Inside the Exhibit Hall
Santiago is home to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino which is without a doubt Chile's best museum. This exquisite collection contains more than 1,500 artifacts from one hundred pre-Columbian peoples of Latin America. The collection showcases about 10,000 years of history and covers a region that extends as far north as present-day Mexico down the southern tip of Chile. Each item on display has been selected on the basis of its artistic merit. The museum contains seven rooms of exhibits ranging from textiles, jewelry, ceramics, and sculptures. You should plan on spending between 45 and 90 minutes to view the entire collection. You won't want to miss this spectacular museum, which is also regarded as one of the top museums in all of South America. Below are photos of some of the highlights of the collection (descriptions of items are taken from the museum's website).
The Guard
Ceramic statues like this one accompanied the most powerful personages in their tombs on Mexico’s Western coast. The weapons they often hold in their hands and the obvious trance on their faces indicates that very served as mystical guardians for the deceased.
Shamanism in Mesoamerica
The man-bird that appears on this plate seems to be a way, or, Maya shaman.
Pedestal Censer
In their rites, the Maya used ornately decorated censers in which they burned incense or copal resin. Sometimes these works of art were used as offerings during the construction of important buildings, where they were interred or incorporated into the walls. Many of the censers found in the ceremonial center at Palenque depicted the Sun God Kinich Ahau, characterized by his large eyes and aquiline nose. Others, like this one, display lifelike portraits of important Mayan figures and nobles.
The Gran Nicoya
For more than two thousand years the historical development of the people living in the Central American Pacific coast region was marked by a mixture of indigenous and foreign cultural traits, resulting from the constant social, economic and religious influences that Mesoamerica’s most developed cultures exercised over this frontier territory. This situation occurred because populations from the north migrated to this region; it was also a jade and obsidian trade route during Maya times, and later, it was conquered by the Toltec and Aztec empires, to whom the people from Gran Nicoya and Guanacaste paid tribute with products and work.The pottery from these peoples reflects this situation of continuous contact in certain archaic aspects together with a series of non local innovations, that were recreated according to their own regional styles. The Mesoamerican influences are seen especially in the funerary pottery. Images representing Maya, Mixtec, Toltec and Aztec mythical and religious subjects dominate a very deep-rooted, local polychrome style.
Central American Gold Jewelry
One of the pre-Columbian world’s most sophisticated handicrafts in gold was developed along the coasts and mountains of Central America’s far south. Using the “lost wax” technique, the metalworkers made small, detailed gold objects. The technique involved molding a figure in wax, covering it with clay and baking it, so that the clay hardens and the wax melts, leaving a mold inside that can be filled with smelted gold.
Feline Man
Rattles like those found in the feet of this large vessel can be seen in many Central American pieces. These are thought to have been shaken during ritual ceremonies in accompaniment to the singing and dancing.
Chemamull: The Wooden People
The chemamull were one of the important funeral elements of traditional Mapuche culture. They accompanied the deceased during a ceremony where speeches were made praising the person and later they were set up next to the grave. These rites strictly followed tradition since a careless funeral could mean that the deceased’s spirit, instead of becoming an ancestor who would watch over his/her relatives, would be trapped by some witch and changed into an evil spirit.
Moche Metallurgy
The Moche culture flourished on the northern coast of Perú, and it is known for its extraordinary ceramics, monumental buildings and sophisticated metallurgy. The Moche produced fine objects of copper and gold copper.They knew about high temperature smelting and different alloys, and objects were made by molds and hammering. The gold or silver appearance was achieved by oxidizing and removing the surface copper from the pieces made with gold or silver alloys. Metal was a sign of distinction. People with intermediate social rank were buried with just a small leaf of metal in the mouth, and the great lords – like those discovered in Sipán, in northern Perú – had hundreds of these pieces among their offerings.
Textiles: High Art of the Andes
Centuries before the Spanish conquest, weaving had reached a level of perfection and range of diversity that surpassed European textile-making of the times. It was a high art, a craft that during Inca times was carried out in special workshops that produced items of varying quality to meet the Empire’s requirements. In addition to shielding the wearer from the elements, Andean textiles were a sign of culture and identity, a way of dress that was passed down from mythical ancestors to distinguish one individual from another. Robes and tunics, sashes and headdresses all had a symbolic value related to the wearer’s ethnic identity, status and social occupation. The most sophisticated textiles were also highly prized goods that combined a desire for ostentation and extravagance with the need to distinguish oneself from others. Textiles permeated all spheres of Andean culture: The walls of temples and houses were covered with tapestries and large painted panels, along with fine gauze and woven scrim, the latter unique in the world. Many fabrics were destined for trade with political allies or used as offerings to the deities or to make funeral bundles when overlaid in multiple opulent layers of textures, colors and symbols. Woven sculptures constitute another outstanding textile expression, one that represents the culmination of the art’s potential.
Clava Cefalomorfa
For the Mapuche ancestors the white "club," which seems inspired in some way by the utilitarian axe, represents their leader’s power.
Shaman
One of the American continent’s biggest ceremonial centers arose in present day Colombia’s southern sierra. Although neither monumental temples nor pyramids were built there, the presence of large stone sculptures, some with supernatural features and others –like this one - imbued with a solemn peace, are impressive for their ability to irradiate the mystery of the sacred.
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