My interest in Nasca pottery goes back to my undergraduate days at the Milwaukee Public Museum where I catalogued and conducted research on a collection of Peruvian ceramic vessels. In graduate school at Berkeley I gravitated toward research projects utilizing the Nasca collections made by Max Uhle in 1901 and 1906 and Alfred Kroeber in 1926. Not long before my arrival at Berkeley, Lawrence Dawson had developed the technique of "similiary seriation" based on the subtle changes in vessel shape and design features of Nasca pottery. Using gravelots as "units of contemporaneity", Dawson developed a sequence of nine phases for the Nasca style. Several of John Rowe's students, including myself, attempted to refine this sequence and to use the data for a better understanding of Nasca society. I analyzed pottery from Phases 3 and 4 of this sequence for my dissertation and was able to sub-divide Phase 3 into four sub-phases, each lasting approximately 25 years. I also found local differences in the form and decoration of the pottery between phase 3 (which had homogeneous pottery in both the Ica and Nasca Valleys) and Phase 4 (which saw many local differences emerge). I suggested that this reflected political changes based on our assumption at that time that Cahuachi (in the Nasca Valley) was the "capital" of a pristine Nasca state. New evidence has forced a modification of this interpretation, but there was increasing heterogeneity of the pottery in Phase 4, which now needs to be explained by other mechanisms.
Since that time I have continued to pursue my interest in Nasca pottery, especially the iconographic representations painted on the pieces. Previous studies of the iconography by others have suffered from the lack of a sufficient sample size and a misidentification of some of the iconography. To insure a more accurate interpretation of the data, I have been developing a private "Nasca Archive" based on the model of the Moche Archive established by Christopher Donnan at UCLA. I have photographed Nasca collections throughout Peru and the United States as well as key museum collections in Germany and Great Britain. To date the archive contains approximately 10,000 slides representing 6000 Nasca vessels. To this database I have added any and all Nasca vessels I have found in books as well as museum collections available on the Internet. I spent over one year digitizing the entire archive and now have approximately 24,000 images in my archive representing pieces from over 150 museums and private collections. Many of these images need further augmentation, and the work continues. It has always been my desire to share my archive with other scholars until I realized the legal prohibitions of distributing the disks. I would have to obtain permission from over 200 sources to be able to do this. I also discovered that the file names that I generated on my Macintosh computer are not all compatible with PCs, and many of these names would have to be modified to be used on these other operating systems.
I have previously published a number of articles and book chapters interpreting aspects of Nasca iconography in the context of Nasca society (see the link Donald Proulx Publications on my web site), most importantly my new book entitled A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography, which has been published by the University of Iowa Press in 2006. The book begins with a brief overview of the Nasca Culture to introduce the reader to the people who produced the pottery. The rules or canons used by Nasca potters in forming and decorating their pottery are discussed next, followed by a history of the discovery of the first Nasca pottery and the people responsible. Since the culture lasted almost 800 years, archaeologists have divided the art style into more manageable units, and this chronology is briefly discussed. Efforts by scholars in the past to interpret the iconography are presented before I describe my own methodology. The centerpiece of the book is a detailed classification and description of the iconography along with an interpretation of their meaning in the context of the Nasca Culture. Lastly, I use the iconography (along with archaeological evidence) to reconstruct the religion, political organization and everyday life of the people of this ancient civilization.
