The Chancay people lived in the central coastal region of Peru during the Late Intermediate Period (1000-1460 CE), where they were prolific, highly skilled weavers best-known for complex, finely woven textiles. The Chancay wrapped their dead with multiple layers of fine clothing and elaborate fabrics, which have been well-preserved from ancient times by the arid coastal climate … [Read more...] about “Chancay Dolls” and Ancient Andean Textiles: Researched by Vinita Williams
Contrary to popular misconceptions, metalwork dates back to very ancient times in the Americas, with copperworking in the Great Lakes Region of North America starting as early as 5,000 BCE. By the first millennium BCE, the Andean cultures of South America had developed metalwork processes, and these practices spread up into the Isthmian region of lower Central America by the … [Read more...] about Ancient Isthmian Metalwork in Reproduction: Researched by Trevor Heitz
The indigenous peoples of the Andean region of South America are master textile makers, with an ancient history of creating textiles that spans millennia. The Andeans developed an ingeniously simple but highly flexible, portable type of loom known as the backstrap loom, which allowed weavers to bring their work with them and to practice their techniques virtually … [Read more...] about 20th-century Andean Textiles: Researched by Alisha Heitz
The Iroquois cornhusk mask, also known as the Husk Face mask or Bushy Head mask, represents a mythological, human-like people who grow enormous quantities of crops in their supernatural valley on the other side of the world, where the seasons are reversed. The Husk Face people taught the Iroquois how to cultivate crops and to live a thriving sedentary life, and … [Read more...] about Masks and Headdresses from Around the Americas: Researched by Kari Mishler, Josh Barry, and Nicole Manhart
Native cultures of the American Southwest produce three main kinds of Kachina figures. The Hopi and the other Pueblo cultures produce tithu figures, which are religious, educational toys that portray Kachina spirits, the benevolent spirits of the Pueblo religion. The tithu are carved by men in the community and given to girls at the beginning of the Kachina season, to help … [Read more...] about Kachina Figures: Researched by Darbi Dugan and Ashley McLaughlin