China; China -- Social life and customs; Crickets; Insect cages
Cricket Culture in China encompasses a 2000 year history of both singing and fighting insects and can be divided into three eras. Before the Tang Dynasty (500 BC - 618 AD), people appreciated the cricket's melodic chirping in its natural habitat....
Storage jars; Casas Grandes Site (Mexico); Mexico -- Antiquities; Pottery
The site of Casas Grandes (also called Paquimé) lies in the northwestern area of Chihuahua State of Mexico. The settlement was occupied between 700-1450 AD by people who lived between the time periods dominated by the Toltec and the Aztec. The...
Cliff-dwellers; Indians of North America -- Southwest, New; Anasazi; Storage jars; Pueblo Indians
The Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) lived in the present-day Four Corners region, which includes New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. They lived in this area from AD1 and AD1300 and are thought to be the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians now...
Mary Todd Lincoln was often ridiculed by her contemporaries for spending money and her forceful personality. She was a well educated woman who terribly missed her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, and sons Willie and Tad. This doll was made about...
Cliff-dwellers; Indians of North America -- Southwest, New; Pueblo Indians; Implements, utensils, etc.; Anasazi
The Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) lived in the present-day Four Corners region, which includes New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. They lived in this area from AD1 and AD1300 and are thought to be the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians now...
The Mound Builders were people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. Emerging as an agricultural society and living in permanent villages, the...
China; China -- History -- Han dynasty, 202 B.C.-220 A.D.; Lions; Lions in art; Sculpture
Chinese lions may not look much like actual lions from Africa, but they share many characteristics with mythical lions found in folklore traditions around the world. According to Chinese belief, lions chase away evil spirits and bring good luck,...
Japan; Japan -- Social life and customs; Tea; Implements, utensils, etc.
In Japan, tea is an essential part of a picnic as well as virtually every meal. Although tea drinking originated in China, the earliest record of tea drinking in Japan dates to 729 AD. There are special ceremonies and utensils to prepare and drink...
Kites; Japan; Japan -- Social life and customs; Insects in art; Kites -- Japan
It is believed that the first kites to arrive in Japan were brought by Buddhist missionaries around A. D. 700, during the Twang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Since then, kites have become a very important part of Japanese culture and a beautiful art form....
Boxes; Gold Coast; Akan (African people); Akan (African people)--Ghana--Social life and customs
The trade in gold across Africa’s Sahara desert, called the Trans-Saharan gold trade, dominated West African commerce from the 7th to the 14th centuries. In search of gold for coinage, Arabs from the Mediterranean made annual camel treks across...
Scales (Weighing instruments); Weights and measures; Gold Coast; Akan (African people); Akan (African people)--Ghana--Social life and customs
The trade in gold across Africa’s Sahara desert, called the Trans-Saharan gold trade, dominated West African commerce from the 7th to the 14th centuries. In search of gold for coinage, Arabs from the Mediterranean made annual camel treks across...
Peru; Peru -- Antiquities; Chimu indians; Storage jars; Pottery; Indians of South America; Indians of South America -- Social life and customs
The Chimú, coastal peoples of ancient Peru often represented sea imagery in their art and everyday objects. This vessel represents a sting ray. The Chimú created ceramic vessels from molds, enabling them to make mass amounts of them quickly....
Cliff-dwellers; Indians of North America -- Southwest, New; Pueblo Indians; Bowls (Tableware); Anasazi
The Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) lived in the present-day Four Corners region, which includes New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. They lived in this area from AD1 and AD1300 and are thought to be the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians now...
Scrolls; Scrolls, Chinese; China; China -- History; Art -- China; Ching dynasty, 1644-1912; 19th Century
Lighter and easier to transport than books, scrolls have been used for centuries by different cultures all over the world. This beautifully painted scroll, by an anonymous Chinese artist, depicts 100 children playing with traditional Chinese toys...
