The quero of the Tiahuanaco culture is a glass used for important ceremonies and other special occasions, such as when an agreement was reached with some other indigenous community. The spelling changes sometimes, being written also qero or kiru.
The tiahuanaco culture developed in what is now Peru. It is a pre-Inca town that inhabited the region of the same name.
This town was located in the south of Lake Titicaca, in the current department of Puno. Its influence in the field of ceramics and other arts reached not only the Incas, remains have also been found in areas of Chile and Ecuador.
Main features
The etymology of the Tiahuanaco quero is misleading, as it refers more to the vessels of the same name used by the Incas than to the oldest ones created in Tiahuanaco.
In this way, the word comes from Quechua qiru and means "wood." It has also been called a wooden chalice or wooden cup.
The fact is that the one made by the Tiahuanaco was not precisely made of wood, but of ceramic.
In any case, the experts affirm that they were copied from previous ones that were made with the material that gives it its name.
One of the main characteristics of the quero is its shape. This is, using the technical word, frustoconical, which means that it is less wide at the base than at the mouth.
Decor
As for the decoration, it could contain various motifs. Normally, in the area of the center of the container there is a ribbon in which several geometric figures are seen.
These figures do not have any relief, but are flat. Other times the center is adorned with a single stylized anthropomorphic figure.
Although much less frequent, scenes of daily life can also appear in the central strip of the quero.
Sometimes the heads of puma or condors, animals with a sacred meaning in ancient Andean culture, also appear projected from the edges. This is found in far fewer specimens.
The colors most used by Tiahuanaco artisans were black and white, with a background that used to always be red. These colors were always opaque.
Using the quero
The most accepted theory, especially knowing its use by the Incas, is that the quero was used as a ceremonial vessel.
Before the Tiahuanacos, there is evidence of the use of a similar container by the Mochicas and Chimús, but those who finished giving it its exact shape were the first.
Proof of the importance that was given to the quero, both religious and political, is found in the remains found in Tinawacu (Bolivia), the imperial center of this culture. There you can see stone portraits of various political founders of the empire.
Apart from the clothes, there are two elements in these representations that symbolize their high status: the tobacco tray and the appearance of a quero in each of the hands.
References
- Ecured. Tiahuanaco culture. Obtained from ecured.cu
- The popular. Tiahuanaco: learn more about it. Obtained from elpopular.pe
- Crystal Links. Tiwanaku. Retrieved from crystalinks.com
- Bulletin of the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. Spatial Configuratio in Tiwanacu Art. IWANAKU ART. Recovered from scielo.cl
- WikiVisually. Kero. Retrieved from wikivisually.com