World view and Andean Art

The people who established their homes and lives in the Andes dealt with much environmental adversity. They lived in such drastically different climates including the second highest altitude mountain ranges, extreme deserts that never saw a drop of rain as well as dense tropical forests. The people of the Andes therefore experienced the dualism of nature and incorporated it into their belief system and worldviews. The four main themes that made up the Andean worldviews were essence, collectivity, transformation and recprocity.
The people and the art created in the Andes expresses the essence over the appearance of something. Many works of art were created with difficult interpretations for the level of a person. For example, The Nasca lines can only be viewed from far away and not up close. They represent the essence of their meaining not the intimate appearance.
Collectivity was another main theme of world view. The Andean system worked together collectively insteasd of individually; the group was greater than the individual. The Andean cultures worked in an  hierarchy, where different members would benefit the overall grooup and the larger picture.
Reciprocity also played a role in life and art. Due to the drastic differences in environment, vertical trade was very important for people to survive in different climates. People from one climate traded evenly with those of another climate. Chavin art also demonstrates reciprocity in which a piece can be analyezed from bottom to top or top to bottom in a mirror image.
Transformation was guided by the notion of circular time. Andeans believed that time moved circulary and that a person could move through one plane of existance to the next. Life and death were connected not viewed as two different states.
The idea of essence over appearance is a positive one I think. To believe that the essence of something is much more important than the actual appearance holds much weight and meaning to their ancient society yet serves connections with modern society and its troubles now.

Masks

After looking at the Aztec masks, I immediately just thought how beautiful they were. They're decorated and adorned so intricately with precious gemstones and metals- anything girls would love to wear now. The masks are also used for different purposes. Some are used for seremonies regarding wars while others are meant for ceremonies regarding agriculture and sustenance. Some masks, like that of the creator deity Tezcatlipoca, give an initial vibe of creepiness.  However, after observing the beauty and detail of the mask it becomes less scary and more awing. Extreme detail is put into this mask that represents such a powerful deity. Because it is made on a human skull signifies the underlying debt that humans had owed to the gods for their creation. It is something very beautiful and meaningful- less scary and barbaric.

Early Maya

Early Maya culture has various intriguing facts. Palenque struck me as a interesting place as well as beautiful.  The picture of the court on the NGA website in the forest is so gorgeous, no wonder why it was the home of such great rulers.  One ruler, Pakal, ruled from the age of twelve until his death 63 years later. Palenque is one of the best preserved Maya courts.... and i definitely want to visit it!
I also thought it was interesting the role that Maya women played in their courts; the women actually rose in status to obstain prominent roles. Women gained the rights to play roles in rituals such as blood sacrifice and communicating with ancestors.  This seemed so interesting because in society historically, women have rarely had the chance to have equal power as men in such important rituals. Lady Xok, a supreme wife of a king, even shed her own blood as sacrifice which was meant to perpetuate the cycle of human life. I always thought that because women are the bearers of life they would have been more respected in ancient societies; in Maya culture it seems that some women were.
It's also interesting that the Maya were the only culture that actually developed a heiroglyph system to correspond with their language.  I always think it's amazing that anthropologists can even interpret what these ancient cultures were saying and recontruct their language. The language tab on the NGA site offered a table of the Maya hieroglyph and langauge sound too which I played with a little, even though I had no clue what the sounds and images meant. 
The early Maya culture is fascinating!