MUNDURUCU
The Spanish conquest was a series of invasions and colonial takeovers in the Americas, beginning with Caribbean encounters in the late fifteenth century. It affected many peoples with different traditions of dress and body decoration.
Taíno communities painted their bodies and wore ornaments made from shell, stone and other materials. These objects could matter in daily life and ceremonies. European visitors did not always understand the designs or distinguish paint from tattoos.
Conquest brought forced labour, violence, disease and campaigns against local beliefs. Brands imposed on enslaved people were different from adornment chosen within a community: they were marks of control.
Many familiar scenes were drawn or engraved for European readers. They reveal how outsiders pictured the people they met, as well as details of clothing, dancing and ceremony. Behind the dramatic encounters were societies with their own artists, makers and ways of presenting the body.