strictor). Fierce, strong, and agile, these animals are cunning hunters that use surprise attacks to catch their prey. Two San Pedro cacti, known for their hallucinogenic properties, are modeled on either side of the vessel. Ritual participants who ingested a beverage made from the cacti might have perceived themselves transforming into a jaguar or a snake, and thereby perhaps subsuming some of their desirable attributes. The remarkable details on such vessels were clearly meant to be observed at close range, at least by some beholders. Four zoomorphic heads lightly incised in pro昀椀le on the shoulder further amplify the ves- sel’s message of power and predation. Artists often rendered these felines in imaginative ways, sometimes reducing the composition to the crea- ture’s most noticeable features. On one simple bottle with textured grooved lines, a smooth mouth emerges: a fang, seen in pro昀椀le, that is doubled and mirrored to become part of a powerful maw seen from the front (昀椀g. 11). These vessels, associated with the cultures known today as Chavín and Cupisnique, were used in large gatherings 8. Moche bottle (with repaired neck and handle) from Huaca del Sol, La Libertad, Peru Emerging Styles on the North Coast The earliest Andean potters relied on techniques that remain elemental to the technical repertoire of any ceramic artist today. Through coiling (placing rolls of clay on top of one another) and careful hand-modeling (using one’s 昀椀ngers or tools to shape vessel walls), these potters created a wide array of objects, from cooking and storage vessels to elaborate ceramic sculptures. Early potters emphasized the contrast between textured and polished surfaces in their ceramics, suggesting that these works were intended to provide both a visual and a tactile experience (昀椀g. 9). In comparison with later 昀椀ring technologies, the kilns and open 昀椀repits used during this period were less e昀케cient, frequently producing surfaces with hues of dark browns, grays, and blacks owing to the high content of carbonized material in their paste and 昀椀re clouds (darker patches on the surface resulting from something touching the vessel during 昀椀ring). Some very 昀椀ne graywares and red-slipped vessels are exceptions that would have required improved 昀椀ring technology. Predatory animals such as felines were a favored subject in early Andean ceramics. This grayware vessel 9. Stirrup-spout bottle. Cupisnique; Peru, 800–500 bce. Ceramic, H. 9 ⼀洀 (昀椀g. 10) depicts an otorongo (jaguar), a powerful feline in. (24.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1969 12 from the Amazon rainforest, and a macanche (boa con- (1978.412.40)