Volatile Landscapes: The Influence of Regional Climate on Nasca Ceramic Iconography

Alessandra Dominguez

Advisor: Dr. Astrid Runggaldier

Abstract

Over the past several thousand years, the Andean region has been one of the world’s most volatile climatic and geographic regions that has supported human occupation. The Nasca culture (c. 250 BCE to 750 CE) occupied the southern coast of Peru during the Early Intermediate Period and produced innovative and unique polychromatic ceramics that transcended the culture’s history. Although typically known for their geoglyphs, the Nasca’s projection of their landscape also became identifiable through ceramics. From agricultural to faunal motifs, naturalism became a prominent iconographic style of their ceramic art. Investigating these naturalistic images can shed light on Nasca cultural identity, which is embedded within its visual and material culture. Embodied within landscapes are the sources that cultures construct into beliefs and perceptions that define their identities.

Through iconographic analysis of a selection of Nasca vessels from the University of Texas’ Art and Art History Collection of Pre-Columbian objects, I have examined the impact that climatic shifts and variability have had on iconography as a result of altering perceptions of landscape. This thesis aims to emphasize the significance of visual and material culture as a means to recover important data representative of ancient indigenous perspectives, and to counter the idea that imagery is just a reaction to or documentation of the variables that construct landscapes. Images are powerful sources of information, that, when analyzed in collaboration with data rooted in empirical science relating to the environment, have the ability to offer a greater understanding of the Nasca and their landscape. By employing both art historical and archaeological approaches and methodologies, this thesis considers the presented material in an interdisciplinary manner. Through this thesis, I intend to bring more awareness to individuals when considering their landscapes and its affiliations with their identity and ontological beliefs.