Upon coming to Peru and learning some superficial knowledge about the country, I had the idea that this was a country of a thousand-year ancient empire that was ruthlessly overtaken by Spanish conquistadors. I soon learned after visiting El Museo Larco in Lima that this sensationalized version of history is an oversimplification and also not entirely accurate despite the fact that is does align with a lot of what we are taught in grade school.
We learned while visiting the museum that there were many ancient societies that existed before the Incas. In fact, the Incas only ruled over this area for a hundred years. Before their conquest, a rich tapestry of various organized religions existed and were later absorbed into the empire.
The first organized religion we learned about was the Mochica society of northern Peru, a society that first emerged about two thousand years ago. The ceramics of this society are very complex for an early agricultural society, something that can be attributed to the fact that many of the ceramics we observed were used as offerings.
The Mochica were among the first societies to realize fine line art. They did not have a written language but historical knowledge can be acquired through analyzing the inscriptions of vessels. Portrait vessels were also used to commemorate important people in the society, but the Mochica are perhaps most infamously known for their erotic sculptures depicting different sex acts. Sex was not a taboo topic in this society, which is something that led me to think deeply about the profound differences in pre-conquest values of people in the Andes. These ceramics also encouraged me to think about the role of art as a vessel of historical knowledge, particularly for a society with now organized religion.
The second organized religion we discussed was the Nazca society. This society existed at about the same time as the Mochica but further south in an incredibly dry climate. Their ceramics are distinguishable from the Mochica because they had a much broader range of colors that they worked with. Their vessels are a lot rounder and also include spouts for pouring water. An interesting thought that occurred to me while we observed these artifacts was that art of the different societies really does reflect the conditions in which they were living. The vessels of the Nazca are incredibly large and round, both of which can be attributed to the fact that they lived in a very dry environment that depended on functional water storage.
Above is a sacred orca which is found in the freezing water of south Peru. The Nazca society was likely captivated by how large and dangerous this animal was. The sculpture includes three human heads inside the body of the whale. A sculpture like this demonstrates the connection that ancient cultures experienced with animals as a means of spiritual representations.
We also discussed the Paracas society before visiting the city of Paracas. The Paracas society existed in the dry climate of the Nazca society but almost a thousand years earlier. This society was the first to create mantas, the giant textiles which have become broadly important in representing modern Peruvian culture.
Textiles were often used to wrap the dead in ceremonial fashion. It was groundbreaking to observe the origins of this ancient tradition and the ceremonial importance it has held for so many years.
The last society we discussed was the Chimu empire. The Chimu existed about a thousand years after the Mochica. The importance of metalwork for this society could not be overstated. They created impressive jewelry and also used the thorny oyster shell (a modern Peruvian icon) for ceremonial purposes. The shell only arrives during the El Niño phenomenon and was a large motivating factor for the Incas to conquer this region.
What was interesting to me about the Chimu exhibit was that the people of this society were not particularly concerned with purity of the metals- they were purely concerned with the aesthetics and decoration of wearing the jewelry, something that could not be said about the Spanish who conquered this area in part for its gold and natural resources.
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