Room 2, Vitrine 6
Ceramic
Peruvian Northern Coast
Formative Epoch (1250 BC – 1 AD)
ML015440, ML015452, ML015454, ML031824, ML300057, ML300065.
The Cupisnique culture, discovered by Rafael Larco in 1930, developed during the Formative Epoch, three thousand years ago. During this period the first temples emerged. Artisans produced objects loaded with religious content which were used in ceremonies and as funerary offerings.
The Cupisnique people modeled their pottery and then fired it in wood-burning kilns which produced a lot of smoke, giving the ceramics their dark color. Decoration was produced through the incision technique. The most characteristic element is the stirrup handle. They produced sculptured vessels shaped like animals, fruits, human heads and houses.