{{Short description|Culture of Peru}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox archaeological culture |name = Vicús |map = Mapa_cultura_vicus.png |mapcaption = Map of the Vicús culture in Northern Peru |dates = {{circa}} 200 BCE - 600 CE |precededby = [[Chavín culture|Chavín]] |followedby = [[Tallán]], [[Wari culture|Wari]] |majorsites = Cerro Vicús |period = [[Early Intermediate]] }}
[[File:Vicús - Feline Vessel - Walters 482835 - Three Quarter.jpg|thumb|Vicús Feline Vessel from [[Walters Art Museum]]]] '''Vicús culture''' was an important early culture in [[Peru]] from 1000/200 BCE to 300/600 CE.<ref>[http://www.tampere.fi/ekstrat/taidemuseo/arkisto/peru/800/vicus_en.htm "The Vicús Culture."] ''Tampere Art Museum.'' (retrieved 3 May 2011)</ref><ref name=whistle>Ransom, Brian (2000). [http://home.eckerd.edu/~ransombc/enigmaofwhistlingwaterjars.htm "The Enigma of Whistling Water Jars in Pre-Columbian Ceramics."]</ref> They lived in the [[Piura region]] in the northern [[Pacific]] coast of Peru. Its administrative headquarters, located in the "Cerro Vicús", at an altitude of 170 meters above sea level, and which gives its name to this culture, served as a link with other Andean cities located further north.
The most important feature of this culture is agriculture, the basis for their economic development. It is known that they cultivated squash or mate, corn and some fruits, with advanced irrigation systems. These activities were complemented by livestock or hunting. The vicus, connoisseurs of the alloys of silver, gold and copper, even used these metals in the elaboration of their farming instruments.
It is known that Vicús was an eminently patriarchal society, where the men were the only ones who could wear jewelry and elegant clothing, while the women of the nobility could only wear very simple suits. The main instrument of control and social exploitation, backed by fierce militarism, was a strong contingent of noble warriors that scoured the domain to enforce the sovereign's mandates.
Their culture developed in three major stages: * [[Chavín culture|Chavín Stage]]; * Regional development stage; * [[Moche culture|Mochica stage of influence]].
==Art== [[File:Maske Peru Vicús 2 Slg Ebnöther.jpg|thumb|Vicus copper mask with red paint; 500 BC-400 AD, [[Kloster Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen]], [[Switzerland]]]] They were known for their work in [[ceramic]]s, copper, and gold. Living mainly on the coastal deserts, they used the native clay and local dyes to produce natural and religious symbols; modern day pottery from the town of [[Chulucanas]] is said to closely resemble the ancient art.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cotlear.com/History.htm |title=Chulucanas Pottery History |access-date=20 February 2006 |archive-date=2 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902191727/http://cotlear.com/History.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> They created [[Double spout and bridge vessel]] that created whistling sounds when pouring liquids.<ref name=whistle/>
==See also== {{commonscat|Vicus culture}} *[[Moche culture]]
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book | title= ''The Art of Precolumbian Gold: The Jan Mitchell Collection'' | location=New York | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | year=1985 | isbn=9780297786276 | url=http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/119785/rec/1}}
==External links== *[http://www.nmai.si.edu/searchcollections/results.aspx?culid=2640 Vicús artwork], National Museum of the American Indian *[http://62.221.199.163/wlm/default.aspx?so=0bgt_jXiWfhHAPnoASGSYNE11sVtwqhTvFwEVGA9W7oqTR7wB5xlaTqfqdXSnRRg6Wm-FUIjS5pt0vQYSNzaeH_2HQcW4be9QQV7DlFZcCR-SU72epEZ7jUS1KlEw7tGtHt3eP2tCZvkAb7MPR2xw2AgFi1KiJ9Ah7YAa5IR3qwJW2UQ_9gEVmZi3JngG-_kbiUJXMX7KbHUZbtGqk2WmA_NubTUiJHf0aK25ch7Gl5air496B2SEneLlLe2OmaB-xxRlBoYUSl5aNAeGYQYbGahouVChQvVPzCOquhzWIPGEzy2gprLGCpa5OqV4T785UIcJpf4qyiwxxg-XflTqnDNd1Ol0apskvDdgVqinKr3L13j-UVMI1lGDptrRIjTWC0yXBK5hMxqLcpfNAJgadJ3UUezlA8-XE0HwOGFrWG9MkGNXmXbq_pVIJDVGUX43s4Ok7WXCm_2hX557mWmjXsOkKNqG21FfwT25Mc4sPWTsoXsVrOrAsSG8rpuLbi3X6M_xfLF9J09Gd7eesqZNJccccMYws6-iR4EIbFbAsfKuWBPLlbPTjwGPO85Ksdi9yvD9ap1yHVYgFOOabCCj3hXs4CvJPjdHFsRfMyU-KNZaRp_e12kZgUC4mAiescjw8mIjm1KiptFLWBpdTibaG_SI54RjGzzsO7pC8MwE39KSxpiBUSbgSqeoRQ6G_spLSJp0y1e6HxWs0mPzy9D6deGui_Y0UOHA6jkHvYi962rsgMMKYf3m7opid4NKJd9knhGMW0vlW5kT6WADcKzb4h7wplfCsdj8ixv6Df93OW1oLkRxxYzOCMJs3F5WKaKQfHP0B8AVQNw7Ee5bzqGMQ2 Vicus pottery], Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicus Culture}} [[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Andes]] [[Category:Pre-Columbian cultures]] [[Category:Prehistory of Peru]]
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