Human effigy vessel
AD 400–500
Object PlacePerú
Medium/TechniqueEarthenware: orange, dark red, white, and black on cream slip paint
DimensionsOverall: 16 x 12.4 x 15.9 cm (6 5/16 x 4 7/8 x 6 1/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of Philip Ainsworth Means
Accession number20.1604
On View
On viewClassificationsCeramics
Collections
Like most Andean cultures, the Nasca engaged in warfare to control human labor and natural resources, especially water and arable land. This warrior grasps a spear thrower, and his head, wrapped in cloth, is bound by straps that may depict slings. Note his goatee and sparse mustache.
ProvenanceBetween about 1914 and 1920, acquired in Peru by Philip Ainsworth Means (b. 1892 - d. 1944), Boston [see note]; 1920, gift of Philip Ainsworth Means to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 7, 1920)
NOTE: An anthropologist, Means began working in Peru in 1914.
NOTE: An anthropologist, Means began working in Peru in 1914.
A.D. 400–500
A.D. 650–800
A.D. 300–700
A.D. 350–400
A.D. 300–700
A.D. 550–850
650–750 AD
A.D. 600–800
A.D. 725–760
A.D. 650–800
A.D. 650–800
AD 250-400