Male Narrator: These are some of the oldest Ancient American works of art fashioned in gold, dating back more than 2500 years. [native flute and percussion evoking mood and period] They were placed in an elaborate burial full of offerings at Kuntur Wasi, a ceremonial site high in the Andes of Northern Peru. Curator Joanne Pillsbury:
[music ends]
Joanne Pillsbury: We tend to think of metals as hugely important for weapons and for tools and for coins. But in the Ancient Americas, metals—particularly gold and silver—were first and foremost about ritual and regalia. This is really very much an art form in the service of gods and kings.
Male Narrator: The largest object is an impressive crown with five stylized feline faces, some right-side up, and others upside down. The other two artifacts are ornaments that would have been suspended from the nose, obscuring the mouth. For those who wore them, the central images of menacing felines held special meaning.
Joanne Pillsbury: Feline imagery seems to be very closely associated with men. Felines—jaguars, pumas—they’re among the most powerful predators in this region, so they’re a great symbol of power for any ruler. [native flute and percussion evoking mood and period] By donning this regalia, you can imagine the individual wearing them being symbolically transformed into this supernatural being.
[music shifts to lively percussion evoking period and mood]
Male Narrator: Metalsmiths created these lively designs by hammering sheets of gold from behind, in a technique called repoussé. These are examples of luxury arts that are lightweight, easily portable, and worth moving across great distances.
Joanne Pillsbury: In the Andes, they didn’t have a writing system the way we think of it. [music ends] And so, luxury arts were one of the most important ways in which ideas were exchanged across regions.
