The Triple Threat: Museum Hoping

On Friday, we had yet another delightful complimentary breakfast from the Mystic Hotel. We started the day by checking out a food festival in a small plaza. On the way we went through the Plaza de Armas and took a break on a deck overlooking the plaza. Austin made the mistake of taking the picture of women dressed in primitive Andean clothing with an alpaca. The second those women saw Austin’s camera, they were on him like white on rice asking for money. At the food festival, there was plenty of Peruvians running around and setting up tents, stands, and more. Due to the plaza being on a hill, the back side allowed us to see a spectacular view of the city. After a few minutes of meandering through the people and stands, I found a small alleyway that led to a clothing stand. Once the alley ended, I found myself surrounded by six or seven identical stores all selling touristy goods. We met up at a predetermined corner and while a few of us were sitting on some steps waiting, street venders one by one would lock on to us and try to sell us a variety of jumble.

The Food Festival

Next we took a short walk to the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art which happened to be affiliated with the Larco Museum. The museum was set up very nicely with plenty of English translations just like the Larco museum in Lima. The museum was very similar to most Peruvian museums in the fact that it was in an old house based around a courtyard. Each room contained another cultures work made up of more than just textiles and ceramics. There was an abundance of wooden sculptures, precious metallurgy, and seashell creations. Possession of wooden staffs would have been reserved to someone with high status or power. The gold and silver was bended to form vases, plates, clothing, and outrageous jewelry. I observed what I read to be ear gauges, but they were so big a baseball could pass through them. The nose rings were ginormous as well and would pierce through the bottom of the nose. All were polished gold or silver that would reflect light like a mirror. The extravagant seashell necklaces were a new site and provided insight of the craftsmanship it took to make the seashells fit perfectly together. In the courtyard, a woman and man were selling their art. The woman was selling what looked to be a gourd covered in small engravings. The detail was so fine that it took a magnifying glass to truly apprehend all that was going on with the aesthetics of her work.

Seashell Necklace

The subsequent museum was the Inca Museum. It felt like a culmination of every museum we have been through thus far. It contained textiles, ceramics, metals, clothing, quipus, and large displays of Andean sites. What looked to be rocks happened to be stone knives dating back to nearly 5000 B.C.! The museum contained vessels from every culture including a few I haven’t heard of from the other museums. The large displays allowed us a preview of some places we have yet to go. The massive Machu Picchu diorama allowed Dr. Brown to show us certain alignments and different aspects of the site to look for later on. He also pointed out that the miniature Huayna Picchu was not quite situated where it should be. Upon dissected the quipus, we concluded that there was an alternating color pattern with four tan cords at the beginning and end and alternations between a few colors every two cords. Additionally it was evident that neither quipu had subsidiary cords. I learned from the rest of the massive museum that the Incas centered around Cusco until the 1400’s, then they expanded throughout Western South America until the rebellion occurred and the Spanish conquerors arrived.

Ridiculous ear gauges

The final stop of the day was the Sun Temple or “House of the Sun.” The temple was split nearly into two sections. The bottom half was the old Incan site and the top half was the newer Spanish site. Qorikancha, Quechua for “gold enclosure”, was full of excellent architecture. Some geometry I noticed was the sloped roofs and the trapezoidal windows and entrances. The only window that was open was aligned so that it matched up with the other windows, allowing one to see through all of the rooms. The giant stone construction did not contain mortar between the stones. The stones aligned nearly perfectly and over time settle better in place. Also, I observed that the stones at the top were shorter but taller and the stones at the top were longer but skinnier. The longest stone would be over the top of the entrances. The ceilings of the Spanish section contained very high ceilings with stone arches and lots of curvature.

After being dismissed for the day, the group split up and I found myself checking out the Cathedral directly next to Qorikancha and viewed the intricate architecture within. Afterwards Michael and I stopped by a crepe stand that stopped us in our tracks. Later that night, we went to a restaurant where I enjoyed a six sole chicken sandwich. Boy was it good!

"No Photos Allowed"

On Saturday, we traveled to the site museum of Qorikancha. Unlike the multi-lever courtyard museums, this museum was underground. It was rather small, but had great artifacts and information. The most intriguing artifacts were the oddly shaped skulls. The people would fasten boards and bands to their heads to slowly alter its shape. After listening to Dr. Brown talk about the alien conspiracy, he told us that by altering the skull, the Andean people thought it would make them smarter. I just related the idea to another silly idea of foot binding. The skulls were cone and heart shaped and looked remarkably to what modern day refers to alien shaped. Some of the skulls had big holes in them from violence or medical procedures. Oddly enough, a hole the size of a golf ball showed signs of regeneration where the bone began to grow back, thus proving that the person survived their medical procedure.

After surfacing in the middle of the lawn, we observed the small channels and pools which irrigated the land. The channels were very elaborate and mysterious. They had to be built just right so that nothing overflowed; but just in case, an overflow canal was built. The water came from deep within the land which all ties back to the Quechua people praising the mountain Gods. Following this, we walked across the street to learn the unfortunate news about the next museum being closed.

Irrigation Canal

One Happy Family

Viva Peru!

~JH