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World of Art
Art of the Andes: From Chavin to Inca
Now fully revised, it describes the strikingly varied artistic achievements of the Chavin, Paracas, Moche, Chimu, and Inca cultures, among others. Their impressive cities, tall pyramids, shining goldwork, and intricate textiles constitute one of the greatest artistic traditions in history.
For the second edition, Rebecca Stone-Miller has added new material covering the earliest mummification in the world at Chinchorros, wonderful new Moche murals and architectural reconstructions, the latest finds from the Chachapoyas culture, and a greater emphasis on shamanism. Throughout, Stone-Miller demonstrates how the Andean peoples adapted and refined their aesthetic response to an extremely inhospitable environment.
For the second edition, Rebecca Stone-Miller has added new material covering the earliest mummification in the world at Chinchorros, wonderful new Moche murals and architectural reconstructions, the latest finds from the Chachapoyas culture, and a greater emphasis on shamanism. Throughout, Stone-Miller demonstrates how the Andean peoples adapted and refined their aesthetic response to an extremely inhospitable environment.
224 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1995
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August 26, 2019Rebecca R. Stone (not to be confused with other stony Beckys) in this book kindly leads us through space and time from the sea, over the coastal plains, up river valleys, higher through terraced mountainsides, to the Altiplano, towards the mountain peaks, into the wet and the dry, the arid deserts, the sacred lakes, and she pauses to allow us to glimpse into the varied greens of the Amazon beyond the Andes.
In time she moves from 10,000 BC to the sixteenth century, picking out for particular mention the Chavin, the Paracas & Nasca, the Moche, the Tiwanaku & Wari, the Lambayeque & Chimu & Chancay, and the Inca.
Stone explains that pre-colonial prehistory in the Andean region is thought of as divided into horizons generally dominated by one culture broken up by times when several smaller cultures co-exist in different places. The nature of the Andes is such that there are very different ecological zones, to thrive people need resources from many zones (fish, maize, potatoes, cotton, llamas,coca, and various other entheogenic plants all like quite distinct environments) these might be acquired through dominance of huge areas, or through trade or exchange. In some cases there may not have been any practical difference between those modes - a dominant authority, like the Inca might command food tribute which was redistributed to other regions and 'paid out' in communal feasts to people who themselves provided labour services in tribute say building roads or terracing mountains.
Some things are known about the Inca and their immediate predecessors from colonial era writings, effectively before 1000 AD these people are only known through their archaeology, specifically tombs and towns - not all of which remained urban centres into the colonial era. I wondered a bit about this and it was not something that Stone discusses, but the picture of the past is only the picture of what has survived, in some cases we know that architectural monuments were sheathed in metal but it was removed in the colonial era, alternatively textiles have survived in certain burial contexts but we (mostly) have to make assumptions but the rest.
Stone also explained a lot of imagery on ceramics, and on some monuments, and even textiles in Shamanic terms - either showing Shaman, or representing their visions or perceptions. I wondered if researchers had found shaman in the highlands of Peru and shown them Moche ceramics or Wari textiles and asked them their opinion or if the shaman interpretation was the produce of pure brain power, I rather like the idea of the contemporary shaman looking at some of theses ancient artefacts and declaring that intense colours and loads of snakes are simply typical of the shamanic experience - not all these shaman were men, several of the cultures described in the book featured woman shaman on their art work.
Aside from such grumbles I loved this book, the kind of thing which for me defines sofa surfing - you slump on to your sofa of choice and via the medium of a book surf across time and space.
A common theme across these Andean cultures was labour intensity, everything demanded a lot of work, there were the Moche mummy bundles (pp.62-3) reconstructed bodies in wicker baskets wrapped in cloth. Some of the textiles were enormous the biggest 3.4 metres by 26 metres, average sized ones might be 75% covered in embroidery, estimates of a bundle taking from 5,000 to 29,000 hours to make "seemingly whole families devoted their lives to making splendid garments for the dead". Later entire communities may have been dedicated to specialised artisanial production. The Inca carried on the Tiwanaku tradition of massive stone work, perhaps literally by using the same artisans, they were particularly fond of incorporating natural rock outcrops into their buildings of dressed stone emphasising the organic nature of their regime perhaps through their architecture.
To my surprise Andean people did know and use the wheel - Nasca ceramics handmade,utilising a turntable, slip painted, with a rich range of colours and a range of shapes - they just did not develop the wheelbarrow.
Traces of human blood on Moche ceramics demonstrate their use in ritual practise, while from portrait vessels it seems that the great and the good of Moche society were either sacrificed or had themselves sacrificed for the common good.
