Face-Neck Vessel with Painted Motifs

In ancient Peruvian religious thought, the dead inhabited the realm of the living, their spirits and preserved bodies nourishing future generations. Deceased ancestors were preserved in order to take part in ongoing ritual life. The Wari, for example, formed mummy bundles with the bodies of elites. Individuals were placed in a seated position, wrapped in numerous layers of cloth, and dressed in elaborate textiles. The ceramic vessel offers a portable version of an elite mummy. The skeletal face topping the body draped in a finely woven gray tunic with four profile animal heads reflects the interdependence of the dead and the living in Wari culture.