Art of the Americas
*Map of South America
Pre-Colombian- means b4 Columbus (1492 lands in Bahamas not Japan as expected- headed for
the East Indies- SE Asia- Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, etc.- East of India) and refers to
Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and other western explorers and settlers
(aka pre contact, post contact)- staring in early 16th c. onEarliest people migrated over the land bridge (from Russia to Alaska) in Ice Age- still art most
likely invented independently of other parts of the world.
Early domestication of animals and crops in 7000-5000BCE in Mexico
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Maize, beans, squash, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes and avocados- turkeys, guinea pigs,
llamas, alpacas, guanacos (like llama), vicunas (like llama), dogs
PreColumbian people lacked some ingredients of other early world civilizations:
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No horses or beasts of burden that could carry humans (llamas and alpacas could only
carry goods)
(No big animals! No major cereal crop! May have contributed to the lack of development
seen in Mediterranean and Asia! Geography matters!)
No wheels (seen only on toys in Mexico, never scaled up.) Probably because they had no
horse to pull it!
No discovery of how to process bronze or iron (had gold silver and copper but they= soft
metals)- used wood, stone, bone and obsidian for tools
No known or deciphered written language (except for Maya) (See the Quipu!)
Yet:
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Made enormous elevated platform temples (earlier than in Mesoamericans!)
Painting, textiles, ceramics, sculptures
Created amazing art that rivals other early civilizations with all of the above
Artists were often very valued members of society- part of high social order- often seen as
caretakers of important sacred information
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Must look at the art of the Americas in their separate areas
South America: Central Andies
*MAP SOUTH AMERICA ANDEAN REGION
Great florescence of high civilization developed in Central Andean area of Peru, southern
Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, and Northern Bolivia
-long, narrow terrain of abrupt ecological extremes, 50-250 miles wide
-Andean heartland is defined by Pacific Ocean on west and Andes mntns on east
-the Andes are about 4,660 miles long
-separate coastal desert from Amazonian rainforest
-once separated western urban agriculturists from eastern forest people- People traded and
depended on one another- fish and shells from the coast were traded for beans and squash in the
east
-Andes ranks 2nd only to Himalayas in height-some peaks as high as 23,000 ft.
-but stretches 3 times as long-**Rugged and inhospitable
-primarily will cover area between Quito, Ecuador and Santiago, Chile (book’s focus)
-sedentary villages and urban centers were interrupted by arrival of Spanish in 1532
ANDEAN CULTURAL/GEOGRAPHICAL AREA:
3 principal zones
1) western COAST-- Dramatic change in climatic areas-desert coast-arid, dry perfect climate for
preservation, where mummies found (500 years before Egyptians!)
2) HIGHLANDS: Andes MOUNTAINOUS region, combo of strong sun and altitude
-only small portion usable for farming- terraced farms
-most people live 6,000 feet above sea level
-little affected by El Nino, little annual change in temperature
- In highlands, rainfall more important than irrigation
- highland peoples want access to lowland materials- Basically forced trade & exchange
-Highland people more reliant-developed majority of religious institutions
-easier to get from highlands to coast, than one highland community to another
-jungle terrain never incorporated into cultures-yet served as a place of philosophic origin
3) eastern TROPICAL LOWLANDS
-Amazonian Rainforest beyond Andes mntns-jungle territory
Amazon drainage, largest river system in the world
El Nino- weather cycle that brings warm water sweeping across Pacific.
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Comes every decade or so, but ever 25 to 40 years in S America it is more severe and can
change the water temp by almost 7 degrees. This kills the phytoplankton and the fish that
feed on it. Floods occur and ruin crops and irrigation channels.
Every few hundred years a worse El Nino occurs and creates horrible damage. This
destroyed the Moche and Chimu cities.
Andean Worldview
Collectivity, reciprocity (of trade goods between eco zones), transformation, and essence
Andean Chronology
Archaeological sequence includes: Preceramic, Initial Period, Early Horizon, Early Intermediate,
Middle Horizon, Late Intermediate, and Late Horizon
-have basically 3 major “Horizons” (one single culture dominates) divided by smaller
“Intermediate” (more independent regional development) periods-these terms still widely usedthough more in question, too definitive
Chavin (Early Horizon), Paracas and Nasca of south Chilean coast and Moche in the north (Early
Intermediate) Tiwani and Wari cultures (Middle Horizon), Inka (Late Horizon)
Valdivian Culture (3500-1600BCE)- Equador FYI
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Oldest pre culture- Southern Ecuador- contemporary with Sumerians in Mespotamia
The Valdivia lived in a community that built its houses in a circle or oval around a central
plaza and were sedentary people that lived off farming and fishing, though occasionally
they went hunting for deer.
Made large platformed structures using adobe bricks with grass and twig binders, (adobe
clay coat on the exterior)
Valdivia female figurine. 3500 BC, Valdivia, Guayas Province, Ecuador, Clay, paint. 4 x 3 x 4
cm to 3 x 2 x 10.5 cm
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the context in which the majority of these figurines are found suggests that they were
associated with agricultural rituals and calling for rain.
Since many are female, the figurines are also thought to have represented fertility,
production, and agricultural development.
Several figurines were intentionally broken by being thrown against a hard surface, a
ritual that may have formed part of a ceremony.
Between four and twenty centimeters in height, the majority are shown standing. Very
few figurines are in a sitting position, though some appear to be resting on the ground.
Valdivia figurines are characterized by their straight standing pose; pronounced breasts,
shoulders, and neck; and a raised head with a small face.
The eyes and mouth are represented by simple lines cut into the clay, and the nose by a
simple mark across the face or as an appliqué.
Despite their simplicity, the figurines have vivid facial expressions.
The makers also took care to highlight details of each figurine’s hairstyle, their most
distinguishing feature. (maybe portraits?)
The hair always appears to be flowing down the back of the figurines. Women in
Valdivia culture may have kept their hair long as a status symbol or as part of their belief
system.
Like Cycladic figurines, lots of looting and hard to know context…
Valdivian Pottery (Jomon pot on click*)
This culture was discovered in 1956 by the Ecuadorian archeologist Emilio Estrada. Based on
comparison of archeological remains and pottery styles (specifically, the similarity between the
Valdivian pottery and the ancient Jōmon culture- Estrada, along with the American
archaeologist Betty Meggers suggested in the 1960s that a relationship between the people of
Ecuador and the people of Japan existed in ancient times. (Not confirmed but cool Geneticists
say yes!)
In the Andes
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CLAY
FIBER ART/ Textiles
o Textiles were valued as a means for sharing religious lore and beliefs.
o They were worn to indicate status and authority.
Early Horizon
Chavin de Huantar= The Mother Culture- model for politics and religion start here
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an ancient place of pilgrimage in the mountains (Peru)
(Say Chavin de JUAN-tar) Foundational civilization like Mesopotamians, Shang, and Egyptians
(though a bit later)
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no elite houses or defensive walls
Religious Center, perhaps the home of an oracle. Pilgrimage site.
Slide * of ruins of city (map detail image on click*)
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it sits between the eastern (Cordillera Negra—snowless) and western (Cordillera
Blanca—snowy) ranges of the Andes, near two of the few mountain passes that allow
passage between the desert coast to the west and the Amazon jungle to the east.
It is also located near the confluence of two rivers the Huachesca and Mosna Rivers, a
natural phenomenon of two joining into one that may have been seen as a spiritually
powerful phenomenon. (as the meeting place of the natural and cosmic forces?)
Chavín de Huántar itself is located on a lowland valley and high altitude valleys are
located nearby. Consequently, the people at Chavín de Huántar were able to cultivate
lowland crops such as maize and high altitude crops such as potatoes.
at height, city occupied by over 2,000 people
at elev of 10,285 feet
6 day walk in either direction- both easy to get to with the rivers but hard too. Well
located along natural routes of transportation.
coca, chili pepper, salt, dried fish could not be produced locally
now very damaged by earthquakes
Chavin people, Peru (1200BCE-)
- dominated the Peruvian coast for 7 centuries (Chavin culture interacts with coast, highlands
and tropical forests- all 3 zones!)
