Peru – Mochica ceramic
This photograph, courtesy of Fernando Trazegnies Granda, Museo Larco, Peru, shows an interesting piece of Peruvian Mochica pottery which represents a character with markedly Chinese characteristics. It dates from around 01 -800 A.D, hundreds of years before the European “discovery” of Peru and is representative of the clear Oriental influence on some Central and South American ceramics of the period. What do you think?
Man Riding Camel
This photo of a pre-Columbian model of a man riding a camel was sent in by Frank Wells who purchased the item on ebay, from a man in California who had purchased it in Guatemala. He commented that it looked like a man riding on a camel, but it couldn”t be because there were no camels in the Americas, native or otherwise. The figure certainly seems to represent an Asian man riding a two humped camel. Does anyone have any words of wisdom to add to this?
Pottery Shards from South Africa
Pottery shards washed up on Dassen Island in mid 1960s along with colored beads. Dassen Island is about 35 miles outside Table Bay opposite the South African West Coast and a town called Yzerfontein. This town in the mid-1960s was nothing more than a fishing village and has remained fairly static from an archeological point of view. The reader has never found a satisfactory explaination for the beads and shards that she found in the 1960s. Can anyone shed any light on this find? (Heather Vallance)
Urn found in Oregon, USA
This urn was found by Miss Sunia Vinci, some time between 1967 and 1969, in shoulder deep water, somewhere between Waldport and Newport, Oregon. The urn is about 17 inches high; about 7 inches across the bottom, gradually going up to a circumference of about 30 inches, going up again to a very small neck (about 2 inches) and then a slightly flared opening, about 4 inches across. It is sealed with something that looks like very old wax, but is hard. It appears to be made out of some kind of ironstone or very hard clay, dark in colour. When found, there were marks which indicated that it had been partially buried for a long period of time. The unburied portion was covered with barnacles. It is completely intact and sealed. Has anyone come across anything similar to this before?
Ceramic pot found in Cochabamba, Bolivia
This pot which recently unearthed about 12 miles outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia. It is considered by experts in the field to have a markedly Chinese influence, the features and form being entirely alien to Bolivia. Has anyone seen anything like this elsewhere?
Photograph courtesy of Geo Fowler.
Ming vase in Taipei
A reader sent in this image of a ceramic vase from the Yung-lo Emperor”s reign, held currently in the Taipei National Museum. He believes it portrays persons with ceremonial head adornments similar to that of those in Central America and Mexico. What do you think?
Ceramic statue in Costa Rica
A reader sent us this photo of a statue with oriental features, found in the jade musem in San Jose, Costa Rica, which was dated to pre-Columbian times.
