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Spatula with Carved Head
500–900
- Medium
- bone with shell inlay
- Classification
- Jewelry
- Dimensions
- Overall: 11.2 x 2.6 cm (4 7/16 x 1 in.)
- Culture
- Peru, Wari style (500-900)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Art of the Americas
- Credit line
- In memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Humphreys, gift of their daughter Helen
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Peruvian Indians today regard coca leaf as a sacred substance that creates communion with supernatural forces. The leaves are chewed with powdered lime that in antiquity was stored in containers and scooped with spatulas like those seen here. Aside from its ritual meaning, coca has practical benefits: it is vitamin-rich; like coffee, it induces clear-headedness; and it increases stamina. The lizard spatula is Nasca in style; the other is Wari.
