The videos showed everything from the beginning of Indian cultures to Spaniard colonization to Peruvian Independence up to modern day Peru. Needless to say, it was interesting to experience a museum in motion pictures.
The afternoon took a strange turn when we inadvertently ended up by the slums of Rimac, Peru. In our wise decision to turn around, me and both Miles decided we would go visit Borranco. We took a taxi cab to Borranco and it was entertaining to count in my head how many times cars should have collide with one another but somehow didn't. Borranco was a beautiful place with breathtaking ocean views and we ended up sitting down for a relaxing drink at the Acantilado de Barranco.
On Wednesday morning we visited the Museo de Arqueología, Anthropología e Historia del Perú. This museum had artifacts from many different cultures, from Pukara, Paracas Cavernas, Paracas Necropolis, Chavin, Vicús,Virú, Cajamarca, Recuay, Chincha, Tiwanaku, Moche and the list goes on and on.
Pukara (500 a.C.-300 d.C.)
Iconographic representations such as the one below are mainly of religious characters with a variety of geometric combinations.
Chavin (900 a.C.-200 a.C.)
The Chavin culture was responsible for influencing other civilizations along the coast and it consisted heavily of figurative elements. In the picture below, at first glance it looks like a lot of random lines running into each other but the figures on the side help us realize how descriptive these artifacts really are.
Paracas Cavernas (800-200 a.C.)
This culture was heavily influenced by the Chavín. It possesses figurative elements in which the style is achieved by making incisions on the pottery and filling in the spaces with think paint.
Vicús (500 a.C.-700 d.C.)
Vicús pottery reflects local fauna as well as warriors and priests and human beings participating in different daily activities. Examples such as the chicken and a mother holding her child and another breastfeeding her child are shown below.
Cajamarca ( 50 a.C.-1532 d.C.)
This culture is known for its white pottery, made of kaolin,which is white clay. It also has geometric shapes, cursive and cross linked lines and stylized animals which indicate Amazonian influences.
Recuay (200 d.C.-600 d.C.)
Recuay vases are very elaborate and there are distinguishable for their use of the "negative", red black and cream paint, and also the use of kaolin.
Chincha (1000-1450 d.C.)
Chincha tradition is characterized by the use of color and geometric designs. In the pottery seen below we notice the different color schemes in the background vessel and rotational symmetry found on the front vessel.
By far the most intriguing artifact I saw at the Museo de Arqueología was the quipu- not only because they are the topic of my studies, but because of their cryptic meaning. Unlike the other artifacts that were more or less self-explanatory, quipus are to this today, an inexplicable part of Inca history. We do know however, that some quipus were used for statistics and for accounting information in the regions ruled by the Incas.
Our next stop was at the Museo de Larco, it had an amazing botanical garden at the entrance. The Museo de Larco was a personal favorite; not only did it contain elaborate descriptions of different cultures' artifacts but it also had English translations that made it much easier to follow along. My first discovery at de Larco was the three sacred animals of ancient Peru: the bird, the feline, and the serpent. The picture below shows the stone mortars from Pacopampa that shows the fusion between these three sacred animals.
Because Peruvian society was so dependent on agriculture, it is no surprise that their artifacts contained a large amount of information regarding the cycles of nature. One plaque read, "[the moche] knew that in nature there exist cycles. They believed that in the same way we humans are born, live, die and pass on to the subterranean world, from where all life is reborn." The most repetitive pattern I saw on the artifacts today was the three staircases with a curved wave-like line. My interpretation of this popular pattern is that the staircase not only signifies trinity, a important concept in religion, but also a constant climb in life, whether it may be serving a deity in order to get to a desired place in the afterlife or harvesting a crop to feed a society, and when the staircase meets the curved line it resembles the death of a person or a crop, but the swirl represents an infinite continuity between life and death. The vessel below closest to the front portraits this pattern.
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Best Wishes,
Julie
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