| Allen, Catherine J. | |
| 1981 | The Nasca Creatures: Some Problems of Iconography. Anthropology 5:43-70. Stony Brook: Department of Anthropology, State University of New York-Stony Brook. |
| Ballesteros-Gaibrois, Manuel | |
| 1935 | Un testimonio de la ceramica Peruana. Tierra Firme Año 1, No. 2 Madrid: |
| 1948 | Tres ejemplares del Museo Arqueologico de Madrid. Proceedings of the 26th International Congress of Americanists, Madrid 1:82-85. Madrid: |
| Belli, Prospero L. | |
| 1960 | La civilizacion Nazca. Lima: P.L. Villanueva, S,.A.. |
| Bird, Junius | |
| 1962 | Art and Life in Old Peru: An Exhibition. Curator 5(2):147-210. |
| Bird, Junius et al. | |
| 1981 | Museum of the Andes. Newsweek: Great Museums of the World Series. New York: Newsweek Inc. and Kodansha LTD. |
| Blagg, Mary M. | |
| 1975 | The Bizarre Innovation in Nasca Pottery. M.A., Art Department, University of Texas at Austin. |
| Blasco Bosqued, Concepción and Luis Ramos Gomez | |
| 1980 | Ceramica Nazca. Valladolid: Seminario Americanista, Universidad de Valladolid. |
| 1986 | Catalogo de la ceramica Nazca, 1. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura. |
| 1991 | Catalogo de la ceramica Nazca, 2. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura. |
| Carmichael, Patrick | |
| 1992 | Interpreting Nasca Iconography. in Ancient Images, Ancient Thought: The Archaeology of Ideology. Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Chacmool Conference, University of Calgary. Calgary: Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary. |
| d'Harcourt, Raoul | |
| 1948 | Arts de l'Amérique (Collection Arts du Monde). Paris: éditions Albert Morancé. |
| Dawson, Lawrence E. | |
| 1973 | The Representation of Human Activity in Moche IV and Nasca 7 Pottery. Paper presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the Institute of Andean Studies, January 5-6, 1973. University of California, Berkeley.. |
| de Tuya, Angel | |
| 1936 | Las cabezas-trofeos en las ceramicas de Nazca. Investigacion y Progreso 3. Madrid. |
| Dockstader, Frederick J. | |
| 1967 | Indian Art in South America. New York: New York Graphic Society. |
| Donnan, Christopher B. | |
| 1978 | Moche Art of Peru. Los Angeles: UCLA Museum of Culture History. |
| Dwyer, Edward and Jane Dwyer | |
| MS 1974 | The Development of Themes in the Early Intermediate Period South Coastal Peru. in New Perspectives on the Early Intermediate Period of Peru. |
| Dwyer, Edward and Jane Dwyer | |
| 1974 | The Development of Themes in the Early Intermediate Period South Coastal Peru. Manuscript in possession of the author. |
| 1983 | The Nasca Style. In Pre-Columbian Sculptured and Painted Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Lois Katz, ed. Pp. 87-106. Washington: The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities. |
| 1991 | Iconografía nasca, in Los Incas y el Antiguo Perœ: 3000 Años de Historia, Pp. 242-257 Madrid: Centro de la Villa. (Spanish edition of Proulx, 1990) |
| 1992 | Die Ikonographie von Nasca. in Inka Peru: 3000 Jahre Indianische Hochkulturen, Pp. 111-123.Tübingen: Haus der Kulturen der Welt (German edition of Proulx, 1990) |
| 1997 | "Nazca" entry for the Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corp. |
| Dwyer, Jane | |
| 1971 | Chronology and Iconography of Late Paracas and Early Nasca Textile Designs. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. |
| Engel, Frederic | |
| 1966 | Paracas. Cien Siglos de la Cultura Peruana. Lima: Editorial Juan Mejía Baca. |
| Feriz, Hans | |
| 1976 | Explanation of the Nasca Iconography. Proceedings, 32nd International Congress of Americanists, Copenhagen (1956) 388-394. Nendeln (Liechtenstein): Kraus Reprint. |
| Gayton, Anna, and Alfred Kroeber | |
| 1927 | The Uhle Pottery Collections from Nazca University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 24(1):1-46. Berkeley: University of California. |
| Guarnotta, Antonio | |
| 1979 | La Collezione Nazca del Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche di Faenza: Analisi e Comparazione Storico-Stilistica. Tesi di Laurea, Facola di Lettere e Filosofia, Universita Degli di Bologna. 2 volumes. MS. |
| Herrán Gómez de la Torre, Eduardo | |
| 1985 | The Nasca Lines: New Designs, New Enigmas. Lima: Friba S.A.R.I.. |
| Illescas Cook, Guillermo | |
| 1988 | La otra cara de Nasca. Lima: V. H. Navach, S.A. |
| Jiménez Borja, Arturo, and James W. Reid | |
| 1986 | Culturas Precolombinas: Nazca. Arte y Tesoros del Perœ Lima: Banco de Credito del Perœ en la Cultura. |
