Published: 2024-11-14

Decorated gourds of Wari culture, Peru

Emanuela Rudnicka
Przegląd Archeologiczny
Section: Articles
DOI https://doi.org/10.23858/PA72.2024.3611

Abstract

The subject of the present study is pre-Columbian pyro-engraved gourd vessels (mates pirograbados) discovered at Castillo de Huarmey – a necropolis of the Wari Empire elites located on the Pacific coast of present-day Peru. The iconographic analysis and further iconological interpretation of the ornamental motifs made it possible to identify distinctive native features and foreign influences indicating an intentional reference to earlier traditions, particularly evident in the depictions of supernatural beings. The entire iconographic system of the gourd vessels from Castillo de Huarmey is thus an expression of the imperial ideology drawing on traditions of sanctioning power previously known on the coast.

Keywords:

Wari, Castillo de Huarmey, mates pirograbados, gourd vessels, Middle Horizon, pre-Columbian art, Peru, iconography

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Rudnicka, E. (2024). Decorated gourds of Wari culture, Peru. Przegląd Archeologiczny, 72, 215–235. https://doi.org/10.23858/PA72.2024.3611

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