Ñawpa Pacha

Journal of Andean Archaeology

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A CHANAPATA FIGURINE FROM CUZCO, PERU

Edward Dwyer

To cite this article: Edward Dwyer (1971) A CHANAPATA FIGURINE FROM CUZCO, PERU,
Ñawpa Pacha, 9:1, 33-40, DOI: 10.1179/naw.1971.9.1.004

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1179/naw.1971.9.1.004

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 33

A CHANAPATA FIGURINE FROM CUZCO, PERU

Edward Dwyer

A rare hollow pottery figurine was found by the University of

California expedition to southern Peru, during the course of excavation
at the Minas Pata site (PCz 12-9) in the province of Quispicanchis,
Department of Cuzco. This specimen is the only known complete figurine
with a probably early date from the Cuzco region. Its size (20 by 8 by
3.5 em.) and unusual construction, as well as stratigraphic associations
suggest that its deposition was an offering rather than a casual discard.

The site of Minas Pata where the figurine was found is a multi-
component habitation zone covering a large area of the west end of an
ancient lava flow. The site overlooks the southeast edge of Lake Lucre
in the lowest basin of the three-basin drainage system of the long
valley of Cuzco, and is marked Mt. Rumicolca on Herbert Gregory's map of
the area. 1 The whole area of the lava flow, sometimes referred to as
Raqch'i, is covered by nearly continuous archaeological remains. These
include the Inca ruins of Kafiaraqay (PCz 12-11)2 and Rumiqolqa (PCz 12-4),3
as well as Minas Pata and other pre-Inca sites. It is interesting to note
that local names subdivide this continuous zone into sections which seem
to have archaeological significance. Minas Pata is the name for one
such section.

That this end of the Cuzco valley was very important through-
out prehistoric times is attested to by the Raqch'i zone and by the many
other archaeological remains that surround Lake Lucre. The most famous
of these are the Middle Horizon ceremonial-storage center of Pikillaqta
(PCz 12-1) and the standing ruins, possibly Inca, ~alled Choqepukyu
(PCz 12-8), which are visible from the Cuzco-Puno road on the north side
of the lake.4

The Minas Pata site was first recorded by Manuel Chavez Ballon,
and it was shown by him to John H. Rowe in 1954. In the course of a
resumption of archaeological survey in the Lucre Basin, it was visited
several times in 1968 by a group of students from the University of
California, Berkeley, and the University of Cuzco, under the direction of
John H. Rowe. Finally, in 1969, after extensive surface collection by
the author and students from the University of Cuzco, it was decided to
excavate five 2 by 2 meter exploratory pits in order to determine more
fully the potential of the site. The excavations were directed by Jane
Powell Dwyer, Alfredo Valencia Zegarra, and me, as representatives of the
Patronato Departamental de Arqueolog1a del Cuzco.

The Minas Pata midden consists of deep, stratified refuse

deposits covering an area of some 200 by 300 meters. The figurine
discussed in this paper was the only complete ceramic artifact recovered
from the excavations. It was found at a depth of 35 em. in excavation
Unit 2, lying face up, with its head oriented to the northwest, up the
long valley of Cuzco.
34

The Minas Pata figurine is made of a reddish-brown paste with

fine white and black temper. The surface of the figurine appears to be
slipped with a finer version of the same clay from which the body walls
are constructed and is also reddish-brown in color. While the surface
was carefully polished, the marks of the polishing tool are still visible,
and these marks average 1 mm. in width. This gives the surface a slightly
uneven and streaky appearance.

The figurine is constructed so that the head is solid. A

hollow chamber extends from the neck to the base. There are two small
holes in the figurine's chest which allowed for the expansion of air in
the chamber during the firing process. Since the hollow section was broken,
we could determine that the average wall thickness was 3-4 mm. The interior
of the chamber was smooth but in no way finished. The most likely method
of forming this hollow chamber was to attach two clay slabs with the
juncture running around the edge of the flat back. Applique decoration
could have been added after the head-chamber unit had partially dried.

The figurine itself is unusually large. It is 20 em. tall and

8 em. wide across the face. The sexless nature of the presentation is
also somewhat rare. Most other early Peruvian figurines have well-
defined primary and/or secondary sexual characteristics.S The Minas Pata
figurine has high relief applique arms and legs. Its fingers are indicated·
by shallow incisions, and incisions on each wrist may even represent
bracelets. A comparably early burial from the same site contained at
least one bracelet of cut sea shell, suggesting that similar bracelets
may have been represented on the figurine. The way its eyes are made is
unique, and I know of no other example of this type of eye depiction on
Peruvian figurines of similar age. The eyes are round applique pellets
set in shallow depressions, with small punctations indicating the pupils.
The ears of the figurine are pierced, probably to support some sort of
ear decoration. Hair may be indicated by rows of round punctations above
the forehead. It is also important to note that the figurine was not
made to be viewed in the round. Its back is smoothed but has no design
elements. The figurine will not stand erect, but seems made to lie flat
or to be held in the hand. It does not appear to be mold made.