- seems to be when people are still egalitarian and before a lot of hierarchy…
- had open courts, platforms, relief sculptures, in the round sculptures and small secluded rooms
* Model of the temple at Chavín de Huántar archaeological site. Peru, 900–200 B.C.E.
- probably for sacred rituals for the Chavin gods
- Circular Plaza, Old Temple and New Temple (suggestions renovations and
additions over time.)
- The renovations enlarged the site considerably and added a larger sunken
rectangular plaza. The main objective of the renovations appears to be based on
enabling more people to gather in one place, as the site in general expanded
-Chavín’s pyramids/temples were lower and far more complex than Mesoamerican
pyramids-multi-levels w/honeycomb of rooms, ramps, passageways, and “galleries” up to
15’
- Galleries = subterranean chambers in temple
-galleries one of most unusual features of temple (maze like!)
-generally, very narrow, no source of natural lighting w/in
-frequent right angle turns and changes in floor level
-maze-like ambience w/no connection to outside world once w/in, creates sense
of confusion, disorientation
- Archaeologists are still studying the meaning and use of these galleries and
vents, but exciting new explorations are examining the acoustics of these
structures, and how they may have projected sounds from inside the temple to
pilgrims in the plazas outside. It is possible that the whole building spoke with
the voice of its god.
- manipulate sound and light to change the followers way of thinking!
-Almost all Chavin design is:
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Symmetry, repetition, modular width- reduction of figures to straight lines, curves
and scrolls- geometric looking figures- often used scrolls to represent hair or bird down/feathersLots of repetition- Ends up looking like it was drawn with parallel guide lines
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Like in poetry when you use a simile, people of the time would understand and
get the meaning
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Many important images have cat like mouths and fangs probably to connect to the
jaguar (legendary through S. America for courage and strength) and thus to the
divine and supernatural….all are found around temples too. FANGED DIETY
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Most common natural form seen are eagles/hawks (raptor feet and curved beaks)
The Lanzon
The Old Temple, constructed early in the site's history, was an inward-facing structure
composed primarily of passageways built around a circular courtyard. The structure contained
obelisks and stone monuments with relief carvings depicting jaguars, caimans, and other forms
with anthropomorphic features. The Lanzón Gallery, located at the very center, contained a
sculpture of the Lanzón, which is assumed to be a supreme deity of Chavín de Huántar.
The Lanzón is the colloquial name for the most important statue of the central deity of the
ancient Chavín culture of the central highlands of Peru- the god for whom the temple was
constructed.
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It is a notched wedge-shaped stone over 15 feet tall, carved with the image of a
supernatural being, and located deep within the Old Temple, intersecting several
galleries.
The Lanzón takes its name from the Spanish word for "lance," an allusion to the shape of
the sculpture.
However the shape is like the digging stick used in traditional highland agriculture.
That shape would seem to indicate that the deity’s power was ensuring successful
planting and harvest.
The Lanzón is housed in the central cruciform chamber of a labyrinthine series of
underground passages in the Old Temple
Devotees would be led into the maze of pitch-black tunnels, eventually coming face to
face with the sculpture's snarling mouth and upturned eyes.
The worshipers' disorientation, in addition to the hallucinogenic effects of the San Pedro
cactus they were given before entering (see next slide), only heightened the visual and
psychological impact of the sculpture.
The Lanzón depicts a standing figure with large round eyes looking upward.
Its mouth is also large, with bared teeth and protruding fangs.
o a mixture of human and animal features, and the representation favors a
complex and visually confusing style. Probably deliberate for those who were
part of the cult to truly understand.
o creating a barrier between believers who can see its true form and those
outside the cult who cannot.
o The fangs and talons most likely indicate associations with the jaguar and the
caiman—apex predators from the jungle lowlands that are seen elsewhere in
Chavín art and in Andean iconography.
o The eyebrows and hair of the figure have been rendered as snakes, making them
read as both bodily features and animals.
Nose Ornament, c. 500-200 B.C.E., Peru, North Highlands, Chavín de Huántar, hammered and
cut gold, 2.3 cm high
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The serpent motif seen in the Lanzón is also visible in a nose ornament
This kind of nose ornament, which pinches or passes through the septum, is a common
form in the Andes.
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The two serpent heads flank right and left, with the same upward-looking eyes as the
Lanzón. (on click*)
The swirling forms beneath them also evoke the sculpture’s eye shape.
An ornament like this would have been worn by an elite person to show not only their
wealth and power but their allegiance to the Chavín religion.
Metallurgy in the Americas first developed in South America before traveling north, and
objects such as this that combine wealth and religion are among the earliest known
examples.
Back to the Lanzon
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The figure’s left hand rests pointing down, while the right is raised upward,
encompassing the heavens and the earth.
Both hands have long, talon-like fingernails.
A carved channel runs from the top of the Lanzón to the figure’s forehead, perhaps to
receive liquid offerings poured from one of the intersecting galleries.
The central image of the Lanzon functions as axis mundi, or pivot linking the heavens, earth and
underworld. Position within the building also suggests centrality of image.
San Pedro Cactus
It has been used for healing and religious divination in the Andes Mountains region for over
3,000 years.
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Contains mescaline a hallucinogenic. Hallucinogens points to shamanism.
The usual native preparation of the cactus involves boiling slices of the stem for a number of
hours and then, once cooled, the resulting liquid is drunk. - Also could snort or smoke it.
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about San Pedro cactus from a shaman:
o “The drug produces drowsiness or a dreamy state and a feeling of lethargy... a
slight dizziness… then a great vision, a clearing of the faculties. It produces a
light numbness in the body and afterward a tranquility. And then comes
detachment, a type of visual force... inclusive of all the senses... including the
sixth sense, the telepathic sense of transmitting oneself across time and matter...
like a kind of removal of one’s thought to a distant dimension.”
Slide * Tello Obelisk (say Te-yo)
- Tello Obelisk was probably set in the center of the Old Temple’s (U-shaped platform
mound) sunken court
- Obelisk’s iconography reflects the natural world in the tropical lowlands, the coast and the
highlands
- a slightly tapered white granite quadrangular solid
- All four sides or faces are sculpted in bas-relief carvings from top to bottom
- strong material, but hard to carve (with no metal tools!)- used wedges and water to break off
chunks (like Egyptians), used other stones to carve
- the Tello Obelisk narrates a cosmological myth (meaning not proven)- The large artifact may
portray a creation story.
- The two great caiman (small alligators) representations are nose upright and, in scale, are
nearly the size of the Obelisk.
- A harpy eagle rises above the snout of one of them, giving the impression of a sky element at
the top of the monolith.
- The water element is insinuated by the caiman (alligator) and also by Spondylus and Strombus
shells, elements from the Pacific Ocean.
- Conch Shell *Chavín pututus: decorated 3,000-year-old conch shell horns from the
Andes, on display at the Peruvian National Museum in Chavín de Huántar
- blown through to make sounds
- show the trade to the sea- found in the ruins here
- Cultivated plants of Amazon Basin origin are associated with the heads, mouths and noses of
faces with pronounced canine teeth, possibly jaguar representations.
- The many faces, mouths, plants, animals, anthropomorphs, shells, snakes, and geometric forms
fill the space on the monolith and cover the body of the caiman.
* Raimondi Stela
8.2 * Drawing of the Raimondi Stela. Chavín de Huántar. c. 460–300 BCE. Approx. 6’5” × 2’5”
(196 × 74 cm).
- The stela (singular for stelae) is seven feet high, made of highly polished granite, with a lightly
incised design which is almost unnoticeable on the sculpture. For this reason, the design is best
studied from a drawing
- named after its discoverer
- unknown exact original location
- stelae represents Staff God= a squat anthropomorphic jaguar deity (probably a nature god-
possibly sky because of the eagles and hawks shown on the temple) with downturned snarling
mouth, fangs, claws, serpentine arms- holds ornate staff, hence name
- an agricultural deity?
