are also knows for their realistic artwork. It consisted of delicate cravings of jade, rock crystal, and less valuable stone. They made ax heads, masks and decorative objects. Also, mural paintings and pottery were made. Below are two examples of some art from back then. 

Mask of Jade

Fish Vessel

Teotihuacan was another civilization that is named "Palace of the gods". It is approximately 2 miles long and the city was laid out in a grid. The city had no walls surrounding it, which showed a sign of powerful society without enemies.  Their artwork included pottery that had very decorative birds, butterflies, flowers and abstract signs on them. 

The Mayas were another civilization that flourished for 1,800 years. They were destroyed by the Spanish conquest of 1519. They had temples as well that were similar to the other civilizations along with a four sided pyramid called Castillo. 

The Aztecs was the civilization that lasted from 1150-1520 A.D with a population that grew from 500,000 to over 3 million. They had two temples, god of war and god of agriculture. Their pyramids were made of stone and brick and they were called pyramid of the sun and the moon. Their architecture expressed their thoughts and beliefs. However, the Aztecs were conquered by Spain in 1520. 

Below is a video on the Incas Empire. It was the largest empire in Pre-Columbia America and was known for their architecture. The video also mentions Machu Picchu which is located in a seismically unstable area. It was built without mortar and was a royal estate for the Incan emperor Pachacuti. 

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Discussion:

I viewed Samantha's blog and I liked how she compared these structures to a field trip she went on in sixth grade. Also, she brought to my attention that the Olmec period was kind of like the Egyptian period because of the similar social statuses. I never even thought of that. From Emily's blog I learned that there is Aztec design everywhere today, even on our clothing. The Aztec style is very popular right now in the fashion world. The patterns on the clothing that Emily showed under her current applications really show the Aztec culture very well.