There are two published Peruvian figurines which are in some

ways reminiscent of the Minas Pata specimen. One is from Kotosh in the
central sierra. 6 This figurine has a slight resemblance to the Minas
Pata specimen in limb form and hand and finger treatment. Another
figurine, an anthropomorphic whistle with a supposed Paracas (south coast)
provenience, also has similar limb form and hand treatment.7 Although
all three of these figurines, the Minas Pata, Kotosh and Paracas examples,
are probably nearly contemporaneous and share certain conventions such as
the arms and legs being doubled with the hands on the chest; and although
they are all quite different from the "standing female" figurines common
to the Peruvian coast during the Early Horizon,8 they are probably not
closely related. They simply come from sites which are too widely
separated. Unfortunately, there are so few figurines of this antiquity,
let alone from the sierra, that comparisons of resemblances are not very
useful in generating an understanding of cultural patterns or even
 35

chronology.

Despite the shallow depth at which the Minas Pata figurine

was found, it is possible to make limited stratigraphic arguments for
its antiquity. The level that it came from underlay the zone of surface
soil. The level was clearly defined, and distinct in appearance from
both the level below a~d from the surface layer. There was no indication
of a pit penetrating this second level, and therefore, stratigraphic
associations should date the piece.

Although there were very few diagnostic sherds in association

with the figurine, this fact is not surprising, since the exposure was
only 2 by 2 meters, and analysis of the plain wares is not yet completed.
Of the 325 sherds recovered from the level, 22 could be fixed temporally,
based on the Cuzco style sequence worked out by Manuel Ch&vez Ball6n and
John Rowe.9 Of these sherds there were 19 which fit within the range of
the Marcavalle and Chanapata styles, two which may be Waru or some related
stvle, and one which seems to show Huari or Middle Horizon influence.
This range of sherd types is most likely a result of a combination of
minor disturbance within the excavated level, and our inability to make
fine stratigraphic distinctions in the upper part of the level due to
heavy root penetration. In any case, it can be assumed that the
figurine dates to the time period bracketed by the earliest and latest
sherds within the excavated section.

On stylistic grounds it is somewhat easier to place the figurine.

Its surface treatment and paste are very similar to that of the Classic
and Derived Chanapata styles of the late Early Horizon and Early Inter-
mediate Period in the Cuzco basin. The Minas Pata figurine almost
certainly dates within some phase of the Chanapata series. From the
sites of Chanapata and Marcavalle in the Cuzco basin, there are a number
of carbon 14 measurements which suggest that the Chanapata style lasted
about 400 years, from 600 B.C. to 200 B.c.10 The figurine thus probably
dates to a period at least two centuries before the beginning of the
Christian Era.

The stratigraphic associations of the Minas Pata figurine also

give important clues for the interpretation of its function. Although
the hollow section of its lower trunk had been broken by a large overlying
stone metate, the figurine was completely restorable. Careful washing
of the earth matrix which had filled the hollow section of the figurine
showed that it contained nine small clay balls of 3-5 mm. in diameter.
While it is possible that the small balls were accidents of construction,
or introduced after or by the figurine breakage, this is not the most
likely explanation for their presence. The clay balls seem to have been
fired, presumably at the same time as, and inside of, the figurine.
This would indicate that the figurine was, in fact, an anthropomorphic
rattle. Subsequent reconstruction with the clay balls inside of the
figurine body did not produce a resonant rattle. However, this effect
could be due to the lack of resonance of broken but repaired pottery.
Then again, it may be that the specimen was originally intended to produce
a dull sound.
36

The circumstances of the deposition of the figurine in the

Minas Pata midden shed light on another function it may have served. In
the same level, and 60 em. to the north of the figurine, was a dense
concentration of 310 small land snail shells.ll Because of the complete
state of the figurine and the concentration and intact state of the
fragile snail shells, there could have been only very minimal disturbance
after the deposition of these objects. Considering these conditions, it
seems unlikely that the figurine was a child's toy which was lost or
simply thrown away and then gradually covered with refuse. It seems
equally unlikely that it represents a discarded musical instrument. The
figurine was probably placed on the ground and covered with the stone
metate. The whole area may have been then covered with loose earth.
These conditions suggest that the figurine was a deliberately buried
offering.