- very organized symmetrical designs- appears to be set rules
- tongue can be an arm, serpents can be hair, tail can be a neck….visual puns
- supernatural beings for sure
- grid like organization like the warp and weft of textiles!
- set of faces make a towering headdress, or a cape that is pulled up (or hair?) the height of it
smartly helps to fill the height of the stela without sacrificing the proportions of the god.
Right Side Up- When the Raimondi Stela is viewed one way, the image depicts a fearsome deity
holding two Huachuma cactus. His eyes look upward toward his large, elaborate headdress of
snakes and volutes. The staff god looks up, as if to establish a connection with the upperworld.
- can turn the head upside down and it will make another head (like an alligator)- also 4 more
“heads” under (if turned upside down) SEE Next Slide! *upside down image
- called anatropic or contour rivalry
Upside down- The headdress can be "read" as a stacked row of smiling, fanged faces, while the
deity's face has turned into the face of a smiling reptile.
- The deity's staffs also appear to be rows of stacked faces.
- transformed to a hovering celestial figure with an elongated tongue that unfolds like a
Jacob’s Ladder.
- visual pun between physical and spiritual world
- could be about the shaman like transformation (and their hallucinogens- San Pedro Cactus!)
- Shaman= “medicine men” -may heal the sick, assist hunters, control weather, foretell
the future (may have come over from Central Asia) - the cure all man in societies of the
Americas
- implies that some knowledge or thought was required to understand the allusion intended
- This technique speaks to larger Andean concerns of the duality and reciprocal nature of
nature, life, and society
- Why so confusing??? Maybe to keep the knowledge special for those in control, to keep
impressing and controlling the people
Slide * Tenon Heads
- Tenon heads are found throughout Chavin de Huántar and are one of the most well-known
images associated with the Chavin civilization.
- Tenon heads are massive stone carvings of fanged jaguar heads which project from the tops of
the interior walls.
- Some of the Chavín sculptures appear to have mucus coming from their noses, a possible
reference to the use of hallucinogenic drugs used in shamanic ceremonies. (snorted san pedro
cactus)
- represents the transformation of a shaman into a supernatural fanged creature.
- A long stone piece extending from the head of the carving was wedged into the exterior of the
temple to allow the head to protrude from the wall.
Early Intermediate (Paracas, Nasca in the south coast and Moche in north)
Paracas Culture
The Paracas culture flourished on the south Pacific coast of the central Andes in what is now
Peru in around 600-150 B.C.E. and is one of the earliest known complex societies in South
America.
- first investigated by the Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello in the 1920s.
- mummies, textiles with the fanged deity of Chavin on it, headhunting and shamanistic images
- great fishers and good knowledge of irrigation (had fresh water nearby)
*Slide of Map of the city of Paracas on the coast of Peru
Paracas, Peru (700BCE-1CE)
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Desert coast of Peru includes a Peninsula (see map)
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Invented pit houses
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Area with large cult of the dead- tombs
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Made fabulous textiles (many preserved because of the arid climate) to place inside rock
cut tombs- “mummies” (not consciously mummified, just dried out because of the
desert) wrapped in textiles. (slide of arid coast on click*)
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Next slide* Burials (mummy bundles)
o In Paracas, bodies were put into "mummy bundles" before they were interred in a
large underground necropolis, or burial chamber that was bottle shaped.
o They were placed in a seated position and bound tightly with cord.
o Then they were covered with cotton cloth (more for more important people) and
wrapped with brightly decorated fabric. – (probably made by women)
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Fancier fabric was on the inside
o Finally, the body was placed in a coiled basket and taken to the necropolis.
o Buried with gold, ceramics and other special items
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At one cemetery, mummy bundles were found with lavish offerings- tons of clothes
(without signs of wear) as many as 150 outfits- tunics, scarves, headbands, headdresses,
bags, shawls etc.
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All the clothes = wealth and status in the afterlife
o Andean belief that spirits remain with the land and the mummified bodies
act as touchpoints with the physical realm
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Would have taken one artist up to ten years to make all the clothes!!!
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There is evidence that these tombs were reused over centuries. In some cases, the heads
of the deceased were taken out, apparently for rituals (paraded around?), and later
reburied.
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These people also engaged in artificial deformation of the skull by binding the skull in
infancy.
o Ideas of why: a person with an elongated head is thought to be more intelligent, of
higher status, and closer to the world of the spirits (others do this- Egyptians,
Melanesians of Vanuatu, and even Africans…)
o Other distortions are due to the process of trepanning which as where holes were
drilled into the skulls of living people. Inspection shows that these holes had
healed and shows that the patients did not die when this process was applied! (let
out evil spirits?)
Andean Weaving
8.1 * Embroidered mantle. Paracas Necropolis, south coast of Peru. Late Paracas, 200 BCE–200
CE.
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Sophisticated Textiles designs symbolic and related to concepts of political alliances and
roads
o Humans dressed up or changing into animals are common motifs on grave
mantles- consistent with the Andean transformation theme as seen on Raimondi
Stele.
o Thick thread of cotton (from coast) and wool from animals (from mountainsalpaca, vicuna, llama- could be dyed bright colors.)
o The preservation of the colors is attributed to the dry conditions combined with
the lack of damage which would usually have been caused by sunlight
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Here a figure with prominent eyes appears scores of times
o Flowing hair and kicking legs suggest floating or flying
o Carrying batons and fans (or according to some scholars knives and
hallucinogenic mushrooms)
o Seen as religious practitioners shown dancing or flying during a trance OR images
of the deceased.
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Clothing and textiles dominated every aspect of their existence (thought it was weird that
the Spanish were only interested in gold..)
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Textiles still reflect a medium of communication in the Andes. Family and village
designs on textiles are representative of social identity and help maintain inherited
information, connecting past, present, and future generations
o Leaders demanded it as tribute, gave it as gifts, exchanged it during negotiations
and even burned it as a sacrificial offering.
o Andean people believed it was necessary in the afterlife
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Warp (lengthwise) and weft (transverse thread) *on click
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Often used only a simple backstrap loom. (a belt around the weaver allow her to lean
back to keep the tension of the warp threads.)
Image of back strap loom *
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Made by men and women but the best women were chosen to work textiles for the elite
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Very complex textiles- laborious and time consuming- not embroidery on top like often
done- pattern is woven into the cloth.
o The weaver must imagine the design in advance- cannot change during the
weaving
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Always a grid design- not easy to make any curved line in this kind of weaving
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Simplified geometric shapes dominate
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Much other 2D art comes based on designs of the textile art tradition (not vice versa
as in other cultures!)
*Paracas Embroidery slide
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Paracas weavers were also awesome at embroidery
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show flying shamans who hold severed heads by their hair (transforming!!! Like
shamans do)
Severed heads are more than “trophy heads” as they are commonly called. They are the way to
capture the spirit of the dead and it thus becomes a servant to the killer. They swe up all the
holes, fill it with hot sand and hang it from a belt.
(Still done in Amazon today!)
*Nasca, Mantle ("The Paracas Textile"), 100-300 C.E., cotton, camelid fiber, 58-1/4 x 24-1/2
inches / 148 x 62.2 cm, found south coast, Paracas, Peru (alternate view on click*)
- it was called "THE Paracas textile," to mark its excellence and uniqueness. Currently, scholars
have revised this provenance, and now attribute the cloth to the related, but slightly later Nasca
culture.
- astonishing virtuosity.
- too delicate for everyday use. Ceremonial
- finished so carefully on both sides that it is almost impossible to distinguish which is the
correct side. Although the central cloth and its framing dimensional border are created by
different techniques, both display perfect reversibility (except for three figures not shown that
have a front and back- telling us what side is the front…)
- The central cloth’s design of 32 geometric faces is created by “warp-wrapping,” a technique in
which colored fleece is wound around sections of cotton warp threads before weaving.
- Because the central cloth and the border have different color palettes, they may have been
created at different times.
Detail slide*
- On the border, a parade of 90 figures is linked together on their lower bodies, which are worked
two-dimensionally against a red background.
