Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Cultures of the Ancient Americas: A Series in Parts.... (Part 4)

The Arizona Museum of Natural History has recently received major donations of objects from the American Southwest, Mesoamerica, and the Andes region of South America. The museum has opened a new exhibition, Cultures of the Ancient Americas, created solely from the new gifts. These magnificent objects offer insights into the cultures that produced them and underscore the monumental achievements of ancient peoples from New Mexico to Bolivia. We also celebrate the extraordinary generosity of our donors, who made the exhibition possible. Moche materials are the gift of Walter Knox of Scottsdale, AZ. Over the next several weeks AzMNH’s Museum Musings will highlight these objects and the cultures they represent, and suggest the special experience awaiting visitors to the exhibition.
Wari Empire and Regional States  (Section 4)

Chancay

Chancay culture arose on the central Peruvian coast in the Lima area, after the fall of the Wari Empire around 1000 CE, where it survived until approximately 1450 CE.  The central coast is a largely desert environment but includes fertile valleys that were used as irrigated farmland.  The ocean itself was the greatest source of dietary protein and fishing was important to the Chancay way of life.  Populations were politically linked but there was no overarching government.  The architecture was unremarkable with buildings made of poured adobe or tapia.  Chancay ceramics are distinctive for brown-black decoration on a poor quality white slip with the red of the terracotta often visible.  They are renowned for their textiles.  Artifacts are typically found in burials, which have a high frequency of being looted due to their proximity to Lima.


figure
Female Figure
Chancay 800-1200 CE
Central Coast of Peru, Lima Area

Most standing figurines, cuchimilcos, were produced as a paired set of male and female.  The function is not known but they are often found in tombs and it is believed they were thought to ward off bad spirits or serve as guardians for the dead.  This Chancay female, hollow, brown-black on white figure has a flattened triangular head and standard masked eyes.  It is symmetrical with outstretched arms originally from another piece. Perforations along the top of the head were likely decorated with feathers.  Some clothing is painted on in gray-black geometric decoration, with diagonal rows of small stylized fish on both sides of her poncho.  It may have been dressed with cloth originally.


 figure
Female Figure of Wood
Chancay 800-1200 CE
Central Coast of Peru, Lima Area

This female figure is carved from wood and depicted holding a cup (kero).  The eyes are made of shell and the pupils are brown paint.  Black, red and white paints decorate the face and portions of the body.  In its original condition it would have been adorned in cloth and may even had real human hair on its head.  Wood was more commonly used for facial masks than full figures such as this.  It is unclear if, as is the case with ceramic anthropomorphic figures, this wooden figure was part of a paired male and female set.



            
 jar
Effigy Jar
Chancay 800-1200 CE
Central Coast of Peru, Lima Area

This large, anthropomorphic, brown-black on white with red egg-shape jar depicts a figure wearing a crown like headdress with relief and holding a cup or kero.  Chancay ceramic style is unusual for this period for the absence or rarity of stirrup spouts, double spout and bridge bottles, or polychrome slip paint, which are found in the preceding as well as contemporaneous and neighboring cultures.  Made in two-piece molds, Chancay pottery was often bulbous in shape and made from terracotta clay.  As the figure lacks any gender signifying features it is unknown if it represents a male or female.  Little is known about Chancay cultural and social habits but the headdress may indicate this represents a person of status.




bottle
Large Bulbous Figure with Bottle
Chancay 800-1200 CE
Central Coast of Peru, Lima Area

This large bulbous brown-black on white figure has a bottle strapped to her back and wears a geometrically decorated headband or hat that includes clay ornamentation.  In life Chancay women wore head cloths with complex designs and patterns.  The figure’s hands cover the straps to carry the bottle and her stomach appears slightly distended.  The distinctive eye decoration is believed to symbolize human fertility, therefore making it probable the figure is female and potentially of divine character.  Flawed ceramics are common, perhaps due to firing large batches in large kilns.  Unlike textiles, painted ceramics were available to and used by all levels of society.

 (Join us in 2 weeks for part 5, a series in textiles and baskets) 

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