Page 287 - Perú indígena y virreinal

a mean of conveyance for their systems of beliefs, for their supernatural beings associated with the most important forces of nature and with agriculture and the idea of fertility, although these beliefs were also associated with the power held by their leaders and with the concept of sacrifice. We should not forget the fact that perhaps the most widespread theme of the Nasca style was the human head, in many cases featuring a clear significance as a trophy.
Unlike Nasca pottery, Moche ceramics has always caught the eye due to its scarce use of colour and the apparent realism of its depictions. Whether it be through the use of modelling or painting, thick or fine lines, or combinations of both techniques, the Moche covered their pottery items with scenes that were full of movement and possessed an apparent narrative intention. However, this complex iconographic world cannot be interpreted in a simplistic manner: a deer-hunt, a unique battle, a love scene. Scenes that may seem isolated to us must always be interpreted as part of other more complex scenes, whose actions may take place in a supernatural world or in the real world, and whose characters, mythical beings or powerful lords, may appear in different scenes that must be associated, in turn, with the ceremonial and agricultural cycle, always intimately connected for the necessary survival of the Moche people. It is in Moche art that we find one of the few examples of “portraits”, in which we have been able to identify depictions of the same figure at different periods of his life.
Fortunately, excavations of tombs that are intact, such as those of the Lords of Sipan in the late seventies, or those of San José de Moro in the Valley of Jequetepeque in the early nineties, corresponding to different periods and different social classes within Moche society, have helped us to understand and contextualize Moche iconography.
Within the context of the same Regional Developments Period, Recuay pottery stands out for its exceptional quality and its vigorous and contrasted decorative designs, but above all for its sculptural forms. Among the most popular representations, apart from the cat, we find the llama, a very common depiction found on double cups, accompanied by a figure wearing an elaborate head-dress, a god or a priest responsible for sacrificing the animal.
Chimu pottery, a typical example of the art during the Regional States Period, reveals clear signs of mass production and stereotypical designs, probably due to the enormous demand for burials. Characteristic pottery items of this type are grey-black in colour and the designs, mainly sculptured or in relief, represent an entire range of fruits and plants, always of great use to Man, as well as edible and wild animals, human beings carrying out all kinds of activities and mythical beings. In spite of the apparent “realism” of these depictions, it is once again religious symbolism and a vision of the world based on two planes—the real and the supernatural—that seem to play the leading role in Chimu art.
the city of cusco: superimposing of cultures
Graciela Maria Viñuelas
Cusco existed as an imperial Inca city long before the arrival of Spaniards in 1534. It was the political capital of a vast region that stretched from Colombia in the north as far as Argentina and Chile in the south, and from the Pacific Ocean to the heart of the Amazonian jungle. It was also, however, the religious capital, as well as being the symbolic centre of the territory it ruled over, divided into four quarters or rumbos—directions—that corresponded to the four points on a compass. It also represented the synthesis of this empire, which it called Tawantinsuyo, or “Collection of Directions”.
Dominion over the territory was achieved not only through the military conquests that gave rise to the empire, but also via local representatives, and, most importantly, a network of roads and bridges that allowed them to know what was happening in each region, as well as collect taxes, carry out trade and bring back to the monarch whatever it was that he required.
The city that the Spanish encountered had no continuous urban centre, rather, it was made up of three basic elements: the seat of power, adjacent neighbourhoods and outlying
satellite suburbs. The royal centre was built by Pachacutec towards the end of the 14th Century, coinciding with a period of imperial territorial expansion. This area, in addition to being the centre for religious and administrative functions, was also the residential area for the nobility, and was situated between the Saphi and Tullumayo Rivers. This residence for the nobles partly coincided with the area around the modern day Plazuela de Nazarenas.
Outside the city, in the hills surrounding Cusco was the Sacsayhuaman fort, dominating the whole valley below. In the surrounding area, there were also important religious sites such as Quenco Grande and its lesser altars stretching over a large area until reaching the sites of Tambomachay and Puca Pucara. Roughly half way in between, the raised esplanade of Colcampata, used as a granary supplying the city below.
Within Colonial American History, the city of Cusco is a rare case, in that whilst it was built on the site of this ancient pre-Hispanic centre, at the head of a vast empire, it was not to maintain its historical power. Spanish reorganisation built upon the idea of a civil capital, even giving it ecclesiastical jurisdiction with the creation of a bishopric four years later. Even in the 16th Century however, it was Lima that was chosen to be the capital of the Viceroyalty and the principle Episcopal seat, although Cusco was not to lose other facets for which it was known. These qualities in fact, even grew in stature, as a result of the city’s very isolation from the rest of the territory.
The virtual transference of symbolic Inca values was carried out with some ease, thanks to the strong social contacts that had been there since the beginning, contacts that were concentrated there as it was at the head of the Spanish mission. Taking advantage of this interaction, civil and religious authorities sought a kind of continuity that would become evident as much in the different aspects of urban organisation as in the acceptance of customs that they were trying to implement. The Incas’ holy sites were taken as the foundations upon which the new functions of the city were to be based, at times seeking to tie in the old with the new, as in the building of he Cathedral on the site of the Imperial Palace, the installation of the Monastery of Saint Catherine in what had been the House of the Virgins or the convent of Saint Domingo in the ancient Corichana, or Temple of the Sun.
Logically, a mix of the two cultures was necessary, in the widest possible sense of the word, in order that there might be a consolidation of symbolism, giving birth to a new sense of identity. The union between what was European and what was Inca was not seen as an imposition, one on top of the other, but rather as an integration of the two, one that quickly became a real synthesis throughout all strata off society, the city of Cusco proving to be the perfect canvas on which to portray such an integration.
This is the main reason why the city quickly achieving almost mythical status in Europe. Numerous idealised notions of Cusco were put forward, based on vague but otherwise highly favourable accounts of the city. Throughout the 16th and for a large part of the 17th Centuries there was a roaring trade in etchings and drawings of the former Inca capital that would establish for many years to come an idealised image of the city in the minds of those who did not know the city first-hand.
If the gold of the ornaments and the riches of the emperor entranced the Spaniards, the Incas were similarly stunned by the military might of the Europeans. The native Indians looked on in astonishment at the horses, suits or armour, weapons, and even the very appearance of these bearded men. The Spanish in turn could not help but admire the city of Cusco, the extent of Inca domination, the subservience paid to it by almost the entire Andean region and the organisation of roads, bridges, forts, and its postal and irrigation systems. The sense of awe and amazement from the very outset was mutual.
As the symbolic milestones of the city’s rich history were taken into account during the Spanish reconstruction of Cusco, so did they too become reference points for a whole area of influence, near and far. In some way, during the first colonial period the ancient city of Tahuantinsuyo was recreated within a new framework in which the intersection of axes still prevails today. If the city was no longer at the head of Peru, it continued to be a vital pivot point between Lima the capital and the region of Potosi. In this way it acted as a kind of hub between Tucuman in Argentina and other Andean regions in the north, such as Quito, capital of modern day Ecuador and parts of what is Colombia.
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