Pigment extraction and ritual modes of production in the Nasca culture: Implications for the occupational sequence at mina primavera

Abstract

We present the results of excavations carried out in an ancient mining site in the Nasca region. Mina Primavera, near the Ingenio valley, is a source of hematite (iron oxide) that was exploited during the first four centuries AD. We have encountered stratigraphic contexts y radiocarbon dates that indicate that the first episodes of exploitation correspond to ceramic material we know as Nasca 1 or Initial Nasca. These discoveries highlight the technological innovations associated with the development of pre-fire ceramic paints as a medium for iconography in the context of a new cult being elaborated at Cahuachi at that time. Moreover, hematite was certainly extracted for other purposes than ceramic paint manufacture, including its use in offerings y the colorings of murals y temple facades. The extraction of minerals from Mina Primavera accelerated during Early Nasca, corresponding to the development of new ritual practices, y apparently ceased with the abandonment of Cahuachi as a ceremonial center, after which the cavity inside the mine may have become (or remained) sacred as something analogous to a huaca.