What is Taino art?
What is Taino art?
Taino people had their own system of gods or ancestor spirits called zemis. Among their most striking art were rock carvings called petroglyphs done on cave walls and other stone surfaces. The petroglyphs were made with many symbols. Some symbols were anthropomorphic. Others were zoomorphic or completely abstract.
What was important to the Tainos?
Skilled at agriculture and hunting, Taínos were also good sailors, fishermen, canoe makers, and navigators. Their main crops were cassava, garlic, potatoes, yautías, mamey, guava, and anón.
What symbols are important to Taínos?
Puerto Rican Warrior Symbols. The Taino coqui tattoo, which represents the Puerto Rican coqui, the frog, displays an encircled leaping frog – a symbol of longevity. Similar Puerto Rican warrior symbols include lizards, turtles, and snakes – each which translated to survival and strength.
What is the meaning for Taino?
Definition of Taino 1 : the language of the Taino people. 2 : a member of an aboriginal Arawakan people of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas.
What do the Taino petroglyphs mean?
In summarizing our evidence to date, it appears that the Taino, as their culture developed about circa 900 AD and the 1490s, carved the petroglyphs. The carvings represent their ancestors and they carved them where their ancestors assembled.
What is the meaning of zemi?
a spirit of supernatural being
Definition of zemi (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : a spirit of supernatural being of the aboriginal Tainos of the West Indies.
Why did the Taínos paint their bodies?
Body painting was common among Arawakan peoples, partly for the sake of aesthetics but mostly as an act of spirituality.
What is the Taínos culture?
Taíno society was based on a matrilineal system and descent was traced through the mother. Women lived in village groups containing their children. The men lived separately. As a result, Taíno women had extensive control over their lives, their co-villagers, and their bodies.
What does the Taino snail mean?
For the Taino, snails and conches held particular significance. Snails were a source of sustenance and food. They were also used as a hallucinogen during rituals. Conches were used as decorative pieces. Larger conches were used as a communication device during the hunt, due to their distinctive sound.
What does the Taino turtle symbolize?
Each Taino symbol is a representation of God or forces of nature, or a tale of everyday life. Turtles were considered the mother of fertility within the Taíno symbols, humanity and the origin of life.
Why did Tainos use body paint?
What is the Tainos culture?