The world's longest mountain chain, the Andes, dominates western South America from north to south, and for millennia has been home to the continent's richest civilizations. Only in the past century have we begun to grasp the scale of th material destruction wrought by European colonizers greedy for native treasure, as a result of which many of the products of centuries of Andean civilization were melted down and destroyed. Enough has survived, however, to testify to great artistic skill and breathtaking imagination of these civilizations - qualities abundantly on show in this important and enjoyable illustrated survey.
'Treasures Of The Andes' presents, in stunning photographs, a vivid portrait of the coastal and mountain civilizations of th Andes region, and the remarkable diversity of items which its peoples created, from peerless textiles and ceramics to monumental architecture and exquisite metalwork. A popular Inca invocation declared that, "The sun rains gold, the moon rains silver," which reflects Inca associations between celestial deities and precious metals. The book includes photographs of magnificent gold and silver artefacts, with a detailed commentary of their symbolism.
