Was there ever a significant artistic or architectural accomplishment found in the United States?

Question

Around the world, the Greeks have their architectural ruins, China had their great wall and the terracota soldiers, the Incas of South America had their Inca buildings, Egypt their Sphinx and theri Pyramids, Thailand their Ancient Pagodas, England, Germany and Northern Europe, their elaborate castles, etc. What wonders did the Pilgrim find when they first landed in the US. Were there any historical accomplishments by the various native American tribes and if so please name a few and I don't mean the Grand Canyon or Las Vegas.

Answer 1

the pilgrims found no permanent structures. but the Adena and Hopwell cultures had left some very impressive earth mounds. in the s.w. area, there were, and are cliff dwellings, and small cities of mud brick and stone....some of the towns have been continually inhabited for over 1000 years. artistic accomplishments would, and do, fill several books.

Answer 2

The native cultures of north america was basically an advanced stone age level of technology. As a result, there's not much in the way of large scale infrastructure. On the west coast the Natives had very impressive buildings and the large totem poles, but they didn't seem impressive to European standards. In south america they had the temples and pyramids and large cities. But these cultures were largely wiped out, and compared to the pyramids of Egypt, they didn't seem impressive. But understand that essentially the native cultures were hundreds or years behind. They were relatively newly populations compared to the ancient cultures of the old world. Given another thousand years, who knows what they could have accomplished.

The time for North America to be an architectural wonder didn't happen until the United States pushed the limits with taller buildings and longer bridges in the early 20th century.

Answer 3

The Mound Builders of the Lower Mississippi River Valley had a very large and extensive civilization from 2000 to 700 BC. Some areas are federally protected today such as Poverty Point in Epps,LA. This civilization compromised of many different tribes, cultures and languages. The high time of Poverty Point was around 1000 BC, population centers were in certain areas and the areas were separate from each other. The most common formation of mound building for this group was the semi-circle.

Answer 4

Chaco in New Mexico, an Anasazi city. This link shows some photographs, but none do this architectural achievement justice. You really should visit the site someday in person. It's breathtaking. The visitor's center has a museum with exquisite computer-generated images of what the city looked like. They had a football-field wide free-suspension dome over part of the city. Also, they had two and three storied buildings that were rather precocious for the time period. I was interested in learning more about their water collection systems because there was a bit of a mystery about that, archeologically, that is. But, I didn't get to spend the necessary time there to look around for myself in that regard, although I suspect that they used cisterns and had a wetter climate than the area does these days. The computer-generated images successfully recreate the grandeur of this amazing place.

Answer 5

From an historical stand-point,no,but that doesn't mean that there weren't any.The great civilisations were almost completely wiped out during the very first of the European expeditions,long before the pilgrims ever got here.The Spanish pretty much demolished The Inca&The Mayans&the other Euros knocked off the northern Native Americans to the ever-lasting shame of the world

Answer 6

I can't remember the specific tribes, but there were the findings of the Peublo dwellings that were built on the side walls of a canyon.

Of course, this was not really found by the pilgrims, but I think it was discovered sometime in our early history. Like when Colorado was first annexed as a State.

~jaz~

Answer 7

short answer, We didn't need any of that.
All these things you mentioned what good did they do for the people in the long run?

We tend to do things with 7 generations ahead in mind. We understood you can not take anything with you when you pass. and No human is superior to another. Chiefs while they made decisions, had to gather their own firewood just like everyone else. So no monuments to them, no elaborate burials, etc. It's more about the PEOPLE then the SELF.

Answer 8

An advanced culture that gave back to the land and one that did not destroy it to survive. Man in most societies is a parasite to the earth. The American Indians did not destroy their enviorment or ecosystem they lived in harmony with their surroundings.

Land was not cleared to make castles.
Species of animals were not wiped out to serve mans needs.

While physical landmarks (other than burial mounds and the like) were not found in abundance there was a culture to be envied.

Answer 9

The mound builders is the only thing that comes to mind.