Viceroyalty of Peru: Did you mean...?

A beaten gold mask from the Nazca civilization of Peru, 200 BCE-500 CE. 18.4 x 20.5 cm. The mask may represent a shaman in transformational pose, a common motif in Nazca art. An alternative interpretation is that it represents the weeping...

From the Formative Epoch (1250 BCE - 1 CE). Represents a figure with the body of a feline, head of an owl, and a serpent-like tail. These animals all had sacred and symbolic meaning in many ancient Peruvian cultures. At the Museo Larco, Lima...

A Nazca geoglyph depicting a cactus. The designs and lines created on the desert floor of southern Peru are known collectively as the 'Nazca Lines' and were made over several centuries between 200 BCE and 500 CE. Their exact purpose is not...

This type of unusual pottery was made by the Nazca civilization that inhabited what is now present-day Peru. This piece features skeletal figures, and it was made c. 200 BCE-600 CE. (The Department of Anthropology and Museum of Fine Arts...

This piece shows a feline, owl, serpents, and condor. The owl and condor represented the sky while the feline represented the earth and dominance. The serpent represented the subterranean world. Housed in the Museo Larco, Lima, Peru.

Mantel (Detail), 100 BCE / 200 CE. Paracas; south coast, Peru. The Art Institute of Chicago, Emily Crane Chadbourne Fund.

A geoglyph showing the Nazca Line Spider. The designs and lines created on the desert floor of southern Peru are known collectively as the 'Nazca Lines' and were made over several centuries between 200 BCE and 500 CE. Their exact purpose...

Signposting at the Tucume Museum, Peru. This photo was taken by Hilary Bradt and used with permission. Date unknown.

From the Formative Epoch (c. 1250 BCE - c. 1 CE). On Earth, the supreme leaders of this society assumed the power of the feline. The great religious, political, and economic power they accumulated enabled the development of more efficient...

This ceremonial vessel made of terracotta clay comes from what is present-day Peru and was made by the Paracas Culture between the 8th-3rd centuries CE. The Paracas Culture was the forerunner to the Nazca civilization.