Really ugly Nasca pots of ancient Peru, and why they are important.

Summary

Polychrome ceramics of the Nasca culture (south coast of Peru, c. 100 BC - AD 600) are world renowned as one of the most colorful and artistically complex creations of the ancient Americas. Up to ten distinct colors depicting fabulous supernatural creatures adorn unique vessel forms with eggshell thin walls fixed in perfect oxidizing firings. Such masterpieces fill art books and spawn enthusiastic but fanciful speculations about Nasca society and its artisans. This paper rounds out the view of Nasca pottery production and its place in society by focusing on what is not shown in art books - the remarkably ugly, poorly made, and badly fired products of neophytes and the ungifted. Such pieces provide valuable information on the construction, painting, and firing stages of production, but also lead us to consider the individual potter as agent, the family workshop, and the potting community. The role of polychromes in Nasca society was potent. An informed understanding of their production, circulation, use, and deposition must include not only the brilliant and spectacular but also the unsightly and hideous.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Formative Influences: A Gathering in Honor of J. Scott Raymond   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14378