- Each figure’s upper body and head is constructed as a separate unit, and attached to the woven
strip. The upper bodies are worked in bas-relief, with some parts projecting outwards from the
plane of the fabric. Tiny components (like leaves and feathers) were worked as separate pieces
and then attached, giving a wonderful three-dimensionality and liveliness to the figures,
especially because they mingle and overlap
- A wide variety of types appear, including human, animal, and monstrous hybrids.
*Detail with face ornament, border figure 63, Nasca, Mantle ("The Paracas Textile"), 100-300
C.E., cotton, camelid fiber, 58-1/4 x 24-1/2 inches / 148 x 62.2 cm, found south coast, Paracas,
Peru
- Their jewelry, for example, corresponds to specimens formed from thin sheets of gleaming
gold. These include: “forehead ornaments” (shaped like a bird with outstretched wings); “hair
spangles” (disk or star shapes that dangle from the wingtips of the forehead ornament); slender,
feather-shaped headdress “plumes;” and “mouthmasks.”
- Mouthmasks (seen here) hung from the nose septum, and had flaring extensions, like cat
whiskers.
- Nazca ornament, gold (on click*)
Nazca people (also spelled Nasca)
- Nazca culture flourished on the coastal plain of southern Peru between 200 B.C.E. and 600
C.E.
- overlap the end and go beyond the time of the Paracas People.
- Having been heavily influenced by the preceding Paracas culture, which was known for
extremely complex textiles, the Nazca produced an array of beautiful crafts and technologies
such as ceramics, textiles, and geoglyphs (most commonly known as the Nazca lines).
- They skull deform, head hunt and worship the Fanged Deity like Paracas culture.
- They also built an impressive system of underground aqueducts, known as puquios, that still
function today.
- they move farther into the desert so they get good at getting water.
8.3 * Line drawing of Nazca geoglyphs, south coast of Peru. 3rd–5th century CE. , Geoglyphs
not drawn to scale.
- Nazca= a city in Peru, south of Paracas
- Geoglyphs= “earth writing” made during the 3rd to 5th centuries CE
- has led to people saying that aliens have made them!
-range of animals- ducks, monkeys, reptiles, spiders, seabirds, hummingbirds, whales, and other
marine animals
- some over 400 feet
- made by removing darker surface pebbles to reveal lighter sand and gravel. Used rope/long
cords attached to sticks/poles to define the areas.
- must be made for gods’ eyes??? because not possible to see from the ground!!! No way to get
up in the air to see it!
- many of the representational shapes are ones used on Nazca ceremonial vessels which suggests
ceremony and ritual
- not sure of meaning?
- alien landing strip!
- put a hot air balloon together of Nazca textiles and went up but wind blew and
crashed it! (So maybe not seen from the air…)
- astronomical calendar? Lines are varied so many do line up with stars but others don’t...
- paths to acquafirs? Again some do, but some don’t
- pilgimage paths? Pottery shards fund in the soil suggest offering but to whom?
Video Link
*An entrance to the Puquios, near Nazca, Peru
The rivers were not a reliable source to sustain the levels needed to feed the local population and
a network of irrigation canals made it possible to practice intensive agriculture.
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The Puquios are an old system of aqueducts near the city of Nazca, Peru.
bring fresh water into the arid desert.
The channels were dug into the mountainside until they reached the aquifers under the
surface.
The channels were lined with river rocks. They did not use any mortar so that the water
would pass into the channels.
The water was transported to irrigation canals in order to directly supply water for
agricultural purposes, or the water was deposited into small reservoirs for later use.
Numerous access holes or ojos (eyes) were placed along the surface of the underground
channels and operated much in the same way that modern manholes do.
It is difficult to tell how long these underground channels are because extant puquios
have been altered and many of the puquios are too dangerous to explore underground.
They make beautiful pottery! New shapes and sizes and colors
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Beautiful vessels found everywhere (even in simple houses) which suggests an
egalitarianism
Double spout and bridge pottery vessel with a bird deity (front and side view), 200 B.C.E. - 600
C.E., Nasca culture, 30 x 21 cm, Peru
The shift from post-fire resin painting to pre-fire slip painting marked the end of Paracas-style
pottery and the beginning of Nazca-style pottery
- This globular jar depicts a fantastic bird in flight with a human face, adorned with a mouth
mask and a diadem.
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The bird holds a human “trophy head”. Ritual beheading was a common practice in the
Andes and scenes of decapitation can be seen painted on Nasca vessels.
Not all birds depicted in Nasca art can be identified to a particular species. Some
representations are quite naturalistic, while others combine fantastic and
anthropomorphic elements. May be manifestations of the mountain gods.
The number of colors used by Nazca artists is larger than that used by any other culture
in the Americas before European contact.
Spout and bridge vessel in the shape of a dog, 200 B.C.E. - 600 C.E., Nasca culture, 12 x 15.5 x
8 cm, Peru
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Vessels modeled into animals or edible plants are a common form in Nasca art.
The vessel is painted in three colors: black, brown and white. A limited range of colors
was used in the early phases of the Nasca cultural sequence, while at least ten were used
in later phases. The most common shapes are bowls, dishes, vases and vessels with one or
two spouts and bridge.
The innovative techniques and aesthetic qualities of Nazca polychrome ceramics make
them quite unique in the Andean region.
They were most commonly made by coiling. Slip was then applied, and the vessel was
fired and burnished to a characteristic glossy finish.
Moche People
- large capital of a large kingdom in the coastal deserts
- in the north at same time as Nazca in the south
- northern Peruvian Coast (click on slide)
- probably a collection of city states not one empire
- amazing pyramid builders of adobe brick with ramps, not stairs
- weather and looting has destroyed most….
The Huaca del Sol is an adobe brick temple built by the Moche civilization (100 CE to 800 CE)
- Besides urban housing, plazas, storehouses, and workshop buildings, it also has impressive
monuments which include two massive adobe brick pyramid-like mounds.
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display typical traits of Moche architecture: multiple levels, access ramps, and slanted
roofing.
The larger 'pyramid' is the Huaca del Sol, which has four tiers and stands 40 metres high
today. Originally it stood over 50 m high (about a 15 story building), covered an area of
340 x 160 m, and was constructed using over 140 million bricks, each stamped with a
maker's mark.
A ramp on the north side gives access to the summit, which is a platform in the form of a
cross.
The smaller structure, known as the Huaca de la Luna, stands 500 metres away and was
built using some 50 million adobe bricks. It has three tiers and is decorated with friezes
showing Moche mythology and rituals. The entire structure was once enclosed within a
high adobe brick wall.
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Both pyramids were constructed around 450 CE, were originally brightly colored in red,
white, yellow, and black, and were used as an imposing setting to perform rituals and
ceremonies.
The Spanish conquistadors later diverted the Rio Moche in order to break down the
Huaca del Sol and loot the tombs within, suggesting that the pyramid was also used by
the Moche for generations as a mausoleum/tomb for important persons.
Religion
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Moon Goddess (moon could be seen in day and night! So top god) Si- controlled seasons
and storms
Creator or sky god- Al Paec- fangs, jaguar, snakes- lives in the mountains- needs to be
appeased with human sacrifices, both prisoners of war and Moche people- blood in ritual
goblets
Women could play a prominent role in religion and ceremony
Decapitator God-half man half jaguar (sometimes spider drinking blood)- shown with
tumi knife (sacrificial knife) and severed heads
Warfare!
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Before Moche we have only hints of warfare in South America (severed heads and an
occasional weapon) , but Moche prominently feature war and we find weapons in
excavations.
Human sacrifice
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o Evidence of decapitated heads, bodies brutalized, blood in goblets, etc. So the
Moche not only sacrificed human victims and drank their blood, but put them
through as much pain and suffering as was possible beforehand.
o Cut off heads, ripped out bones from joints, bashed in heads
o Warriors in scenes are shown in the same outfits, so must have been fighting
themselves!
o Many bodies found after El Nino rains- possibly to alleviate the disaster
 El Nino rains warm the water, it kills the fish, which reduces the birds
which reduces the fertilizer etc.
