ABORIGINAL DECORATIVE ART — KUIECJEH 545 



or double curvos rescniblinp those of the eastern woodlands area: 

 also of triaiiLdes and lo/.('n<re-shaped fi<jfui"es. and of |)!-ayer-sti(k do- 

 si<rns distorted to lit the spaee. On the body of the vessel appear in 

 eombination certain fifrnres as that of a deer and a rosette r('|)iesen(- 

 in^ a sunflower. There thev are re))eated in a manner showing an 

 appreciation for the symmetrical disposition of space. There may 

 be another encircling: panel filled with an interlockin*; scroll of 

 inverted or interlockin<; conventionalized biids. A series of thvee 

 rectan<:u!ar ste])s or terraces may he substituted for tiie deer, sun- 

 flower, and bird-desio^n patterns. 



THE WEST INDIES. MEXICO. AND SOUTH AMKRU'A 



When C'oluml)us first eiicountereil American natives on one of the 

 Bahama Islands he met with the most northern of the South Amer- 

 ican tribes. The prehistoric inhabitants of the Bahama Islands 

 were Arawaks who had followed the island chain northward from 

 the Venezuelan coast. Their culture was a meager one, perhaps 

 much more so on the part of the Bahamans than on the larger 

 islands of Haiti and Cuba where stone carving and woodworking 

 rivaled in excellence the various types of freehand modeling of life 

 forms in earthenware. 



The Indian tribes of northern Mexico are adept at the weavers 

 art and embroider designs based in part on native and in part on 

 Spanish patterns. Geometrical devices and animal forms essentially 

 native combine with heraldic patterns. The conveying of ideas 

 is at the bottom of much pictographic or representative art of 

 Mexican tribes. This, however, does not lessen the value of the 

 ornamentation. 



Mexican art area. — Ancient Peru and ancient Mexico produced and 

 maintained dense populations at various centers, but round about 

 these centers were lesser populations occupying marginal positions. 

 Among the Huichol Indians weaving incorporates designs having 

 marked realistic tendencies. Modern textile art from the Rio 

 Grande to Panama shares this train of realism in design. There is 

 a general similarity to Peruvian conventionalization of its art de- 

 signs. According to early Spanish authorities the Mayan peoples 

 were the most expert weavers in New Spain. Contact with the 

 Spanish altered to a certain extent the design but the old resem- 

 blance remains with the Andean highlands. Pottery likewise sur- 

 vives only through archeological studies, extensive collections reveal- 

 ing painted designs. Painted designs and modeling of embellish- 

 ments in relief here take the place of mere pueblo designs. In the 

 Panama area, including Costa Rica, and the Chiri(|ui district of 

 Panama, we have complex designs of animal and reptilean forms 



