Beaker with Shells

900–1100
Overall: 14.6 x 10.2 cm (5 3/4 x 4 in.)
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Location: 232 Andean

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Did You Know?

Highly valued as a luxury material, spondylus shells served as symbols of power and prestige.

Description

This beaker was created by an artist of the Lambayeque culture of Peru's north coast. Shells appear in the upper register representing spondylus, the red-orange thorny oyster greatly valued by pre-Hispanic Andean societies. If such beakers were used in life—that is, not created exclusively for the lavish tombs in which they have been found in quantities—they may have figured in feasting events that were central to late pre-Hispanic political, social, and religious life.
Beaker with Shells

Beaker with Shells

900–1100

Central Andes (Peru), Lambayeque (Sicán) people, 10th century-12th century

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