| Joyce, Thomas | |
| 1913 | On An Early Type of Pottery from the Nazca Valley. Burlington Magazine 22(117):249-255. London: |
| Kroeber, Alfred | |
| 1924 | The Uhle Pottery Collections from Ica. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 21(3):95-133. Berkeley: University of California. |
| Lavachéry, H. | |
| 1929 | Las artes antiguas de América en el Museo Arqueológico de Madrid. Madrid. |
| Lehmann, H. | |
| 1934 | Contribution a une étude critique des vases de Nazca (Pérou). Journal de la Société des Americanistes t. XXVI, fasc. 2Paris: |
| Lehmann, Walter and Heinrich Ubbelohde-Doering | |
| 1926 | Historia del Arte del Antiguo Perœ. Barcelona: G. Gili. |
| Lommel, Andreas | |
| 1977 | Altamerikanische Kunst: Mexico-Peru. Katalog zur Ausstellung des Staatlichen Museums für Völkerkunde, München. Munich: F. Bruckmann. |
| Macedo, José Mariano | |
| 1881 | Catalogue d'objets archéologiques du Pérou de l'ancienne Empire des Incas. Paris: Imprimerie Hispano-Américaine. |
| McIntyre, Loren | |
| 1975 | Mystery of the Ancient Nasca Lines. National Geographic 147(5):716-728. |
| Menzel, Dorothy, John Howland Rowe, and Lawrence E. Dawson | |
| 1964 | The Paracas Pottery of Inca: A Study in Style and Time. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 50Berkeley: University of California Press. |
| Morales, Daniel | |
| 1982 | Tambor Nazca. Historia Andina 14:1-30. Lima: |
| Morgan, Alexandra | |
| 1988 | "The Master or Mother of Fishes": An Interpretation of Nasca Pottery Figurines and Their Symbolism, in Recent Studies in Pre-Columbian Archaeology. BAR International Series 421 (ii):327-361. Cambridge: BAR. |
| Neudecker, Angelika | |
| 1979 | Archaologische Forshungen im Nazca-Gebeit, Peru. Ph.D. Dissertation. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat zu München. Munich: |
| O'Neale, Lila, and Thomas Whitaker | |
| 1947 | Embroideries of the Early Nasca Period and the Crop Plants Depicted on Them. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 3(4):294-321. Albuquerque: |
| O'Neale, Lila M. | |
| 1937 | Textiles of the Early Nazca Period. Archaeological Explorations in Peru, Part III. Anthropology Memoirs, II(3) Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. |
| Pang, Hildegard Delgado | |
| 1992 | Pre-Columbian Art: Investigations and Insights. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. |
| Panofsky, Erwin | |
| 1939 | Introductory. Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance Pp. 3-31. New York: Oxford University Press. |
| 1955 | Meaning in the Visual Arts. Garden City: Doubleday & Company. |
| Paulsen, Allison | |
| 1986 | A Moche-Nasca Connection. Paper presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans. |
| Proulx, Donald A. | |
| 1971 | Headhunting in Ancient Peru. Archaeology 24(1):16-21. |
| 1983 | The Nasca Style. In Pre-Columbian Sculptured and Painted Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Katz, Lois, ed. Pp. 87-106. Washington: The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities. |
| 1989 | Nasca Trophy Heads: Victims of Warfare or Ritual Sacrifice? in Cultures in Conflict: Current Archaeological Perspectives. Proceedings of the 20th Annual Chacmool Conference Pp.73-85. Calgary: University of Calgary Archaeological Association. |
| 1990 | L'Iconographie Nasca. in Inca-Perœ: 3000 Ans d'Histoire Pp. 384-399. Bruxelles: Musées Roxaux d'Art et d'Historie. |
| 1991 | "Iconografía nasca," in Los Incas y el Antiguo Perœ: 3000 Años de Historia, Pp. 242-257 Madrid: Centro de la Villa. (Spanish edition of Proulx, 1990) |
| 1992 | "Die Ikonographie von Nasca." in Inka Peru: 3000 JaeIn dianische Hochkulturen, Pp. 111-123.Tübingen: Haus der Kulturen der Welt (German edition of Proulx, 1990) |
| 1994 | "Stylistic Variation in Proliferous Nasca Pottery," in Andean Past 4:91-107. |
| 1996a | Paracas, in Andean Art at Dumbarton Oaks, edited by Elizabeth Hill Boone, Pp. 101-105. Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections. |
| 1996b | Nasca, in Andean Art at Dumbarton Oaks, edited by Elizabeth Hill Boone, Pp. 107-122. Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections. |
| 1997 | "Nazca" entry for the Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corp. |
| 1998 | "Introduccíon" to La Cultura Nasca, fascículo numero 13. El Comercio Lima. |
| 1999a | "Die-Nasca Kultur - Ein Uberblick" (The Nasca Culture: An Introduction) in Nasca: Geheimnisvolle Zeichen im Alten Peru, edited by Judith Rickenbach, Pp. 59-77. Zürich: Museum Rietberg Zürich |
