This phenomenal ceramic figure you see here is a part of the Jama-Coaque tradition from 1,400-2,300 years ago! While much of the culture remains elusive, their powerful ceramic figurines tell their stories to us today.
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Like many of the cultures surrounding them, their pottery techniques were exquisite. They range from depicting naturalistic to fantastical or supernatural scenes. For the Nasca people, it was their primary way of artistic and symbolic expression.
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Inca keros (sometimes called queros) act as more than just a drinking cup; they can literally seal a person's fate based on how they receive them. They also have changed over time.
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The Moche culture began its history around 200 A.D. along Peru's northern coast and fell around 900 A.D. Their artisans and artists left behind valuable looking-glasses to their culture's values, ideology, mythology, and religious practices found in the crafts they created.
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Explore intricately woven bags that hold a special significance in Andean culture, both in the past and present. They are traditionally called Chuspas, but widely known as Coca bags because of their use. Coca bags existed in ancient Andean societies to carry leaves from the coca plant, which were used for medicinal and ritualistic purposes.
Read MoreTextiles in the ancient Andes are saturated with meaning and symbolism. The textile fragments in our collection come from the Chancay culture dating from A.D. 1100 to A.D. 1450 found in central coast valleys of present-day Peru.
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