Lima Day 2 started with a meet and greet with our fellow Oversees Adventure travelers, then an orientation to our Peru portion of the trip. After lunch, we exchanged money, and then went on our own to Museo del Oro.
Peter exchanged US dollars on the street with authorized Lima money changers. Their exchange rate is slightly better and faster than a bank. All houses, and cars in Peru are sold in US dollars so the need for money changers is great.
The the Gold of Peru Museum. It has over 8,000 pre-hispanic gold and silver pieces, from the Moche, Lambayeque, Vicus, Chimú,Chancay, Nazca and Inca Cultures. The showrooms have a wide range of main objects among which can find a variety of vessels that Incas used in rituals and religious activities, a variety of mummies from the central coast of Peru. The 1st floor houses the Arms of the World Museum and exhibits over 20,000 weapons from all over the world and from different time periods. Not sure how this came to be, but it was a strange combination!
From 1450’s this is an nca textile made with camel fibers and decorated with gold. Mind boggling! —
I thought this one was stunning. The caption read Mask with Cinnabar traces and it was from 700-1350 AC
These are all funeral vessels, that were buried with the deceased. Two vessels for each deceased person were crafted, one for the deceased to drink from in the afterlife, and one for a friend. Loved this sentiment, and the craftsmanship was amazing
There were some Spondylus shells which are found off the coast of Ecuador and Peru. The Moche people of ancient Peru regarded the sea and animals as sacred; they used Spondylus shells in their art.
We saw filigree art works from the 19th and 20th century. Amazing detail. The box on the bottom and about four inches wide.
Many gold necklaces. You can’t see it from a photo but each triangle shape was individually crafted of the thinnest gold.
So excited to see this because I had read about it. This is a quipu. It had many uses, it was used to carry the accounting, population control, possession of land, work and production during Inca times (1450-1532 AD). They were made with cotton or wool fibers. Groups of knots arranged in vertical and lateral form, tied on strings, where color, position and width of the knots and strings define the quantity. It is still unknown exactly how they worked.