Nazca_culture

Killer Whale Nazca Culture.

The Nazca culture flourished in the Nazca region between 300 BC and 800 AD. They created the famous Nazca lines and 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.

Contents 1 Pottery 2 Textiles 3 Other information 4 References

Pottery

The Nazca region is a desert that the Nazca turned into a viable agricultural area using their aqueduct technology. Nazca pottery has been divided into nine phases. Around 200 BC, at the end of the Early Horizon drought, Nazca I began. Pottery from this era contains the mythical content of Paracas art, but added realistic subject matter such as fruits, plants, people, and other animals. Realism increased in importance in the following three phases (II, III, IV) referred to as the Monumental phases. The pottery from these phases includes renditions of their main subject matter against a bold red or white background. In the next phase, Nazca V, the backgrounds are filled in and the subject matter now included bodiless renditions of both demons and humans. Nazca VI, and VII include the earlier motifs but also add militaristic ones, and portraits of elite members of the society. Nazca VI and VII also begin to show the influence of the Moche. Finally, Nazca VIII s445aw the introduction of completely disjointed figures and a rich iconography which has yet to be deciphered. The phases were created before the advent of carbon dating and today have some problems. While the general order did not change there is a great deal of overlap of the phases, and while the Nazca IX phase ends c. 600 AD, some of the pottery in that category was created at least as late as 755 AD.

Since the Nazca were a coastal people, who depended on the sea for their livelihood, archaeologists are fortunate that they portrayed aspects of their everyday lives in and on their pottery. The motifs generally seen on Nazca pots are those of animals and plants used and seen by the ancient people. These include sea birds, hummingbirds, whales, sharks, fish, snakes, seeds, flowers, and cacti. Also, more gruesomely, the Nazca portrayed severed heads, presumed to be trophy heads, on their pottery. This is supported in the archaeological record with the the discovery of caches of actual severed and ritually prepared heads. Over one hundred examples are known to exist. (Silverman)

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.

Other information

The Nazca culture co-existed with the Moche culture of what is now northern Peru.

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

v • d • e  Pre-Columbian Civilizations and Cultures
North America	Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi) – Fremont – Mississippian
Mesoamerica	Huastec – Izapa – Mixtec – Olmec – Pipil – Tarascan – Teotihuacán – Toltec – Totonac – Zapotec
South America	Norte Chico – Chavín – Chibcha – Chimor – Chachapoya – Huari – Moche – Nazca – Tairona – Tiwanaku – Mapuche
	The Aztec Empire	The Maya civilization	The Inca Empire (Inca civilisation)
Language	Nahuatl language	Mayan languages	Quechua
Writing	Aztec writing	Mayan writing
Religion	Aztec religion	Maya religion	Inca religion
Mythology	Aztec mythology	Maya mythology	Inca mythology
Calendar	Aztec calendar	Maya calendar
Society	Aztec society	Maya society	Inca society
Infrastructure	Chinampas	Maya architecture	Inca architecture (road system) Incan agriculture
History	Aztec history		Inca history
People	Moctezuma I Moctezuma II Cuitlahuac Cuauhtémoc	Pacal the Great Tecun Uman	Manco Capac Pachacutec Atahualpa
Conquest	Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (Hernán Cortés)	Spanish conquest of Yucatán (Francisco de Montejo) Spanish conquest of Guatemala (Pedro de Alvarado)	Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (Francisco Pizarro)
See also
Indigenous peoples of the Americas – Population history of American indigenous peoples – Pre-Columbian art

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia