高機率機經閱讀--Mesoamerican art and architecture

Mesoamerica

 

Mesoameirca中美洲涵蓋範圍： is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica.

提到中美洲大家第一個想到的文明是Maya, 不過他的mother culture是 Olmec.

Mesoamerican civilization began with the Olmec culture, which provided the cultural foundation upon which all subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations were constructed. Consequently, the Olmec are known as the mother culture of Mesoamerica. A basic familiarity with Olmec art thus serves as a basic familiarity with Mesoamerican art generally.  

Mesoamrican art:

講到此地的藝術作品一定會提到他們的大頭像: colossal heads.

The most famous Olmec works are the colossal heads: enormous stone busts （半身像） which stand over six feet high.

Colossal heads

Architecture:

階梯式金字塔

 

The stepped pyramid is the primary form of large-scale Mesoamerican architecture. Like the ziggurats (古代亞述及巴比倫之寶塔式建築)of Mesopotamia, the Mesoamerican pyramid served mainly as a platform for a temple; chambers within the pyramid itself were small, if present at all. While early Mesoamerican pyramids were made of earth (or a combination of earth and stone), stone became the standard construction material. Consequently, Mesoamerican pyramids have weathered the centuries far better than their ziggurat cousins (which were made of brick).  

Mesopotamia ziggurat

Chichen Itza

世界七大奇景之一：齊琴伊察
While most Mayan architecture was constructed in a purely Mayan style, the most famous Mayan structure features a hybrid Maya-Toltec style. This structure is El Castillo (the castle), the great central pyramid in the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, Mexico.