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The collection, including long-term loans on display, spans 2500 years prior to the arrival of the first Europeans around 1500. One thematic grouping focuses on Ulama, Game of Life and Death, a metaphorical contest played widely throughout the history of the Middle Americas. Otherwise the focus is regional, beginning with works from the southeast and southwest United States: the Mississippian and Pueblo cultures. These are mostly works in clay and some masks made from shell. From the Taíno people of the Caribbean we also have works in pottery and shell, and some in stone. The Casas Grandes people of northern Mexico are likewise represented by a wide variety of pottery. The collection is strong in terra cotta figures and vessels from West Mexico, and includes significant works from other cultures in Mesoamerica, notably the Maya, Zapotec, and Vercruz. The art of Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua are also well represented, and from Peru there is a wide variety of ceramics and a few fine works in metal. We include the art of large powerful states with leaders who used art to preserve their authority, and the art of independent communities that survived through exchange of raw materials, end products, and ideas. All areas of the collection are included in the gallery, but they represent only a few of the diverse societies that took shape in the Americas. Areas of concentration are the Southwestern U.S., West Mexico and Peru. Included are works in stone, clay, wood and metal that have survived over time. In an attempt to cover an entire hemisphere over thousands of years, the gallery can only hint at the full extent of the brilliance of the arts of the Ancient Americas. Ruth Franklin, Phyllis Wattis Curator of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
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 Mimbres culture USA, Southwestern New Mexico, Mimbres River Valley Region Vessel, 11th - 12th century Whiteware H. 12.1 cm.; Dia. 28.5 cm. 1991.271.1 Gift of Richard and Frances Mallery
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