Nasca Drum

Room 4, Vitrine 35

Pottery
Southern coast of Peru
Florescent Epoch (1 AD – 800 AD)
ML013683

A shaman can be seen on this drum. Shamans were able to contact other worlds after consuming hallucinogenic plants.

• A feline can be seen on the chest of this individual. Serpents emerge from his mouth and nose, and he is surrounded by serpents with feline heads. Around his neck, he is wearing a necklace made from plaques in the form of bird feathers.
• The individual seen on this drum has the strength of the feline, can fly like a bird, and possesses the serpent’s ability to enter subterranean depths. In this way, the drum expresses the power ancient shamans had to connect with other worlds.
• The two seven-pointed stars on the shaman’s cheeks represent the San Pedro cactus, a plant consumed by shamans wishing to enter into a trance-like state.
• The shape of this drum appears to recall that of a funerary bundle, and its music would have accompanied the deceased into the underworld.