Pre-1600: The Arts: Chronology

IMPORTANT EVENTS TO 1600

IMPORTANT EVENTS TO 1600

1500 b.c.

• The ability to make ceramic pottery appears in the coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The ceramic vessels resemble flowerpots and are similar to the earlier steatite (soapstone) bowls of the area.

1000 b.c.

• Techniques for carving stone and hammering copper are developed among Eastern Woodlands tribes. Ceramic pottery-making is also widespread, and animal symbols (owls, eagles, frogs, snakes, and turtles) decorate the vessels.

200 b.c.

• The Hohokam people of the southern Arizona desert create distinct pottery styles and use shells to make jewelry and turquoise mosaics. Meanwhile the Mogollon people of southwest New Mexico start to fire their clay pots to make them smooth and then paint them with long brushes made from the yucca plant. Decorations include complex geometric designs, animals, and human figures.

500 a.d.

• The Anasazi culture of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah arises. Over time these people construct cliff dwellings and use a dry fresco technique to paint murals on the walls. Typical images include supernatural beings, plants, and natural phenomena such as clouds and lightning. These people also develop unique pottery styles, basketry, textiles, and personal adornments.

800

• Southeastern Native Americans use a symbolic system of art that has links to South and Central America. Many vessels and jars resemble Aztec ones, and common motifs are winged serpents and eagle warriors.

900

• Tribes In The Southwest use wooden dolls known as kachinas in their religious ceremonies.

1528

• The European Print artist Theodor de Bry, famous for his images of the “New World,” is born in Liège.

1550s

• Franciscan Friars direct the building of the mission of St. Michael the Archangel at Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico, which will later influence architectural designs of missions built in the southwestern United States.

1564

• The French Traveler-artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues arrives in Florida with an expedition led by the Huguenot explorer René Goulaine de Laudonnière.

1585

• The English Artist and cartographer John White accompanies an expedition to North America.

1587

• John White Accompanies a second English expedition and executes a map of the east coast of North America.

1590

• Over The Course Of the next twenty-eight years, Theodor de Bry and his sons publish ten volumes of the series Great Voyages, detailing with copious illustrations the European colonization of the Americas.

1598

• Franciscan Missionaries begin building missions throughout New Mexico, utilizing Native American labor.

1600

• The Micmac Indians of northeastern North America start to apply quillwork to bark in order to exchange it for European trade goods.