Kero (ceremonial drinking cup),

600–1000

This finely carved cup (or kero) melds a delicate form, with intricate relief and thin walls, especially at the rim, with a boldly modeled, fearsomely fanged face of a supernatural associated with human sacrifice. This anthropomorphic face is surrounded by an angular meander and a series of rays, several of which end in profile representations of bird-rendered in a manner typical of the period. The bulbous eyes, strong cheekbones, and skeletal jaw of the figure all suggest an almost skeletal, or emaciated, sacrificial victim. However, an ornament depicting long fangs covers the front of the mouth-a diagnostic feature of the sacrificer deity. Thus, the carving seems to fuse a deity known among scholars as the 'sacrificer' or 'decapitator' with his victim. Alternatively, the emaciated quality of the strong facial features may indicate a transformational state and thus designate the subject as a shaman impersonating the deity. The claw- or fang-shaped elements on the brow and framing the lower portion of the face, unique to this object, may represent feathers. The beaker exhibits several features typical of the Wari-Tiwanaku iconographic complex, particularly a frontal anthropomorphic head framed by a rectilinear meander and a series of rays, several of which end with stylized heads of birds. At the ceremonial and administrative center of Tiwanaku, on the shore of Lake Titicaca in northwest Bolivia, this framing motif appears frequently, identifying the encircled frontal face as that of a supernatural. In the contemporaneous imperial capital of Wari, in the central Peruvian highlands, Tiwanaku iconography underwent notable stylistic modifications, generally involving significant geometric abstraction. Although the political relationship between Wari and Tiwanaku remains poorly understood, both cities seem to have been capitals of the Andes' first expansive empires. From them, a coherent iconographic system spread broadly, with attestations from throughout Peru to northern Chile and Argentina. Wari is thought to have served as the administrative center for the northern portion of this expanse and Tiwanaku for the southern. This vessel, reportedly found just north of Lima, well within Wari territory, poses an interesting and important problem to this generalization. The strongly modeled and naturalistic frontal face is more akin to southern, Tiwanaku art. Still, wood keros are typically thought a Wari form, substituted for the flat snuff plates predominantly found in the south. Lightweight, portable materials, especially textiles and carved wood objects, were the primary modes of spreading the Wari-Tiwanaku visual program and, by extension, its underlying religious ideology and related administrative control. The wood of this kero, chachacoma (Escallonia resinosa), grows only at higher altitudes. This indicates the object was probably carved at a highland location, possibly at Tiwanaku, and subsequently distributed to a coastal community in exchange for locally available resources. One of the most enduring vessel forms in the ancient Andes, keros were used in ceremonial contexts for the consumption of intoxicants, including hallucinogenic substances, stimulants, and, most commonly, chicha, an alcoholic beverage consisting of maize fermented by human saliva via mastication. Keros were made in a variety of media, including - in addition to wood - ceramic, gold, and silver. The earliest examples known date to the centuries just prior to the modern era, associated with the Pukará culture, an important precursor to Wari-Tiwanaku. Today, keros remain the preferred vessel for serving chicha.