Name: Penguin Ship
What it is: Painted ceramic container
Hometown: Southwest Coast of Peru
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When it was made: between AD 350 and 500
Related: Monomakos Crown: A 1,000-year-old crown honoring “one-person” discovered by farmers on the field
What it tells us about the past:
The Nazca people lived in the tropical deserts on the southwest coast of Peru between 100 BC and 800 BC. So how did you know what the penguins looked like?
This painted penguin pot is found in the Museum of Chicago’s collection. It was made about 1,600 years ago and was collected in Peru in the late 19th century. The multicolor ceramic container is 8.2 inches tall (20.8 cm) and has small carved wings and a prominent bill.
The people at NAZCA (also spelled NASCA) are best known for their huge geoglyphs. This is the easiest design that is engraved on the ground but looks from above. Hundreds of Nazca lines have been discovered. They often portray images of nature, such as cats, monkeys, pelicans, and killer whales. Experts don’t know why these geoglyphs were created because the culture did not leave a written record.
However, Nazca Pottery also featured animals, people, mythical creatures and gods in a unique, multicolored style reminiscent of geoglyphs, pointing to the importance of geographical organisms.
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According to the Museum of Art, the ship is an unusual depiction of a Humboldt penguin (Spenpass Humboldt), which lives along the Pacific coast and is known for its launching poop. Penguins can live along the Peruvian coast thanks to the Humboldt flow. This brings the cold water from the Antarctic to the north, cooling the tropical waters. Humboldt penguins have thrived in Peru for centuries, but are now vulnerable to extinction due to climate change and human violations.
The Penguin ship dates back to a time when Nazca was experimenting with realistic depictions of animals, including lobster-shaped containers and many examples of “mythical killer whales.” Characterized by ceramic, geoglyph and petroglyphic features, ORCA was clearly an important symbol of NAZCA, but experts are unsure whether penguin ships have special meaning or if they reflect the keen observations of the nas around them.
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