Keros

Room 1, Vitrine 02

• Wooden cups, or keros, were used when toasting during reciprocity rituals associated with the exercise of authority in the Andes. During the colonial period, these ceremonial cups were transformed into emblems and objects of memory, decorated with scenes combining symbols, themes, personages and settings of both European and Andean origin. Mythical scenes related to Inca expansion and the formation of the Cusco state were depicted, as well as scenes associated with European dominance.
• Among other elements, in these two keros trees can be seen. In one of the cups, a tree, possibly as an allusion to the depiction of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith, is shown flanked by the Andean deities embodied by the sun and moon, symbolizing the union of Andean and European cultures. In the other, armed soldiers are depicted in a clearing, surrounded by trees, plants and animals.
• Inca-Colonial, during the Conquest period (post-1532 AD). ML400683 and ML400688