Alberto and Celia pose in front of the Museo Rafael Larco Herrera in Pueblo Libre.
By Karen and Duane Sherer Stoltzfus
Peru SST Co-Directors, 2014-2015
In anticipation of our visit to Caral, an archaeological site that represents the oldest city in the Americas, dating to about 2600 B.C., we visited a museum that uses pottery and other artifacts to tell the history of several leading cultures of Peru over more than 5,000 years.
The Larco Museum, which is privately owned, focuses on Peruvian history before the arrival of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro and the Spaniards in the 16th century. It was founded by Rafael Larco Hoyle who named it after his father. Larco Hoyle was an influential archaeologist during the 1940’s and 1950’s. The museum contains a vast number of pre-Columbian ceramics, a few textiles, paintings and jewelry, and some gold and silver objects. All are housed in a beautiful old hacienda, built in 1760 over a huaca (a pre-Columbian ruin).
From our guide, Miguel Angel Medina (no relation to Michelangelo the artist, he says), we learned that Peru counts 87 distinct cultural groups over the last 5,000 years, including the people of Caral. Of the 87, 85 are counted as kingdoms and two as empires: the Incas and the Wari (or Huari).
Group photo in front of Chimu gold attire (1100 A.D.)
Ancient cultures used ceramics to tell their stories and represent their lives. Although the Incas and the Wari were dominant in territory, the Moche, who reigned from about the time of Christ to 800 A.D., were the superior potters, Medina said.
They lived along the coastal desert and benefited from having an ideal place in which to preserve their work. “The Moche left behind a paradise for archaeologists,” he said.
After our museum tour, we visited the museum’s prize-winning garden full of bougainvillea, cacti and succulents (there is also a lovely restaurant, but it was beyond our lunch budget for the day).
We made it back to Miraflores in time to take in a menu lunch before afternoon language classes.
Gathering outside the entrance.Our guide, Miguel Angel (a former student of Celia’s) introduces himself.Entering the museum.Alberto and Celia outside the Museo Rafael Larco Herrera in Pueblo Libre.Stone sculptures hang on the wall in the introductory room of the museum.Ceramic pottery made in the shapes of sacred animals.Vicus Formative Epoch.Moche fine line pottery, Florescent Epoch.Ceramic portrait vessel from the Moche Apogee Epoch.Moche ceramic portrait vessel.Moche ceramic portrait vessel.Moche ceramic portrait vessel.Incan urpu.Chancay pottery, Imperial Epoch.Chincha Inca Imperial Epoch.Ceramic bowls.A Paracas funeral mantle. The Paracas culture created outstanding textiles.A ‘quipu’ or recording device used in Incan and pre-Incan times.Nazca Wari feather shirt.Religious art, post Spanish conquest.Religious textiles Geneology of the Incas.Miguel Angel talks with students about ritual combat and sacrifice.Students listen to Miguel Angel talk before viewing the museum’s most prized piece of pottery.A prized ceramic piece from the Moche Apogee Epoch.Anna studies a prized ceramic pot displayed in Museo Larco.Wari (Huari) mummy of a child sitting in a fetal position.Wari mummy from behind.Funeral dolls.Precious stone jewelry from the Pre-Columbian era.Moche bird runners.This impressive piece of Chimu gold attire is beautifully showcased and a perfect spot for a group photo.A close up of the Chimu gold attire.A door to the courtyard from the museum.A bench in the Larco museum courtyard. Several pieces of music related Pre-Columbian pottery on shelves in the enormous storage area.A view from the storage area.Students enjoying the Museo Larco garden.Students enjoying the Museo Larco garden.Miguel Angel says good-bye.A view of the Larco museum garden.Some of the many plants in the Larco museum garden.The flowers are fading a bit in the fall, but are still beautiful.The Museo Larco restaurant.Outside the restaurant a hallway leads to rooms with even more pottery.Kate and Asia in the garden outside the Larco restaurant.Peter studies the plants in the Larco garden.Morgan poses by a statue in the Larco garden.The Civil flag of Peru flies over Museo Larco.Leaving Museo Larco.David and Irene on a bus in Pueblo Libre.
