a limited palette: generally either the color of the clay body itself, which they altered through 昀椀ring, or a bichromatic approach of red and cream. Potters on the South Coast demonstrated a greater interest in polychromy, painting their vessels with a range of colors, including orange, red, purple, and yellow. The imagery can be complex, and it remains poorly understood. On one example, a 昀氀ying 昀椀gure holds a sta昀昀 or axe, its face partially obscured by an elaborate nose ornament evoking a feline’s whiskers, but without contemporary texts it is di昀케cult to know with certainty who or what is depicted (昀椀g. 5). North and south were also divided by a predilection for speci昀椀c spouts and handles, a taste that was as endur- ing as it was distinct (昀椀g. 6). So-called stirrup-spout bottles—named in modern times after the spout’s resem- blance to a riding saddle stirrup—昀椀rst developed in what is now Ecuador, were adopted by potters on Peru’s North Coast around 1200 bce, and remained the most recogniz- able vessel type in this region for the next 2,700 years. On the South Coast, potters favored a di昀昀erent type of bottle, one that generally has either a single spout with a strap handle or two spouts connected by a bridge. Initially created by Paracas potters on the South Coast during the 昀椀rst millennium BCE, the spout-and-bridge bottle and its variants reached the Central Coast in the following 4. Stirrup-spout bottle with owl. Moche; North Coast, Peru, 200–500 ce. centuries and 昀椀nally spread to other parts of the Central Ceramic and slip, H. 9 ⼀挀 in. (24.1 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Andes along with the expanding Wari Empire between New York; Gift of Nathan Cummings, 1966 (66.30.5) 600 and 900 ce. In some ways, such bottles are impractical—they are ornaments, but most production was dedicated to con- di昀케cult to 昀椀ll and empty—implying that their use was tainers for food and drink. The greatest artistic attention restricted or otherwise limited to certain events. Some, was lavished on serving vessels such as bottles, bowls, such as Nasca spout-and-bridge bottles, made in the plates, and cups: fancier versions of more utilitarian 昀椀rst centuries of the Common Era on the South Coast, 6 ceramics. Potters also created specialized ritual vessels, seem to have been used exclusively in funerary contexts. including bottles with unusual spouts. Occasionally Similarly, on the North Coast, stirrup-spout bottles were depicted in ceremonial scenes painted on vessels, these closely associated with ritual practice, judging from the bottles were the focus of some of the most creative and depictions of them on other vessels (see, for example, inventive imagery known from the ancient Americas. 昀椀g. 38). The stirrup spout likely provided a useful handle, While such vessels are easily broken, their sherds but its primary appeal may have been symbolic. By manip- endure, leaving us with a persistent record in a way that ulating the 昀氀ow of liquids, the spout could have repre- other, more fragile organic materials such as textiles do sented the circulation of water from rain to lakes, rivers, not. We know from studying such vessels that Andean plants, and, ultimately, people. The water cycle may have communities had clear preferences for certain shapes, col- been an organizing principle that aided Andean commu- ors, and themes, for example, and because of these choices nities in understanding the complexity of the world and modern archaeologists have viewed ceramics as a reliable their place within it. indicator of cultural identities, and changes within them, Some vessels were, for reasons still unknown, over time. On Peru’s North Coast, potters excelled at cre- intentionally broken before being deposited in burials; ating bottles modeled in the shapes of animals, vegetables, other pots were smashed and buried in caches, perhaps 8 and human or supernatural 昀椀gures (昀椀g. 4). They preferred as o昀昀erings. In contrast, some vessels show evidence