The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Special Exhibitions: Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru

Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru

		Hanging Wari, 7th–8th century Pampa Ocoña, far south coast Cotton, camelid fiber, feathers; W. 82 1/4 in. (208.9 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.471)

This large feathered hanging is part of a group of ninety-six that was accidentally discovered in 1943 near the village of La Victoria, in the Churunga Valley, near the junction with the Ocoña River on Peru’s southern Pacific coast. The panels reportedly were found rolled up or folded—fold lines can still be seen on some of them—inside eight ceramic jars more than three feet tall with modeled faces on their necks; the jars had been placed in a cache, where they were well preserved. Through a scientific method known as radiocarbon dating, the hangings have been dated to about the turn of the eighth century. Their use in ancient times is unclear. They may have decorated the walls of important outdoor compounds, though their arrangement in such a display is not known. Another possibility is that they were buried as precious offerings to the gods and supernatural forces.