Pre-colombian Archeology

ANTHROPOMORPHIC PITCHER

The human figure represented in this pitcher presents ear adornments and a brown facial painting.

CORNER MANTLE

The decorative pattern of this fabric consists of walking birds seen from profile, distributed in diagonals, with tri-colored stripes that define the graded space.

LOINCLOTH FRAGMENT

Decorative pattern in horizontal streaks with bird motifs, arranged in squared spaces. When seen vertically, the background colors form a zig-zag.

DOUBLE VASE WITH BRIDGE HANDLE

This piece represents a feline, and on its bottleneck that rises from the stirrup handle, there is a small zoomorphic appendix, a common characteristic in Chimu vases.

DOUBLE VASE WITH BRIDGE HANDLE

This piece presents a human figure wearing a headwear. The Chimu pottery expertise in the confection of the casts for the mass production of its ceramics, permitted surface treatments of great aesthetic effect, as seen in this vase, although from an artistic point of view it is considered inferior to the Mochica ceramics.

FEATHER ACCESSORIES

Manufactured with macaw feathers (Ara macao and Ara ararauna).

INCA QUIPU

The quipus were used by the Incas as a writing system, for the recording of stories and songs in the Quechua language, as well as for counting both herds and people.

MINIATURE INCA TUNIC

The type of piece exhibited here was used exclusively as an offering in festivities known as capacochas, where children sacrifices were realized. These miniature tunics wore small gold or silver icons.

WOOL, COTTON, AND PIGMENT ADORNMENT

Decorative accessory. Fabric. Lambayeque. Late.

TRUMPET

The iconographic representations that appear in this ceramic are so realistic about the everyday and ceremonial life of the Moche society, that they became the main source of information existent about it, in the absence of writing. The archeological findings of musical instruments made out of ceramics are frequent, usually in funerary contexts, with the role of accompanying the individual in his/her life after death.

BASKET WITH WEAVING UTENSILS

Rectangular basket of vegetable fibers containing threads, weaving instruments and several vibrant-colored fabrics.

DOUBLE ZOOMORPHIC VASE

Double whistling vase, in the shape of a parrot with stirrup handle, found in the Moche funerary context.

GLOBULAR MOCHE VASE

Globular-shaped vase in which four copious fruits were aggregated, red and cream-colored.

ZOOMORPHIC VASE

Felipe-shaped vase, with fangs and white paint over red.

AYMARA MUMMY OF INDIVIDUAL OF MASCULINE SEX

Funerary bundle wrapping a dead man between 30 and 40 years old. According to the Aymara tradition, the dead were dressed, seated with knees next to the chin and tied up. Next, a basket was weaved, wrapping the body around, leaving out only the face and the tips of the feet. Personal objects could also be placed in the interior of the bundle. In the case of this mummy, its cranium is exposed because the highest part of the head did not conserve well. The elongated format of the cranium is a result of a purposeful deformation, a common practice among the Andean peoples, probably realized for aesthetic or religious reasons, or to signal a distinction.

PREHISTORIC MUMMY OF INDIVIDUAL
OF MASCULINE SEX

The desert climate, associated with large concentrations of rock salt found in the soil of the Atacama, make this region one of the most arid in the world, which favors the preservation of organic matter. Consequently, many prehistoric bodies have been found in their sands in good conservation conditions. It is the case of the body of this individual, found in a grave in Chiu-Chiu, next to the city of Calama, at more than two thousand meters of altitude. Its grave, typical of the Atacama, was used between 4700 and 3400 years ago, period in which the desert cultures began their caravan activities.
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---► In the cold of the desert it was common to sleep sitting down, with the head resting on the knees, possibly as a way of warming up under the ponchos and caps made out of llama wool. This was also the position in which the dead were buried, wrapped in clothes and covers, along with their belongings. In this case, all that was left was the typical Atacama cap that he wears, weaved in wool and adorned with llama hair. His body does not present external signs of the death's cause. The visible lesion on the left side of the face, where the bone is fractured, resulted from a trauma. People from Atacama did not have a war tradition, but at times they fought and practiced violent rituals.