Vessel, 100 BCE- 600 CE, 7 x 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. ( x x cm), Clay, pigments, Peru, 1st century BCE-7th century CE, The chili pepper (aji) was one of the earliest domesticated plants in the Andes, with evidence of its presence by 4000 BCE. Used as a seasoning and preservative in Andean cuisine, peppers were also one of the most common images on ancient Nazca ceramics. Above the peppers encircling this vessel are Inca terns, seabirds that live along the Humboldt Current off the coast of Peru and Chile. In their distinctive orange beaks, they hold fish - perhaps anchovies.

---

Size: 4193px × 4884px
Location:
Photo credit: © Penta Springs / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, 100, 1st, 600, 4000, abstracted, aesthetic, aji, altered, anchovies, ancient, andean, andes, appeal, artists, bce, bce-, bce-7th, beaks, bounty, ce, century, ceramics, chile, chili, clarity, clay, coast, common, cuisine, current, distinctive, domesticated, earliest, encircling, evidence, fish, forms, functionality, hold, humboldt, image, images, inspired, liberties, live, nature, nazca, object, orange, pepper, peppers, peru, pigments, plants, presence, preservative, representing, seabirds, seasoning, simplified, suit, terns, vessel