Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | In 2007, the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels acquired two wooden boards from the Ica civilization (southern coast of Peru, 900-1534 A.D.). Based on formal analogies, iconography, use-wear and the archaeological context, we will try to discover the function of these elaborately decorated objects. Three possible functions have been proposed over the years by archaeologists: navigational aids, agricultural implements or spades used for cleaning irrigation canals. Another possibility is that they were merely ceremonial imitations of real implements. In this article, we will advocate this last interpretation, based on the funerary archaeological context, the iconography of foxes and parrots which seem to have some relationship with the after-life, the lack of extensive use-wear and the elaborate carvings and paintings on the objects. We will propose that these ceremonial objects were imitations of centre-boards and paddles. We know from the historical accounts that centre-boards were used on balsas (sailing rafts) in Ecuador and northern Peru. Finally, the general form of the boards and the iconography related to the sea, are all in favor of a navigational context. |