The most popular theory explaining the sacrifice says that it was to appease the gods of
their society and gain supernatural powers. They drank the blood of the victims to
become more powerful, having consumed the defeated.
On click* Ceremonial Knife (Tumi), A.D. 1100/1470- (MZE really Chimu but here for
visuals)
o Gold with turquoise inlay, (13 3/8 x 5 in.)
Pottery: famous for their painted clay vessels
- rivals the pots of Greeks and Mayans
- so much info!- illustrate architecture, metallurgy, weaving, the brewing of chicha
(fermented Maize beer), human deformities and diseases, even sex acts
- generally flat bottomed, stirrup spouted jars derived from Chavin prototypes- usually
two colored slip
- found in burials but recent archeology suggests some found in homes for use too. Tools
to further political ambitions and communicate membership within groups.
8.4 * Moche portrait head vessel. Peru. 400–500 CE. , Terracotta with paint, 12-1/2 × 8-3/4”
(31.7 × 22 cm).
- tradition (seen earlier but reaches a highpoint around 5th c. CE at Moche) of modeling highly
naturalistic faces, figures, and figure compositions on vases for their burials
- buried their elite with grave goods, including sculptural vases
- mold made but hand finished by sculptors and painted
- many seem like actual portraits
- this one may be a Moche ruler, warrior or royal retainer whose head was buried
alongside the ruler to accompany his dead master into the afterlife
- others represent a wide variety of face types, figures and figure groups
- maybe part of a local fertility or death cults. (* Click on slide again! Paralysis!)
- rounded, stirrup shaped spouts
8.5 * Reconstruction drawing of a painted stirrup-spout burial vessel. Middle Moche culture.
300–600 CE. Height 12” (30 cm).
- four rituals of the Moche burial cult are illustrated on this burial vessel
- this reconstructed image would wrap around the vessel (see click of example vessel)
- Right Side: “Wrinkle Face” and “Iguana” (2 men’s names) are holding ropes as they lower a
masked mummy bundle into a shaft tomb with grave offerings, like the Moche vessel type
- same 2 men appear again below on the other side of the tomb, with other smaller staff bearing
attendants above
- faces sideways, upper torsos frontal
- Left Side: men offer bird sacrifices and hold audience with a ruler as part of the burial ritual
*Moche Pottery detail
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Many have explicit sex images
May have been about recreational sex
May have been about shamanistic transformation ?? (per podcast lecturer)
o Why wear a hat for sex?
o Most of the sex does not seem to be for procreation (different sex acts)
Royals tombs
*Reconstruction of the burial of the Lord of Sipán. Huaca Rajada, Lambayeque Valley, Peru. c.
290 CE.
- richest burial find in S. America- excavated near the village of Sipan - elaborate burial!
(detailed in book) – one of three elaborate tombs found here.
- found by looters, researched by archeologists (archeologists had to sit by and protect it from
villagers who wanted the gold= unusual drama!)
- so valuable to tell us about Moche culture
- warrior- priest, age 35
- found adorned in gold, silver, and copper jewelry and ornaments, including an enormous
crescent headdress with a plume of feathers, a face mask, several pectorals composed of
hundreds of shell beads, necklaces, nose rings, ear rings, a gold and silver sceptre, banners of
gilded metal sewn onto cotton cloth, and two backflaps, which are trapezoidal sheets of beaten
gold that warriors wore attached to the back of their costumes.
- at top= a Guardian – the remains of a man wearing a copper helmet and holding a shield. He
had been buried in a sitting position and his feet had been amputated to prevent him leaving his
sentry position.
- buried with 2 women (wives? Concubines? One with left foot missing) 2 men (enemy
warriors?) a young boy (signs of malnutrition from teeth) and a dog who all may have been
sacrificed to go with him to the next life!
* A reconstruction showing the items the Lord of Sipan was buried in
8.7 * Exploded view of the burial of the Lord of Sipán. Huaca Rajada, Lambayeque Valley,
Peru. c. 290 CE.
* One of the necklaces adorning the body of the Lord of Sipan, depicting ten golden peanuts on
one side and ten silver peanuts on the other
The necklaces were made with beads of gold and silver in the shape of maní (peanuts), an
important food staple for the Moche.
- There were ten kernels on the right side made of gold, signifying masculinity and the sun god,
and ten kernels on the left side made of silver, to represent femininity and the moon god.
- silver and gold commonly used together for male/female contrast
*Ear Ornament, Sipan, Peru, Moche, 300CE, gold, and turquoise, 4” diameter
- ear spool- like modern day ear gauge- aka earflares
- on click *Pair of Earflares, 3rd–7th century, Peru, Moche (example of side view)
- go through big ear hole and then balanced by post weight on backside.
- depicts warrior priest and 2 retainers=person in service of a lord
- this depicts what he was dressed like!!!
- the retainers are shown in profile at each side of the Lord
- Lord carries war club and shield (like actual ones found in the tomb)
- has owl head bead necklace
- blade-like crescent shaped helmet looks like the actual one buried here with the Lord
- removable nose ring hangs over the mouth – like the one in the tomb!
- tells us a ton about the elite Moche culture
Chimu Empire- (1150-1460) Peru (right above where the Moche were)
- take over after the Moche fragments- Chimu derive lots from the Moche
- new larger buildings (than Moche)
- emphasis on roads, walls, canals (way to get water and farm in dry desert), and secular
buildings
8.6 * Map of ChanChan. 1000–1465.
Letters are keyed to the major monuments (some of the compounds are named after early
excavators): (a) Chayhuac; (b) Max Uhle; (c) Tello; (d) Labyrinth; (e) Gran Chimu; (f) Squier;
(g) Velarde; (h) Bandelier; (i) Tschudi; (j) Rivero
- ChanChan= Chimu capital
- 50,000 people, 20 square miles
- most ambitious urban plan in South America- was the largest earthen architecture city in
pre-Columbian America
- cuidadelas- citadels to house the royal families
- The remains of this vast city reflect in their layout a strict political and social strategy,
emphasized by their division into nine/ten 'citadels' or 'palaces' forming independent units.
- palace compounds each had royal living quarters, mausoleum, gardens and areas for audiencesthe work of successive monarchs who ruled the city. (For each next ruler’s family, older ones
kept as shrines and overflow royal housing.)
- like a mini city!!!
- 30 feet tapering walls surround and were decorated (*click on slide) – geometric patterns,
foliage, animals, mythical creatures- suggest protection!
- all citadels were oriented to N.
- each had a sunken well (unique)
- each had an audiencia- an audience hall that was U shaped. Place the lord could receive
tribute- had store rooms in back.
- outside the cuidadelas was small compounds for craftsman, artisans and traders
- network of canals= freshwater in abundance
- sunken field method- dig through sand to fertile soil beneath.
- Religion : May have worshipped the moon (or the fanged diety)- there is an image of a tear
drop shaped eyed god. (cat?)
- El Nino destroyed their town in 1100 and they rebuilt but never as great.
Video Link
- The Inca ruler Tupac Inca Yupanqui led a campaign which conquered the Chimú around 1470
CE and their art was blended into Incan art
Also contemp culture- famous metalsmiths called Sipan (MZE)
Middle Horizon
Tihuanaco (pre Incan!) (also spelled Tiwanaku)
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Bolivian mountains
Tiwanaku is located near the southern shores of Lake Titicaca on the Altiplano, at an
altitude of 3,850 m
o Lake Titicaca is seen as a mythical lake (large stone sculptures are found near it.)
o On border of Peru and Bolivia
o Incas imagine their past comes from here
o Large lake with islands in it
o Jaques Couteau dove there to find Incan ruins and only found a new species of
Giant frog!
Early Andean empire- Foundational culture for the Incas
Bleak highland (mountain) country that contrasts with the warm valleys of the coast…
Tiahuanaco is a huge complex of plazas and platforms with well preserved monumental
sculptures
o In contrast to the masonry style of the later Inca, Tiwanaku stone architecture
usually employs rectangular ashlar blocks laid in regular courses (like Egypt)
Agriculture
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The economic base of this city is evidenced through the almost 50.000 agricultural fields,
known locally as Sukakollos, characterized by their irrigation technology.
