Head Motifs on Cupisnique Style Ceramics: Emblems of Cultural Identity in Early Andean Art

Summary

The term "Cupisnique" is applied to the culture and artifacts found in the Cupisnique ravine located between the Jequetepeque and Chicama valleys of northern Peru. Most Cupisnique-style ceramics were created between approximately 1200 and 200 BCE. These artifacts are characterized by stirrup spouts, dark black or brown hues, and engraved head motifs on well-polished surfaces. Previous scholars have emphasized religious interpretations of these ceramics, arguing that Cupisnique head motifs depict the supreme deity, images of a sacrificial head, or a shaman portraying in the midst of a transformative trance. This paper argues that the engraved head motifs on Cupisnique-style ceramics can instead be understood as emblems of cultural identity and socio-political power in the Cupisnique region.

During the Initial Horizon period, traders from Ecuador brought items such as spondylus shells to the northern coast, and people from the northern highlands introduced the San Pedro cactus and potatoes to this region in return. Since different ethnic groups mingled along the northern coast of Peru, the Cupisnique people likely felt the need to distinguish themselves and claim ownership of their land, a task that they performed in part through the language of engraved ceramic motifs.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• See How We Are: Representing Identity in the Ancient Americas

Keywords

Spatial Coverage