Time-Line Overview

Arts in Mexico

Mexico

Europe

East and USA

10,000 B.C. –         The Pre-agricultural Period

2,000 B.C.

Carved sacral bone, oldest known sculpture on American continent

Lascaux cave paintings – Southwest France

Jericho – oldest known walled city

Evidence of first pyramids (temple bases) in Mesoamerica

Cave paintings of Altamira, Spain

Invention of writing in Sumeria

Cheops builds Great Pyramid

Roots of Hinduism in Persia

2,000 B.C. -            The Preclassic Period

100 A.D.

Olmecs – first high civilization in Americas

Minoan age – Crete (2500 B.C. – 1200 B.C.)

Stele of Hammurabi: seven-foot monolith (1792  B.C. – 1750 B.C.)

Root of Mayan, Huasteca, Totonac cultures

Influence on Zapotecs

Classical Greece

(1200 B.C. – 323 B.C.)

Veda compiled from oral tradition (1500 B.C. – 600 B.C.)

Peaked in 1200 B.C.

Etruscans settle in Italy (800 B.C.)

Soloman builds first temple (950 B.C.)

Technical proficiency in pottery

Rome founded (753 B.C.)

Birth of Lao Tzu (600 B.C.)

Monumental sculpture

Golden age of Greek sculpture – classical art (600 B.C. – 300 B.C.)

Birth of Buddha (563 B.C.)

Jade carvings unequalled except in China

Golden Age of Athens (480 B.C. – 460 B.C.)

Birth of Confucius (551 B.C.)

Hieroglyphic writing

Astronomy

Concept of zero

Positional numeration

Complex social and political organization

Concept of time and space

Parthenon in Athens (447 B.C. – 432 B.C.)

The Great Wall of China (221 B.C.)

Great refinement and complexity in art – a fusion of material and meaning not known in Europe

First clash between Greece and Rome

(289 B.C.)

Independent development of Oaxaca:

Zapotec domination

Mixtec subculture

Punic Wars 264 B.C.)

City states governed by theocracies:

(300 B.C.)

Teotihuacan (Central High Plateau)

Monte Alban (Oaxaca)

Mayas (southwest)

Romans destroy Carthage (146 B.C.)

100 B.C. –              The Classical Period

900 A. D.

Early Mayan empire (100 B.C. – 300)

Art already distinctive and mature

Augustus becomes first Roman Emperor (27 B.C.)

Herod is made King of Judaea (44 B.C.)

Teotihuacan at its height as a religious center for the Toltecs (master builders) in the High Central Plateau

Abandoned in 700

Christian religion legalized (314)

Birth of Jesus

Central Vera Cruz peaks (300 – 900)

Arrival of

Totonacs brings new qualities to architecture and sculpture.

First depiction of smile

Use of wheel in sculpture

Attila the Hun invades Europe (375)

Ku K’ai Chih

One of the greatest Chinese painters of his time.

Esteemed for linear mastery and coloristic subtlety

(345 – 405)

Zapotec culture flourishes in Monte Alban

Fall of the Roman Empire (476)

Coptic art –

Produced by Egyptian Christians (400s – 700s)

Decline of the Toltecs in the High Central Plateau (850)

Beginning of

the Middle Ages (476)

Justinian builds Santa Sofia in Constantinople (537)

Mayan Classical period (600 – 900)

Highest cultural development in America

Byzantine architecture and its use of colored mosaics (400s – 500s)

The Chinese invent porcelain (650 approx.)

Mayans occupy Chichen Itza

Temples and palaces carved to create sculptural architecture

Work surpasses Egyptian and Syrian builders

The Arabs defeat the Visigoths in Spain (711)

Birth of Mohammed (632)

Huastecs settle on Gulf Coast (around 800s)

Sober architecture

Rounded forms

Charlemagne’s reign (768 – 814)

Moslem scholars compile the Koran (851)

Militaristic epoch begins (856)

Barbarians invade from the north

Warriors now a strong presence in sculpture, bas relief, and ceramic vessels

Carolingian art modeled on the painting and sculpture of Rome during Constantine’s reign and Byzantine art

(Cultural revival instituted by Charlemagne)

Some cultural centers with strong Teotihuacan tradtions continue to flourish –

Cholula in Puebla

Xochicalco in Morelos

Tula in Hidalgo

Ada School –

Manuscript illuminators and ivory carvers

(700s – 800s)

Book of Kells

Illuminated manuscript

Hiberno-Saxon art

(700s)

900 – 1300              The post Classical Period

Chichimecas drive Toltecs from the High Central Plateau (900s)

The First Crusade (1095)

Moslems use zero

Begin metal work

(900s)

Tula is founded (Toltec)

Europe discovers zero (1100s)

Byzantine church breaks with Rome (1054)