Raised fields with parallel deep ditches on which crops were sown.
o This system was designed in such a way that the canals retained the heat of the
intense sunlight during frosty nights on the Altiplano and thus kept the crops from
freezing.
o Algae and aquatic plants that accumulated in the canals were used as organic
fertilizer on the raised fields.
Original name of the city translated to “The Stone in the Middle” implying that the city
was the center of their universe
Belief that the Incan creator god, Viracocha, made the moon, sun and stars at Tiahuanaco.
o the creator god, populated the world with a race of stone giants. These proved
unruly and so Viracocha made humans instead but, unimpressed with their greed
and hubris, the god sent a great flood upon the earth. All but three humans were
destroyed but, from these survivors, the human race once again sprang forth. The
world was still in darkness, though, so Viracocha made the sun, moon and stars
from islands in the center of Lake Titicaca.
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Video Link
8.8 * Gateway of the Sun. Tiahuanaco culture. c. 500 CE. , Tiahuanaco, Bolivia.
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Huge monolithic block, a gateway (now moved)- 15 tons!
Here a version of the Chavin “Staff God”- The styled staffs held by the figure symbolize
thunder and lightning representing the Sun God or the Inca god, Viracocha.
Shows the importance and influence of the Chavin style
Serpent like headdress, mask like face- rays project from his head
Staffs that he holds has feline and condor head finials (condor is an impressive carnivorelargest raptor)
Condor and puma references connect to sky and earth converging on the gateway
Winged attendant deities all around the “Staff God”
Abstract, linear, geometric style connected to the textile designs
Was once painted with turquoise inlay eyes!
When the gate was originally found, it was lying face down and had a large crack. It
stands in the place where it was found, although it is believed that this was not its original
location.
May have an astronomical metaphor. There have been innumerable interpretations of the
inscriptions including that it was used as a calendar. The lintel is carved with 48 winged
effigies each in a square, 32 with human faces, and 16 with condor’s heads, and the head
of the figure is surrounded by 24 stripes that represent rays shooting from his face.
Late Horizon
The Inca (also spelled Inka)
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Highlands of Peru and Bolivia
In the middle of the 15th c. the Inca burst forth and swept across the Andes with an
explosive force
The supreme head of state was the king, considered a living god ruling by divine right
and the royal family controlled important areas of government such as the army.
o The Inca Empire was a bureaucratic empire.
o The empire had an emperor called the Sapa Inka, and was said to be the
descendant of the god Viracocha (CreatorGod) and the son of Inti the sun
god.
o The Inca Empire had eighty provinces, all ruled by a governor.
Rigorously disciplined political institution unified by a large network of roads and
bridges in which the Inca (ruler) presided over complex administrative hierarchy
o Where the terrain was too steep they built steps, where there were rivers they built
rope bridges!
o Divided the empire into 4 quarters radiating from Cuzco
o Small settlements were spaced no more than a day’s travel apart
o Moved goods on herds of llamas (no wheels or horses)
o Clothing indicated status- abstract patterns may have indicated social groups (the
ruler wore all the designs to show his control over all groups!)
Economy: based on reciprocity (that was unequal)
Although they did not collect tribute from the people, they required them to give labor services
called mita. In this service, people would produce goods to be traded.
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The people who were required for mita (or labor tax, that all able-bodied people of the
empire owed the Inka) were taken and put into groups depending on their special skills.
For example, those with certain skills would go to work in textile manufacturing,
producing metal goods, and creating stonework.
Serfs and skilled workers paid “taxes” by working on roads, agriculture and architecture
Inca colonists were settled in newly conquered territories as a way of managing subject
peoples and spreading Inca language and customs. Local lords were enlisted into the
system of government to maintain order in their provinces, rebellious communities were
resettled in the Inca heartland.
The Inca controlled perhaps 10 million people, speaking a hundred different tongues. It was
the largest empire on earth at the time. Only lasted 50 years!
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When Pizarro executed the last emperor, it rapidly collapsed. Catholic priests demanding
allegiance to a new Christian god soon replaced the Children of the Sun. As they had for
thousands of years, the hardy peoples of the Andes adapted.
*Quipus= knotted cords attached to central loop for inventory and other important gov’t statsmnemonic (a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering
something) devices in which shape, color and sequence of knots encoded info
o Definitely a way to count (ones, tens, hundreds)
o Lots of food, people and building projects to account for!
o Colors that must have been symbolic and numbers could mean more than “just” a
number
 We think of red for a stop sign, use numbers to label football players, etc.
o Could it have been a form of writing that is just different that ours????
o Running relay teams would move the quipus quickly over long distances to and
from the capital
o A message could be sent 1200 miles from Cuzco to Quito in under a week.
-Incas dominated other peoples by holding festivals for local leaders and then eventually
convincing them to start working for them as tribute- then take over and expand…
Inca Gods and Goddesses (slide)
Illapa Description: Storm and weather god, shown as a man with war club and sling. Rules Over: Thunder and lightning.
Inti , Other Names: Apu Punchaur. Description: Sun God. Represented by a great golden disk with a face, but in the Incan mind
he was thought to have a human form. His annual festival was to celebrate the harvest of maize. Chanting lasted from sunrise to
sunset with continual animal sacrifices. Rules Over: Fertility, crops.
Mama Cocha , Other Names: "Mother Sea." Description: Worshipped especially on the Peruvian coast. Rules Over: Fishing.
Mama Quilla , Other Names: "Mother Moon." Description: Moon Goddess. She was depicted as a silverdisk with a human
face. Wife of Inti. She was not worshipped by many, and was connected with the calendar and festivals. Rules Over:
Protectress of women, the calendar, religious festivals.
Manco Capac Description: Sun god. Youngest son of the Sun. Founder of Cuzco. Rules Over: Magick.
Pachacamac, Other Names: "Lord of the Earth." Description: Pictured as a tall white man who worked miracles, also said to
create earthquakes. Sacrifices of animals and humans were performed every year to him. Rules Over: The arts, occupations and
oracles.
Supai Description: God of the Underworld and death. One-hundred children were sacrificed every year to him. He was
considered a greedy god, always wanting to increase the number of his followers. Rules Over: Death.
Viracocha , Other Names: Huiracocha. The Creator- Father of all the gods Description: Great God without beginning or end.
Inca legend said he lived in heaven and maintained the world, however, they also believed he left many versions of the universe
and humankind to the lesser gods. He was thought of in human form. Giver of the arts of civilization.Rules Over: Sun, storm,
lightning, oracles, languages, moral codes, rain, water, fertility.
Inka kingship
- Inka ruler = the Sapa Inka- (which means “unique Inka” in Quechua)
- Religion was linked to patriotism- allowed to worship local/regional gods as long as they also
worshiped the emperor, supported the empire
- belief that the Inka king was son of the Sun God Inti!!!
- One of the obligations of the royal family was performing rituals that sustained
relationships with the supernatural forces that drove existence.
- There was a reciprocal but unequal economic and power relationships between the
Inka and their subjects
-religious myths connect to STONE a power material all around them in the highlands (some
myths say humankind was made from stone by Viracocha, father god)
- Incans were supreme masters of shaping and fitting stone
- first emperor said to have been born from stone
- many stones around Cuzco are partially carved…coming to “life”
- city walls stones are bulging and convex and “living” looking
- stones at one temple were said to have come to life to help the emperor
- worked stone was often put next to natural stones in shrine to “illustrate the ability to
come to life”
Cuzco *modern day image slide
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A sacred city of temples, royal palaces and residences for housing carefully-preserved
bodies of dead rulers, early histories say the Inca likened Cuzco to the body of a puma
(wild mountain cat), a symbol of Inca royalty.
