This technique consisted of applying a resistant material decorated in distinct shapes on the paint on the walls of the surface, after the first firing of the clay. The piece was placed in some type of organic solution, perhaps a mixture of soot and honey, which only covered the areas on which the resistant material had not been put, and then the piece was exposed once more to heat to seal the organic paint. Upon removing the protective layer, the figures appeared in negative.
This treatment was used for the range of cups and vessels that make up their body of work in ceramics. The human figure was prominent in various ways on their containers. They made reproductions of their houses, houses which had rounded walls possibly to provide protection from the cold and to conserve warmth, since as far as we know they inhabited areas in the cold and windy high Andes and upper plains.
It appears that CapulĂ ceramics were used for special rituals by shamans, or priests, and then buried with them as part of their funerary trousseau, where they are found in profusion. An abundance of plates and saucers have been found with tall, low and medium feet in human, vegetable and animal forms, including marine snails that served as musical wind instruments. Also found buried are delicately crafted pieces of gold used for personal adornment, rattles in golden copper, and items from the sea such as snails, shells and.
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