mustaches and beards (昀椀g. 36). Made near the site of Cahuachi, the most important ceremonial center of the South Coast in the 昀椀rst centuries ce, such contain- ers were used in the large feasts that brought together hundreds of people from communities both near and 27 far. Those who attended these gatherings returned home with vessels as testaments to their connection with powerful places and as bearers of religious meaning. As noted above, 昀椀nely painted Nasca serving vessels have been found in the refuse of households from all levels of society, but head jars have been found only in the most a昀툀uent homes.28 Nasca head jars were also placed in the tombs of high-status individuals whose heads or whole bodies were removed, suggesting they could serve as 29 symbolic stand-ins for missing bodies or body parts. For a few centuries in the middle of the 昀椀rst mil- lennium ce, Moche artists excelled at creating “portrait vessels,” so called because their striking naturalism seems to re昀氀ect an attempt to evoke speci昀椀c individ- uals (昀椀g. 37). Using molds, Moche potters made mul- tiple versions of the same head, but with variations in 30 35. Prisoner jar. Moche; North Coast, Peru, 200–800 ce. Ceramic and details such as the ear ornaments. In some cases, it slip, H. 10 ⼀最 in. (27.3 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; is possible to recognize what appears to be the same Gift of Judith Riklis, 1983 (1983.546.6) 36. Head jars. Nasca; South Coast, Peru, 100–500 ce. Ceramic and slip. Left: H. 7 13/16 in. (19.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1961 (1978.412.61). Right: H. 8 in. (20.3 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Davis Neal, 1970 (1970.245.1) 37