The city was divided into two sections, hanan (upper or high) and hurin (lower), which
paralleled the social organization of Inka society into upper and lower moieties (social
divisions).
o Cusco was further divided into quarters that reflected the four divisions of
the empire, and people from those sections inhabited their respective
quarters of the city. In this way, the city was a map in miniature of the entire
Inka empire, and a way for the Inka rulers to explicitly display their power to
shape and order that empire.
Girls and young women were drawn from across the empire to the capital to serve as
cloistered acllas (“chosen women”): to weave fine cloth for gods and nobles and to make
corn beer (chicha) for religious rituals, to serve gods in shrines, and in some cases to be
given to Inka favorites in marriage.
o To make corn beer it must be chewed and spit out and fermented. So only cute
young ladies would be the spitters! 
Young men were also brought to Cusco to be educated and raised in the Inka culture.
When they returned to their homes, they would be valuable advocates for Inka traditions
and power.
In addition to the Inka gods and ancestor mummies kept in the capital, there were also
the captured gods of subject peoples, brought there as another means of controlling their
followers.
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Pachakuti was the Incan ruler (1438-1473) that really shaped the city of Cuzco- he
conquered Chan Chan and incorporated the lessons of the buildings there by rebuilding
Cuzco- used STONE (* Slide)
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Stone- The masonry of Cusco displays an understanding of stones as being like people,
in that many different ones may fit together if they are properly organized. Each
individual stone was pecked with tools and fitted to the one next to it, with the result that
blocks will have a varied number of sides, such as the famous Twelve-Sided stone in the
walls of a famous street. Some sides of each stone were made to curve outward slightly,
others to be slightly concave, so that the stones slotted together, while still allowing a
small amount of movement. The ability to move a little was important in an area that is
seismically active, protecting the walls from earthquakes.
Grand imperial center
The Coricancha, or Temple of Sun
*remains of the Temple of the Sun, Cuzco, Peru- surmounted by the Church of Santo Domingo,
15th c.
- a temple devoted to the sun god, Inti, the main Inca deity. the most sacred shrine of the Inka
- While the Inka had many gods, they claimed descent from the sun, whom they called
Inti, and held the sun’s worship above all others.
- Coricancha was largely built over in 17th century to build the Catholic Church of Santo
Domingo atop the Inca foundations
- now a symbol of the Spanish conquest!
- The Spanish were unable to knock the strong walls down so they built over it! Inkan buildings
of stone were trapezoidal, never square or rectangular, had strong walls that slightly leaned in
and were thicker at the bottoms and were set on a base that had small pebbles/gravel to allow the
buildings to shift in an earthquake and not fall! So smart!
When a later earthquake happened, it revealed the old Inkan walls!
*Remains of the Corikancha, Inka masonry below Spanish colonial construction of the church
and monastery of Santo Domingo, Cusco, Peru, c. 1440
- Rather than fitting each stone together as an individual shape, creating an irregular-looking
surface, here they were shaped into even courses of rectangular blocks, and polished to a
smooth finish. The walls were then covered in sheets of gold to signify the shrine’s dedication
to Inti, and would have reflected the sun’s rays with a blinding brilliance.
- The Temple of the Sun was the center point of the empire, and from it radiated imaginary
lines, called ceques, which connected it to shrines throughout the Cusco valley.
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ceques = a “landscape calendar and cosmogram,” as the shrines were also a marker of
time, with different noble families tending to and holding rituals at the shrines around
the ceque system throughout the year.
-Temple housed mummies of early rulers
*Double-jambed door, Coricancha, Cusco, c. 1440-1540
- All of the doorways, windows, and wall niches of the Coricancha were the distinctive Inka
trapezoid shape, with doorways double-jambed to signify the importance of the building.
Some of the earliest Spanish chroniclers record the placement of a garden composed of gold
and silver objects among many of the offering and ritual spaces in the Corikancha. Pedro de
Cieza de León describes a golden garden in his 1554 account:
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“In the month of October of the year of the Lord 1534 the Spaniards
entered the city of Cuzco, head of the great empire of the Inkas, where
their court was, as well as the solemn Temple of the Sun and their greatest
marvels. The high priest abandoned the temple, where [the Spaniards]
plundered the garden of gold and the sheep [llamas] and shepherds of this
metal along with so much silver that it is unbelievable and precious stones,
which, if they were collected, would be worth a city. “
- The Corikancha’s garden asserted the natural world as a possession of the Inka at the
same time it reinforced their divine right to rule across the Andes. (They are able to grow
crops in many different ecosystems and elevations!)
*Inka Llama, alpaca, and woman, 1475-153
- Inside, a reproduction of the world in miniature took the shape of a garden made from gold,
silver and jewels, with people, animals, and plants.
- small stauettes that may look like the large scale staues would have looked…
*Maize cobs, Inka, c. 1440–1533, Ssheet metal/repoussé, metal alloys, 25.7 x 6 x 9 cm
- individual kernels of corn protrude from the cob that is nestled in jagged metallic leaves.
- Inka metalsmiths expertly combined silver and copper to mimic the internal and external
components of actual corn. Hollow and delicate, the ears of corn on the stalk are life-sized.
- The metallic maize cobs would have represented one of the most important imperial foodstuffs,
used for making the chicha (maize beer) consumed at political feasts, which cemented the
obligations of local political leaders to the Inka state .
- While many ancient Andean art traditions favored abstract and geometric forms, Inka visual
expression often incorporated more naturalistic forms in small-scale metal objects.
- The Inka commonly deployed small-scale naturalistic metallic offerings, like the silver alloy
corncobs, in ritual practices that supported state religion and government. Offerings have been
found across Inka territories.
- Columbus started his exploration in search of gold! He had sailed hoping to hit Japan
but he hit Hispaniola (central America- island with countries of Haiti and Dominican
Republic)
- The lure of the golden cities continued, and in the mid-1520s another adventurer,
Francisco Pizarro, sailing along the Pacific coast of Colombia, encountered communities
with abundant gold and silver. Wishing to gain control of the region for himself, Pizarro
hurried to Spain and successfully petitioned to become governor in 1529. Shortly
thereafter he set out for Inka Peru, the richest of all the American kingdoms where temple
walls were covered with gold and golden pots held golden treasure. The use of precious
metals was restricted to the Inka nobility, concentrating power and wealth in royal hands.
Irregular city pattern layout that followed the topography (laid out in the shape of a puma! )
*Puma layout of Cuzco
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Divided into 2 main sections and then 4 quarters
o reflected the four divisions of the empire, and people from those sections
inhabited their respective quarters of the city.
o Also, imaginary lines (ceques= rays) sacred pathways- that projected out from
the temple of Inti (sun god)= Coricancha to the Inca huacas= sacred places like
rocks, shrines an streams of lesser gods also connected sometimes to lines of
astronomical observations- connected to the cosmos and ambitions of society
o Over 300 shrines were situated at sacred places along these lines and there formed
part of a sophisticated agricultural calendar.
o Cuzco layout like a big quipu imposed on the mountains!
- Not only the Inka rulers and their nobles resided in Cusco. Local leaders from all sections of
the empire also lived in Cusco—often compelled to do so as a means of controlling their home
populations.
- Girls and young women were drawn from across the empire to the capital to serve as cloistered
acllas (“chosen women”): to weave fine cloth for gods and nobles and to make corn beer
(chicha) for religious rituals, to serve gods in shrines, and in some cases to be given to Inka
favorites in marriage.
- The textiles they produced were then given as royal gifts, worn by the royal household,
or burned as a precious sacrifice to the sun god, Inti.
- corn had to be prechewed and spit out to ferment to make beer- sounds better down by
beautiful women!
- Young men were also brought to Cusco to be educated and raised in the Inka culture. When
they returned to their homes, they would be valuable advocates for Inka traditions and power.
- In addition to the Inka gods and ancestor mummies kept in the capital, there were also the
captured gods of subject peoples, brought there as another means of controlling their followers.
- Incan stonework slide *
- carefully carved stones, exact dimensions
- The masonry of Cusco displays an understanding of stones as being like people, in that many
different ones may fit together if they are properly organized.