This suggestion is strengthened by ethnohistoric and ethno-

graphic information which shows that a persistent Andean offering
tradition includes the burial of small figurines.12 A number of buried
pottery offerings have been reported in the Peruvian archaeological
literature, but these usually consist of vessels broken in situ.13 One
can only guess as to the particular significance of a specific offering.
However, in the area of Cuzco buried offerings are presently made to insure
crop and animal fertility. It is possible that some such purpose led to
the burial of the Minas Pata figurine.

The use of a figurine as a buried offering as early as Chanapata

times is important because it might explain the occurrence of several
small solid figurines of fired clay found by Rowe in refuse at the site
of Chanapata. Rowe also found a part of a hollow figurine in a post-
Chanapata style which he called Carmenca.1 4 These finds, along with the
information from Minas Pata seem to indicate a tradition of figurine
production and perhaps the long use of these figurines in religious
activity. The Minas Pata specimen is, nevertheless, unique. It represents
the only example of a hollow figurine-rattle from Cuzco, if not from all
of Peru. Its probably ceremonial function gives yet another hint to the
complexity of the early cultures of the valley of Cuzco.

Acknowledgements

The field work at the Minas Pata site was sponsored by the
Patronato Departamental de Arqueolog1a del Cuzco and supported by National
Science Foundation Grant GS-2002 (Principal Investigator, John H. Rowe).
Special thanks are expressed to Manuel Chavez Ballon, Lu!s A. Pardo, and
to all the personnel of the Cuzco Patronato who aided us in the field.
I also wish to express my gratitude to Karen Mohr-Chavez who has made
available unpublished data from the site of Marcavalle in the Cuzco
valley, and to John Rowe, Patricia Lyon, and Dorothy Menzel who provided
useful suggestions and advice on all phases of my field work.
 37

NOTES

1Gregory~ 1916~ includes a large scale {1:62~000) topographic

map of the valley of Cuzco.

2Santa~ 1965, pp. 327-352.

3squier~ 1877, pp. 419-421. Squier described the ruins of

Rumiqolqa and called them the Fortress of Piquillacta.

4Harth-Terre~ 1959~ pp. 41-56.

5 Lilien, ms.

6Izumi and Sono~ 1963~ pl. lOOc. This figurine is probably

one of the two figurines from Construction B which are included in the
Kotosh San Blas Period {p. 157). This Period may date to just before the
beginning of the Christian Era, making the Kotosh and Minas Pata figurines
roughly contemporaneous.
7
Bird~ 1962, fig. 49A. While it is often very difficult to
judge the style of a piece of pottery from a photograph, this whistle
illustrated by Bird is similar to Paracas style pottery of the late Early
Horizon and may belong to phase 10 of the style sequence worked out by
Menzel, Rowe~ and Dawson (1964).
BEngel~ 1956; Carrion Cachot, 1948.
9
Rowe, 1956, p. ' 142.

10Mohr-Chavez, 1969, pp. 48-49, and personal communication, 1970.

11The snail shells have been identified by Lawrence E. Dawson of

the Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California,
Berkeley. They are land snails (Bulimulus orophilus, Morelet) which are
common on cacti of the genus Cereus in the temperate valleys of the
plateaus of Cuzco {Tryon, 1885-1935, vol. X, p. 183; plate 46, figs. 55-7).
I can only suggest that they formed some part of the offering. The
occurrence of land snail shells in graves is common on the north coast
of Peru and in the highlands of Ecuador (Larco Hoyle, 1946, p. 156;
Murra, 1946, p. 800).
12cobo, lib. 13, cap. XIII-XVI (1956, pp. 169-186); Tschopik,
~ 9 51 ' p • 246 •
13Menzel, 1964, pp. 6, 19; Ravines Sanchez, 1969, pp. 19-45;
Lumbreras and Amat, 1969, pp. 165-168.

14 Rowe, 1944, fig. 16, no. 5.

38

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bird, Junius Bouton

1962 Art and life in old Peru: an exhibition. Curator, vol. V,
no. 2, pp. 147-210. New York.

Carrion Cachet, Rebeca

1948 La cultura Cha~in; dos nuevas colonias: Kuntur Wasi y Ancon.
Revista del Museo Nacional de Antropologia y Arqueologia, vol. II,
no. 1, primer semestre, pp. 99-172. Lima.

Cobo, Bernabe
1956 Obras del P. Bernabe Cobo. Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles,
vols. 91-92. Ediciones Atlas, 1-ladrid.

