Vessel with representation of a supernatural bird

The shape of this vessel, called kero in Quechua, had its origins in the cultures that developed in the Titicaca Basin. The motifs have the same origin. The trapezoidal feathers divided into two or three sections, the bird head appendages and the meanders play an emblematic role in the stone sculptures of Tiahuanaco: they make up the headdresses and cover the bodies of those supernatural beings that adorn the Portals of the Sun and the Moon and the Monolith. Each character, whether radiant frontal beings –interpreted as images of the sun or the moon– winged creatures, anthropomorphized snails and llamas are characterized by a different combination of this glyptic art which perhaps symbolized different powers. Otherwise, the potter would not have used them as autonomous components of design. However, their presence in this ceramic piece, as well as the technology of the vessel, did not originate in the Altiplano. The varied palette of mineral paints applied before firing the piece, and the good firing technique in the kiln were possible thanks to almost a millennium of experience of the coastal Topará and Nasca potters. The fusion of the two traditions took place in the Ayacucho Basin. From then on the ceremonial Huari pottery and textiles conquered the Central Andes.