- used projecting nubbins to attach ropes from a tripod to be able to swing the stones into place,
often grinding the final dimensions into place as they wedged the stone in.
- many stones had as many as 11 corners and sides! (There is a famous 12 sided stone) Each
shaped by rocking and grinding the stones into place!
- There are records of 20 men working on a single stone, chipping away, hoisting and lowering,
polishing it with sand, hour-by-hour for an entire year!
- idea by one scholar that acids (already used for releasing gold from stone) could have been
used to “melt” the stones into one another! Not proven…yet…
8.10 * Street in Cuzco lined with Inca masonry. Photograph 1970.
- old original high walls, narrow passages
- originally would have had thatched roofs
* Saqsa Wayman, Cusco, Peru, c. 1440-1540
- Saqsa Wayman looks down on the city of Cusco from the northwest.
- The structure, with its zig-zagging walls, is described as a fortress, although there are still many
questions as to how it functioned in that capacity, and the purpose of some of its features is
debated.
- It is possible that it was never finished, or that parts of it were left incomplete at the time of
conquest
8.11 * View of colossal stonework, Sacsahuaman, near Cuzco.
- ritual center above Cuzco
-
-
Shows more amazing stone work
Some stones were over 100 tons and could not be rocked into place by the rope tripod
method, so would have had to be rocked back and forth on the ground until they nestled
next to the other stone
Textile aesthetic!
Stones bigger than Egyptian pyramids!
Like beauty of Gothic cathedral stonework!
Shows the Incan organizational skills
8.12 * View of Machu Picchu, with Huayna Picchu in the background. Built c. 1500. (2 slides)
- unknown to most people until 1911, so well preserved (not really discovered by an
explorer, just taken there by a local!!!)
- It was built as a royal estate for the first Inka emperor, Pachacuti Inka Yupanqui, on a mountain
saddle overlooking the Urubamba River (in modern day Peru).
- The location was approximately three days’ walk from the Inka capital of Cusco, and nearly
3,000 feet lower in elevation (7,972 feet / 2,430 meters), with a pleasant climate. It was
intended as a place where the Inka emperor and his family could host feasts, perform
religious ceremonies, and administer the affairs of empire, while also establishing a claim
to land that would be owned by his lineage after his death.
- The emperor and his retinue would only reside at Machu Picchu for part of the year.
Most of the people who lived there permanently were yanaconas (retainers)
and mitimaes (colonists obligated to move to their location).
- The site was chosen and situated for its relationship to the Andean landscape, including sight
lines to other mountain peaks, called apus, which have long been considered ancestral deities
throughout the Andes.
- The site contains housing for elites, retainers, and maintenance staff, religious shrines,
fountains, and terraces, as well as carved rock outcrops, a signature element of Inka art.
- (not a regular city) Playboy mansion like?? 
- probably only population of 1,000
- Buildings and network of narrow agricultural terraces
- Terraces were a common element of highland agriculture long before the Inka. They
increased the arable land surface and reduced erosion by creating walled steps down the
sides of steep mountains. Each step could then be planted with crops.
- Terracing took advantage of the landscape and provided some sustenance for the
emperor and his entourage during his visits, as well as producing ritually-important maize
crops. Further provisions came from the rich lands at the foot of the mountain peak,
which were also beholden to Pachacuti and his family.
* Stone channel drain, Machu Picchu, Peru,c. 1450–1540,
- Water management at the site was crucial, and throughout Machu Picchu a system of stone
channels drains water from rainfall and from a spring near the site.
- Some of the water was channeled to stone fountains. There are sixteen in all, descending in
elevation through the site.
- The first in the series is placed outside the door of the emperor’s compound. That fountain is
constructed with walls that may have created a ritual bath for the emperor, connected to his
duties as a sacred king who performed religious rituals.
*Stone walls and trapezoid-shaped windows, Machu Picchu, Peru, c. 1450–1540
- The construction of the main buildings is typical of Inka elite architecture.
- The walls were built of stones that had been individually shaped to fit closely with one
another, rather than being shaped into similar units. This was accomplished by a
laborious process of pecking at the stones with tools, gradually shaping them so that each
stone was uniquely nested against those around it. Each stone had some sides that
protruded slightly, and some with slight concave faces, socketing the stones so that they
held together, but allowed for earthquake-damping movement in this seismically active
region. Outward faces were then worked smooth, so that the walls resemble an intricate
mosaic.
- Most structures were roofed with wood and thatch.
- Entryways were in the unique Inka shape of a trapezoid, rather than a rectangle. The trapezoid
shape was also used for niches and windows in the walls of buildings.
- Buildings for people or activities of lower status were made using a rough construction
technique that did not take the time to shape the stones.
- Great Plaza in the center
- around Great Plaza (like at other Incan cities) is the Temple of the Sun, royal palace, barracks,
worker’s quarters, storehouses and baths
- used some of the natural rocky outcroppings in their design of the city
*The Observatory (Temple of the Sun), seen from above, Machu Picchu, Peru, c. 1440-1540
- composed of two main parts: an upper curved stone enclosure with windows and niches placed
in it, and a cave beneath this structure with masonry additions that hold more niches.
- Modifications of the windows in the Observatory’s upper walls indicate that they were used to
calculate the June solstice, as well as the first morning rise of the constellation Pleiades and other
important constellations.
- The cave beneath the enclosure may refer to the place of the underworld in Inka myth, making
the Observatory a building that embodied cosmological thought as much as it facilitated
astronomical observation.
- *Intihuatana Stone= “Place to Which the Sun is Tied” was natural to the landscape and may
have been used as a sundial to mark June Solstice (here mid winter for s. hemisphere) and the
new ceremonial year.
- The stone’s name refers to the idea that it was used to track the passage of the sun
throughout the year, part of the reckoning of time used to determine when religious
events would take place and similar to the Observatory.
- Carved boulders were a part of the Inka relationship with the earth, and expressions of belief in
a landscape inhabited by supernatural forces.
- Carved boulders of this type are found throughout the heart of the Inka empire.
- (Damaged during the making of a beer commercial, now protected better!)
End of the Inka
* slide The Spanish (led by Pizarro) captured the about to be crowned Incan king, Atahualpa, in
1532 (after last Inkan king and his heir were killed by small pox. 2 other sons fought for the rule
in a period of upheaval)
- held him for ransom.
- The ransom was immense. In an effort to gain his freedom, Atawalpa filled a large room with
gold and two rooms with silver. The rooms were stacked high with tubs of the metal, platelike
tiles of gold, and many other objects.
- Yet this treasure did not buy freedom for Atawalpa or his kingdom. Pizarro killed him.
- The country was stripped of its wealth, and the rich temple fixtures, a well as the precious
gardens with earth of gold granules, gold cornstalks, and gold figures of men and llamas, were
rendered into neat bars.
-Forty years after Christopher Columbus saw modest bits of gold among the
peoples of Española, the dream of incredibly rich royal courts and seemingly
endless supplies of gold had come true.
Spanish spent many years searching for “El Dorado”- a king who had even more gold! Said to
appear covered in gold dust! Dummies! Atahualpa was it!!!
Post Conquest Quzco
-
Pre- Colombian and Colonial culture mixed
Center for painting in 17th c. S. America
8.13 * Cuzco School, Peru, Angel carrying Arguebus. 18th century.
- mix of west and non western
- Flemish influence, Byzantine icons, Inca art
- include metals and jewels, silver and gold stencil and leaf
- Rich textures, less about volume
- archangel dressed as a solider (common) HERE or Virgin and Child for the altar
- painting of a popular sculpture type that would have been lavishly dressed
- flattening is like Andean textile aesthetic
South American Summary
Chavin- U Shaped temple complexes and monumental statues and reliefs- ritual center and
pilgrimage site
Paracas- mummies, textiles
Nazca- Nazca lines, ceramics
Moche- ceramics, royal burials, citadels
Inka- vast empire
- Sapa Inka
- capital at Cuzco
- mita
- quipu
- ashlar (cut, worked) masonry construction
- Machu Picchu
- ancestral mummies