Wari culture from Peru

[clovisoid]

Cool stuff. I was in Ayacucho a few years back on a business trip, they had us spend a few days at that altitude before going on to Cusco because one of our local partners had altitude sickness issues. Cute little town.

Neat how the point styles on the other side of the Andes.

[Narrow Way Knapper]

I was hoping you would chime in. Yeah, I've been to Cuzco and it takes your breath away literally. 😉
Did you ever get to see the gold/weapons museum in Lima? They claim to have the largest privet weapons collection in the world.

[clovisoid]

I've been to a lot of museums in Lima, but there are amazing museums in most bigger cities there. I love the ceramics in Peru, so I've spent more time going through the Larco museum.

As far as gold and silver, Peru and Bolivia (formerly part of Peru when a lot of these collections were put together), had far more riches than ancient Egypt, Mexico or Central America. The Atocha with 40 tonnes of gold & silver was but one of hundreds of ships that moved riches to Spain.

[paohrocks]

Very nice collection, appreciate you sharing.

[beatup1354]

some interesting pieces thanks for sharing

[Mattern]

Very good thread. Learning every day from people like you. Thanks for the time you put into this. K

[Narrow Way Knapper]

Thanks Kim!😊

[Narrow Way Knapper]

Any guesses as to what this piece was used for?

[clovisoid]

Any guesses as to what this piece was used for?

My guess would be a big earspool. Elite Wari & Moche would have used gold, or ornate wood & shell inlaid earspools, but most people probably used them. If they have an indent they were probably for use in this life, if they are smooth like yours they wouldn't stay in as well and might have been used for burials.

Digging up ruins was a Peruvian national hobby for decades, and a lot of non-decorative items like that might not have been kept. A lot of collections people pick up now, including those cool little canopa llamas are found on sites that were looted in the last 200 years or so and were simply forgotten about.

Here is a set of simple spools on a Moche soldier.

[Narrow Way Knapper]

Fascinating! I'll let my friends know what they might have.

I know a little about the grave robbing. When I was in highschool the youth group took a trip to Ica, Peru and on the other side of a small mountain along the coast there were ancient graves that had been looted. A friend found a child's hemp sandal that was in excellent condition. On a window sill in the resort, there was a human skull (presumably from a looted grave) that anyone could handle.

[Narrow Way Knapper]

And now for some arrowheads. My friends let me pick out a hand full, unfortunately my phone battery died before I could take pictures of points that I did not bring home with me. It was very generous of them to give me what they did. 😁

This is the largest one (maybe a knife?) I cannot tell if the black on the base is stain from a hafting agent or coloring of the lithic.

[Narrow Way Knapper]

This point was resharpened quite a few times, but it does not have the beveled twist. Both sides are sharpened evenly. Please let me know if you have any idea what the lithic might be.

[Narrow Way Knapper]

This one is very thin and well made.

[Narrow Way Knapper]

Now for the cashe. They let me pick these out from approximately fifty or so points that were all found together. Most were smaller than these.