Art History 204 - ANCIENT AMER:ART, ARCHITEC,ARC

What is "antiquity" in the Americas? This class explores this question by focusing upon pre-Hispanic visual culture. We cross both Mesoamerica and the Andes, giving particular attention to the Aztecs, Inka and Maya. Along with architecture, textiles, ceramics and sculpted works, we consider current debates in art history and archaeology. Among the themes we discuss: sacrifice and rulership, representations of human and deified beings, the symbolic and economic meanings of materials, and the ethics of excavation and museum display. Group A