Nazca culture

Killer Whale, Nazca Culture, pottery, Larco Museum. Lima, Perú

The Nazca culture (often spelled Nasca) flourished in the Nazca region between 300 BC and 800 AD, concomitantly with the Moche culture of what is now northern Peru. They are sometimes credited with creating the famous Nazca lines, and they also built an impressive system of underground aqueducts that still function today. Near the aqueducts open to tourists, there is an overlook point which includes an Inca building added after the Inca conquest of the area. On the pampa, on which the Nazca lines were made, the ceremonial city of Cahuachi (1-500 AD) sits overlooking the lines. Modern knowledge about the culture of the Nazca is built upon studying the city of Cahuachi.

Society

Social Structure

Religion

Arts and Technology

Pottery

The Nasca culture is characterized by its beautiful polychrome pottery painted with up to 12 distinct colors. Major pottery shapes include double-spout bottles, bowls, cups, vases and effigy forms. The Nasca culture began about 100 BC, at the end of the Early Horizon, developing directly from the Paracas culture. The Nasca pottery sequence has been divided into nine phases. Pottery from Phase 1 [also called Proto-Nasca] continues the mythical content of Paracas art, but added realistic subject matter such as fruits, plants, people, and animals. Realism increased in importance in the following three phases (2, 3, 4) referred to as the Monumental phases. The pottery from these phases include renditions of their main subject matter against a bold red, black, or white background. In the next phase, Nasca 5, considerable experimentation occurred, including the addition of rays, volutes, and other "proliferous" attachments to the supernatural motifs on the vessels. Phase 5 is called Transitional, since it bridges the change in style between the naturalism of Phases 2-4 and the proliferous elements added to the motifs in Phases 6 and 7. Nasca 6, and 7 include some of the earlier motifs but also emphasizes militaristic ones, suggesting a shift in social organization. The motifs in these phases 'include abstract elements as part of the design. Large numbers of rays and tassels are appended to many of the designs, particularly those depicting mythical subjects, producing a visual impression of almost infinitely multiplied elements, an impression which accounts for the use of the term 'proliferous' (Roark 1965:2). Nasca 6 and 7 also show influence from the Mocheculture of north coastal Peru. Finally, Nasca 8 saw the introduction of completely disjointed figures and a geometric iconography which is difficult to decipher. Phases 8 and 9 are now believed to date to the Middle Horizon, reflecting a shift in power from the coast to the highlands with the advent of the Wari culture about 650 A.D.

A fish-like figurine from Cahuachi.

The Nasca, like all other Pre-Columbian societies in South America including the Inca, had no writing system, in contrast to the contemporary Maya of Mesoamerica. Thus the iconography or symbols painted on their ceramics served as a means of communication. The motifs depicted on Nasca pottery fall into two major categories: sacred and profane. The Nasca believed in powerful nature spirits who were thought to control most aspects of life. The Nasca visualized these nature spirits in the form of mythical beings, creatures having a combination of human and animal/bird/fish characteristics and painted them onto their pottery. These Mythical Beings include such varieties as the Anthropomorphic Mythical Being, Horrible Bird, Mythical Killer Whale, Spotted Cat, etc. (Proulx 2006). Scenes of warfare, decapitation, and the ritual use of human trophy heads by shamans reflect other aspects of Nasca religious life. Other motifs are more secular, representing plants, animals, fish, birds, and objects used in everyday life.

Textiles

The Nazca are also known for their textiles. They began using llama and massive quantities of alpaca a thousand years before the north coast cultures began to esteem the camelid wool. The source of the wool is believed to be from the Ayacucho region. The motifs that appeared on the pottery appeared earlier in the textiles. Textiles may have been as important to other cultures in the region as to the Nazca, but the desert has preserved the textiles of both the Nazca and Paracas cultures and comprise most of what we know about early textiles in the region.

Discoveries

Medicine

Weapons and Warfare

References

• The Incas and the Ancestors: The Archaeology of Perú. Revised Edition. By Michael E. Moseley
• Cahuachi in the Ancient Nasca World. By Helaine Silverman
• A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography. By Donald A. Proulx (2006) University of Iowa Press
• From Monumental to Proliferous in Nasca Pottery. By Richard Roark (1965) Nawpa Pacha 3:2
• The Nasca. By Helaine Silverman and Donald A. Proulx (2002) Blackwell Publishers
• Ancient Nazca Settlement and Society. By Helaine Silverman (2002) University of Iowa Press
• Local Differences and Time Differences in Nasca Pottery. By Donald A. Proulx (1968) University of California Press
• Cahuachi: New Evidence for an Early Nasca Ceremonial Role. By Lidio M. Valdez, Current Anthropology 35, no. 5 (December 1994): 675-679
• The Archaeological Identification of an Ancient Peruvian Pilgrimage Center. By Helaine Silverman, World Archaeology 26, no. 1 (June 1994): 1-18
• Ceramic Production in Ancient Nasca: Provenance Analysis of Pottery from the Early Nasca and Tiza Cultures Through INNA. By Kevin J. Vaughn, Journal of Archaeological Science (2006), Volume 33, Issue 5: 681-689
• A Compositional Perspective on the Origins of the Nasca Cult at Cahuachi. By Kevin J. Vaughn, Journal of Archaeological Science (2007), Volume 34, Issue 5:814-822
• Burial Patterns and Sociopolitical Organization in Nasca 5 Society. By William Harris and Helaine Silverman, Andean Archaeology III (2006), Volume 3:374-400
• Cahuachi: Non-Urban Cultural Complexity on the South Coast of Peru. By Helaine Silverman, Journal of Field Archaeology (1988), Volume 15, No. 4:403-430
• What the Women Were Wearing. By Mary Frame, Textile Museum Journal (2003/04), Volume 42-43:13-53
• Households, Crafts and Feasting in the Ancient Andes: The Village Context of Early Nasca Craft Consumption. By Kevin J. Vaughn, Latin American Antiquity (2004), Volume 15, No. 1:61-88
• A Cache of 48 Nasca Trophy Heads From Cerro Carapo, Peru. By David Browne, Helaine Silverman, and Ruben Garcia, Latin American Antiquity (1993), Volume 4, No. 3: 274-294