| 1999b | "Kopfjagd und rituelle Verwendung von Tropäenköpfen in der Nasca- Kultur" (Headhunting and Ritual Use of Trophy Heads in the Nasca Culture). in Nasca: Geheimnisvolle Zeichen im Alten Peru, edited by Judith Rickenbach, Pp. 79-87. Zürich: Museum Rietberg Zürich. |
| 1999c | "Puquios--das Bewässerungssystem zur Zeit der Nasca-Kultur" (Puquios - The System of Irrigation in Nasca Times), in Nasca: Gehmnisvolle Zeichen im Alten Peru, edited by Judith Rickenbach, Pp. 89-96. Zürich: Museum Rietberg Zürich |
| 1999d | IntroducciónÓ Capítulo 13, La Cultura Nasca. Page 98. Culturas Prehispanicas. Edited by Marisa Mujica de Poppe. Lima: Empressa Editoria El Comercio. |
| 2000 | "Nasca Iconography: An Overview, The Studio Potter 29(1):36-43, December 2000 |
| 2001 | The Ritual Use of Trophy Heads in Ancient Nasca Society. in Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru, edited by Elizabeth Benson and Anita Cook, Pp. 119-136. Austin: University of Texas Press. |
| 2002a | The Correlation Between Geoglyphs and Subterranean Water resources in the Río Grande de Nazca Drainage (with David Johnson and Stephen Mabee). In Andean Archaeology II: Art, Landscape and Society edited by Helaine Silverman and William Isbell, pp. 307-332. New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London and Moscow: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. |
| 2002b | "Nasca" entry for The Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Vol. 7: South America edited by Peter N. Peregrine and Melvin Ember, Pp. 280-288. New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London and Moscow: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. |
| 2006 | A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press |
| Ramos, Luis J, and Maria Concepción Blasco | |
| 1977 | Las Representaciones de Aves Fantásticas en Materiales Nazcas del Museo de América de Madrid. Revista de Indias XXXVII(147-148:265-276. |
| Reverter-Pezet, Guillermo | |
| nd | La pintura facial en la cultura Nazca. Lima. |
| Roark, Richard P. | |
| 1965 | From Monumental to Proliferous in Nasca Pottery. Nawpa Pacha 3:1-92. Berkeley: Institute of Andean Studies. |
| Sawyer, Alan | |
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| 1961 | Paracas and Nazca Iconography. in Essays in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology. Samuel Lothrop, ed. Pp. 269-316. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. |
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| Schlesier, Karl H. | |
| 1959 | Stilgeschichtliche Einordnung der Nazca-Vasenmalerein: Beitrag zur Geschichte der Hochkulturen des Vorkolumbischen Peru. Annali Lateranensi 23:9-236. Vatican City: Topografia Poliglotta Vaticana. |
| Silva, Jorge, Daniel Morales, José Yamunaque, and Josafat Roel | |
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| Townsend, Richard | |
| 1985 | Deciphering the Nazca World: Ceramic Images from Ancient Peru. Museum Studies 11(2):116-139. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago. |
| Ubbelohde-Döering, Heinrich | |
| 1933 | Ein Symbol der Grabhöhle in der Nasca-Malerei. Journal de la Société des Américanistes XXV:1-8. Paris: |
| Urteaga, H. H. de | |
| 1919 | El fetichismo de los yungas y los huacos simbólicos de Nazca y el Chimœ. in El Perœ, bocetos históricos. Lima: |
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| Wagner, Catherine | |
| MS 1974 | The Nasca Creatures: Some Problems of Iconography. in New Perspectives on the Early Intermediate Period of Peru. |
| Wegner, Steven | |
| 1975 | An Analysis of Vessel Shapes and Shape Changes in Phases 6 Through 9 of the Nasca Sequence. Paper written for Anthropology 220C, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Manuscript in possession of the author. |
| 1976 | Some Suggestions of Local Variation Within the Pottery of the Nasca 6 through 9 Styles. Paper written for Anthropology 299, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. |
| 1976 | A Stylistic Seriation of Nasca 6 Painted Pottery Designs. MS in possession of author. |
| Wolfe, Elizabeth F. | |
| 1981 | The Spotted Cat and the Horrible Bird: Stylistic Change in Nasca 1-5 Ceramic Decoration. Nawpa Pacha 19:1-62. Berkeley: Institute of Andean Studies. |
| Zuidema, R. Tom | |
| 1972 | Meaning in Nazca Art: Iconographic Relationships between Inca- Huari- and Nazca Cultures in Southern Peru. Annual Report for 1971, Goteborgs Ethnografiska Museum 35-54. Arstryck: Goteborgs Ethnografiska Museum. |