PAINTINGS AND PAINTERS AT PACHACAMAC: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF BUILDING B15

Abstract

The Ychsma Project´s 2014 excavations at Pachacamac focused on an unusual structure, dubbed Building B15. The structure is located within the site´s Sacred Precinct, and is notable for being extensively decorated with mural paintings; this is the first time that wall paintings have been found at the site since 1938. Numerous designs have been noted, ranging from zoomorphic to dendriform, geometric and anthropomorphic motifs. Further discoveries of brushes, cotton swabs, mixing trays, pigment cakes and a pigment grinder were made during the 2016 season, providing further information as to how the pigments were processed and used. Preliminary analysis of stylistic and design characteristics suggests that these works date to the start of the XVIth century, at the very end of the Late Horizon.

The rarity and exceptional nature of these paintings prompted us to carry out an extensive analysis of the pigment layering on the walls and fallen adobes alike, as well as microscopic work in the laboratory. These suggest that most of the paintings were executed in red with yellow motifs outlined in black; designs in ocher, light green, bright green, white and light blue were also noted. The extensive superimposition of pigment layers indicate that the paintings were continually reworked, with variations in motif and color, and with extensive variability between the various walls of the building. The color panel appears to have been derived primarily from mineral sources, except black, which was derived from charcoal. The color mixes appear to have been prepared in situ using tools made from locally-derived organic materials and—for the brushes—camelid hair. These results are currently being expanded upon via analysis of materials recovered during the 2016 excavation season.