On the Nasca lines "the idea that a human or terrestrial audience is not necessarily privileged should come as no surprise, given the values of Andean art as a whole. The immensity of the Lines was scaled to that of the Earth itself, and perhaps the celestial and the Underworld realms as well; they are if nothing else, global, inclusive statements. The fact that we enjoy their full beauty from low flying aircraft does not mean that the Ancients were incapable of making them...Medieval European cathedrals were erected in the shape of crosses largely invisible to the populace who made and used them..." (p90) This is not necessarily Art on or for a human scale.
Stone describes the key attributes of Andean Art that she holds to be consistent and typical from 10,000 BC onwards from Ecuador to the north of Chile
huaca the special or unusual indicating a link between this world and other realms
camay the infusion or manifestation of energy from a meta realm into our world generally most of the Art described in this book was of that nature
ayni two making a whole, the ruling Inca had to be married, this was held to be anyi - the husband and wife forming a single unit
tinku convergence of two to make a third, for example the point where two rivers met and combined to form a single river was regarded as sacred
pachakuti a revolution - the overthrow of an old order and its replacement by a new order
ukhu the interior
qumpi tapestry and fine textile production generally which Stone says was valued above all other Arts - the Incas' first peace offerings to the Spanish were apparently of textiles.
A delightful book fit to transform the reader into a prisoner of the Sun without the use of any crystal balls.
In time she moves from 10,000 BC to the sixteenth century, picking out for particular mention the Chavin, the Paracas & Nasca, the Moche, the Tiwanaku & Wari, the Lambayeque & Chimu & Chancay, and the Inca.
Stone explains that pre-colonial prehistory in the Andean region is thought of as divided into horizons generally dominated by one culture broken up by times when several smaller cultures co-exist in different places. The nature of the Andes is such that there are very different ecological zones, to thrive people need resources from many zones (fish, maize, potatoes, cotton, llamas,coca, and various other entheogenic plants all like quite distinct environments) these might be acquired through dominance of huge areas, or through trade or exchange. In some cases there may not have been any practical difference between those modes - a dominant authority, like the Inca might command food tribute which was redistributed to other regions and 'paid out' in communal feasts to people who themselves provided labour services in tribute say building roads or terracing mountains.
Some things are known about the Inca and their immediate predecessors from colonial era writings, effectively before 1000 AD these people are only known through their archaeology, specifically tombs and towns - not all of which remained urban centres into the colonial era. I wondered a bit about this and it was not something that Stone discusses, but the picture of the past is only the picture of what has survived, in some cases we know that architectural monuments were sheathed in metal but it was removed in the colonial era, alternatively textiles have survived in certain burial contexts but we (mostly) have to make assumptions but the rest.
Stone also explained a lot of imagery on ceramics, and on some monuments, and even textiles in Shamanic terms - either showing Shaman, or representing their visions or perceptions. I wondered if researchers had found shaman in the highlands of Peru and shown them Moche ceramics or Wari textiles and asked them their opinion or if the shaman interpretation was the produce of pure brain power, I rather like the idea of the contemporary shaman looking at some of theses ancient artefacts and declaring that intense colours and loads of snakes are simply typical of the shamanic experience - not all these shaman were men, several of the cultures described in the book featured woman shaman on their art work.
Aside from such grumbles I loved this book, the kind of thing which for me defines sofa surfing - you slump on to your sofa of choice and via the medium of a book surf across time and space.
A common theme across these Andean cultures was labour intensity, everything demanded a lot of work, there were the Moche mummy bundles (pp.62-3) reconstructed bodies in wicker baskets wrapped in cloth. Some of the textiles were enormous the biggest 3.4 metres by 26 metres, average sized ones might be 75% covered in embroidery, estimates of a bundle taking from 5,000 to 29,000 hours to make "seemingly whole families devoted their lives to making splendid garments for the dead". Later entire communities may have been dedicated to specialised artisanial production. The Inca carried on the Tiwanaku tradition of massive stone work, perhaps literally by using the same artisans, they were particularly fond of incorporating natural rock outcrops into their buildings of dressed stone emphasising the organic nature of their regime perhaps through their architecture.
To my surprise Andean people did know and use the wheel - Nasca ceramics handmade,utilising a turntable, slip painted, with a rich range of colours and a range of shapes - they just did not develop the wheelbarrow.
Traces of human blood on Moche ceramics demonstrate their use in ritual practise, while from portrait vessels it seems that the great and the good of Moche society were either sacrificed or had themselves sacrificed for the common good.
On the Nasca lines "the idea that a human or terrestrial audience is not necessarily privileged should come as no surprise, given the values of Andean art as a whole. The immensity of the Lines was scaled to that of the Earth itself, and perhaps the celestial and the Underworld realms as well; they are if nothing else, global, inclusive statements. The fact that we enjoy their full beauty from low flying aircraft does not mean that the Ancients were incapable of making them...Medieval European cathedrals were erected in the shape of crosses largely invisible to the populace who made and used them..." (p90) This is not necessarily Art on or for a human scale.
