Nasca Gold Adornments

Room 12, Vitrine 153

Ceramic, metal
Peruvian Southern Coast
Florescent Epoch (1 AD – 800 AD)
ML032440, ML040357, ML040377, ML100238, ML100246, ML100247.

The Nasca culture recreated symbolic figures in their metalwork, pottery and the great geoglyphs known as the Nazca Lines. Among these figures we can distinguish a hummingbird and other birds of that region. They also created human figures and decorative details for the ritual clothing of their leaders and priests. One of the most representative examples of these adornments is the nose ornament which was worn in the nostrils, framing the mouth with extensions in the style of the whiskers of a feline, which was a sacred animal in ancient Peru.

Gold nose ornament; plume of a gold crown shaped like a hummingbird; gold adornment shaped like a human; pottery cups and bowl.