Engel, Frederic
1956 Curayacu; a Chavinoid site. Archaeology, vol. 9, no. 2, June,
pp. 98-105. Brattleboro.

Gregory, Herbert Ernest

1916 A geologic reconnaissance of the Cuzco Valley, Peru. American
Journal of Science. Fourth series, vol. XLI, no. 241, January,
pp. 1-100. New Haven.

Harth-Terre, Emilio
1959 Piki-Llaccta, ciudad de positos y bastimentos. Revista del
Museo e Institute Arqueologico, ano XI, no. 18, noviembre, pp. 41-
56. Cuzco.

Izumi, Seiichi, and Sono, Toshihiko

1963 Andes 2. Excavations at Kotosh, Peru, 1960. Kadokawa Publishing
Co., Tokyo.

Larco Hoyle, Rafael

1946 A culture sequence for the north coast of Peru. Handbook of
South American Indians, edited by Julian H. Steward, Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 143, vol. 2, pp. 149-175. Washington.

Lilien, Rose Muriel

ms. A study of central Andean ceramic figurines. Doctoral disserta-
tion, submitted in the Faculty of Political Science of Columbia
University, 1956. On microfilm. Doctoral Dissertation Series,
Publication no. 19,247. University !Hcrofilms, Ann Arbor.

Lumbreras, Luis Guillermo, and Amat Olazabal, Hernan

1969 Informe preliminar sobre las galerias interiores de Chavin
(Primera temporada de trabajos). Revista del Museo Nacional, tomo
XXXIV, 1965-1966, pp. 143-197. Lima.

Menzel, Dorothy
1964 Style and time in the Middle Horizon. Nawpa Pacha 2, pp. 1-106.
 39

Berkeley.

Menzel, Dorothy, Rowe, John Howland, and Dawson, Lawrence E.

1964 The Paracas pottery of Ica: a study in style and time. Univer-
sity of California Publications in American Archaeology and
Ethnology, vol. 50. Berkeley and Los Angeles.

Mohr-Chavez, Karen L.
1969 Excavations in the Cuzco-Puno area of southern highland Peru.
Expedition, vol. 11, no. 2, Winter, pp. 48-51. Philadelphia.

Murra, John Victor

1946 The historic tribes of Ecuador. Handbook of South American
Indians, edited uy Julian H. Steward, Bureau of American Ethnology,
Bulletin 143, vol. 2, pp. 785-821. Washington.

Pardo, Luis Alberto

1957 Historia y arqueologia del Cuzco. [the author), Cuzco. 2 vols.

Ravines ggnchez, Rogger H.

1969 Un deposito de ofrendas del Horizonte Medio en la sierra central
del Peru. Nawpa Pacha 6, 1968, pp. 19-45. Berkeley.

Rowe, John Howland

1944 An introduction to the archaeology of Cuzco. Papers of the
Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard
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1956 Archaeological explorations in southern Peru 1954-1955. American

Antiquity, vol. 22, no. 2, October, pp. 135-151. Salt Lake City.

Squier, Ephraim George

1877 Peru; incidents of travel and exploration in the land of the
Incas. Harper and Brothers, Publishers, New York.

Santa, Elizabeth della

1965 Le site de Muyna-Urpikancha, Paccaric-Tampu des Incas. Revue
de l'Universit& de Bruxelles, n.s., vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 327-352.
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Tryon, George Washington, Jr.

1885-1935 Manual of Conchology; structural and systematic. With illustra-
tions of the species; continuation by Henry A. Pilsbry. Second
series: Pulmonata. Published by Conchological Section, Academy
of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia. Philadelphia. 28 vols.

Tschopik, Harry Jr.

1951 The Aymara of Chucuito, Peru. Part one, Magic. Anthropological
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New York.
40

KEY TO ILLUSTRATIONS

Plate XIX
Fig. 1. The Minas Pata figurine in situ showing overlying atone, on
right, resting upon the figurine's lower section. Trowel indicates
magnetic north.
Fig. 2. The figurine with the overlying stone removed. The presence
of rootlets growing into the dirt filled interior indicates that the
breakage was not imDediately prior to or due to excavation. The complete
state of the figurine, however, suggests that it was broken at some time
after its deposition.
Plate XX
Fig. 3. Drawing of the restored figurine showing front and profile
views. The two holes on the chest open into the hollow interior, while
those where ears should be may have held ornaments. Drawing by Enrique
Castelo Olivares, inked by Catherine T. Brandel.
 Q)
s:::
0
~
rn

X
.
H
X
Q)
~

"'
......
p..
 3

Plate XX. Restored figurine.