Stone describes the key attributes of Andean Art that she holds to be consistent and typical from 10,000 BC onwards from Ecuador to the north of Chile
huaca the special or unusual indicating a link between this world and other realms
camay the infusion or manifestation of energy from a meta realm into our world generally most of the Art described in this book was of that nature
ayni two making a whole, the ruling Inca had to be married, this was held to be anyi - the husband and wife forming a single unit
tinku convergence of two to make a third, for example the point where two rivers met and combined to form a single river was regarded as sacred
pachakuti a revolution - the overthrow of an old order and its replacement by a new order
ukhu the interior
qumpi tapestry and fine textile production generally which Stone says was valued above all other Arts - the Incas' first peace offerings to the Spanish were apparently of textiles.
A delightful book fit to transform the reader into a prisoner of the Sun without the use of any crystal balls.
August 26, 2025
Dry, academic survey of pre-colombian art of the Andes. My paperback copy lacked good images. The final section covering Inca buildings and art was probably the best written and most useful section.
July 7, 2022
Rebecca Stone's stitched story is a tapestry of centuries, cultures, climates and changing conditions. The area covered, mainly but not only Peru and Bolivia, contains the world’s driest coastal desert, its longest and second-highest mountain chain, and large, dense jungles.
Thus, sharp contrast is part of the picture she presents. Reduction to elements and expansion to demonstrate examples occurs throughout the book. Here are what she considers to be the four key parts of Andean culture reflected in their art: collectivity, reciprocity, transformation, and essence.
Ms. Stone also does something extremely rare for a historian: consider brain chemistry.
"In the Americas there are over eighty natural hallucinogenic substances, in the Old World no more than ten, which is one reason for their prominence in indigenous religions." Rebecca Stone Miller, Art of the Andes, (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1995), 38
Without that consideration, probably much understanding is lost. The dualistic nature of things, for example, how Incas considered darkness to be constellations, how whiskers become snakes, and birds have two-heads.
The writing is carefully controlled so despite the immensity of the topic, whether it be humming birds larger than jumbo jets, or entire lifetimes spent weaving textiles for the dead, or the Inca quipu system as a 'fiber' computer system-the reader feels awed, but not overwhelmed.
All Andeans are weavers, and this is Ms. Stone's word weave, a love letter to something she obviously loves.
Thus, sharp contrast is part of the picture she presents. Reduction to elements and expansion to demonstrate examples occurs throughout the book. Here are what she considers to be the four key parts of Andean culture reflected in their art: collectivity, reciprocity, transformation, and essence.
Ms. Stone also does something extremely rare for a historian: consider brain chemistry.
"In the Americas there are over eighty natural hallucinogenic substances, in the Old World no more than ten, which is one reason for their prominence in indigenous religions." Rebecca Stone Miller, Art of the Andes, (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1995), 38
Without that consideration, probably much understanding is lost. The dualistic nature of things, for example, how Incas considered darkness to be constellations, how whiskers become snakes, and birds have two-heads.
The writing is carefully controlled so despite the immensity of the topic, whether it be humming birds larger than jumbo jets, or entire lifetimes spent weaving textiles for the dead, or the Inca quipu system as a 'fiber' computer system-the reader feels awed, but not overwhelmed.
All Andeans are weavers, and this is Ms. Stone's word weave, a love letter to something she obviously loves.
March 11, 2020
a bit dense but it is after all a text book essentially. I have been a student of Olmec and Mayan cultures...this was enlightening...great introduction to another part of the pre-Columbian Americas!
October 15, 2020
I read this as a companion piece to Charles C. Mann's 1491 -- and I learned a lot more about demographics, cultural and political practices of the Andean peoples. I especially enjoyed learning about the wide range of textiles and ceramics!
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November 21, 2021THE most interesting topic in the world. I studied Andean Art in college while I was having a nervous breakdown so reading this book was both fascinating and a fun exercise in self-forgiveness!
January 26, 2022
Very generous to andean subjectivities of the cultural objects themselves, I recommend to any andean wishing to have an encyclopedic introduction to andean cultural labor!
August 7, 2012
An engaging, quick read giving a satisfying overview of precolumbian Andean cultures. Wish I'd read this before I'd traveled to Peru!
January 19, 2017
This book is immerse in ancient Nazca information, which I love!!
July 28, 2011
Very good, enjoyed it.
December 27, 2012
A very thorough introduction. A must for anyone planning to travel to Peru.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews