Art & Artifacts from Ancient Mexico: A GBD Microsite
For years, I have been fascinated by these early images from ancient Mexico thanks to several “clip art” books that I’ve owned for decades. The primary one used here is “Design Motifs of Ancient Mexico” by Jorge Enciso. The artwork is primitive and, at the same time, very modern. It certainly has strong elements of graphic design. While I want to share this artwork, I assembled these pages for my own enjoyment. The author and editor, Jorge Enciso, has fastidiously documented each item and where it was found and at the end of page, I’ve included this information for each image. There’s a gallery of thumbnails below that will take you to the various pages in this series.
“Archaeology is the peeping Tom of the sciences. It is the sandbox of men who care not where they are going; they merely want to know where everyone else has been.”Jim Bishop
The Olmecs were the earliest major complex civilization in Mesoamerica, flourishing during the Preclassic (Formative) period from roughly 1600 BCE to 400 BCE. Often referred to as the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica, they laid the cultural, artistic, and religious foundations for later civilizations such as the Maya, Zapotec, and Aztecs.
