Nazca culture Totally Explained

Everything about The Nazca Culture totally explained

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's 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.

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 [alsocalled 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.
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 catagories: 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.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Nazca Culture'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://nazca_culture.totallyexplained.com">Nazca culture Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.